Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Creating Morphs and Morph Movies

Caricaturing

Dialogs

Drag and Drop Features

Dynamic Morphing

Menus

Special Key Uses

Tool Palette

Warping

Glossary

For Help on Help, Press F1


Creating Morphs and Morph Movies

Creating a Morph involves several easy steps, briefly described below.  For a more thorough explanation, please refer to Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of your manual.

To create a morph, either as a still image or as a movie:

Select the images to be used as sources.  The source images can be of any dimension, both color or black and white.

Open the images in the storyboard window by double-clicking on the Start or End Thumbnails, or by selecting Read Start/End Image from the Sequence menu.

Set the key points and if necessary, join the points with key lines in the Start Image that will move to specific areas in the End Image.  Adjust the corresponding key points/lines in the End Image by selecting the arrow tool and dragging the point to the appropriate position.  This process is crucial to ensure the smoothest possible transition between the two pictures.

To create a single frame morph, select "Morph Image" from the Windows menu to bring up the blank morph image window.  Move the slider of the Morph Image window to the halfway point.  Select "Morph" from the Sequence menu to obtain an inbetween frame in the Morph Image Window.

To create a morph movie, select "Compression" from the File menu and set the frames per second (frame rate), compressor and compression quality.  You may also change the pixel depth.  To set the final size of the movie, select Image Size from the Sequence menu. To save the movie, you must not have any empty or incomplete sequences in your document.  In other words, all sequences in the document must have both a start and an end image.  If a sequence is incomplete, simply delete it from the document by selecting it and pressing the 'Delete' key.  You can also disable the sequence by deselecting the check mark box on the sequence window, or select 'Omit from Movie' in the Sequence Options dialog box.  The movie duration time at the top of the document must also be greater than zero in order to save a movie.  (The duration display shows hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second).  The duration of a sequence is determined by the duration of the start image. To change the duration, click on the top right time duration window of the Start Image.  Clicking on the upper half of the Start Image time display will increase the sequence duration, and clicking on the lower half of the Start Image time display will decrease the sequence duration.

To play a movie created by MORPH, it must have been saved as a Video for Windows (.avi) animation or QuickTime for Windows (.mov) movie.   (You may save the morph animation as a sequence of files or as an Autodesk FLIC animation, but you cannot play these back in MORPH.)  Select "File...Open Movie" and select the Video for Windows or QuickTime for Windows movie from the open movie dialog to bring up the movie player.  Press the play button at the bottom of the window to start the morph movie.


Dialogs

Custom Crossfade Dialog

Image Size Dialog

Open Morph Document

Open Movie Dialog

Open Start/End Image Dialog

Print Flipbook Dialog

Save As Dialog

Save Morph Image Dialog

Save Movie Dialog

Set Compression Dialog

Sequence Options Dialog

Set Colors Dialog


Menus

File Menu

Edit Menu

Sequence Menu

View Menu

KeyPoints Menu

Movie Menu

Windows Menu

Help Menu


Special Key Uses

This section briefly describes the action performed by pressing special keys on the keyboard while the cursor is positioned  in certain areas of the Morph document.

Pressing the TAB key selects the Adjusting Tool if it is not selected; otherwise, it toggles between the Adjusting Tool and the Key Point Tool.

Pressing the CTRL key while creating Key Points automatically joins them with a line.

Pressing the SHIFT key when the cursor is on the Start, End or Morph windows toggles between the currently selected tool and the Hand Tool while the key remains pressed.

Pressing the CTRL key and clicking on a Key Point with the Adjusting Tool selected brings up the Tension slider window.

Pressing the CTRL key and clicking on a Key Line with the Adjusting Tool selected brings up the window to set the number of transformation points per line.

Pressing the CTRL key with the Rotate Tool selected scales the selected points as you move the mouse.  If the SHIFT and CONTROL keys are pressed, the points will be evenly scaled.

Pressing the RIGHT MOUSE button with the Magnifying Glass selected is equivalent to zooming out.

The Clear menu command and the Delete key  are functionally equivalent.

Pressing the RIGHT MOUSE button and selecting Key Points with the Adjusting Tool inverts the selection, i.e., selects deselected points and deselects selected points.

Pressing CTRL + 'Home' is equivalent to the Mark In menu command.

Pressing CTRL + 'End' is equivalent to the Mark Out menu command.

Pressing CTRL + '0' through '9' is equivalent to the Mark '0' through '9' menu commands.

Pressing 'Home' is equivalent to the Go To In menu command.

Pressing 'End' is equivalent to the Go To Out menu command.

Pressing '0' through '9' is equivalent to the Go To '0' through '9' menu commands.

Pressing the "A"  key selects the Adjusting Tool

Pressing the "K" or "P" key selects the Key Point Tool.

Pressing the "L" key selects the Line Tool.

Pressing the "S" key selects the Scissors Tool.

Pressing the "M" or "Z" key selects the Magnifying Glass Tool.

Pressing the "H" key selects the Hand Tool.

Pressing the "R" key selects the Rotate Tool.


Tool Palette

 Adjusting Tool

 Key Point Tool

 Line Tool

 MagnifyingGlass

 Scissor Tool

 Hand Tool

Rotate Tool


Glossary

Adjusting Tool

algorithm

caricature

clip

color shift

crossfade

compressor

dimensions

duration

dynamic image

End Image

flipbook

frame

frame rate

Hand Tool

In Point

JPEG

key frame

key frame rate

Key Point Tool

Key Points

Key Time

Line Tool

Magnifying Glass

matte

morph

Morph Control Slider

Morph Image Window

movie

Movie Duration Display

NTSC

Out Point

PAL

pixel

position shift

QuickTime

resolution

Rotate Tool

Scissors Tool

Sequence

Sequence Duration Display

Source Images

spatial compression

Start Image

static image

Storyboard Window

temporal compression

tension

Thumbnails

Tool Palette

Transform Tool

transition

Video for Windows

warp


Warping

Warping is a special type of image transformation in which the areas around Key Points are distorted from Start Image to End Image according to the current settings in the Custom Crossfade dialog box.  You can distort the colors of the pixels around the Key Points, the positioning of those pixels, or both.

