Advanced gradient tools

[rothgar]

Hello, I am a long time Paint.NET user (VERY long time) and I am working on an animated background for MythTV but am running into a problem.

My background is just a solid blue color with a blue/white conical gradient that is supposed to be animated and move across the bottom of the screen. The problem I am having is it is very difficult to make the gradient exactly the same for every frame of the animation.

I want to be able to always start my gradient at the same horizontal level of the screen (800px) and the end point is always 800px X 400px. The only difference is the starting point shifts by 10px every frame. Is there anyway to get advanced gradient settings so I can just type in the exact start/end points instead of trying to use the mouse to match up the gradient start and end points for 100+ frames?

Thanks for your help.

[Frontcannon]

None that I know of

[Sarkut]

rothgar,

Make the gradient once, copy it as often as needed.

Shift each layer 10 pixels using the Panelling Effect plugin.

Would that work?

[yellowman]

Sarkut method is the easiest method, do just one gradient layer and open Panelling and change the "Move Horizontal" to 10 or -10 and click OK,

Then on your keyboard press Ctrl+Shift+D then Ctrl+F to get the second frame, repeat this 79 times to get all your frames if your canvas is 800W.

And you can use also Rotate/Zoom layer instead of Panelling and check the Tiling box then change the X Pan only (every 0.02 is 10 pix)

[rothgar]

I am not sure the layer shifting will work because the end point is always supposed to be 400x850 so the gradient will pivot around the center of the screen. With shifting the layer, the gradient will stay pointed to the same direction and just move across the screen.

Where is the best place for me to suggest this as a feature for a future version of Paint.NET?

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I just need to get started and do this manually.

[rothgar]

Another question I forgot to ask about on this one. Is there an easy way to save each layer into its own file (with incremented number). Once I am done I will need to save each frame to its own file and they each need to be numbered in order (AKA. background_01.png, background_02.png, etc.) Is there a plugin or setting to do that?

[yellowman]

I am sure exactly in which way you wanna animate the gradient, Can you by any chance post the 3 or 4 first frames, may be we can help.

But for your second question, then yes you can save the pdn file, then open it with the Layer Saver, it is not a plugin but a stand alone application designed specially for Paint.NET, it converts all the layers of the pdn file to a sequence ( numbered in order) of files (frames) with any image format you need.

Let me just find the link and post here.

EDIT: found it:

http://paintdotnet.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=24313

[rothgar]

Sorry for the delay. My internet at home went down over the weekend.

Here are 4 example pictures of what I am trying to accomplish but cannot find an easy way to do without making the animation really choppy, or taking forever to draw each frame.

Sorry for the huge resolution.

[Sarkut]

rothgar,

For doing it manually, use Panelling repetitively on the red guide layer.

Start each gradient in the red ring and end on the black dot.

PDN File Download

Edited September 7, 2010 by Sarkut

[yellowman]

Good method Sarkut, and here's my two cents: Do half of the total number of your frames and save the pdn file then flip it horizontally "Image > Flip Horizontal" and save it again with different name , and organize the two files in the animator app. by the reverse option, I am sure you know what I mean .