MacroSystem ElasticDreams - Manual (Page 9)

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desired area while you hold the key down.
Shrink: The selected element (e.g. a nose) is
slowly reduced in size. See the description of
“Grow” for details.
Twirl left: You use the cursor to turn the selected
image content to the left. For example, selecting
an eye and clicking once on it causes it to be put
at an angle.
Twirl right: Function and use like “Twirl left”,
but in the opposite direction.
Undo: This is a special mode that slowly returns
all changes made to their original state, resulting
in the unmodified image. After selecting the
“Undo” function, hold the left trackball key
down and roll the trackball.
(This mode can be initiated at any time in the
edit window by clicking the right trackball key
and rolling the trackball. “Undo” does not have
to be selected.)
(11) Mirror
If this function is activated (the cross mark is
visible) all drawing operations are carried out as
a mirror image on the other image half (left <->
right).
5.4 Special window
(12) Selection button
Predefined effects can be used in addition to
manual drawing. These effects operate on the
entire image and are usually used to create
interesting transition effects.
Note: It can happen (e.g. for higher percentage
values) that the result appears somewhat
differently than you expect. For example, a
100% “rotation” causes the video image to be
directly inserted and not to be rotated into and
then out of the scene! This happens because
such high values cause the individual pixels to
be diagonally morphed from one image corner
to the other (from reference point to reference
point), which is not a true rotation. The scene is
zoomed in and out.
For high percentage values it is recommended
to use several reference points so that a rotation
can occur.
After the result has been displayed as preview,
or after you have calculated the effect, the
controls are reset to the value “O”.
(13) Slider control
After selecting an effect with the selection
button, you can use the slider control to set
the effect’s intensity. Changes are immediately
visible.
Different special effects can be combined with
each other.
5.5 Project window
(14) Preview
The preview lets you judge how an effect will
look after it has been calculated. The preview
displayed corresponds to the preview from the
effect menu, i.e. just before and after the effect
itself the scenes without effect are shown for
one second.
(15) Delete project
Clicking on this button causes the entire project
to be deleted. A confirmation message is
displayed beforehand.
6. Practice examples
In order for you to become acquainted with the
control elements of ElasticDreams as quickly
as possible, we suggest that you work through
the following practice examples. The examples
illustrate the four main application areas of
ElasticDreams and should be read and worked
through in the order given.
The examples are meant especially for new
users of the program and introduce you
carefully to the control elements.
6.1 Practice example 1
Alienation of a scene with the warp effect
For this example insert a scene of about 4
seconds duration into the storyboard. The scene
should be a close-up (portrait) of a person.
Of course, you can also record a scene from
television, e.g. a news reporter.
There should be no jumpy head movements in
the scene.
Enter the Image Processing Effects menu and
select “ElasticDreams Warp” from the list so