Particle flow - sparkling

[Paiche59]

Hello all,

Below is a style that produces a flow of sparkling particles. Each of the stars is a PTE object (800 in total). Other examples are available for free here on the DiaporaShop site.

Pascal.

Particle flow - sparkling.ptestyle

[tom95521]

Amazing. Particles must be very time consuming to create.

Thanks,
Tom

[Paiche59]

Hello, Tom,

In fact, I have created a particle system generator in Excel that calculates the displacement of all particles along a parameterized trajectory. I submitted this particle generator to Dave for a first test, if it is conclusive or if the generator interests someone, I can publish a tutorial on the forum.

Pascal.

[tom95521]

That would be very nice. A particle generator has been on my personal PTE wish list.

Thanks,
Tom

[Igor]

Pascal,

Looks very impressive. Thanks

[Inova]

Not good, weigh too heavy. In my opinion it is not worth the cost of repeating 800 times a picture of 137 Kb.
This way to slow the project ... Here is an animation example lighter:

 

 

Loop Background.zip

[tom95521]

Hi Inova,

Interesting use of 5 row JPG as animated image. What software are you using to convert from video or animated GIF to multi image JPG?

Thanks,
Tom

[Inova]

Re tom95521

www.photofiltre.com

Freeware

Reflet

 

[tom95521]

Hi Inova,

It has been many years since I have used Photofiltre but it does have many nice features.

http://www.photofiltre-studio.com/freeware/reflet-en.htm

Thanks,
Tom

[Lin Evans]

Hi Inova,

There is no penalty in PTE for repeating an image  or a video for that matter.  I've created shows with over 36,200 individual videos running simultaneously and they work fine in either exe or video format.  You can download one on Slideshow club which has a 14,480 videos playing on four zooming, rotating icosahedrons each with 3620 individual video screens playing videos simultaneously. The particle generation doesn't make PTE even break a sweat. 

You need to quit thinking as if you were using Producer. PTE works differently. I explained that to you on another thread but I don't think you have wrapped you mind around the differences. There is NO PENALTY for using the same image on any number of layers. It's only coded once. Look at the sample on slideshow club and ask yourself how it's possible to have 14,480 simultaneous videos playing on zooming rotating objects. If each took only 100K how much RAM do you think it would take to display 32,600?  Do the math...

I'm not understanding your sample which isn't a particle generation but just a repeating sequence image? 

To use this concept as a particle generator with the same type effect, you would need to first create the image to be repeated then create 800 layers and their respective keyframes. 

Best regards,

Lin

[Lin Evans]

It could be done this way also, but then that also requires other software than PTE...

Best regards,

Lin

 

[Paiche59]

Good morning,

12 hours ago, Inova said:

Not good, weigh too heavy. In my opinion it is not worth the cost of repeating 800 times a picture of 137 Kb.
This way to slow the project ... Here is an animation example lighter:

Inova, your example animation is light, but as Lin writes, it is not a particle generation.

It is true that animation under PTE is a bit jerky when the number of objects is important. On the other hand the creation of an mp4 video of the animation allows to obtain a perfectly fluid result.

When the number of particles becomes too important to have a good fluidity under the PTE editor, it is also possible to generate a video of the animation then to use it as a video mask.

5 hours ago, Lin Evans said:

It could be done this way also, but then that also requires other software than PTE...

Lin, which software do you use to make this particle animation?

Best regards,

Pascal.

[Inova]

Hi Paiche59

I like the way you think and see things.

I DO NOT WANT TO USE THIS SOFTWARE FOR OLYMPIC COMPETITIONS.

I am looking for new software for designing slide show.
I'm on for years Proshow Producer, but the company shut the door ...
PTE lack two things to satisfy me fully.
- Ability to play looped videos or animated GIF endless.
- In the Subject window and animation, lack of options
  to create animations and effects for text.

Both options can be found in a simple program like "SmartSHOW 3D".
The source of your example is "DiaporaShop" and I recently purchase pack
which are doing very well.

Greeting,

[Lin Evans]

Hi Pascal,

The little example was done with David Fitzpatrick's Highlighter Pro which is the software used to create the effect in Proshow examples on YouTube and Vimeo which you may have seen. There is no way to create these effects directly in Proshow Producer. 

Highlighter Pro uses a sequence of bmp files which are created in paths created by the user by clicking with the mouse. Once the user has decided how many dots and where to place them, there are options to increase the number, spread them out, change their size on each or all paths, and  how long they are displayed, etc.,  Then these bmp files are converted to non-compressed avi videos. It can be seen and downloaded and evaluated on the link below. Highlighter Pro comes in a three-pack with two other nice software packages CaptionsAive Pro and VisiSketch Pro for a very reasonable price.

