Three Strokes in Studio Artist.

Studio Artist is, to me, a new way of creating images.
Most people still try to use digital tools in the same way(s) they have been using natural media (I certainly have).
I can't define exactly what the differences between analog and digital image making exactly are, but I definitely can feel that something needs to change in my approach, and if I had my first indications that the computer was a new way to work when discovering Painter a few years ago, Studio Artist has really confirmed my original impression and offered unsuspected avenues.
In the following tutorial, I am going to try to show some of the ways in which something new is creeping in, something that demands a different way of imagining images, a different form of intuition that is relatively hard to come by when one has been, like me, immersed for decades in the boundaries imposed by natural media.
Yet, it seems to me that this exposure to natural media is necessary if one is to have a chance of reaching even so slightly beyond "physical" paint and support, exploring that amazing world of light the computer makes available to us.
In order to keep file sizes manageable, the material I will present will remain very simple. The very same process can be (and has been) applied to much more elaborate images, movies and Paint Action Sequences, only limited by one's RAM, hard drive space, and imagination.

The idea is to paint an image and create a QuickTime movie by recording the paint strokes while simultaneously recording the painting process as a Paint Action Sequence (PASeq), and then to process the resulting movie with that same PASeq.
In this case, the original resulting movie ("Three_strokes.mov", 98K) was processed with the original PASeq and saved as "Three_strokes_1.mov" (1.4 MB).
This movie was itself processed with, again, the original PASeq, and saved as "Three_strokes_2.mov" (1 MB).
Again, this latest movie was itself processed with the same PASeq, and saved as "Three_strokes_3.mov" (878K). (It may be best to download these files to disk in order to view them side by side, the differences between the movies are sometimes fairly subtle.)
This could have gone on almost forever (I have done similar work with other larger movies and PASeqs, upwards of fifty times, resulting in very surprising images/animation, see samples of that here).

More QT movies can be seen here.

To view those movies, you will need the latest QuickTime available here.



Beginning of tutorial:


1


I opened a source image and the "Paint Action" window.
(That source image is viewable here, it was created in Studio Artist.)



2
The contents of the Paint Action window were erased, and the "Record" box was checked. (This will record each action used in creating the image, enabling me to apply it to subsequent images and/or QuickTime movies.)


3

In order to record the painting of the image as a QuickTime movie, I first selected the "Start Movie To File."



4

Then I selected "Write Frame Flags::Write Frame Each SubAction" (this will create a QuickTime movie showing all the paint actions used in creating the image).



5

In the Presets::Paint Patch", I selected the Patch "Wet Ink Dir Flow" in the "Wet Ink" Category.



6

I simply applied three strokes on the white canvas. The above image is the result of that process as a still image.



7

Then I had to "Stop Movie To File." (This was the completion of the QuickTime movie "Three_strokes.mov".)



8

Also, the "Record" box in the Paint Action window had to be deselected and this PASeq named and exported.



9

Now that first image is also a QuickTime movie (click here to view it), That first movie can now be processed with the very Paint Action Sequence ("PASeq") that already had created its parent image.



10

Time to import the original Paint Action Sequence (it may still be available in the Paint Action window)


11

Selecting the "Process Movie with PASeq::To Movie" I chose the movie we just saw, "Three_strokes.mov", as the file to be processed.


12

"Three_strokes_1.mov" was the result of that process.


13


Processing "Three strokes 1.mov" with the same PASeq, "Three strokes 2.mov" was born.


14

Processing "Three strokes 2.mov" with the original PASeq gave birth to "Three strokes 3.mov"
This concludes a very quick look at one aspect of the many ways of creating images and movies Studio Artist can make possible.
I am still barely touching on the surface of what is a very deep application, one that has already greatly influenced my way to work, and that is most likely to completely revolutionize it even more.
Painter was a terrific tool to help with a fascinating transition from natural media to digital, Studio Artist is, to me, the next step in what is a very exciting process.
I can't thank John Dalton enough for making this amazing tool available.


I can be reached here or here via e-mail.

Samples of my work are available here, and here.

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