Source Images

Warping can involve using the same or different images for the Start and the End, both static or dynamic.  Using the same image as your Start and End sources, areas of the image can be distorted or "stretched."  Key points are placed in the areas that are to be warped in the Start Image.  Points in the End Image are then moved according to how you want to warp those areas.  You might, for instance, make a person smile or wink, or skew an object.

Different warping effects can be achieved when using two different images for the Start and the End.  There are eight different warping combinations, taking into account both color and points for the resulting transformation.  You could, for example, choose to map the colors from the Start Image to the points in the End Image, making a pale woman dark.

Setting Up a Warp Sequence

A warping Sequence is defined in much the same way as any other Sequence, i.e., loading the Start and End Images normally, placing key points, etc.  You would then select Warp or Custom from the Crossfade submenu of the Sequence menu to specify warping as the type of transformation to be performed.  (The Warp command provides a shortcut for the most commonly selected Warp combination from the Custom Crossfade options -- Crossfade Points, Start Only Colors -- without opening the Custom Crossfade dialog box.)

Besides defining the effect you want to achieve, option selection and Key Point/Line arrangement depend primarily on whether the Start and End Images are the same image or movie.  In the Custom Crossfade dialog box, there are three options to define the use of color from the source images and three options that refer to the use of Key Point positioning information.

Positioning Key Points and Key Lines

The placement of Key Points and Lines is a function of source images and intended result (indicated by the settings in the Custom Crossfade dialog box).  You can deform an image by simply positioning Key Points and Key Lines normally in either the Start or End Image window, and then dragging the Key Points in the other window to new positions.  This is particularly effective when using the same image as both the Start and End sources.  For example, you can make a person blink by outlining the eyes in the Start Image and positioning the same Key Points in the End Image to a horizontal line.

Alternately, to "map" the colors of one source image onto the shape of the other, position the Key Points as you would for a traditional morph (e.g. with faces, match eyes noses and other features.

Please refer to the Topic "Custom Crossfade Dialog" under the Dialog reference of this Help file for a detailed explanation on the different warping combinations.  Also, refer to the section on Warping in Chapter 5, "Special Effects", of your Morph manual for a more examples and discussions on warping.


Dynamic Morphing

A Dynamic Morph is created using animations or movies as sources for the Start and End Images, rather than two still images.  This section describes the steps required to create a dynamic morph sequence.  For a more detailed explanation and tutorial, please refer to the Chapter on Dynamic Morphing in your Morph manual.

OVERVIEW

Whether the source images are static or dynamic, loading the source images, placing Key Points and Key Lines, and setting Sequence and transformation options are all performed in the same manner.  The primary difference between morphing static and dynamic images is the need to update Key Points and Key Lines at Key Times during the movie clip(s).  That is, over the series of source-image frames, the subject or background can change enough to invalidate the positioning of one or more Key Points or Key Lines.  Whenever this occurs, you have to update the points and lines by dragging them to the appropriate locations.

IDENTIFYING KEY TIMES

The first step towards creating a good dynamic morph is to identify the Key Times.  A Key Time is a point in time in one of the source movies when the subject to be morphed changes shape, color or position so much that the Key Points that were previously positioned no longer match the outlined areas.  At that point, the appropriate Key Point's position has to be adjusted, therefore creating a Key Time for the adjusted Key Point(s) at that time.  If a Point or Line is displayed at a Key Time, it will be displayed as a square, otherwise it is displayed as a circle if the Point or Line is not attached to that Key Time.

For example, if you are morphing two moving faces, you may have previously set Key points around the eyes, nose and mouth.  If the face is changing position in each frame of the movie, the originally set Key Points will need to be adjusted to match the new expression or position of the face.  Not all key points need to be adjusted for each frame, though, since Morph will interpolate between Key Times.

WORKING WITH KEY TIMES

You can also establish Key Times for points and lines without moving them:  simply select the desired points/lines with the Adjusting Tool and choose Force Key Time from the KeyPoints menu (or press CTRL + the 'Insert' key).

Copying and Removing Key Times - You can move one or more selected points/lines into the positions they occupy in any marked frame, in either source image.  The Copy Key Time in the KeyPoints menu provides access to two submenus:  Start Image and End Image.  To duplicate the positioning of points and lines in the current frame to match that of a marked frame, simply choose the desired marker number from the appropriate submenu.

To remove Key Time status from any points/lines in the displayed frame, simply select the points/lines and choose Delete Key Time from the KeyPoints menu (or press CTRL + 'Delete').  The KeyPoints are no longer Key Times and they are displayed as circles instead of squares.

Navigating Through Key Times - The ability to jump from Key Time frame to Key Time frame is very useful, letting you track the different positions of a particular Key Point over the length of the movie without having to step through each frame.

When one Key Point is selected, choose Previous Key Time from the KeyPoints menu (or press CTRL + the left arrow key) to move backward through the clip to the nearest KEy Time frame for that point.  Similary, choose Next Key Time (or press CTRL + the right arrow key) to move forward through the clip to the nearest Key Time frame for the point.

If more than one Key Point is selected, Morph will jump forward or backward, according to the command chosen, to the nearest frame containing a Key Time for any one of the selected Key Points.

