Here’s what you need to know about the Oasis™ 1.0 Demonstration Version software:
• You have between 10 and 15 minutes to explore Oasis. When the time runs out, the Demo version automatically quits. You can take as many turns as you like, but no turn lasts more than 15 minutes and you cannot save what you create in the demonstration version.
• Certain features are restricted or disabled in the Demo version. (They are fully functional in the Oasis 1.0 software however.) For example, the following File Menu commands are unavailable: Save, Save As…, Save Selection As…, Resize…, Export and Print. The Cut and Copy commands in the Edit Menu are also unavailable.
• When you first run the Demo and open a new document, Oasis restricts the width and height to 400x400. You are also restricted to 400x400 pixels whenever you select the New, Open… and Acquire commands in the File Menu, or the Capture command in the Video Menu.
The material in this file is useful for getting started quickly with Oasis and as a reference while exploring the program. The first three sections, “The Tool Palette,” “The Color Palette” and “The Menus,” are a feature-by-feature description and a valuable reference. The last section, “Tools & Techniques,” describes various settings that can be used with Oasis tools to mimic traditional media and do other special effects. If you read nothing else, READ TOOLS & TECHNIQUES!
When you have finished running the Oasis Demonstration software, contact your Time Arts dealer for purchase information, or contact us directly at:
Time Arts Inc.
1425 Corporate Center Parkway
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
(707) 576-7722
FAX: (707) 576-7731
AppleLink: TIMEARTS
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• Macintosh LC, II, IIx, IIcx, IIsi, IIci, or IIfx computer
• 5 Megabytes of RAM
• Monitor, 640 x 480 resolution or greater
• 32-bit QuickDraw
• System 6.0.5 or later
PAINT/SUPERSELECT MODE
There are two icons at the top of the Tool Palette, which are collectively called the “Tool Mode.” These two icons let you switch between PAINT MODE and SUPERSELECT MODE.
In PAINT MODE, all of the drawing tools paint on the image in the traditional manner. For example, the Solid Brush tool lets you paint using a solid layer of paint, as you might expect it to. In SUPERSELECT MODE, all of the available tools become selection-creating tools which modify the current selection.
THE TOOLS
Below the Tool Mode icons are the selection and painting tools. A brief description for some of the tools is given below.
• The MARQUEE and LASSO can be used to select portions of the image. The Marquee is used to select rectangular, circular, oval or square areas. The Lasso can be used to select irregular areas. Selections may then be turned into masks, video overlays, luminance keys or soft keys. Also, once an area has been selected, you can use an image process on the Area Menu, such as Emboss… or Gradation Fill…, to operate on the current selection. Click on the Lasso tool and hold down the button to bring up its "tear-off" popup menu, which may be torn off the Tool Palette and positioned elsewhere for easy access.
• The TEXT tool can be used to create text (in the current Foreground Color) on an image, using the current font, size, style and density. Text may also be Antialiased.
• The EYEDROPPER will pick up colors from the image, to be used as either the Foreground or Background Color when painting.
• The SOLID BRUSH lays down a solid layer of paint. If you have a pressure-sensitive stylus, you can control the brush size, paint density or color source by varying the pressure exerted on the stylus.
• The EFFECTS BRUSHES provide a variety of tools with unique painting properties, including the ability to tint, colorize or smear the image. You can choose which Effects Brush is used by selecting a brush from its popup menu. Press on the "jar of brushes" button to display the "tear-off" Effects Brush Menu. When this tool is active, the brush that is selected in the menu becomes the active brush. Like the Solid Brush, some of these brushes are also pressure-sensitive, such as the Artist, Reveal and Gradation Brushes.
• The ERASER simply erases the image, leaving Background Color wherever the Eraser has been used. Like the Solid Brush, and like a real eraser, the size and density of the Eraser can be made pressure-sensitive. This allows portions of the image to be erased gradually.
TOOL PREVIEW
Below the tool icons is a Tool Preview display. In this area, the current tool’s name is shown above a shape that represents its current size. As you change a tool’s size, this display changes accordingly.
TOOL SIZE
Below the Tool Preview is the Tool Size Slider, which is used to adjust the current tool’s size.
TOOL DENSITY
A Tool Density Slider appears below the Tool Size Slider. By increasing or decreasing the tool’s paint density, the paint that is applied by the tool will become more or less opaque.
