Drawing masks

[Jeromy Hopgood]

Hi team,

I am wondering about the possible implementation of the ability to live draw and manipulate masks for video stages. I know this is something I have always preferred in using programs like MadMapper and I was hopeful it might make its way into QLab 5. I am hyper aware of how fraught the "it should be easy" argument is, so I'm not going there... just curious if this is something that has been / is being considered as a feature rollout?

Absolutely loved so many things about using V5 for my recent projection design- native NDI and blend modes make the upgrade more than worth it!

Best,

Jeromy

[Sam Kusnetz]

On Nov 21, 2022 at 12:19:04 PM, Jeromy Hopgood <jeromy...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am wondering about the possible implementation of the ability to live draw and manipulate masks for video stages. I know this is something I have always preferred in using programs like MadMapper and I was hopeful it might make its way into QLab 5. I am hyper aware of how fraught the "it should be easy" argument is, so I'm not going there... just curious if this is something that has been / is being considered as a feature rollout?

It both has been and is being considered!

Absolutely loved so many things about using V5 for my recent projection design- native NDI and blend modes make the upgrade more than worth it!

Thank you!

Sam

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[micpool]

I agree  that a basic mask editor in QLab would be a worthwhile addition, but isn't it likely that,  if such a feature was implemented, it wouldn't be long before users were asking, "Can we have a grid when we draw the mask". "can we apply a gaussian blur to. a mask to soften the edges". "Can we have a better bezier drawing tool etc. Ultimately the only mask drawing interface that would satisfy every user, for every usage, would end up  needing to have the full feature set of  Photoshop or a similar app.

You can draw in Photoshop live on a QLab5 surface,  even if that surface is warped in QLab , just by using NDI Scan Converter on a Photoshop window,  with its output going to a QLab camera camera cue, and enjoy all the features that could possibly appear in a built in QLab mask editor, and a few hundred more besides, right now!

Mic

[Todd Edwards]

Hi Mic,

This I wonderful.  I am wondering how to set that up though.  Is NDI Scan Converter a app or plug in?

Thanks,

Todd

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On Nov 21, 2022, at 1:06 PM, micpool <m...@micpool.com> wrote:

I agree  that a basic mask editor in QLab would be a worthwhile addition, but isn't it likely that,  if such a feature was implemented, it wouldn't be long before users were asking, "Can we have a grid when we draw the mask". "can we apply a gaussian blur to. a mask to soften the edges". "Can we have a better bezier drawing tool etc. Ultimately the only mask drawing interface that would satisfy every user, for every usage, would end up  needing to have the full feature set of  Photoshop or a similar app.

You can draw in Photoshop live on a QLab5 surface,  even if that surface is warped in QLab , just by using NDI Scan Converter on a Photoshop window,  with its output going to a QLab camera camera cue, and enjoy all the features that could possibly appear in a built in QLab mask editor, and a few hundred more besides, right now!

<Screenshot 2022-11-21 at 18.49.47.png>

Mic

On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 5:19:04 PM UTC jeromy...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi team,

I am wondering about the possible implementation of the ability to live draw and manipulate masks for video stages. I know this is something I have always preferred in using programs like MadMapper and I was hopeful it might make its way into QLab 5. I am hyper aware of how fraught the "it should be easy" argument is, so I'm not going there... just curious if this is something that has been / is being considered as a feature rollout?

Absolutely loved so many things about using V5 for my recent projection design- native NDI and blend modes make the upgrade more than worth it!

Best,

Jeromy

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<Screenshot 2022-11-21 at 18.49.47.png>

[Adam Straus]

It's a free app that's part of NDI tools, a set of useful apps for working with NDI video.

- Adam

[Todd Edwards]

Thanks.  I found it.  I am just starting to work with NDI so the is exciting!

TE

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[Kinetic Screen]

Another option would be to instead draw it in After Effects, and use NDI Output plugin that is also included with NDI Tools to output the After Effects preview directly as an NDI Stream.

 

[micpool]

On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 10:24:47 PM UTC kinetic...@gmail.com wrote:

Another option would be to instead draw it in After Effects, and use NDI Output plugin that is also included with NDI Tools to output the After Effects preview directly as an NDI Stream.

That's not quite the same though, because the NDI stream doesn't show paths being drawn or circular and Rectangular mask outlines. It only shows the final rendered frame. (Although it will show shape layers evolving as they are drawn)

If you are drawing Bézier curves in Photoshop (or any other Graphics Program or AE) you will need to be able to see the current cursor position, not just the path. The only way to do this is to NDI scan convert the entire desktop, and then use the geometry in the camera cue to fill your projection surface with just the photoshop image. You can then use an app like xscope (in crosshair mode) or Screen Cursor, which will appear on the NDI feed to your camera cue (the normal photoshop cursor won't).

In this screenshot (you can fit to window to see the whole thing full screen and then zoom in to read any detail):

You can see the red xscope.app crosshairs and the screen cursor.app  green circle appearing on both the projector and the photoshop image, at the position that when clicked would draw the next Bezier point of the  path. You can also see the path so far in blue, and the grid that Photoshop generates. You will also noticed that the stage  is warped in QLab, 

All this makes it possible to trace really complex outlines of set pieces on the projector output , in order to produce a mask that takes account of warping in QLab or any corner pinning or other geometry adjustments on your projector.

Mic

[Marilyn Lowey]

Can I use photoshop live in Qlab 5 without a NDI scan converter?  No camera involved. Just an object that requires a mask around it with a soft edge.  

Kindly advise.

Many thanks,

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[Sam Kusnetz]

On Nov 21, 2022 at 3:33:26 PM, Marilyn Lowey <mar...@marilynlowey.com> wrote:

Can I use photoshop live in Qlab 5 without a NDI scan converter?  No camera involved. Just an object that requires a mask around it with a soft edge.  

No, there is no way to pipe video from Photoshop (or any program for that matter) into QLab without using either NDI or Syphon.

Best

[micpool]

Remarkably, CamTwist.app still works in Monterey (despite the last update being in 2019) and can Syphon a  selectable fixed size region of the screen. As this avoids the need to use the whole desktop and scale in  the QLab camera cue, this is far easier than using the NDI Scan converter method if you want to use screen cursor or xscope to show the current photoshop cursor position in QLab.

The trick is to set CamTwists preferences to the pixel resolution  of your projector, and enable the Syphon output, restart CamTwist and then select Desktop  and untick full screen and resizeable selection (and follow mouse).

Then open a photoshop doc at the projector resolution, view at 100percent, and Select capture area in CamTwist and move the capture rectangle to fit the photoshop image.

Then set the syphon output as the camera input in QLab. 

(No weird  color shifts either using Syphon instead of NDI)

Mic