Pixel Joint Forum: Need help finding software...

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AnthonyWhite
Seaman
Seaman

Joined: 20 December 2013
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Posts: 4

Topic: Need help finding software...
Posted: 21 December 2013 at 3:46pm

-for animating pixel trees. I have been working with pixel art for a year or two now, and now that I am making and adding trees to a game that I play, I need to animate them.

This is one of my initial frames(out of many, many more to do):

and I need it to do this:

As you all can see, there are 12 frames in this animation. They are not blurring transitions, nor warp transitions. They merely move the pixels slightly around with each frame, and reshade a few, before returning to the original frame.

The software I have tried so far(that doesn't do what I need) are:

Paint.net
Sqirlz Water Reflections (tried thinking outside the box here)
FotoMorph
GraphicsGale
Aseprite
(I also have Inkscape currently installed, but I don't know how it works, so I cannot evaluate it for what I need)

I have been searching for 3 days now, and I figured you guys and gals might know where I could find software that isn't advertised on internet search engines.

I would be forever in you guys and gals' debt, if you were to help me with this.
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...... I guess nobody knows any such programs. Thanks anyway, guys.

Edited by AnthonyWhite - 31 December 2013 at 2:14am

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Different55
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Joined: 22 July 2019
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Posts: 13

Posted: 02 January 2014 at 5:43pm

It'd be easier to find what you're looking for if you clearly describe what it is you want to do. If what you want is to move around a few pixels, you'd be able to get a nice effect by using something like MS Paint's selection tool to pick a branch to shift it a pixel or two. If you're hoping for something that will make the process a bit less tedious, I don't think there's much that can be done.

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greenraven
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Joined: 08 September 2016
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Posts: 2598

Posted: 05 January 2014 at 9:28pm

Seems to me like you're asking for a program to auto-animates for you? Yeah, that's not getting in the gallery any time soon. Sorry.

If you just want a simple animation program, go with unFreez. It's clean and simple enough and works well with MSpaint or whatever basic tools you're using.

"pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso

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AnthonyWhite
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Joined: 20 December 2013
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Posts: 4

Posted: 07 January 2014 at 4:39pm

I did specify exactly what I was asking. I said, that I was trying to find a program that could animate one frame(to make 12 frames out of), that varied from one to the next, to create the illusion of the trees moving in the wind.

I have no idea what you mean by being put "in the gallery", and I couldn't care less about that. I'm not here to show off any work, or enter into any contest.

The program that you linked won't do what I need. I already have a program that I can make gifs out of, and I have one that can disassemble gifs, as well. What I need is one that will re-arrange certain pixels, and give me multiple, varying frames out of one frame. I cannot animate all of these frames myself, I would have hundreds to do.

I guess I'm not going to find what I need here. Thanks anyways, guys.

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torguen
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Joined: 26 January 2016
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Posts: 59

Posted: 08 January 2014 at 2:36am

First of all I did not know a program that does what you ask, what if I think is that the animated gif you uploaded is a 3D rendered animation, crafting similar results with pixelart would be very tedious.

Edited by torguen - 08 January 2014 at 2:39am

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yrizoud
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Joined: 03 May 2021
Location: France
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 343

Posted: 08 January 2014 at 8:16am

I think the first animation was made using the "smear" tool. Maybe at a higher resolution and then reduced, so this gets this kind of sub-pixel animation.

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neota
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Joined: 27 November 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 158

Posted: 08 January 2014 at 5:01pm

I suggest looking into displacement maps and GIMP's 'Map->Displace' filter. They let you specify an offset for each pixel via gray level in the map(s).

You can script the application of the filter using Python. This will allow you to vary the magnitude of the displacement between frames.

absolutely.

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AnthonyWhite
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Joined: 20 December 2013
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Posts: 4

Posted: 08 January 2014 at 5:07pm

Originally posted by yrizoud

I think the first animation was made using the "smear" tool. Maybe at a higher resolution and then reduced, so this gets this kind of sub-pixel animation.

There is no "first animation". The first frame shown is just 1 frame. The gif below it is the only thing that is animated.