TOOL ATTRIBUTES
You can set the attributes of the current tool using the Attributes Menu button, located near the bottom of the Tool Palette just below the size and density sliders. The attributes are ON/OFF settings that effect the behavior of a tool. Tool attributes that do not apply to the current tool are grayed out.
Press on the Attributes Menu button to display its "tear-off" popup menu. Select as many tool attributes as you wish; their effect is cumulative. By setting a tool's attributes you can simulate the look of traditional media, such as watercolor, oil, chalk or pastel.
If you have a pressure-sensitive stylus, you can vary the pressure exerted on the stylus to control the size of the brush or the density of the paint laid down. In general, greater pressure will increase the tool size or paint density (or both) up to the maximum size or density set on the Tool Palette’s sliders. The brush's paint color can also be varied with pressure. When Pressure-Gradation is on in the attributes menu, lighter pressure causes the brush to paint with the colors at the beginning (left side) of the gradation; greater pressure causes the brush to paint with the colors that are farther toward the end (right side) of the gradation.
Brushes may be given the Continuous attribute so they don't leave individual pads of paint, and they can be given the No Buildup attribute so that semi-transparent strokes don't create darker areas where they overlap, unless the stroke changes direction.
MASK MENU
Masks are used to protect a part of your image from being drawn on. The Mask Menu button is located beneath the Attributes Menu button on the Tool Palette. Like the Attributes Menu button, it displays a "tear-off" menu when pressed. The items in this menu let you turn masking ON or OFF and set whether the masked area is the area inside of the selection or outside the selection. There are also items in this menu to allow you to create a mask in the shape of the current selection, and to derive the current selection from the masked area, which is helpful if you wish to image-process the masked area or save it in a file.
With the Color Palette you can mix new colors to paint with, store colors for later use and create smooth gradations between colors.
COLOR BOXES
The Color Boxes in the four columns at the left of the Color Palette provide a set of standard colors to choose from and make it easy to store your own custom colors for later use. Color Boxes may be dragged to various places on the Color Palette. They may be dragged into each other, into the Foreground or Background Color Boxes, into the Gradation Bar or into the Mix Area.
FOREGROUND / BACKGROUND COLOR BOX
The color in the Foreground Color Box shows the current drawing color. The color in the Background Color Box shows the color that will be revealed by the Eraser or by cutting, clearing or moving a selected portion of the image. They can easily be changed by dragging a new color to the appropriate box.
MIX AREA TOOLS
The Mix Area Tools can be used to create new colors in the Mix Area. Any of these colors can then be used as the Foreground, Background and gradation colors. The four Mix Area tools are: the Airbrush, Smear Tool, Eyedropper and Zap Tool.
GRADATION BAR
The current color gradation is displayed above the Mix Area in the Gradation Bar and is used by tools which use gradations. The Gradation Bar creates a smooth gradation between two or more colors.
COLOR SYSTEM
Use the Color System "tear-off" popup menu to set the attributes of the Color Sliders, choose colors from alternate color systems, get colors or swatches of images from the Clipboard, or reset the Color Boxes.
Colors can be displayed and specified in either HSV, RGB, CMY, HLS. In any color system, you can limit colors to video-legal only. Additionally, colors may be chosen using any installed system Color Picker (such as the ones from Apple or Tektronix). The color system that you select will be displayed beneath it.
COLOR SLIDERS
The Color Sliders, located at the lower right of the Palette, can be used to change the Foreground Color. Each slider represents a component of the color system that is currently being used.
PAGE TURNER
The Page Turner lets you flip back and forth through the eight pages of the Color Mix Pad. Each page consists of a Mix Area, a Gradation Bar and a set of Color Boxes. All of the pages of the Color Mix Pad are saved to disk as you flip through the pages.
Many unique features in Oasis are available by selecting the commands in the menus. Remember, in the Demo version, some of the menu commands described below will be unavailable. They are fully functional in the Oasis 1.0 software, however.
APPLE MENU
The first item in the Apple Menu gives you access to a dialog box that tells about Time Arts and the creators of Oasis. You may be familiar with this as the “About Box.”
FILE MENU
The items in the File Menu let you create new documents, open existing images, save images or parts of the image that you are working on, set the document's size or pixel depth, print images, access input and output devices with PhotoShop-compatible Acquire and Export plug-in modules, and quit from Oasis.
