User Guide

Copyright 2002 Satish Kumar S. All rights reserved. http://www.debugmode.com

WinMorph 3.01 User Guide Copyright 2002 Satish Kumar. All rights reserved. The information in this document is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by the author. The author assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. Adobe and Adobe Premiere are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated that may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Vegas Video is a trademark of Sonic Foundry Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other products or name brands are trademarks of their respective holders and are acknowledged.

Table of Contents

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 3

Introduction About WinMorph Installation Whats new in version 3.01 Using this guide Basics Background on warping and morphing How WinMorph works Tools available in WinMorph

5 5 5 6 7 8 8 8 9 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 21 22

Usage scenarios 3.1 WinMorph in standalone mode 3.1.1 Image warping 3.1.2 Image morphing 3.2 WinMorph Plug-in for Adobe Premiere 3.2.1 Image warping 3.2.2 Video warping 3.2.3 Image morphing 3.2.4 Video morphing 3.3 WinMorph Plug-in for Vegas Video 3.3.1 Image warping 3.3.2 Video warping 3.3.3 Image morphing 3.3.4 Video morphing 3.4 WinMorph Plug-in For Wax 3.4.1 Image warping 3.4.2 Video warping 3.4.3 Image morphing 3.4.4 Video morphing

User interface and advanced options 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 General Working with shapes Working with Sets Elements window Editing a shape Properties window Advanced properties window Preferences dialog Options dialog

4.10 Modes of Display 4.13.1 Wire frame mode 4.13.2 Preview mode 4.11 Main toolbar 4.12 Tools toolbar 4.13 Navigation toolbar 4.14 MiniNav toolbar 4.15 Window Palette toolbar 4.16 Shortcut keys 5 Tips and tweaks 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 General UI tips For Adobe Premiere and Vegas Video For Wax URLs of interest

22 22 23 23 24 24 24 24 25 26 26 27 28 28 28

INTRODUCTION
1 I n t r o d u c t i o n

1.1 About WinMorph

WinMorph is a high performance morphing and warping software. Developed and distributed as a freeware, the focus is on providing both high speed and high quality warping/morphing tools for both home users and amateur/professional video editors. WinMorph can work in two modes - as a standalone application using which you can do image warping/morphing effects, and as a "Plug-in" with many video editors to leverage more functionality for video warping/morphing and other complex effects. Currently supported video editors are Adobe Premiere, Vegas Video and Wax (Wax is also from the makers of WinMorph, available at http://www.debugmode.com/wax/). This document is common for WinMorph working as standalone application, or as a plugin with any of the above mentioned video editors (we will term the video editor as "host video editor" hereafter). For sections that are specific to a particular host video editor, such as installation and invocation scenarios, they will be described separately for each of them. WinMorph is actively in development and constantly improving. If you have a comment or suggestion to make or an idea to improve, please make it public by posting in the UserForums at "http://www.debugmode.com/forums/".

1.2 Installation
The installation package comes as a zip file with the install files. Unzip this file into any temporary folder and run "Setup.exe" to start installation. WinMorph setup comes with the plug-in files for all supported host video editors, and you can choose what plug-ins you want to install. For each plug-in, you will be asked to choose the folder where the particular host video editor is installed, and the plug-ins will be placed in the host specific plug-ins folder. If you want to use WinMorph as a standalone application for image warping/morphing, you need not install any plug-in files.

