EnigmA Amiga Run 1995 November/EnigmA AMIGA RUN 02 (1995)(G.R. Edizioni)(IT)[!][issue 1995-11][Skylink CD].iso/earcd/docs/lwml9505.lha/LWML9505.TXT/[e-mail]_Sat May 20 01:18:09 1995.msg

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Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 04:07:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Joe Angell <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: Joe Angell <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Transp Edge w/Sequence
To: "Bunnell, John M." <[e-mail]>
Cc: 'lightwave' <[e-mail]>
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> I have yet to receive a workable response to a question I had on the
> newsgroup so I'll give it a whirl here. What I want to do is make four
> irregular polys and map a sequence on each one on the same screen. No
> problem so far. The effect I am looking for is feathered edges on each of
> the polys so that the image fades in from black at the edges to a clear
> image on the majority of the poly. Sort of like a Photoshop blending. I have
> tried using a transparency grid texture with varying grid sizes and falloffs
> but everything seems to blend from the center out and negative values are
> not the answer for that. Even if I move the center point it only will work
> for one side and I need a uniform blend from all sides. There must be a
> simple solution for this, isn't there...

I had to do a similar effect for my logo (Technomage Productions).  The
effect consisted of the word MAGE having a cool , shimmering border.
Since the shot was head-on and the camera didn't move, I decided to use an
image map.

the first thing I did was get the shape for the glow, which was simply a
reverse-bevel of the letters for MAGE (re: bevel with size in the
negative).  I gave it the namge MageGlow and saved it.

Remeber that turorial on how to make diffusion maps for spaceships in the
LW 3.0 docs?  I used that technigue to get an IFF image of the MageGlow.
I loaded the object into layout, set the camera zoom factor to 33.3 (which
flattens out the image and reduces perspective warping), and went to
Surfaces.  I set luminosity to 100%, and diffusion to 0%, and color to
255,255,255.  I then framed it nicely (make it take up as much of the
screen as you want detail) and rendered it, saving an IFF picture.

What that gives me is the White word MAGE on a black background.  I loaded
that image into Deluxe Paint IV (since it'll load 24-bit -- takes forever,
though...  If you're using an older version, just us IM R/t or ADPro to
reduce it to a 16-color grayscale).  I set the DPaint scren to the same as
the image I had rendered, and 16 colors (you can do 256 if you have an AGA
machine for a smoother gradient.)  I set the palette to all grays.

OK.  the next part is the easy (and important) part.  I think what I did
was cut the brush out, then changed it to almost black, then stamped it
down exactly over the first one.  without moving the mouse, I hit TRIM (I
think it's shift-O) a couple of times, which trimmed off the outer pixels
of the brush (if you screw up, hitting shift-B brings back the original
brush).  By using Color mode (I think, which ever one lets you paste the
brush in your currently selected color), I trimmed and pasted the brush in
exactly ove the original, shifting the shade toward white until I was
done.  I just cut that out as a brush (going EXACTLY along the edges),
autosized it onto my object, and I was done.

BTW, using a range is probobly easier than doing the above, but that gave
me more control.  If you want more feathering around the edges (rather
than the WHOLE thing being feathered), just add a few more whites to the
end of the range.

Anyway, all that should give you a nice looking, feathering effect on your
object.  This works very well on flat planes and probobly on cylinders --
I've never tried any other objects before (like spheres or human heads...)

Hope this helps...

-- Joe

--
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