EDIT MENU
Items in the Edit Menu let you undo the last operation performed, cut, copy, paste or clear selected areas of the image. You can also select the entire image, select the area affected by the last operation, select any area which is not currently selected, set your preferences regarding how Oasis operates and show the Clipboard.
AREA MENU
The Area Menu provides a set of image processes which operate on the current selection. The items in this menu will be dimmed and unavailable if there is no current selection. Image processes allow you to emboss, soften or sharpen the image, adjust its brightness or contrast, turn color images to gray-scale images, apply certain effects brushes to the selected area, fill an area with a color gradation, or adjust the saturation of the area.
TEXT MENU
The items in the Text Menu allow you to change the font, size and style of text created by the Text tool. You can also antialias text to give it smoother-looking edges.
VIDEO MENU
The Video Menu contains video-related commands, including frame capture, incoming video display and key-channel support, such as overlay of soft-edged or semi-transparent graphics on incoming video.
WINDOWS MENU
The Windows Menu contains commands which allow you to fill the entire screen with a document, hide the Menu Bar, hide all of the palettes, make the top document semi-transparent so you can trace from documents which are under it (using the Lightbox command), and hide or show the palettes and Memory Available window.
This section describes how to configure Oasis tools to mimic traditional media and more. As you experiment with these techniques, the importance of a pressure-sensitive stylus and tablet should be very apparent. You really need one of these to fully appreciate the power of Oasis — if you do not have one, you should get one.
You should treat the settings described below only as starting points for further exploration. Try these settings, but don't stop there; experiment with the many different combinations of options and settings to produce your own unique variations.
WATER COLORS
It is fairly simple to produce a watercolor-like effect with Oasis. Using a solid brush of any size, simply set the density slider to about 30%. In the Attributes Menu, turn the Pressure-Gradation and Pressure-Density options off; Pressure-Size may be either on or off. You can soften your brush strokes with the Smear Brush if you like.
Now try something impossible in traditional watercolor; the Eraser. In the Attributes Menu, set Pressure-Size and Pressure-Density on and erase away.
CHARCOAL
By choosing black or dark gray as your Foreground Color, you can use the Solid Brush to simulate charcoal. Set the Density slider to 100% and turn the Pressure-Size and Pressure-Density attributes on. Pressure-Gradation should be off.
Using brush sizes smaller than 15 will yield strokes that most closely resemble charcoal. By adjusting the density level, you can easily adjust the hardness of the charcoal. (Lower density gives harder charcoal.)
OILS & ACRYLICS
To achieve an effect which is similar to painting with oils or acrylics, start by creating a gradation in the Gradation Bar that contains two similar colors. Position the lighter of the two colors at the left end of the gradation bar and the darker color at the right end. These two colors, and the colors between them in the gradation, are the colors with which you will paint.
Select the Solid Brush from the Tool Palette. Use a medium size brush (Size 12 - 18) and set the density to 100%. In the Attributes Menu turn on Pressure-Size and turn off Pressure-Density. To make the color you are painting with come from the Gradation Bar instead of the Foreground color, turn Pressure-Gradation on.
PASTELS & CHALK
A pastel or chalk-like effect can also be obtained with the Solid Brush. Turn on Pressure-Density and Pressure-Size. Pressure-Gradation should be off. Set the density very low (5 - 10%) and set your brush size to about 15.
PENCIL
The Solid Brush can also be used to simulate pencils. Choose black or a dark gray as your Foreground Color. Set the Density slider to 100% and turn on the Pressure-Size and Pressure-Density attributes. Set the Size slider to 2 or 3. Pressure-Gradation should be off.
By adjusting the density level, you can easily adjust the hardness of the pencil. Lower density will produce a harder pencil. Increasing the size slightly will “dull” your pencil. Use different Foreground Colors to get colored pencils.
TRACING
The Lightbox command in the Windows Menu lets you position one document semi-transparently over one or more other documents. You can use it for image alignment prior to using the Reveal Brush or the Reveal… command from the Area Menu, or you can use it for tracing.
With at least two documents open, position one over the other and select Lightbox. The active document window becomes semi-transparent, revealing the document window behind it.
Select the Artist Brush, Airbrush or Solid Brush and trace over any part of the image which is showing through the frontmost document from the document(s) below. Now turn Lightbox off. The front document window is no longer transparent and the traced area now appears in the frontmost document!!