1.3 Whats new in version 3.01

Version 3.01 is a complete rewrite of WinMorph, with an entirely different architecture and approach than any previous versions. Architecture The most important difference is that WinMorph 3.01 can work as a standalone application and as a plug-in for supported video editors. In standalone mode, WinMorph works very similar to the earlier 2.01 version, but with a whole lot of new tools, input/output file formats and features. You can open image warping/morphing projects and create movies. The tools in WinMorph 3.01 are one of the most effective and intuitive to use among the morphing software available today and they make your work a snap. In plug-in mode, you work in your favourite host video editor and create editing projects. For warping/morphing effects, you apply WinMorph plug-ins on your video/image elements and WinMorph seamlessly provides the effects to your projects. So you can work in an integrated fashion, doing advanced morphing and warping along with video editing at the same time with the WinMorph Plug-in for your video editor. WinMorph 3.01 can also do video morphing/warping, a feature not present in earlier versions. Video morphing/warping is supported only in plug-in mode, so you have to use WinMorph as a plug-in for your video editor to achieve these effects. Better tools In WinMorph 2.01 a shape is a group of lines, but with WinMorph 3.01 you get more advanced tools to draw shapes of any kind. You can manage the shapes better, name them as you want, edit them with easier tools, copy shapes from one project to another, and better control how your shapes will work in the morph. WinMorph 3.01 also has various modes of showing you how the morph works, including a preview mode where you can view your morph frame by frame and adjust it as you want. These kinds of tools were not present in earlier versions. Better quality and faster rendering WinMorph 3.01 produces better and professional quality special effects, because of enhanced algorithms in the WinMorph core. It is also nearly 3 times faster than v2.01, and continues to beat many commercial morphing products in speed of operation. More features, more file formats With new tools to control how each shape behaves in your effect, and various preview modes to fine tune your work, WinMorph gives you a lot of power. And with

support for lots of popular image and video file formats, youve got no limitations. You can even save your effects as Flash videos for web design! Work flow In WinMorph 2.01, you choose the images while creating the project. You draw lines on one image and a corresponding line appears in the other image, which has to be adjusted accordingly there. Once you have drawn all shapes, you render to create the morph. In WinMorph 3.01, flow is different in standalone mode and plug-in mode. In standalone mode, creating a project is similar to earlier versions. Then you draw the shapes using better tools like freehand, ellipse, rectangle etc. After you have drawn the shapes, you have to specify which shape transforms to which other shape by linking the two. In v2.01 this linking of two shapes was predefined when you drew one shape in one image, the other shape will be automatically created and you have to adjust that. In v3.01 now you draw your shapes independently and later link them as you want. In plug-in mode, you first create a project in your video editor and add the two images/videos to the project. You then apply the WinMorph transition between the two images/videos (for morphing), or apply the WinMorph effect over the image/video (for warping). To adjust the morph/warp, you open the WinMorph plugin options window - that establishes a link between WinMorph core and your video editor. Now you can work on your effect in WinMorph, and save it back after returning to your host video editor.

1.4 Using this guide

This user guide is distributed as a PDF document so that it can be printed as a manual if necessary. Read this document completely before starting to use WinMorph, in particular the user interface topics so that you can work with ease. Also a print-out of the hotkeys section will be helpful. The usage scenarios for warping and morphing have Flash based tutorials which you can view and learn exactly how to use the interface. Make sure you go through them also before starting your project. You can find them in the "Usage scenarios" section.

BASICS
2 Basics

2.1 Background on warping and morphing

Warping is the process of deforming an object. In our terms, warping means modifying an image/video into how the user wants it to be. For example, you can take your photograph/video and warp it such that you have an extra-large head like those Martians. :) In WinMorph, you specify that the head must be deformed this way, and it will do it for you. Morphing in our terms means transforming two images/videos so that one changes into the other in a smooth way. It is a combination of two warps, where the first image/video is warped into the second one and the second is warped into the first and both are combined to produce a realistic transformation.

2.2 How WinMorph works

To do a warp in WinMorph, you draw shapes on the image/video outlining the features and associate shapes with one another. The program then distorts the image/video so that areas close to one shape move close to the other shape. For example, you can take your photograph and draw a shape around your lips. You then draw another shape which shows your lips like you are smiling. If you associate the first shape with the second shape, you can get the effect of pulling your lips on both ends and make you smile. :) To do a morph you take two images/videos and WinMorph displays them in the left and right parts of the window. You have to draw shapes showing the key features in both of them, and associate the shapes in image 1 with those in image 2. A link between two shapes is called a "Set". These steps will result in a morph between the two images. For example, you can take your photograph and your friend's photograph, and draw shapes around the eyes, nose, lips, and hair and neck portions in both images. You then associate the eye shape in your photo with the eye shape in your friend's photo, and similarly other corresponding shapes. This will result in a morph between your and your friend's photographs.

