Using the ArtConverter
Beta Version
The ArtConverter is a Beta version. This means that it has not been fully tested.
If you encounter bugs, then e-mail us at bugreport@vusic.com.
If you have any comments or suggestions, then e-mail us at inform@vusic.com.
Creating Source Files
Adobe Photoshop is recommended for creating source files for brushes and fills.
Source files must be saved as 24-bit Windows bitmaps (BMP). Do not select the
OS/2 file format when saving the file. They must be uncompressed bitmaps. You
may use any paint program as long as you can save or convert the files to 24-bit
Windows bitmaps.
The file name must have a .bmp or .BMP extension. For example: Brush.bmp. The
file name must be 15 characters or less, not including the extension, and must
not include spaces. Use underscores instead of spaces. If the brush source file
has multiple frames, then the source file MUST include the number of frames
at the end of its file name. For example: Fancy_Brush5.bmp. Don't use names
that are too generic like Square.bmp or Clouds.bmp. Since there may be many
variations on a single theme, be more specific. For example: Astral_Quilt.bmp
or Rolling_Clouds.bmp. Upper and lower case is preferred but not required.
Using Color
Color is used to map the pixels to the destination Vusic gradients. To designate
an area for the main Vusic gradient, fill the area with a green-black gradient.
To designate an area for the secondary gradient, fill the area with a red-black
gradient. If the source file is a brush, then the red gradient will use the colors
from the Vusic fill gradient. If the source file is a fill, then the red gradient
will use the colors from the Vusic brush gradient. The gradient should begin with
a fully saturated green (RGB = 0,255,0) or red (RGB = 255,0,0). The gradient should
end with the darkest green (RGB = 0,1,0) or red (RGB = 1,0,0). For best results,
the gradient should encompass the entire range. Do not use pure black in the gradient.
Color rotation travels from the fully saturated color to the darkest color.
Pure blue (RGB = 0,0,255) designates flat color for brushes only.
Pure white is transparent for brushes only.
Pure black remains black.
You can include up to 90 custom colors in your source file. This means sacrificing
the main (green) gradient. The color black is not counted towards the total.
In the case of brushes, white is not counted either. However, white used in
fills is considered a custom color. To reduce a 24-bit image to 90 colors using
Photoshop, open the Indexed Color dialog (Image -> Mode -> Indexed Color...).
Select the "Adaptive" palette option, type 90 in the "Colors"
box, select the "Diffusion" dither option, and click the OK button.
Remember to return the image back to 24-bit when you are done (Image -> Mode
-> RGB Color).
Brushes
Brush art will be comprised of one or more frames against a field of white. The
white is considered transparent. Multiple frames are lined up horizontally like
a film strip. Each frame must have the same width. The total width must be evenly
divisible by the number of frames. The ArtConverter will trim any excess white
space around brush frames. Remember to include the number of frames at the end
of the source file name (before the .bmp extension), if the brush has more than
one frame.
You can also create flat color brushes. When animating in Vusic, the brush is
colored using sequential colors in the current gradient. To designate a flat color
brush, use pure blue (RGB = 0,0,255) in your source file.
Fills
For full screen backgrounds or fills, use a 4x3 aspect ratio. An image size of
640x480 is preferred, but if you want a finer resolution for larger monitors,
use larger dimensions. 640x480 backgrounds will be scaled to fit the monitor.
The following sizes are standard monitor resolution sizes: 640x480, 832x624, 1024x768,
1152x864, 1280x1024.
Backgrounds can also be tiled, which means that repeated sections are drawn
to fill the screen. Any image size that is smaller than 640x480 is considered
a tile. The best tile size is 64x48. The best square tile size is 64x64. Otherwise,
use increments of 64 for width and increments of 48 for height.
Anti-aliasing
When creating source files, some paint operations will create a soft or anti-aliased
edge. This is allowed. You can anti-alias green gradients, red gradients, pure
blue, or black against white. You can anti-alias pure blue against black. You
cannot anti-alias green gradients or red gradients against black. You cannot anti-alias
green gradients against red gradients or vice versa. The ArtConverter will remove
the anti-aliasing for you. However, if you want control over the edges, then turn
off anti-aliasing during your paint operations.
Some Photoshop transformations will automatically mix pixel values. To turn
this off, open the General Preferences dialog (File -> Preferences -> General...).
Under Interpolation, select "Nearest Neighbor" from the popup. This will prevent
Photoshop from mixing pixel values during transformations.
Using the ArtConverter
Open the ArtConverter program. The ArtConverter is found in the same folder as
the Vusic program. From the File menu, select Open... Then select the file you
want to convert. The name of the opened file will be listed at the top of the
window. Select whether the destination file is a brush or a fill. The default
is brush. If the brush has multiple frames, then the number of frames will appear
in the Brush Settings panel. A preview of the brush or fill will appear in the
bottom panel. If the source file uses custom colors, select the "Fixed Colors"
checkbox. If the source file uses a red-black gradient, click the "2nd Gradient"
button.
You can designate that the brush or fill use only a portion of the Vusic gradient.
Type in a number to indicate what portion of the gradient to use. The preview
will update to reflect the change. For multiple frame brushes, the "Spread frames
along gradient" checkbox will spread the frames evenly along the length of the
gradient. If the brush uses flat color, then select the "Blue Mask"
checkbox. If you have one brush frame and you want to multiply it into more frames,
then enter a number in the "Number to multiply frames" box. This is
recommended only if you have selected the "Spread frames along gradient" button.
By checking the "Beat Frame" box, you can designate a special brush
frame that appears only on a beat. This special frame must be the last frame in
the brush sequence. Do not reduce the total number of frames indicated by the
file name. Check the "Palindrome" box if you want the brush to alternate
sequence order between the first and last frames.
When you are ready, select "Save As..." from the file menu to create the final
Vusic file. A file name will appear with the proper extension, with all spaces
removed, and with the frame number removed.
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