Best regards,

Lin

 https://mediadigitronics.com/

 

[Lin Evans]

2 hours ago, Inova said:

..........
I am looking for new software for designing slide show.
I'm on for years Proshow Producer, but the company shut the door ...
PTE lack two things to satisfy me fully.
- Ability to play looped videos or animated GIF endless.
- In the Subject window and animation, lack of options
  to create animations and effects for text.

Both options can be found in a simple program like "SmartSHOW 3D".
The source of your example is "DiaporaShop" and I recently purchase pack
which are doing very well.

Greeting,

PTE does not loop videos, but PTE plays animated GIF files as "endless" as any software anywhere - once again - you have much yet to learn about PTE Inova.

There are many ways to create text animations with PTE. Look at the samples which have been posted. Perhaps the animated text in the samples is not the type of animations you are looking for, but show me any other software which can do what PTE can with text please! Below a few samples of text animation with PTE... Done entirely with PTE - no other software.

Best regards,

Lin

 

[Inova]

Re: Lin Evans

In Proshow Caption options (screenshot)

If PTE can do this (Link) I'd be impressed very

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uamyr7smwghr84/Write effect animation.mp4?dl=0

Greeting,

 

[davegee]

Inova,

Igor has promised to update PTE's text capabilities in the next major update(s). Version 11 of 12 perhaps?

Meanwhile most of the clever things that you might want to do CAN be done manually or by using third party software.

DG

[Inova]

for davegee

Thank you for your information ...
I find your response simple and useful at no morals ...

Have a good day,

[Lin Evans]

Inova,

You mean like this?

Lin

 

[Lin Evans]

3 hours ago, Inova said:

Re: Lin Evans

In Proshow Caption options (screenshot)

If PTE can do this (Link) I'd be impressed very

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5uamyr7smwghr84/Write effect animation.mp4?dl=0

Greeting,

 

But Inova,  what you show in the link (Handwritten Text) was not done by Proshow. It's not a native Proshow feature.

You see, I've been a Proshow user since Proshow was first introduced. I was a beta tester for the very first software called "Proshow" before Proshow Gold and long before Proshow Producer. I'm very well aware of the capabilities and limitations of the software. Like many of the users of Producer, PTE users also enjoy the capability of using David Fitzpatrick's software as well as BluffTitler and other software which neither Producer nor Gold could use such as ParticleIllusion because neither could use the RGB Alpha Channel which PTE has been able to use for many years. 

As Dave G has mentioned. The developers of PTE plan to introduce additional text effect with future versions of PTE but even now you can create amazing text animations with this program with a little study and more understanding of what is possible. Some of the things you could work on are understanding that you have misconceptions about how PTE works. It has had the ability to run continuous animated GIF's since version 5 many years ago. Not only can you run the animated GIF files continuously, you have control over the actual construct of the animated GIF. You don't have that with Producer. When the same image is used more than once there is no additional memory penalty over the first image. Likewise for videos. With PTE you can seamlessly run an entire video while still images are sequencing. Unlike Producer, there is no break and re-start of the video with each new still image. 

Take your time and learn the possibilities and avoid jumping to invalid conclusions which you have done now in several cases. 

Best regards,

Lin

[tom95521]

6 hours ago, Lin Evans said:

Hi Pascal,

The little example was done with David Fitzpatrick's Highlighter Pro which is the software used to create the effect in Proshow examples on YouTube and Vimeo which you may have seen. There is no way to create these effects directly in Proshow Producer. 

Highlighter Pro uses a sequence of bmp files which are created in paths created by the user by clicking with the mouse. Once the user has decided how many dots and where to place them, there are options to increase the number, spread them out, change their size on each or all paths, and  how long they are displayed, etc.,  Then these bmp files are converted to non-compressed avi videos. It can be seen and downloaded and evaluated on the link below. Highlighter Pro comes in a three-pack with two other nice software packages CaptionsAive Pro and VisiSketch Pro for a very reasonable price.

Best regards,

Lin

 https://mediadigitronics.com/

 

Sadly the mediadigitronics website is not very modern. I was unable to view the demo videos because of the older youtube URLs pointing to .swf video files. I have found the equivalent modern versions of the youtube URLs.

It is interesting how the node paths are generated and populated with objects and maybe some day such a feature could be added to PTE at the same time bezier curves are programmed into PTE.

VisisketchPro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBxBH4ClrV0

HighlighterPro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tKwVvPvh40

CaptionsAlivePro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yh-vMbEia8

Tom

[Lin Evans]

Hi Pascal,

Sorry we've gotten far sidetracked from your post. The particle idea and execution is excellent and a great feature to have with PTE. I think it's an ideal way to add this feature in the way of styles and will be very much used and appreciated,

Hopefully this type feature will eventually become a part of future PTE releases. Until then your idea is fantastic and should be promoted. If you post some examples I'll see to it that any future postings stay on track and not get hijacked by other interests!