When working with videos, there is an extra effort involved. If a shape is drawn around an object and if the object is moving in the video, the shape must be modified in many frames in the video to match the object as it is moving. For example if you are working on the video of a person moving his head and you draw a shape around his eye in frame 1, his eye would have moved to a different position in subsequent frames so the shape has to be modified to closely outline the eye in those frames. This process is called keyframing and the frames in which you modify the shape are called Key frames. If you have 1 key frame in frame 1 and other key frame in a frame 20, WinMorph will interpolate the shape for all the frames between frame 1 and 20.

2.3 Tools available in WinMorph

To create new Shapes WinMorph provides four different tools. Polyline - Using this tool you can create a shape by drawing a set of connected lines. To start drawing click on 1 position and the first line starts. Move the mouse to the second position and click, this will end the first line and start the second line from this position. Do this repeatedly around the object you want to draw the shape. To finish drawing the shape, click the right mouse button. Rectangle - To create a rectangle shape click on 1 position, drag the mouse and release the mouse button in the second position to draw a rectangle. Ellipse - Drawing an ellipse shape is similar to drawing a rectangle shape as told above. Freehand - This is the most useful tool for a drawing a shape. This tool allows drawing any kind of shape and creating the shape as the curve. You can modify this curve later as you want. To draw a freehand shape click on 1 position and draw the full Shape while keeping the mouse button pressed, and release the button after you have finished drawing. There are two types of shapes: shapes created with lines and shapes created with curves. Polyline and rectangle are shapes created with lines; ellipse and freehand shapes are curves. A line-based shape has end-points, whereas a curve shape has "control-points". WinMorph provides two tools to modify the shapes. Edit - This tool allows editing a shape at the basic level, by modifying the points of the shape. If the shape is a line shape (i.e. a polyline or a rectangle), you can edit the position of the end-points of each line. If the shape is a curve (ellipse and freehand), you can edit the control points of the curve.

Transform - This tool can move/resize/rotate one or many shapes. Just select all the shapes you want to edit, and use the controlling frame around the shape to move/resize/rotate the shapes. Shift key resizes the shapes equally in horizontal and vertical directions. Ctrl key creates a copy of all selected shapes. Alt key each shape is resized with respect to its own center. If Alt key is not pressed and multiple shapes are selected, all shapes are resized with respect to their common center point. Ctrl + Shift key all key frames of selected shapes will be modified (by default only the current frame is modified, not all key frames). You can rotate the selected shapes by clicking on the (o) icon shown for each shape. This icon is present at the end of a line called the rotate handle. You click on the rotate handle and move the mouse to rotate the shapes. Pressing the Shift key while rotating will cause the shapes to be rotated of their centers instead of the common pivot point. When you are working with videos for warp/morph, the shapes you draw may have to be modified in many frames to fit to objects as they move. You can use the Edit and Transform tools to do these adjustments in any frame, and that frame will become a new Key frame for the shape. At any time, you can view the key frames of all shapes in the "Key frames" pane of the "Advanced Properties" window. This tool is called Associate and is used to link two shapes together. To do warping/morphing, you first draw one shape around the object, and then draw another shape showing how you want it to be warped, and then use this tool to associate the first shape to the second shape. (Remember you must always associate the first shape to second, not the second to first. The direction of association is very important). This association/link between two shapes is called a "Set". To associate one shape to another, choose this tool and WinMorph will display all available shapes. If you are doing a morph, you will be having two windows showing the source and target of the morph. Both windows will show their shapes in normal colour and shapes of the other window in dimmed-dotted-line style. Click on the first shape, drag the mouse till the second shape, and release it to associate the two shapes. Now WinMorph will display the association as a set of lines between the two shapes. You can modify the position of these lines in whichever way you want to get a good result. Miscellaneous tools Pan tool, used to move (pan) around the current window. Click at one point and drag the mouse to move the view in the current window. You can also pan the window when you are in any of Edit/Transform/Zoom/Pan tools by clicking both left and right mouse buttons, and dragging the mouse.

Zoom tool, used to zoom in/out of the current window. Click at a point with left mouse button to zoom in by a factor of 2, click with right mouse button to zoom out by a factor of 2. Click and drag to draw a rectangle and zoom that rectangular portion to full window. You can also zoom in/out when using any tool by using the mouse wheel (one rotation of the mouse wheel up will zoom in, rotating down will zoom out).