CHANGING IN AND OUT POINTS

The In Point of a movie clip specifies its starting frame, and its Out Point specifies its ending frame.  The default In Point is the first frame of the clip, and the Out Point default is the last frame.  However, you can change the In and Out Points to use only a specific portion of the video clip by moving the slider to the appropriate frame/time, or changing the timing counter to the right of the slider, and selecting Mark In or Mark Out respectively from the View menu (pressing CTRL + Home is the equivalent for Mark In; pressing CTRL + 'End' is the equivalent to Mark Out).  The Out Point must be later than the In Point.

Note:  By default, the duration for a dynamic sequence is set by the duration of the Start movie.  Thus, by changing the In Point or the Out Point of a Start Image, you change the length of the Sequence.  This in turn changes the Movie Duration on the Storyboard.

SETTING OTHER TIMING MARKERS

The commands in the Mark submenu of the View menu also allow you to set up to ten quick-reference timing markers, for either Start or End Image (marks are assigned to the image in the active window).  To set a mark, drag the Image Display slider, or set the timing counter in the active window to the desired frame/time.  Choose one of the 10 available marker numbers (0 through 9) from the Mark menu.  Pressing CTRL + '0' through '9' is the equivalent of selecting Mark '0' through '9'.

JUMPING TO A MARKED FRAME

The commands in the Go To submenu of the View menu are used to quickly "jump" to any marked frame in the active image, including the In and Out Points.  Simply choose the desired marker number from the submenu to jump to the frame to which that mark is assigned.  This feature is particularly useful when you are adjusting Key Ponts and Key Times for long or complex clips, allowing you to move rapidly back and forth to important frames in the clips.  The shortcut keys for these commands are:  'Home' - Go To In, 'End' - Go To Out, '0' through '9' - Go To the specified marker.

CREATING THE DYNAMIC MORPH MOVIE

Once the key points and lines have been set and adjusted at key times for the dynamic sequence, you are ready to create the Dynamic Morph movie.  Follow the same steps necessary for creating a standard Morph movie in terms of setting compression settings, frame rate, sequence options, etc.  Select Save Movie from the File menu, select the output movie type, and create the movie.


Caricaturing

A caricature is an exaggerated depiction of something in which the prominent features are accentuated.  The most common caricatures are of human faces, but bodies, animals, or inanimate objects can also be caricatured.  Morph can generate caricatures from virtually any pair of static images.  As always, carefully choosing the source images improves the result.

This section briefly describes the necessary steps required to create a Morph Caricature sequence.  For a more thorough explanation, please refer to the section on Caricaturing in Chapter 5, "Special Effects" of your Morph manual.

Background

For a Morph Caricature sequence, a Start and an End Image are still required, but instead of creating frames in between the two images, Morph begins from the End Image and creates a transformation "beyond" the End Image by exaggerating the features indicated by the Key Points and Lines.  That is, Morph determines the transition required to go from the Start Key Points/Lines to the End Image Key Points, and then using only the End Image, continues that transition.  The Start Image color does not contribute to the caricature; only its shape is used.  For example, suppose the Start Image has a wide, open mouth and the face in the End Image has a narrower, closed mouth.  If you place Key Points so they outline each mouth, a normal transition would be from wide, open mouth to narrower and closed.  A caricature would continue this, starting from narrower, closed mouth to end with a very small, pursed or puckered mouth.

Source Images

Because of the nature of the caricature, that is, exaggeration of key features, the choice of source images is even more important than for normal transformations.  As a general rule, images that are morphologically similar will work better than very different images.  For example, two frontao views of faces will produce a better caricature than a frontal view of a face and a profile.  Also, the faces should have the same general placement in the Start and End Images.

Because the Start Image serves as the basis for the caricature, it is important to have a Start Image face that does not have any outstanding features, since Morph will accentuate the differences between the Start Image and the End Image, and it is the features of the End Image that you want to exaggerate.  In other words, a Start Image face should be fairly ordinary.

Morph provides a sample generic image file - 'PRTOTYPE.PCT'.

Placing Key Points

After the Start and End Images have been loaded, Key Points/Lines only need to be placed on the areaas you want to exaggerate.  Thus, if the face to be caricatured has a big nose, and that is the only feature you want to exaggerate, place Key Points/Lines only around the nose in the End Image and adjust the position of the counterpart points in the Start Image.

Areas that do not contain Key Points will remain almost identical, perhaps suffering some minor pull from surrounding areas that do contain Key Points.  To limit this pull, you can place a "fence" of Key Points around the area of the End Image that you want to caricature to prevent any alteration to the area outside of the "fence".

Producing the Caricature

Once you have placed and adjusted your key points, select Caricature from the Crossfade submenu of the Sequence menu.

Open the Morph Image Window, drag the Morph control slider closer to the right, and choose Morph from the Sequence menu.  (When the slider is set all the way to the left, the caricature image will be the End Image.  Any other position of the slider, up to its rightmost position, returns an increasingly exaggerated version of the End Image.)  Notice that only the areas around the Key Points have been exaggerated.

Choose Save Image to save the caricature in the Morph Image window.  Choose Save Movie to save a movie of the transition from normal to caricature.


Drag and Drop Features

When using Morph, you can perform some essential tasks by dragging an area of a window or the entire window from one place to another with the mouse.  This is known as "dragging and dropping."

The following Drag and Drop features are supported by Morph:

Dragging and dropping a file icon from the Windows File Manager to the Start or End Image Thumbnail of a Storyboard Sequence will produce the same result as selecting "Read Start Image" or "Read End Image" from the Sequence menu.  To drag and drop a file icon from the File Manager, double-click the File Manager icon from the "Main" group to start File Manager.  Open the directory containing the file you want to drag.  Make sure Morph is running as a window, and a Morph Document window is open.  Arrange the windows on your screen so that both the File Manager file you want to drag and the Morph application window are visible.  Select the file you want, and while pressing and holding down the left mouse button, drag the file into either the Start or End Image Thumbnail of the Morph Document window where you wish to load the file, then release the mouse button.  Morph will only accept valid source image files.

