(PNG batch extrusion) Is this possible in Hash AM?

[Shanty]

Not a Hash AM user yet, but I would like to know if this is possible in the software...to import an image sequence of PNG files with alpha and then extrude them as a batch process?

Thanks for any help .

Cheers

Shanty

[robcat2075]

Welcome to the A:M forum! That is an interesting notion!

 

A:M doesn't have a way to create an outline for extrusion from a bitmap.

 

A:M can use bitmaps as "cookie-cutter" decals that make the background portion of an image transparent but this woudl still not help create the extruded sides of a shape that I think you want.

 

A:M also has displacement mapping, where a greyscale image moves teh surface in or out, but this does not work well on images that have sudden transitions from light to dark within a few pixels.

 

A:M can import .ai files to use as outlines for extrusion and other modeling tasks, but that won't help you out with your .png files.

 

Can you show an example of what your image sequence looks like?

[Rodney]

Welcome to the A:M forum.

 

I suppose it depends on what you refer to as 'extrude'.

That might alter the target we want to hit dramatically.

 

The short answer is 'yes, but...'

 

Without knowing more I'd point you to the fact that A:M has long been able to create/export meshes based on images and because these can be exported in sequence they can be driven by an animated sequence.

 

A few additional thoughts:

- PNG is likely not the ideal format so the PNG sequence might need to be converted to another format. (Note that I don't know why PNG tends to break down where other formats don't so I won't speculate on that here) Note also that I'm not saying PNGs cannot be used. They can, in my experience outside of targeting images for web/html may not be the best format.

 

- Grayscale images may work better than color images because displacement specifically uses the gray scale. It will use color as well but you may get some unintended results.

 

- An interim format such as Hash's .PLYH format might need to used to get the initial displaced geometry from the images.

 

- A:M has had the ability to displace geometry upon export for a long time but some releases of A:M handle it better than others. Also, not all formats A:M exports to will process displacement.

 

- Current export to formats such as .OBJ support displacement but I haven't tested those.

 

 

As it is very likely that this isn't what you are referring to I'd love to hear more.

If by 'batch extrude' you mean to place each image in different levels of space then that too can be done.

The primary way I would approach that would be to scale the imported imagery but other processes could be used as well (such as distortion cages).

 

Something that also lends itself to variations on any theme is A:M's file format.

Because A:M files are text files you could batch the process outside of A:M and see it in all it's glory once the file is opened.

 

Tell us more about your goal!

[robcat2075]

 

I'll note that when I say "A:M doesn't have a way to create an outline for extrusion from a bitmap,' I mean... automatically.

 

One can manually trace an image to create a proper outline for extrusion, but it sounds like you wish to get that done many times.

 

If you could show us the image sequence, that would be enormously illuminating.

[Rodney]

It does sound as if by 'extrude' he means trace... as in 'raster to vector' conversion.

I would look for other programs/utilities to do that but there are some round about ways to get that done.

Most of those would start with a template/mesh of some type to begin with however.

Example: Creating terrain from a bitmap via the Terrain Wizard.

That wouldn't directly do the batch processing of serialized sequences of images though.

 

More info/examples needed.

[John Bigboote]

You may want to look into using Adobe After Effects CS6 or CC for this task...

[Fuchur]

adobe illustrator can vectorize from bitmaps but i dont think in a batch type of way. (i may be wrong)

 

after that you can import those vector images and let them extrude or do whatever you want with the resulting splines.