USAGE SCENARIOS
3 Usage scenario s

3.1 WinMorph in standalone mode

3.1.1 Image warping
i. Choose File>New>Warp Project to create a new warp project, and select the image file you want to use. If you want to set any project options, choose the Options button in the new project dialog. The warp project window shows the image. A warp project is used for distorting an image and saving this distortion as a video. So a warp project has the number of frames of output video as a setting. You can change this number of frames in the Warp>Options dialog. You can add all your shapes, and associate them properly. Choose Warp>Render or View>Preview mode to see your results. When saving the project, the options dialog will be shown if you had not entered an output filename. Remember, you can save a project only after entering a valid output file name.

ii.

iii. iv. v.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available in docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.mrf can be used to learn how it works.

3.1.2 Image morphing

i. Choose File>New>Morph Project to create a new morph project, and select the image files (two image files) you want to use. If you want to set any project options, choose the Options button in the new project dialog. If the selected images are of different sizes, you can choose which image to resize. The morph project window shows both the images in separate panes. You can add all your shapes, and associate them properly. Choose Warp>Render or View>Preview mode to see your results. When saving the project, the options dialog will be shown if you had not entered an output filename. Remember, you can save a project only after entering a valid output file name.

ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.mrf can be used to learn how it works.

3.2 WinMorph Plug-in for Adobe Premiere

3.2.1 Image warping
i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Create a new project, and import an image file into the project. Place the image in any track of the timeline. Go to "Video" effects window, and you will find the "Warp - WinMorph" effect under category "DebugMode". Add this effect to the image in the timeline (drag and drop it on the image). The WinMorph window opens as soon as you add the effect. You can add all your shapes, and associate them properly, and close the WinMorph window to return to Premiere. Render or Preview the project to see your results. Choose "Setup" in the "Effect controls" window to open the WinMorph window again.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.ppj can be used to learn how it works.

3.2.2 Video warping

i. Steps for video warping are exactly same as above for image morphing, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Adobe Premiere.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.ppj can be used to learn how it works.

3.2.3 Image morphing

i. ii. iii. iv. Create a new project, and import two image files into the project. Place one image in timeline track Video 1A and the other image in Video 1B. Go to "Transitions" window, and you will find the "Morph - WinMorph" effect under category "DebugMode". Add this transition between the two images in the timeline. Double-click the transition in the timeline to open the settings dialog. Click the "Custom" button to open the WinMorph window. You can add all your shapes,

v.

and associate them properly, and close the WinMorph window to return to Premiere's settings dialog. Remember to choose OK in the settings dialog, if you choose "Cancel" your changes will be discarded. Render or Preview the project to see your results.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.ppj can be used to learn how it works.

3.2.4 Video morphing

ii. Steps for video morphing are exactly same as above for image morphing, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Adobe Premiere.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.ppj can be used to learn how it works.

3.3 WinMorph Plug-in for Vegas Video

To use WinMorph, you need to turn off the Dynamic RAM Preview in Vegas Video. In VV3.0c you can do that by doing Options>Preferences menu option, choosing Video tab and entering a 0 for the dynamic RAM preview value. If you do not turn this RAM preview off, WinMorph will not function properly.

3.3.1 Image warping

i. ii. iii. iv. Create a new project, and add an image to the timeline track 1. Go to "Video FX" window, and you will find the "Warp - WinMorph" effect. Add the Default preset of this effect on the image in the timeline. Open the Event FX properties window for the image. Click on the Open WinMorph button to open WinMorph, you can do all your editing there and close the window to return to Vegas Video. Render or Preview the project to see your results.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warp is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.veg can be used to learn how it works.

3.3.2 Video warping

iii.

Steps for video warping are exactly same as above for image warping, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Vegas Video.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.veg can be used to learn how it works.

3.3.3 Image morphing

v. vi. vii. viii. Create a new project, and add two images in timeline track 1 such that there is a transition region from image 1 to image 2 in the timeline. Go to "Transitions" window, and you will find the "Morph - WinMorph" effect. Add the Default preset of this transition between the two images in the timeline. Open the settings dialog for this transition. Click on the Open WinMorph button to open WinMorph, you can do all your editing there and close the window to return to Vegas Video. Render or Preview the project to see your results.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.veg can be used to learn how it works.