Dragging and dropping one of the Sequence Thumbnails to another Sequence Thumbnail will load that same image file.  This provides a quick shortcut when doing a Warp sequence using the same image.  To drag and drop a Sequence Thumbnail, press down the SHIFT and CTRL keys, and while pressing and holding down the left mouse button, click inside the desired Sequence Thumbnail and drag the Thumbnail to another sequence Thumbnail window, then release the mouse button..

Dragging and dropping a Sequence window to a Morph Document window will produce the same result as duplicating that sequence.  To drag and drop a Sequence window, press down the SHIFT and CTRL keys, and while pressing and holding down the left mouse button, click inside the desired Sequence window (outside of the thumbnail or time duration areas) and drag the Sequence window to either another Morph Document window, or to the existing Morph Document window if desired, then release the mouse button.  The duplicated sequence will be added to the end of the document.

Dragging and dropping the Time Display Counter of an image window (either the Start, End or Morph image window) to another image window's Time Display Counter will update the image window to that time, relative to that image's duration.  For example, if the duration of the Start Image window is 3 seconds, and you drag a time of 1.5 seconds to the End Image which has a duration of 4 seconds, the End Image's Time Display Counter will be updated to the frame at 2 seconds.  To drag and drop a Time Display Counter, press down the SHIFT and CTRL keys, and while pressing and holding down the left mouse button, click inside the desired Image window's Time Display Counter (the bottom time window on the right), and drag the window to another Image window's Time Display Counter, then release the mouse button.


Adjusting Tool

The tool used to adjust the position of Key Points.


algorithm

Sequence of instructions used to perform a specific task.


compressor

Used to reduce both the size of static images and playback time of AVI movies.


End Image

The ending image to be morphed from the Start Image in a sequence.


frame

A single image in a sequence of images.


Hand Tool

The tool used to autoscroll an image within a window.


JPEG

The Joint Photographic Experts Group.  A file type that uses a lossy spatial compression algorithm providing very good results with still images.


Key Point Tool

The tool used to set Key Points.


Key Points

Each of the points used to define areas in both the Start and End Images that correspond to each other.


key frame rate

The number of key frames per second placed into temporally compressed sequences.


key frame

A sample in a sequence of temporally compressed samples that does not rely on other samples in the sequence for any of its information.  Key frames are placed into temporally compressed sequences at a frequencey that is determined by the key frame rate.  Typically, the term key frame is used with respect to temporally compressed sequences of image data.


Line Tool

The tool used to join Key Points with Key Lines.


Magnifying Glass

The tool used to Zoom In or Out of an image.


matte

A pixel map where the value of each pixel governs the relative intensity of the video data for the corresponding pixel in the result image.


Morph Control Slider

A slider bar found on top of the Morph Image Window used to set what percentage of the End Image will contribute to the morph.


Morph Image Window

The window used to show the resulting morph between the Start and End images.


morph

A two-dimensional, spatially-warped crossfade between two images.  In other words, a mix of two images where elements of each of the two images move to an intermediate position between them.


Movie Duration Display

Display found on top of the Storyboard Window that shows the total movie time.


movie

A stream of image frames depicting animation.


NTSC

Abbreviation for the National Television Standards Committee, the color-encoding method employed by the committee in 1953 in the US for color TV public broadcasting.  It uses a frame rate of 30 frames per second in interlaced mode and at a resolution of 640x480 pixels.


PAL

Abbreviation for Phase Alternation Line (sometimes, Phase Alternating Line), a color encoding system in which one of the subcarrier phases derived from the color burst is inverted in phase from one line to the next.  This technique minimizes hue errors which may result during color video transmission.  It uses a frame rate of 25 frames per second in interlaced mode and at a resolution of 720x576 pixels.


pixel

Short for "picture element," meaning each dot in an image, (whether displayed on paper or on a monitor screen).


Scissors Tool

The tool used to cut lines joining Key Points.


Sequence Duration Display

Display found below the Thumbnails in a Sequence used to set the duration of a Sequence.


Sequence

A Morph transition defined by a Start Image, an End Image, type of transformation, and Key Point/Key Time information.


Source Images

The image files to be used as Start and End Images.


spatial compression

Image compression performed on a single frame basis.  This technique discards redundant data unnecessary to accurately represent the image.  See also temporal compression.


Start Image

The starting image to be morphed into the End Image in a Sequence.


Storyboard Window

The Storyboard window represents each Morph document.  The Storyboard Window contains Sequences which in turn contain two Thumbnails.  The Storyboard Window maintains information on the ordering and duration of each Sequence.


temporal compression

Image compression that is performed between frames in a Sequence.  This compression technique takes advantage of redundancy between adjacent frames in a sequence to reduce the amount of data that is required to accurately represent each frame in the sequence.  Sequences that have been temporally compressed typically contain key frames at regular intervals.  See also spatial compression.


tension

The value used in the Color and Position Shift Sliders.  It determines the percentage of the Start and End Images that contributes to the final morph.


Thumbnails

Each of the black (when empty) square regions in a Sequence used to place a preview of both the Start and End Images.


Tool Palette

A palette containing the tools needed to perform a morph.


transition

The metamorphosis or transformation from Start Image to End Image; see 'Morph'.