The trees weren't smeared; they were originally 3d trees, shrunk down using the "nearest neighbor" method after using the magic wand tool, as any other method in Photoshop produces messy edges that need to be fixed for each frame. I work strictly with Photoshop. Any detail work I have to do, pixel-wise, is done in Photoshop.

And, I realize that the trees aren't well defined. I was hoping that, after animating, the visual sloppiness wouldn't be so apparent. Which is the second reason why I wanted to animate them in the first place.

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greenraven
Commander

Joined: 08 September 2016
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2598

Posted: 08 January 2014 at 8:38pm

Personally I think your attitude is a bit rude.

But you might wanna check this out then. Click the link below and it'll lead you to the download section.

"pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso

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yrizoud
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Joined: 03 May 2021
Location: France
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 343

Posted: 09 January 2014 at 12:10am

A smear tool with a lot of "hardness"(100% strength?) should be able to displace the group of pixel that's under the cursor, without smudging anything. But I don't know if Photoshop can use the tool this way.
The alternative is 'select an area, cut and paste it one pixel to the side'.

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neota
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Joined: 27 November 2018
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Posts: 158

Posted: 09 January 2014 at 10:17pm

^ GIMP can. Krita can too (distort-brush)

I thought the OP's intent was to generate the frames, though, which is why I recommended Displace (you only need to make a displacement map and then you can apply it with different values to the first frame to get the different frames. )

absolutely.

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yrizoud
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Joined: 03 May 2021
Location: France
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 343

Posted: 10 January 2014 at 5:31am

You remind me there is the Photoshop tool "Clone". You can set it up to displace by one or two pixels in a direction.

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AnthonyWhite
Seaman
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Joined: 20 December 2013
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4

Posted: 18 January 2014 at 2:27pm

Sorry, I was away for awhile on a trip. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll see if it helps.

@Greenraven: I don't see how I was the one being rude. Your "it's not going in the gallery anytime soon" comment sounded like you were the one who was actually rude. You might want to dial that back a bit, for future reference. I might have been curt, because I had thought I thoroughly explained myself in the initial post. I think there was just a simple misunderstanding, as I don't create Pixel Art from scratch(with the game I work with, it wouldn't look right anyway), but rather work with game art/cgi at the pixel level, in Photoshop.

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Author	Message
AnthonyWhite Seaman Joined: 20 December 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Topic: Need help finding software... Posted: 21 December 2013 at 3:46pm
	-for animating pixel trees. I have been working with pixel art for a year or two now, and now that I am making and adding trees to a game that I play, I need to animate them. This is one of my initial frames(out of many, many more to do): and I need it to do this: As you all can see, there are 12 frames in this animation. They are not blurring transitions, nor warp transitions. They merely move the pixels slightly around with each frame, and reshade a few, before returning to the original frame. The software I have tried so far(that doesn't do what I need) are: Paint.net Sqirlz Water Reflections (tried thinking outside the box here) FotoMorph GraphicsGale Aseprite (I also have Inkscape currently installed, but I don't know how it works, so I cannot evaluate it for what I need) I have been searching for 3 days now, and I figured you guys and gals might know where I could find software that isn't advertised on internet search engines. I would be forever in you guys and gals' debt, if you were to help me with this. . . . . . . . . . ...... I guess nobody knows any such programs. Thanks anyway, guys. Edited by AnthonyWhite - 31 December 2013 at 2:14am
	IP Logged

Different55 Seaman Joined: 22 July 2019 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13	Posted: 02 January 2014 at 5:43pm
	It'd be easier to find what you're looking for if you clearly describe what it is you want to do. If what you want is to move around a few pixels, you'd be able to get a nice effect by using something like MS Paint's selection tool to pick a branch to shift it a pixel or two. If you're hoping for something that will make the process a bit less tedious, I don't think there's much that can be done.
	IP Logged

greenraven Commander Joined: 08 September 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2598	Posted: 05 January 2014 at 9:28pm
	Seems to me like you're asking for a program to auto-animates for you? Yeah, that's not getting in the gallery any time soon. Sorry. If you just want a simple animation program, go with unFreez. It's clean and simple enough and works well with MSpaint or whatever basic tools you're using.
	"pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
	IP Logged