3.3.4 Video morphing

iv. Steps for video morphing are exactly same as above for image morphing, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Vegas Video.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.veg can be used to learn how it works.

3.4 WinMorph Plug-in For Wax

3.4.1 Image warping
i. ii. iii. iv. Create a new project, and add an image file to the project. Place the image in any track of the timeline. Go to "Video Plugins" window and you will find the "Warp" plugin under category "General". Add this plug-in to the image in the timeline (drag and drop it on the image). Go to the Properties bar to the right of the timeline, and double-click on the Warp plug-in from the list. The WinMorph window will open. You can add all

v.

your shapes, and associate them properly. You can either close the window and return to Wax, or keep it open and switch to the Wax window. Choose Project > Render or Preview the project in the workspace window to see your results.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image warping is available docs\imagewarp.htm. Also, the sample project imagewarp.wxp can be used to learn how it works.

3.4.2 Video warping

v. Steps for video warping are exactly same as above for image morphing, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Wax.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video warping is available docs\videowarp.htm. Also, the sample project videowarp.wxp can be used to learn how it works.

3.4.3 Image morphing

i. ii. iii. Create a new project, and add two image files to the project. Place one image in timeline track 1 and the other image in track 3. Go to "Video Transitions" window, and you will find the "Morph" transition under category "General". Add this transition between the two images in the timeline. Resize the ends of the transition so that they are in line with the edges of the image elements above and below. Double-click the transition to open the WinMorph window. You can add all your shapes, and associate them properly. You can either close the window and return to Wax, or keep it open and switch to the Wax window. Choose Project > Render or Preview the project in the workspace window to see your results.

iv. v.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for image morphing is available docs\imagemorph.htm. Also, the sample project imagemorph.wxp can be used to learn how it works.

3.4.4 Video morphing

vi. Steps for video morphing are exactly same as above for image morphing, except that you will be working with video input files instead of image files in Wax.

A Flash based tutorial on how to use WinMorph for video morphing is available docs\videomorph.htm. Also, the sample project videomorph.wxp can be used to see how it works.

4
4 U s e r i n t e r f a c e a n d a d v a n c e d o p t i o n s

USER INTERFACE AND ADVANCED

OPTIONS
4.1 General
The main WinMorph UI is designed for drawing shapes on images/videos and manipulating the shapes. If you are working on a warp project, you will see a single pane window with the image/video in it, and all the toolbars around it. And if you are doing a morph project, your window will be split into two panes, each showing one of the images/videos. WinMorph has unlimited undo/redo functionality for all of your operations. You have the option to choose among many different display modes - see the original images and shapes, turn on/off the display of images/shapes, get a wire frame view of how the morphing/warping will take place or a preview of the actual warp/morph process within the WinMorph interface without having to switch to the host video editor. You can also zoom in/out to any level in all of these modes.

4.2 Working with shapes

You can create shapes using the Polyline, Rectangle, Ellipse or Freehand tools. Once created, the shapes can be modified using the Edit and Transform tools. Shapes can be linked / associated to other shapes using the Associate tool, to create Sets. Shapes have names and are listed in the Elements window. Renaming a shape is done by selecting the shape and pressing F2. You can select a shape in the main window by choosing the Edit or Transform tool and clicking on the shape, or by choosing the shape in the Elements window. Shapes have many properties that can be adjusted in the "Properties" window. Each shape can have multiple key frames. By default a shape has only one key frame, which is the frame in which it was drawn / created. To add another frame as a key frame, move to that frame and modify the shape as you want and WinMorph will automatically insert a key frame. The shape will be interpolated between key frames, so if you want a slowly changing shape all you have to do is to create a key at the initial position and another at the final position and the intermediate frames will interpolate the shape between these key frames. This will be very useful in video warps/morphs.

Key frames of a shape can be viewed in the Advanced Properties window. You can also drag/drop keys between frames for easier editing. Cut, Copy and Paste features are available for Shapes and Sets. To copy a group of shapes, select them using the Edit or Transform tool and choose Copy. You can copy/paste shapes between multiple windows inside WinMorph, as well as multiple instances of WinMorph.