Video for Windows

Video for Windows is an addition to the Windows software that integrates time-based data into mainstream Windows applications.  Time-based data can be manipulated in the same ways as any other standard element in the Windows environment.  In Video for Windows, this time-based data is referred to as movies.  Morph is capable of displaying, editing, copying, and pasting movies and movie data in the same way as any Windows application does with text or other graphic elements.


caricature

An image in which one or more prominent features has been exaggerated; the effect can range from subtle to ridiculous.


clip

A series of image frames saved in movie or video format, to be displayed rapidly one after the other to produce visual animation.  Also, a portion of such a movie.


color shift

A Tension parameter controlling the rate at which color values are transformed from Start Image to End Image over the length of a Sequence.  Can be accelerated or slowed.


crossfade

A basic incremental metamorphosis from Start Image to End Image with no distortion.  Refers to both pixel color and positioning.


dimensions

The width and height of an image or animation frame, usually given in pixels.


duration

The length (usually in time, although duration can also be measured in number of frames) from beginning to end of a Sequence or movie clip.


dynamic image

A file containing a series of animation frames.


flipbook

A series of printed images collated and bound so they can be thumbed through manually with the appearance of animation.


frame rate

The number of frames or intermediate images displayed per second of an animation.


In Point

Within a video or movie clip, the frame or time beginning the section of the clip that is to be used.


Out Point

Within a video or movie clip, the frame or time ending the section of the clip that is to be used.


position shift

A Tension parameter controlling the rate at which pixel positions are transformed from Start Image to End Image over the length of a Sequence.  Can be accelerated or slowed.


QuickTime

A digital video- or movie-image format developed by Apple Computer, Inc.  Morph for Windows an open and utilize dynamic images saved in the QuickTime for Windows format, and it can save transitions as QuickTime movies.


resolution

Image quality, usually expressed in pixels or dots per inch (dpi).  The higher the resolution, the better the image quality.


static image

A single-frame, "still" image.  Can be repeated to create a "movie clip" of specified duration.


warp

A transformation in which specific distortion of the image(s) is highlighted.


Rotate Tool

The tool used to rotate two or more Key Points or Key Lines.  Rotation is around the center of the shape described by all selected Key Points and/or Key Line handles.


Transform Tool

The tool used to scale two or more selected Key Points or Key Lines around their common center:  The points or line handles can be moved closer together or further apart.


Key Time

A point in time in one of the source movies when the subject to be morphed changes shape, color or position so much that the Key Points that were previously positioned no longer match the outlined areas.  At that point, the appropriate Key Point's position has to be adjusted, therefore creating a Key Time for the adjusted Key Point at that time.


File Menu

New

Creates  new Morph document.  A blank Storyboard Window named NEWx.MRF (where x denotes the document number) will appear on the screen.

Open Document

Opens a previously saved Morph document.

Open Movie

Opens a previously saved Morph Video for Windows movie.

Save

Saves the active Morph document.  If the document is untitled, then Morph brings up a 'Save As' dialog.

Save As

Brings up a 'Save As' dialog box, where you can enter a name for the active Morph document.

Compression

Brings up the Compression dialog box, used to set the compressor to be used and other compression information, such as quality, frame rate and pixel depth parameters.

Save Image

Brings up a Save dialog box and saves the image in the Morph Image Window as the specified file type.

Save Movie

Brings up a Save dialog box and saves the selected type of movie based on parameters entered in the Duration Displays and the Compression dialog box for the active Morph document.

Print

Displays a standard Print dialog box, letting you print the image in the active window on the currently selected Printer.

Print Flipbook

Displays the Print Flipbook dialog box, letting you print the frames of the selected movie as a series of thumbnail images for collation as a flipbook.

Print Setup

Displays a standard Windows Print Setup dialog box.

Exit

Exits the Morph application.


Edit Menu

Undo

Restores the application to the state it was before the last operation was performed.

Cut

Removes the currently selected sequence (including all related information such as Key Pont placement, image information, etc) from the active document, placing it in the Clipboard.

Copy

Places a copy of the currently selected Sequence (including all related information such as Key Point placement, etc.) into the Clipboard.

Paste

Pastes the Sequence on the clipboard into the active Morph document, placing it after the last Sequence in the document.

Clear

Deletes the currently selected sequence if the Morph document is active.  If the Start or End Image is active, deletes the currently selected key point(s) and key line(s).  The result is the same as pressing the Delete Key.

Select All Points

Selects all Key Points in the active image window.

Select All Lines

Selects all Key Lines in the active image window.


Sequence Menu

Morph

Creates a single transition image between the Start and End images and places the resulting picture in the Morph Image Window.  This image is created by transforming the Start and End Images of the currently selected Sequence using the type of transition selected in the Crossfade submenu and the current setting of the Morph Control slider at the top of the Morph Image Window.

Quality

This submenu contains the commands Low, Good and Better.  The command currently chosen is checked.  This setting controls the display quality of the image(s) generated by Morph.  Use Low for quick tests, Good or Better for creating movies.

Crossfade

This submenu contains the commands Morph, Caricature, Warp and Custom.  This setting controls the type of transition to be performed for the current sequence.  Morph is the traditional Morph transition, Caricature will perform a caricature-type warp of the end image, and the Warp setting will map the points of the start image to the points of the end image, using the colors of the start image.  The Custom submenu will bring up the Custom Crossfade Dialog box which allows you to select from a number of other different crossfade possibilities.

Options

Brings up the Sequence Options dialog, used to set the movie options and timing options for the currently selected sequence..

Add Sequence

Adds a new Sequence to the Storyboard Window.

Duplicate Sequence

Makes a duplicate of the selected sequence.

Exchange

Exchanges the order of the Thumbnails in the selected Sequence.

Bring to Top

Brings the selected Sequence to the top of the Storyboard Window.