Best regards,

Lin

[Paiche59]

Don't worry Lin, every discussion is interesting.

I post below (because I can't post on the Tutorials & Video Lessons forum) some explanations on how to create a particle system for PTE with Excel.

I am aware that this is not an appropriate interface for this, but it might be helpful for some of you.

The explanations are very brief and probably insufficient (my English is limited and I don't have the pedagogy of my compatriot Jean-Cyprien). Moreover, it is preferable to have some notions of how to use a spreadsheet.

Hopefully this tool will be useful.

Best regards,

Pascal.

[Paiche59]

A particle system is a collection of many particles that together generate an amazing graphical effect. Over a period of time, particles are generated, move, evolve and die within a system.

There are advanced software programs (such as TRAPCODE PARTICULAR) to produce systems containing tens of thousands of particles. Smoke, cascade, fireworks and many other effects can be achieved.

The Excel generator for PTE is a very basic generator and cannot compete with specialized software. However, it does the job of generating simple systems.

This rudimentary generator is designed for people who are used to handling PTE objects in the object editor. Some basic knowledge of the Excel worksheet is also required.

The Particle Generator in Excel does not include a value control, so it is necessary for the user to have a good knowledge of the allowed values of the different settings.

Generalities:
- Generator under Excel version 2016, but probably compatible with other versions (and probably also with OpenOffice)
- Excel is configured with the point (.) for decimal separator (not the comma as in France for example)
- The generator uses an Excel macro to create the PTE objects. Therefore, it will be necessary to activate the execution of the Excel macros when opening the Excel file.
- Excel generates in column "A" of the "Result" tab a list of PTE objects (one object per particle). Column "A" must be copied and then pasted into the PTE object editor.

Principle:
- Each particle is a PTE object with two control points: the first control point corresponds to the birth of the particle (initial point) and the second to its death (final point).
- A particle has all the properties of a PTE object at the starting point and at the end point: Position, size, opacity, color, rotation, etc.
- For a particle system, it will be necessary to define:
  . the particle image file
  . the number of particles. Do not exceed a maximum of 5322, as Excel will generate an error beyond this limit. In practice PTE is no longer fluid when the number of particles exceeds 800, but it still works with more than 5000 objects.
  . the trajectory of the particle flow (Bézier curve)
  . the lifetime of the particles
  . particle flow: acceleration, gravity, diffusion

Instructions for use:
- General:
  . Cells with white or gray fill color are fixed or calculated values, they must not be modified.
  . The cells with the blue fill color are property labels.
  . Cells with the orange fill color correspond to a property that can be set.
  . Many properties of a particle are set according to a random function between a min and max value. If only one particular value is desired, the min value must be equal to the max value.

- Setting the particle system parameters
  . Specify the number of particles in the system
  . Set the duration of the animation (in thousandths of a second). It is the duration between the appearance of the first particle and the last particle.
  . Set the maximum particle lifetime (in milliseconds). This is the time between the appearance of a particle and its disappearance.
  . Set the offset time for the appearance of the first particle
  . The path and image file of the particle. It is preferable to have png files with transparency management. The particles are preferably white so that they can be easily colorized with a PTE color filter.
  . Set the particle flow parameters :
    Gravity: defines the intensity of the attraction, a value of 100 corresponds to the half height of the screen. A negative value corresponds to a negative attraction: movement towards the top of the screen.
    Angle: scattering angle of the particle emission. Between 0 and 2*pi.
    Radius: radius of diffusion around the emission of the particle.
    Acceleration: coefficient applied to the acceleration of a particle calculated according to the particle system curve.

- Generating the particle system
  . Just click on the "Calculation run" button. With my laptop, 12 seconds are necessary to generate a system with 800 particles.
  . The result of the calculation is stored in the "Result" tab that is displayed when the generation is completed.

- Importing the particle system under the PTE object editor
  . Copy the entire column A of the " Result " tab to the clipboard.
  . Paste the contents of the clipboard under the PTE object editor, preferably into a frame object.
  . It is possible to generate several particle systems, then to include them in the same slide.

The attached Excel file contains the settings that generated the particle system presented in the video above.
I hope you will find this particle generator useful. Let me know if it works for you.

Best regards,

Pascal.

 

Excel particle generator and sparkling star.zip

[tom95521]

Hi Pascal,

This looks amazing. As much as I would like to use Trapcode Particular it is not within my budget. Have you tried using your spreadsheet/macro with Google Sheets (spreadsheet)?

Thanks,
Tom