4.3 Working with Sets

A Set is a link between two shapes, created using the Associate tool. A Set defines one shape as the source and another as target for a warp/morph. All areas around the source shape will be warped and placed near the target shape in the output. A shape that is not associated with any other shape creates a set on it's own by default, itself being both the source and target. This is useful if you want to have portions of the image/video to stay as it is, so you can just draw a shape around those portions to keep them in place during the warp/morph. A Set has properties that can be adjusted in the Properties window and Advanced Properties window. Since a Set defines a transition from one shape to another, it has a Distortion curve that defines how this change should take place. You can modify this distortion curve to specify the way in which the warp/morph of that shape should happen, in the Advanced Properties window.

4.4 Elements window

This window shows the list of Shapes and Sets that are present.

Selecting a Shape or Set here shows its properties and also selects it in the main window for editing.

4.5 Editing a shape

You can use the Edit or Transform tool to edit a shape. Using the Transform tool you can resize/move/rotate a shape/group of shapes. To select multiple shapes, choose them with the Shift key pressed. Using the Edit tool you can edit individual control points. To add new control points to a shape, double-click where you want to add the point (or press Alt & click). Press Del to delete the currently selected point. When modifying a curves control points (also called handles), use the right mouse button to move the point without adjusting the other control point (dragging a handle with the left mouse button will also drag the other end of the handle). To quickly create another copy of a shape press Ctrl and click on the shape and drag. If you have many shapes selected, press Ctrl and click on one of them and drag to create copies of all the selected shapes. You can copy the shape from one image window to another by the same procedure. When creating an ellipse (oval) or a rectangle shape, you can create a circle/square by drawing the shape with the Shift key pressed. Similarly, while resizing an ellipse/rectangle if you keep the Shift key pressed the shape will be resized on both sides to maintain the same ratio.

4.6 Properties window

This window shows the properties of the currently selected shape/set.

Properties of a Shape

Properties of a Set

Name - Name of the shape. Rename the shape by pressing F2. Linked to - The other shape associated to this shape. Strength - Warping strength of this shape/set. This is the power with which it pulls pixels towards its path during the warp/morph process. If the strength value is small, only pixels very close to the shape/set will be influenced and vice versa. For a localized effect, set this value small.

Divisions - Granularity of the Shape/Set with which it is approximated. If this value is high, the approximation and the output will be good. Closed - Form a closed shape or keep it open. Convert - Convert between PolyLine and Curve. From - Source shape of the selected Set To - Target shape of the selected Set

4.7 Advanced properties window

This window shows advanced properties for the project. It has the following tabs. Image Blending In a morph, the source image and target image are blended together to produce the video. The image blending curve specifies how this blending should be done. The default blending curve is a straight line 0% at the beginning showing only the source image, in the middle it is 50% showing both images equally & in the end 100% showing only target image. This creates a smooth transition from source to target image. You can adjust this curve to change the way the images blend in the morph. This tab is shown only for morph projects.

Key frames A Key frame is a frame in which the user has modified the position/points of a particular shape. The shape's points are interpolated between key frames, to give a smooth transition from one key frame to another. This tab shows the key frames for all the shapes. Each line represents one shape. Key frames are shown with the 'diamond' icon. The brackets for each shape show the range of frames in which this shape is enabled. For example if you are working on the video of a man turning his head, features like his eyes and ears on one side will appear only as he is turning his head. So the shapes for this eye and ear should be enabled only for those frames where they are visible.

Shape Interpolation Each set has a shape interpolation curve. This curve specifies how the source shape must be transformed to the destination shape. This tab shows the shape interpolation curve for all the selected sets. The default curve is a straight line, so the source shape is linearly interpolated and transformed to the destination shape. To add points to a distortion curve, select the curve and click the add icon in the toolbar. Once a point is added you can drag that point to any position and adjust the curve using that.

4.8 Preferences dialog

This dialog shows the user preferences, including line style for shapes/sets and colours of each drawing element in the shape/set displays.

4.9 Options dialog

This dialog is used to set the warp/morph project options.