Send to Bottom

Sends the selected Sequence to the bottom of the Storyboard Window.

Move Up

Moves the selected Sequence up one place in the Storyboard Window.

Move Down

Moves the selected Sequence down one place in the Storyboard Window.

Read Start Image

Displays the Open Start Image dialog box where you select the image or movie file that is to be used as the start image of the currently selected sequence.  Any previously loaded image file is replaced.  (Ctrl-double clicking in the left thumbnail of the Sequence is a short cut for this command).

Read End Image

Displays the Open End Image dialog box where you select the image or movie file that is to be used as the End image of the currently selected sequence.  Any previously loaded image file is replaced.  (Ctrl-double clicking in the right thumbnail of the Sequence is a short cut for this command).

Image Size

This submenu contains the commands From Start, From End and Custom, which allow you to define the size of the final image or movie.


View Menu

Show Key Points

This submenu contains the commands Points, Lines and Image, as well as Continuous and 50% Crossfade.  The first three commands let you turn off or on display of Key Points, Key Lines and the actual image in the active window.  A check before the command indicates that the item is visible.  (Buttons in the image windows also perform the same functions.)

When Continuous is checked for any Image window, Morph continuously updates the image displayed in the window as you drag the slider; otherwise the image is not updated until you release the slider.  If 50% Crossfade is checked for the Morph Image Window, whdn you move the slider, a simple crossfade of the two source images at that frame is displayed.  That is, a basic morph of the two source frames is displayed as if no Key Points and Key Lines had been placed.

Set Colors

Brings up the Set Colors dialog box, in which the default colors of selected and unselected Key Points and Lines can be changed.

Zoom In

Performs a 2x magnification of the view in the currently selected image window.  Its action is equivalent to using the left mouse button to click the image with the Magnifying Glass Tool.  (Pressing CTRL "+" on the number pad produces the same result.)

Zoom Out

Performs a 2x reduction of the view in the currently selected image window.  Its action is equivalent to using the right mouse button to click the image with the Magnifying Glass Tool.  (Pressing CTRL "-" on the number pad produces the same result.)

Normal Size

Restores the view to normal size in the currently selected image window.  (Pressing CTRL "*" from the number pad produces the same result.)

Time Codes

The options in this submenu let you set the basis of the fractions of a second indicated by all time displays in Morph.  This setting should match the frame rate of the source image(s).

Mark

This submenu lets you assign up to twelve different frame markers, including In and Out Points, in each source image.  (Pressing CTRL + the 'Home' key is equivalent to Mark In; Pressing CTRL + the 'End' key is equivalent to Mark Out; Pressing CTRL + 0 through 9 is equivalent to setting markers 0 through 9.)

Go To

This submenu lets you jump to any of the markers set with the Mark commands (i.e., the marked frame chosen is displayed in the image window).  (Pressing 'Home' is equivalent to Go To In; Pressing 'End' is equivalent to Go To Out; Pressing 0 through 9 is equivalent to jumping to markers 0 through 9.

Link Out Points

Causes Morph to synchronize the source images so both end at the same time--the final frame of each contributes to the final frame of the generated movie.


Movie Menu

Play

Plays the currently open movie.  Equivalent to clicking the Play button in the player window.

Loop

This command will replay the open movie continuously..

Loop Back and Forth

The movie player play the currently opened movie forwards and backwards continuously.

Home

Goes to the beginning frame of the movie displayed in the player window.

End

Goes to the ending frame of the movie displayed in the player window.


Windows Menu

Start Image

Brings up the Start Image window.  When the window is closed, the check mark goes away.

End Image

Brings up the End Image window.  When the window is closed, the check mark goes away.

Morph Image

Brings up the Morph Image window.  When the window is closed, the check mark goes away.

Open Windows List

Lists currently open windows and activates the selected window.


Help Menu

Brings up the Morph Help Index.


KeyPoints Menu

Force Key Time

Assigns Key Time status to the selected Key Points in the current frame (that is, you don't have to move the points).

Copy Key Time

These submenus, one for the Start Image and one for the End Image, allow you to quickly move one or more selected Key Points to match their positions in the chosen marked frame.

Delete Key Time

Removes the Key Time status from the selected Key Point(s).  (Pressing CTRL + the Delete key produces the same result.)

Previous Key Time

Causes Morph to move backward through the clip to display the nearest Key Time frame for the selected Key Point.  If more than one Key Point is selected, Morph will jump back to the closest Key Time frame for any of the selected points.  (Pressing CTRL + the left arrow key produces the same result.)

Next Key Time

Causes Morph to move forward through the clip to display the nearest Key Time frame for the selected Key Point.  If more than one Key Point is selected, Morph will jump forward to the closest Key Time frame for any of the selected points.  (Pressing CTRL + the right arrow key produces the same result.)

Align

This submenu contains the commands Left, Right, Top and Bottom, which let you align two or more Key Points in the active Image window.  For example, if you choose Left, all selected Key Points are moved horizontally into vertical alignment with the leftmost selected Key Point (which itself does not move).

Nudge

This submenu lets you change the position of the selected Key Point(s) by one pixel in the chosen direction.  (The arrow keys in the keypad produce the same result).


Adjusting Tool

The adjusting tool is used to adjust the position of Key Points, as well as select a group of key points and/or lines.  Use this tool to select a key point on the start or end image window and move the point to the appropriate place on the image, or drag the cursor around a group of key points and/or lines to select them.


Key Point Tool

The key point tool is used to set the key points which tell Morph which parts of the Start Image to turn into parts of the End Image.  To create key points, select the Key Point Tool from the Tool Palette and select the area in either the Start or End Image where you would like to place the key point by clicking the left mouse button.


