Improved frame-by-frame animations

Continuing with the basic ideas presented in the previous tutorial, we advance a little bit on some possible post-processing of the captured images of the SolidWorks screen before compiling them into an animated gif in PHOTOSCAPE.

  1. Step 1: image editing

    From the set of images obtained with the camera view in SolidWorks, it is possible to execute various tasks prior to creating the animated gif:

    Some of these tasks can be performed individually on each image, while others can be "automated" (in PHOTOSCAPE) and applied simultaneously to the entire set of images, saving time and effort.

    A task that is typically performed individually, image by image, is cropping:

    However, the option used in this example (manual cropping) is not the most suitable for generating identical cropping in all images, which will be explained in the next section.

    On the other hand, there are tasks that can be done directly on a set of images using the "Batch Editor" module of PHOTOSCAPE. These include adding borders, shading, text, among others:

    In the batch editor interface, it is possible to drag a set of images to modify them simultaneously. For example, by adding a box and text, as shown below:

    By using the "Convert All" option it is possible to obtain a new folder (named "output" by default) with all the modified images, keeping the original ones in place:

    After modifying all the images to your liking, you can load them into the PHOTOSCAPE "GifAni" module and proceed to create the animation as explained in the previous tutorial.








  2. Step 2: crop images precisely

    The cropping task, which is done individually, must be optimized to ensure that all images are cropped identically, avoiding jumps in the animation when said crops are shifted and/or resized.

    For this purpose, it is not advisable to use the "Free crop" option but rather the "Assign proportion/size" option in the cropping tab of the PHOTOSCAPE Editor module:

    This option allows you to specify the size of the cropped area and its exact position in X and Y, which makes it possible to replicate the same data in all images that want to be cropped identically.

    To use this command, without knowing the size and position of the desired crop, you can start with a size estimate using the "Free Crop" option but without confirming it:

    By testing the free cropping, the size (red box in the figure) in pixels will be available, which can then be loaded into the data box of the "Assign proportion/size" option, leaving only the X and Y shifts of said cropping to be defined:

    The X and Y offset values ​​for the crop can also be obtained by trial and error until the area to be cropped is ideally located in this image (and then replicated in all the others with identical parameters):

    Of course, it is also possible to modify the size of the crop in the values ​​box, until one is satisfied with its appearance:

    Once this is done you can confirm the cropping by accepting the values ​​box and then pressing the "Crop" button:

    So the cropped file is ready to be saved, and in the default option PHOTOSCAPE keeps the original files in an "Originals" folder:







  3. Step 3: mass image cropping

    Although it is tedious to have to cut the images one by one, once the cropping parameters are defined in the first image, PHOTOSCAPE keeps them as default when opening the others, in which case you only have to press the "Crop" button to apply it to the new image:

    Once all the images have been processed, they will be cropped in the working directory, where PHOTOSCAPE will also have created the "Originals" folder to keep the unedited photos:




  4. Step 4: a batch edition

    Just as an example we will take all the cropped images to do an additional post-processing, but this time all of them simultaneously using the PHOTOSCAPE "Batch Editor" module.

    First we will add a border from the first "Home" tab:

    Then we will add a vignette from the "Filter" tab:

    And finally a text from the "Object" tab:

    If this image, representative of the whole set, seems correct to us, we can apply the "Convert all" and obtain an "Output" folder with all the modified images (the originals will still be in the working folder):

    From this set of edited images we can use the "GifAni" module to create an animation like the following:







  5. Step 5: links

    This tutorial comes from:

    Simple animations, frame by frame

    and continues in:

    ...

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