For a WinMorph standalone project

For a plug-in project (using a host video editor)

Save as - Output filename. To choose from a list of files, choose Browse Browse - Brings up the file save dialog box, where you can choose from a list of supported output file formats. You can choose to save the output morph as a video or a sequence of images Frame rate - Output video frame rate Number of frames - Number of frames in the output video Compression - Output video compression options Precision - Accuracy of morphing. High precision morphing takes more time to compute Antialias - Produces a very smooth finished output during the warp/morph, but takes a little more time than the un-anti-aliased output Smart Overlay - Allows you to morph between two shots of same scene at different position/angle and create a panning shot. When this option is on, the frames are intelligently blended for panning shots.

4.10 Modes of Display

WinMorph can display your work in different modes for you to work with ease, understand how the warp/morph takes place and to tune your effects & get what you want.

4.13.1 Wire frame mode

In this mode, WinMorph shows the shapes for the current frame as they will be in the final warp/morph. The gray-coloured shapes are the source shapes and the yellow coloured ones are the target shapes (the colours may be different if you have changed your preferences). Pixels close to the source shapes will be warped towards the target shapes. In case you are doing an effect and you are getting some spurious and

unwanted twists and turns in a few places, you can take a look at the frame in wire frame mode and find out where you are going wrong.

4.13.2 Preview mode

In this mode, WinMorph shows you a preview of the current frame as it will be in the output. You can modify the shapes and their properties and dynamically view the changed output frame. If you are doing a morph, when you switch to preview mode you will see only one pane instead of the usual two panes, and this window shows the shapes of both images (solid lines show shapes of image 1, dotted lines are those of image 2).

4.11 Main toolbar

Create new Warp project Create new Morph project Open existing warp/morph project Save project Delete selected Shapes/Sets Cut selected Shapes/Sets Copy selected Shapes/Sets Paste Shapes/Sets from clipboard into the current focused window. Undo Redo Change Program Preferences Change Options for this Project Zoom in/out Render Create Auto-sets Show/hide images and videos Show/hide shapes Toggle Wire frame mode. Toggle Preview mode About WinMorph

4.12 Tools toolbar

Pan Zoom Edit Shape Transform Shape Associate Shapes Create Rectangle Create Ellipse Create PolyLine Create Freehand Shape

4.13 Navigation toolbar

Navigation toolbar allows you to move focus to a different frame in the input image/video element. Use the navigation buttons to change the current frame.

4.14 MiniNav toolbar

This is a reduced version of the navigation toolbar for navigating among frames.

4.15 Window Palette toolbar

This toolbar allows you to show/hide all the toolbars/windows.

4.16 Shortcut keys

Alt + 0 Alt + 1 Alt + 2 Alt + 3 Alt + 4 Alt + 5 Alt + 6 Alt + 7 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Alt + Right Alt + Left Alt + Ctrl + Right Alt + Ctrl + Left N Z E T A R P L F Ctrl + N Ctrl + Shift + N Ctrl + O Ctrl + S Ctrl + A Ctrl + I Ctrl + C / Ctrl + Ins Ctrl + X / Shift + Del Ctrl + V / Shift + Ins Ctrl + Z Ctrl + Y Toggle main toolbar Toggle navigation toolbar Toggle mini-nav toolbar Toggle tools toolbar Toggle palette toolbar Toggle Elements window Toggle Properties window Toggle Advanced Properties window Rename current shape Project Options dialog WinMorph Preferences dialog Toggle Wire frame mode Toggle Preview mode Render project Zoom in/out Go to Next frame Go to Previous frame Go to Last frame Go to First frame Pan tool Zoom tool Edit tool Transform tool Associate tool Rectangle tool PolyLine tool Ellipse tool Freehand tool New morph project New warp project Open project Save project Select all Invert selection Copy Cut Paste Undo Redo