Line Tool

The line tool is used to join key points with a line. These lines can be used to outline image features, providing a path along which Morph will interpolate additional control points.  Key Lines can reduce the number of Key Points you have to place.

To draw a line between Key Points, simply select the Line tool, click a point and then click another.  A straight line is drawn between the two Key Points, and the second Key Point is selected.  (A square handle is displayed on the middle of the line; you can drag this handle with the Adjusting Tool to reshape the curve of the line.)  Click anywhere except on a Key Point to terminate a "string" of lines; you can then click another Key Point to begin a new set of lines.

You can also join Key Points by pressing the CONTROL key while creating points with the Key Point tool.


Scissor Tool

The scissor tool is used to clear or delete a Key Point or Key Line.  To delete a point or line, select the scissor tool from the Tool Palette and click on the point or line handle you want to cut.


Magnifying Glass

The magnifying glass is used to perform a 2x magnification or reduction of the view in the currently selected window.  To perform a magnification, select the magnifying glass from the Tool Palette and click on the image window with the left mouse button.  To perform a reduction, click on the image window with the right mouse button.


Hand Tool

The hand tool is used to autoscroll the image within a window if the image is larger than the size of the window.  To move the image within a window, select the hand tool from the Tool Palette and click and drag the image while holding the left mouse button down.


Rotate Tool

The rotate tool is used to rotate two or more Key Points; rotation is around the center of the shape described by all selected key points.

With the Adjusting Tool, select the Key Points to be rotated, then select the Rotate tool.  Position the cursor on the appropriate image, press the left mouse button, and drag the mouse in a semi-circular motion.  The points are rotated around their common center.  Note that the Rotate cursor can be anywhere over the active image--it does not need to be over a selected key point.

Transform Tool

While the Rotate tool is selected, press the CTRL key to toggle to the Transform tool.  This tool lets you scale two or more selected Key Points around their common center:  the points can be moved closer together, or further apart.  If both the CTRL and the SHIFT key are pressed while the Rotate Tool is selected, the selected points are scaled evenly.


Open Morph Document Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Open Document from the Morph menu.

The file list box will display previously saved morph documents in the current directory if the file type "*.mrf" is selected in the File Type list box.  Open the desired Morph document by selecting the file from the list box and clicking the OK button.


Open Movie Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Open Movie from the Morph menu.

The file list box will display previously saved Video for Windows movies in the current directory if the file type "*.avi" is selected in the File Type list box.  Open the desired Video for Windows movie by selecting the file from the list box and clicking the OK button.


Open Start/End Image Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting Sequence...Read Start Image or Read End Image from the Morph menu or double-clicking with the left mouse button on an empty thumbnail sequence window.

If you are opening the first image for a document, the file list box will display all image files in the current directory for the selected file type.  This will set the image dimensions for the document.

Since all source images composing the document must be of the same dimensions, subsequent Open Start/End Image dialogs for the document will filter out files of invalid dimensions.

Open the desired image file by selecting the file from the list box and clicking the OK button.

This menu selection is available when a document sequence is selected.


Save Movie Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Save Movie from the Morph menu.

Select the type of movie you would like to save from the 'Save File as Type' combo box.  Enter the name you would like the movie to be saved as in the 'File Name' edit box, or select a previously saved movie from the file list box and click the OK button.  If you do not append an extension to the movie name, the selected File Type extension will be appended.

This menu selection is available when a document has at least one complete sequence.  A complete sequence must contain both a start and end image and time duration.


Save Image Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Save Image from the Morph menu.

Select the type of file format you would like the image to be saved as from the 'Save File as Type' combo box.  Enter the name you would like the image to be saved as in the 'File Name' edit box, or select a previously saved image from the file list box and click the OK button.  If you do not append an extension to the file name, the selected File Type extension will be appended.

This menu selection is available when the Morph Image window is displaying an image.


Save As Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Save As from the Morph menu, or after selecting File...Save on a new morph document.

Enter the name you would like the morph document to be saved as in the 'File Name' edit box, or select a previously saved document from the file list box and click the OK button.  If you do not append an extension to the file name, '.MRF' will be appended.


Compression Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Compression from the Morph menu.

The Compressor combo box will display available compressors installed on your system that are registered with Microsoft.

Click inside the "Video for Windows" radio button to display all compressors installed on your system.  If the "QuickTime for Windows" radio button is selected, Morph will display compressors known to be compatible with the QuickTime for Windows movie file format.  Currently, the only compressor that ships with Video for Windows runtime that is compabitble with QuickTime for Windows is the Cinepak Compressor by Supermatch.  If you have installed other compressors in addition to those installed with the Video for Windows runtime that are known to be compatible with QuickTime for Windows, you will need to update the file GRYMORPH.INI located in your Morph directory.  Simply add the driver entry in the Windows SYSTEM.INI file under the [drivers] section to the [QTW Drivers] section in the GRYMORPH.INI file.  If you will be saving your Morph sequence as a QuickTime for Windows movies, you must select only those compressors that are displayed when the QuickTime for Windows radio button is selected.

The Compress Quality scroll bar allows you to set the relative quality of the compressed images.  The higher the quality rate, the lower the compression of the resulting images.

The Frames Per Second (frame rate) will determine how many frames Morph will generate for each second of the movie.


Set Colors Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting View...Set Colors from the Morph menu.

Use this dialog to change the colors of the image's key points and lines.  To change the color of the selected/unselected key points or lines, click on the corresponding color button to bring up the Select Color dialog.  Select the desired color and click the OK button.


Sequence Options Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting Sequence...Options from the Morph menu.

Use this dialog to set various options for an individual sequence in a Morph document.

