Mask or else?

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Post it in the "Sample Shows & Feedback" section so it doesn't get lost here in the General Discussion section.

Barbara

[marjolijn1957 Profile Private message]

I allready printed it.

I also asked my Swedish friend how she made it.
This is here answer.

Hi, no you copy one goode picher and you do the 1 slide as normal, in the 2 slide you
have ( mustang ) then you copy the mustang in picher 1 when you have done all,
you open the slide and pick the mustang whit the rhigt on your muse and up come
opsens you go on copy in ther you, you copy the mustang to layer 1, this program
took a long time for me to do, and finde out ..

It takes a while before I understand that picher = picture.
I'm gonna try this to look what is the result.

She also has a second channel on YT. The things she make with PSP amazes my.
Look at this one p.e.
It's almost if it's made with Phantamorph. But when you read the comments she sya that sometimes she uses 10-16 pics in one slide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__KeB4raWTY

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Once you figure out how to work with masks and how to feather them (give them a vignette... edges faded from transparent to opaque ... a way to remove the hard edges of a typical gradient layer), then a number of possibilities for visual effects are available to you.

The video you referenced shows a very simple effect to create, once you understand masks and how to apply them. There isn't anything profound in it. Some of her effects are nice looking and others are OK. To make the effect appear visually appealing requires the appropriate image and some effective planning and implementation.

Editing a white rectangle in an image editor enables you to make a custom feathering (similar to vignetting) where the fade from opaque to transparent is not uniform along the sides of that rectangle. Many useful vignettes are possible to create within Producer using transparency keypoints (within the gradient creation) or by adding a vignette using the vignette option (using transparent edges various corner sizes, ellipses, etc). This white layer can then be used as a mask within PSP. A white gradient or solid layer can be used interchangeably as an intensity (grayscale) or alpha (transparency) mask.

You might want to take a look at this tutorial to give you some ideas about masks created within PSP: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=7002

Effective use of masks is important to getting maximum use out of Producer (that and keyframing).

And after that, the next thing to keep in mind is to have FUN!

Dale

[marjolijn1957 Profile Private message]

Thanks Dale.
The topic with the tuts is very useful. I'm gone study them.

Meanwhile I have found an other solution to make the effect I'm looking for.

First with Photoshop Elements I make an tube from the picture I want to be static. I save this one as an PNG.
Perhaps I'm helpful with this tip for other uesers.

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

I don't know what you mean by making a "...tube from the picture..." that would allow you to create the vignetted picture like your reference (are you applying a cylindrical/spherical effect to a picture? That's some kind of distortion!) . I know that in Photopaint/Photoshop you can add a clip mask to the image and paint away the parts you don't want. That works.

The key to understanding masks is that you can do many simple things all within Producer without leaving the program. Sure, you still need a photo editor for some tasks (such as non-uniform feathering/vignetting or making multiple non-uniform transparency regions in an image, etc).

Whatever, people are always looking for ways to do things in Producer for special effects and such. Some are useful, some are very useful, some are interesting. But, some are just new ways of doing something and could be of interest to any number of people. Post it in the tips section and see what kind of response you get.

Have fun!

Dale

[marion Profile Private message]

Hi,
Are there no books that teach you about proshow other than user guide and secrets of proshow .?
Or do you have to try find out everything about the programm yourself?
Marion

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Marion,

Photodex's blog: http://www.proshowblog.com/category/how-to/
Photodex's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PhotodexCorporation/videos
Tutorials right here on the forum: viewforum.php?f=24

A number of the vendors maintain blogs where they explain things perhaps not found elsewhere, including novice to expert level:
Mine: https://proshowthink.wordpress.com/
Dale's: https://fpvp.wordpress.com/
Jennifer's: http://choiceslides.com/blogs/video-tutorials
Mona's: http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com/p/pros ... rials.html

These are the ones I can quickly locate, but I know there are others.

The problem is immediately obvious in that there's no single spot where all tutorials are linked to. It would be wonderful if Photodex had a page of nothing but links, a central location where they're listed, added to, and updated as they occur.