TIPS AND TWEAKS

5 T i p s a n d t w e a k s

5.1 General
1. Shapes and Sets have a few common properties, like strength and divisions. If a shape is associated to another shape (i.e. if it is part of a set), the properties of the set override the shapes properties. So if a shape as part of a set, modify the sets properties and not the shapes properties. 2. The strength property is very useful in fine tuning your effect. By varying the strength, you can control how this shape/set will influence the pixels in the image. A small strength value will make the shape/set affect only close by pixels, and a larger value will affect far off pixels too. Once you finish drawing the shapes and sets, switch to preview mode and view your output frame by frame to find glitches. You can then select shapes/sets and adjust their strength values to fine tune the effect. 3. When associating a shape to another shape (i.e. creating a set), make sure you start from the correct shape and end in the correct shape. This order is very important. The set is used to transform the first shape to the second shape in the actual effect, and if this order is reversed your effect will not be correct. In case you have created a set in the wrong order, just select the set and click Swap in the Properties window to change the association order. 4. A shape that is not part of a set will create a default set on its own, itself being both the source and target shape. This means this shape will try to influence pixels around it even though it is not part of a set. So if you are not getting the effect you want, check whether all shapes have been associated properly. 5. When starting with a new project, draw a rectangle shape around one of the images/videos. As you draw other shapes and sets, they will be pulling pixels in their directions and this protective rectangle will keep the edges together. This will make your effect look clean. But remember to keep the strength value of this rectangle shape to a very small value so that it affects only pixels close to the edge. 6. If you want to draw very fine shapes and are not successful with it, zoom into the frame and draw. The precision of the shape drawing is high when you zoom in and draw.

7. The Precision option in the Warp > Options dialog controls how good your effect will be. If you set this to Medium or lower, the warp/morph will be very fast but the output sometimes will not be very accurate. High precision gives very good output but takes more time, and Accurate is the highest precision and takes a long time to render. In general, the default precision Medium gives good results at a decent rendering speed. 8. Once you finish creating your shapes and sets, switch to Wire Frame mode and view how the effect happens. Move frame by frame and see how the shapes change from one position to another. You can also animate the morph/effect using the Navigation toolbar. You can catch common errors in the wire frame mode and correct them before starting to render. 9. You can do a morph using the morph transition, or by using two warp effects. This works because a morph is actually done by warping both the images in opposite directions and fading one into the other. If you want to customize your morph with other effects, you can try doing it by separating it into two warps. Draw the shapes in both images/videos separately, and then copy the shapes of one to the other and associate them properly to create the warps. 10. Regularly save your project when working, and also take backups of it frequently. Since WinMorph is actively developed and many features are being added, there may be a few problems which were unknown at the time of the release. In case the program crashes, it will be helpful if you had a backup. And report the problem at the WinMorph User Forum to benefit other users.

5.2 UI tips
1. You can customize the toolbars in WinMorph by right-clicking on them and choosing customize, or double-clicking on them. 2. Pressing Tab key will show/hide the right-side panel (i.e. the Elements, Properties and Advanced Properties windows). 3. You can use the mouse wheel to zoom in/out. 4. When you are in Edit Shape or Transform shape tools, you can pan the window without switching to the Pan tool by pressing the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously and dragging the mouse. 5. To quickly create another copy of a shape press Ctrl, click on the shape and drag. If you have many shapes selected, press Ctrl and click on one of them and drag to create copies of all the selected shapes. You can copy the shape from one image window to another by the same procedure.

5.3 For Adobe Premiere and Vegas Video

1. WinMorph has two plug-ins for Adobe Premiere and Vegas Video. These plug-ins communicates with the core WinMorph for the morphing/warping services. When you apply the plug-ins in your project and open the settings dialog, WinMorph will be invoked by the plug-in. You have to work in WinMorph for the actual morph editing, and then return to Premiere/Vegas Video to continue with your video editing.

5.4 For Wax

1. Along with WinMorphs internal preview feature, you can dynamically switch to the Wax window and watch a preview of the output in Waxs workspace window. Here you can view the current frame with all the effects you have applied, whereas in WinMorphs preview you see the warp/morph alone. 2. When working with WinMorph and Wax, if WinMorph crashes you can still save your work from Wax. In the event of a crash, take a backup of your current project, then switch to the Wax window and do File > Save to save your project. Then close the WinMorph and Wax window and restart the application. This might not work if the problem is very serious, so taking a backup of your current project before doing this is recommended.

5.5 URLs of interest

DebugMode homepage http://www.debugmode.com/ WinMorph homepage http://www.debugmode.com/winmorph/ Wax homepage http://www.debugmode.com/wax/ DebugMode User Forums http://www.debugmode.com/forums/