The movie group box contains two options that come into effect when creating a Morph movie.  Select Force End Image Frame to generate the end image as the last frame of the morph animation sequence, as this is not always the case.  Select Omit from Movie to prevent the selected sequence from being included in the saved movie  You can also check the sequence checkmark from the storyboard window.

The acceleration of the movie may be changed under Timing:

Ease In will accelerate slowly.

Ease Out decelerates slowly.

Ease In/Out accelerates and decelerates slowly.

The default settings are:

Morph Sequence

Do NOT force the end image frame

Do NOT omit the sequence from the movie

Normal timing


Image Size Dialog

This dialog box appears after selecting Sequence...Image Size...Custom from the Morph menu.  Use this dialog to set the dimensions of your morph image window and morph movie.

To change the dimensions of the image in pixels, click inside the 'Pixels' radio button and enter the new width or height size in the corresponding 'Width' and 'Height' boxes.

To change the dimensions of the image by a percentage value, click inside the 'Percent' radio button and enter the new width or height percent in the corresponding 'Width' and 'Height' boxes.

To maintain the aspect ratio of the original dimensions, check the box 'Maintain Proportions'.  If this box is checked, as you update either the 'Width' or 'Height' field, the other field will be automatically updated with the appropriate value.


Custom Crossfade Dialog

This dialog box appears after selecting Sequence...Crossfade...Custom from the Morph menu.  Use this dialog to set the combination of Point and Color information to be used for a Warp sequence.  Refer to Chapter 5, "Special Effects" in your Morph manual for a more detailed explanation of how to create warp transitions.

In a traditional morph transition, the pixels around Key Points and Key Lines are moved over the frames of the Sequence from their positions in the Start Image to their positions in the End Image, and the colors are transformed from one to the other.  The options in the Custom Crossfade dialog box let you define how both point and color information is to be used.

The dialog box has two columns, Points and Colors, with three possibilities:  Crossfade, Start Only and End Only.  This gives a total of nine transformation combinations.  An example of the selected crossfade is displayed as a Morph transition using a red circle as the Start Image and a green square as the End Image.

The Points options operate as follows:

Crossfade - The areas around Key Points and Key Lines transition from Start to End Image "normally" (that is, as they would in a standard transformation).

Start Only - The areas around Key Points and Key Lines in the End Image are moved "backward" so by the end of the Sequence they are positioned as in the Start Image.

End Only - The areas around Key Points and Key Lines in the Start Image are moved immediately so they are positioned as in the End Image; the color transformation then proceeds as specified.

The Colors options operate as follows:

Crossfade - The colors of the Start Image transitions "normally" to the End Image (that is, as they would in a standard transformation).

Start Only - The colors from the Start Image are used throughout the transition; the image is distorted as defined by the Points option.

End Only - The End Image colors are mapped onto the Start Image, and the transition proceeds as defined by the Points option.

CROSSFADE POINTS - CROSSFADE COLORS

This combination is the traditional morph.  When these two radio buttons are selected, the Morph submenu in the Crossfade menu is also checked, and when the menu is selected, the radio buttons will be selected in the appropriate combination.

CROSSFADE POINTS - START ONLY COLORS

This combination produces standard transitioning for Key Points/Key Lines from start Image to End Image, but the colors of the Start Image are used throughout the transformation.  Thus, the final frame of the transition will be the shape of the End Image with the colors of the Start Image.

CROSSFADE POINTS - END ONLY COLORS

In the first frame of the Sequence, the colors of the End Image are mapped onto the "shape" of the Start Image, as distorted by Key Points and Key Lines.  This image is then transformed to the End Image.

START ONLY POINTS - CROSSFADE COLORS

With this combination of options, the "shape" of the Start Image is maintained while the colors transition from the Start Image to the End Image.  The final frame of the Sequence is the shape of the Start Image with the coloration of the End Image.

START ONLY POINTS - START ONLY COLORS

This combination produces a Sequence that uses only the Start Image--that is, the Start Image is repeated in each frame of the Sequence.

START ONLY POINTS - END ONLY COLORS

The colors of the End Image are immediately mapped onto the "shape" of the Start Image, and this image is then repeated over the duration of the transition.  (This image is the equivalent of the first frame of the Sequence when the Crossfade Points and End Only Colors options are selected; it is also equivalent to the final frame when start Only Points and Crossade Colors are selected.)

END ONLY POINTS - CROSSFADE COLORS

The colors of the Start Image are immediately mapped onto the "shape" of the End Image, as distorted by Key Points and Key Lines.  This image is then transformed to the End Image.

END ONLY POINTS - START ONLY COLORS

The colors of the Start Image are immediately mapped onto the "shape" of the End Image, as distorted by Key Points and Key Lines, and thie image is then repeated over the duration of the transition.  (This is the equivalent of the final frame of the Sequence when the Crossfade Points and Start Only Colors options are selected).

END ONLY POINTS - END ONLY COLORS

This combination produces a Sequence that uses only the End Image - the End Image is repeated in each frame of the Sequence.


Print Flipbook Dialog

This dialog appears after selecting File...Print Flipbook, and after selecting a valid Video for Windows movie (.AVI) or QuickTime for Windows movie (.MOV) from the Open Movie Dialog.

The total duration and frames of the selected movie is displayed in the Print Range box.  If you want to print all frames, click inside the All Frames radio button.  Otherwise, if you want to change the number of frames to print, click inside the Select Frame Rate radio button, then enter the number of frames per second you want to print.

For example, if you've created a 5 second movie at 12 frames per second, the total number of frames for that movie would be 60.  If you don't want to print all the frames, click inside the Select Frame Rate radio button and enter a value less than 12.  So if you entered a value of 6, the total number of frames that would be printed for the flipbook is 30.