Barbara

[marion Profile Private message]

Thanks Barbara, most of those ive seen, but im looking for why i create a slidestyle and it doesnt look at all like what i see on my slide. Difficult to explain in Dutch even worse to explain in english.
a style with only 2 pics and some movement is ok. But using more pics its a disaster. The same with using a mask. On my slide its fine on the created style the mask appears in the color of the mask and not as intended as a mask. some masks i made in PS are transparency in proshow,others are suddenly greysale. I would like to understand why that is, how it works. Its such a beauytiful programm and i love it but everything you can do with it is not really explained how to achieve that. I see styles for purchase and there are some beauties there, but i would like to do something like that myself.
Is it a secret that everyone has to find out themselves? I dont mind spending lots of time learning but im not the youngest and it would be nice if i could master proshow before my time is up,hahaha.
Marion

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Marion, it sounds as if you might not be giving your masks the correct settings. Amongst the links listed, you'll find a number of tutorials for masks. I have them on my blog, and I'm willing to bet anything all the other blogs have tutorials too. Masking isn't always the easiest thing to grasp completely, and running through just one tutorial may not be enough because there can be two explanations for the exact same thing, but those explanations will appear different. One will leave readers still in the dark and another will make it totally clear. Back when I knew next to nothing about ProShow, masking was my biggest obstacle, and then one day, I saw a casual remark here on the forum that made it all completely understandable.

If you can't seem to get your masking to work in a specific slide, post a list of your layers in the order they occur, pointing out which is a mask, which layer(s) are inside that mask, and the type of mask it is. In this way, we should be able to help you.

For instance, here's a brief layer list of a slide where a photo might have a colored outline that's a slight distance from the photo:

Layer 1: mask (transparent)
Layer 2: photo (inside mask)
Layer 3:mask (transparent inverted)
Layer 4: color solid (inside mask)

Barbara

[cherub Profile Private messageWebsite]

Marion,
When I learned Producer, I remember that masks was the toughest concept to grasp, mostly because the tutorials that could be found at the time, made everything so very complicated.
Since then Producer went through a lot of changes, and now the sort of mask (transparency or grayscale) are automatically created by the program.
Still you need to understand how things work.
Like Barbara, I would suggest that you post your specific problem, and we will try to solve it as best as we can. You could open a new thread, let's say in the section PSP Tips and Tricks. It will be easier to find it in this way, and many other users will be able to learn from your post.

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

When ProShow imports graphics, it "makes" certain assumptions about them based on their type. When converted to being a mask, PNGS and PSDs are assigned the mask type of"Transparency" while JPGs and Tiffs are the mask type of "Grayscale."

As both Barbara and Mona noted, an example or problem would work wonders for figuring out why something does or does not work as you might expect. Too, understanding the ProShow masking concepts is key to making effective use of the program.

With that in mind, you might want to take a look at the link below (for a set of masking tutorials that cover all general aspects of masking within ProShow). Playing with mask settings for various graphics or images will definitely help you understand what's going on. So, a systematic approach to working with them may force something to finally "click" for you (that is, to make sense of what's happening and why). So, the link to the masking tutorials below might prove helpful.

A Comprehensive Introduction to Masking in Producer (Multiple Tutorials): viewtopic.php?f=24&t=21946

Some people have absolutely no problem with masks from the start ... others, it takes awhile before something finally "clicks" and it all finally makes sense. The same can be said for keyframing (another key tool for using ProShow effectively).

Good luck! Have Fun! Enjoy!

Dale

[marion Profile Private message]

Thanks Barbara,Mona and im42n8.Barbara, how do i find your blog?
And im42n8 im going to study your tutorials amd hope it will do "clcik"soon...
I purchased the programm becaused i loved it so much when i saw it on youtube. But i dont have many photo's myself,hahaha, so after practising for 3 weeks now with dowloaded pics to get the basics right im a bit tired of all the same pics. I really would like to make styles myself and master the keyframing and masking. I know it took a lot of time to know what PS can do,but i am quite satisfied with my knowledge about that now. I mean, its for hobby purposes only. But i hate that i forget quite quickly how things work when not working with it for a few weeks. Old age you know.

And ofcourse the fact that everything is in english doesnt help learning PS and Proshow either.

But for now, thanks for your help!
Marion

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Barbara, how do i find your blog?

You must have missed it in my post. Click on ProShowThink in my signature.

I know it took a lot of time to know what PS can do,but i am quite satisfied with my knowledge about that now. I mean, its for hobby purposes only. But i hate that i forget quite quickly how things work when not working with it for a few weeks. Old age you know.

Not a single one of us learned Producer overnight, and after a year, we still didn't know everything. As a matter of fact, we all periodically learn things that make us wonder if we'll ever know all there is to know. As for old age, most of us are definitely getting on in years. You have lots of company.

And of course the fact that everything is in english doesnt help learning PS and Proshow either.

You seem to do extremely well in spite of English not being your native language.

Barbara

[marion Profile Private message]

yes, sorry missed it Barbara. Due to the heatwave i guess, 35C at the moment and even getting hotter on saturday! Or maybe just lack of concentration,haha, oh well, got it now!