AnthonyWhite Seaman Joined: 20 December 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Posted: 07 January 2014 at 4:39pm
	I did specify exactly what I was asking. I said, that I was trying to find a program that could animate one frame(to make 12 frames out of), that varied from one to the next, to create the illusion of the trees moving in the wind. I have no idea what you mean by being put "in the gallery", and I couldn't care less about that. I'm not here to show off any work, or enter into any contest. The program that you linked won't do what I need. I already have a program that I can make gifs out of, and I have one that can disassemble gifs, as well. What I need is one that will re-arrange certain pixels, and give me multiple, varying frames out of one frame. I cannot animate all of these frames myself, I would have hundreds to do. I guess I'm not going to find what I need here. Thanks anyways, guys.
	IP Logged

torguen Midshipman Joined: 26 January 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 59	Posted: 08 January 2014 at 2:36am
	First of all I did not know a program that does what you ask, what if I think is that the animated gif you uploaded is a 3D rendered animation, crafting similar results with pixelart would be very tedious. Edited by torguen - 08 January 2014 at 2:39am
	IP Logged

yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 08 January 2014 at 8:16am
	I think the first animation was made using the "smear" tool. Maybe at a higher resolution and then reduced, so this gets this kind of sub-pixel animation.
	IP Logged

neota Commander Joined: 27 November 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 158	Posted: 08 January 2014 at 5:01pm
	I suggest looking into displacement maps and GIMP's 'Map->Displace' filter. They let you specify an offset for each pixel via gray level in the map(s). You can script the application of the filter using Python. This will allow you to vary the magnitude of the displacement between frames.
	absolutely.
	IP Logged

AnthonyWhite Seaman Joined: 20 December 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Posted: 08 January 2014 at 5:07pm
	*Originally posted by yrizoud* I think the first animation was made using the "smear" tool. Maybe at a higher resolution and then reduced, so this gets this kind of sub-pixel animation. There is no "first animation". The first frame shown is just 1 frame. The gif below it is the only thing that is animated. The trees weren't smeared; they were originally 3d trees, shrunk down using the "nearest neighbor" method after using the magic wand tool, as any other method in Photoshop produces messy edges that need to be fixed for each frame. I work strictly with Photoshop. Any detail work I have to do, pixel-wise, is done in Photoshop. And, I realize that the trees aren't well defined. I was hoping that, after animating, the visual sloppiness wouldn't be so apparent. Which is the second reason why I wanted to animate them in the first place.
	IP Logged

greenraven Commander Joined: 08 September 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2598	Posted: 08 January 2014 at 8:38pm
	Personally I think your attitude is a bit rude. But you might wanna check this out then. Click the link below and it'll lead you to the download section.
	"pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
	IP Logged

yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 09 January 2014 at 12:10am
	A smear tool with a lot of "hardness"(100% strength?) should be able to displace the group of pixel that's under the cursor, without smudging anything. But I don't know if Photoshop can use the tool this way. The alternative is 'select an area, cut and paste it one pixel to the side'.
	IP Logged

neota Commander Joined: 27 November 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 158	Posted: 09 January 2014 at 10:17pm
	^ GIMP can. Krita can too (distort-brush) I thought the OP's intent was to generate the frames, though, which is why I recommended Displace (you only need to make a displacement map and then you can apply it with different values to the first frame to get the different frames. )
	absolutely.
	IP Logged

yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 10 January 2014 at 5:31am
	You remind me there is the Photoshop tool "Clone". You can set it up to displace by one or two pixels in a direction.
	IP Logged

AnthonyWhite Seaman Joined: 20 December 2013 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Posted: 18 January 2014 at 2:27pm
	Sorry, I was away for awhile on a trip. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll see if it helps. @Greenraven: I don't see how I was the one being rude. Your "it's not going in the gallery anytime soon" comment sounded like you were the one who was actually rude. You might want to dial that back a bit, for future reference. I might have been curt, because I had thought I thoroughly explained myself in the initial post. I think there was just a simple misunderstanding, as I don't create Pixel Art from scratch(with the game I work with, it wouldn't look right anyway), but rather work with game art/cgi at the pixel level, in Photoshop.
	IP Logged