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PNG+Alpha QT

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:10 pm
by jebidiahmakes
Hello Mad Mapper Community,

I'm currently working on a project where we will be projecting onto an airplane and there are a couple of obstacles with the project that I'm currently working around.

This is a last minute project with a quick setup / turnaround. I don't have a 3D model of the airplane to work from, so I'm basing all my animations off vector based artwork.

Project: In order to give me the most flexibility on site, I was going to build all the animations on one canvas, but laid out in sections / parts (think decals on a sheet for a model). Then, while on-site, I was going to Map all these different parts together - over top of each other to highlight the basic shapes of the airplane. I've done tests, and when exporting a PNG with Alpha QT, this works brilliantly. Map Mapper recognizes the alpha and I'm able to layer these elements on top of each other using different quads. We're using 3 Christie S+20K Roadster projectors - coming out of Mad Mapper with a TH2GO and doing a blend via hardware before going to the projectors.

Question: I've read that Mad Mapper works best with Photo JPEG (85) compressed QT's. It seems to work fine with the PNG+Alpha QT's that I've been testing but wanted to ask if anyone has had any experiences that are similar and if I should be aware of any issues that may arise. And does anyone have any suggested settings for the PNG+Alpha QT's?

Thank you!

Re: PNG+Alpha QT

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 6:10 am
by cvanhoose
MadMapper will only allow you to playback one movie file or image at a time.
Are you familiar with the software?
I would use madMapper to "map" your final output of video that is coming from a source using Syphon.
Stay with the recommended codecs.

Re: PNG+Alpha QT

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 9:52 am
by sigmasix
I think you misunderstood what jebidiahmakes does.

PNG with alpha is fine and a must if you need to recompose an exploded texture. This allows to overlay quads and keep the transparency of your different pieces.

Re: PNG+Alpha QT

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 2:53 pm
by cvanhoose
I'm not sure if I did mid understand. I'm thinking flexibility.
A canvas is a perfect idea with a template of the plane and the "decals" in positions.
Are you planning on only using one complete canvas that is a QT or will the images be static?

Re: PNG+Alpha QT

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 6:36 pm
by jebidiahmakes
Thanks for the replies.

I am planning on using one complete canvas that is a QT with an alpha channel. This one QT will have all the parts on the airplane laid out separately in order to make individual quads and then overlay them onto the object.

So, PNG with alpha it is. Any recommendations on settings?