"Stereo Framing - Lesson 3" transcript

©2011 Eleanor (Lea) Tesoro / Opal Lei.  All rights reserved.


00:00 Welcome!  My name is Eleanor Tesoro, known in Second Life as Opal Lei.  This video is part of a series of tutorials on Stereomasken.

00:11 In Lesson 3, we will talk about adding depth to the frame - depth in points and straight edges, in handles and simple curves, in even or symmetric control points and complex curves.

If you have not viewed Lessons 1 and 2, please stop this video and watch those lessons first.

00:31

VIEWING BUTTONS

Before we begin, I want to talk about the basic functionality that we have not covered in the past two lessons.

This button brings up the Settings dialog which we already saw in Edit > Settings.

This is the Undo button and the Redo.

These three groups of buttons change how you view the stereo pair within the program, but they do not affect the photos.

We are in the Cross View mode, but you can also swap the photos by clicking the Parallel View button.  Or, you can view it as an anaglyph with the Anaglyph button.  You can also access the same functionality in the Stereo menu -- Cross View, Parallel View, and Anaglyph.  You get three types of anaglyphs -- Monochrome Anaglyph, Colour Anaglyph, and Half-Tone Anaglyph.  Whichever one you use last is saved as the type for the Anaglyph button.

The Original Size button allows us to view the pair in its original size.  The Fit to Window button automatically sets the size of the pair so both photos would fit inside the window.  The Zoom window allows us to zoom in and out by scrolling the mouse wheel.

However, be careful when selecting points while zoomed in.  The points on the left side might be visible on the right side, and vice versa.  For example, this handle is actually part of the right side photo.

 The Pan View button allows us to move the photos together.  The same functionality is available in the View menu -- Original Size, Fit to Window, and Zoom.  The Shift Window option is the same as the Pan View button.

We already talked about the Transparent Mask in Lesson 1.

The Show Grid button displays a grid over the photos.

Now, let's move on to adding depth to the frame.

3:18

In this lesson, we will walk through the different tools that you can use to add depth to the frame itself.

We have already seen these tools, but we have not explored them.

Let's begin by deleting the existing mask.  We simply select all the points and press the Delete key or click this button or choose Mask > Delete Mask Points.  Then confirm that you want to delete the entire mask.

It is best to define the shape of your frame on the right side to make sure that the objects you want to include are visible inside the frame.  As we've learned in Lesson 1, the points on the left side will move when you adjust the depth.

4:05

ADDING DEPTH TO POINTS AND STRAIGHT EDGES

We're going to start with a frame with straight edges.

I'll set two points behind the mountain and the trees.  two on the right side, making sure that I crop between the small house in the background and this other clump of trees.  Then two to go in front of my avatar.  And two on the left side.

Now, by default, all new points are at the same depth as the original stereo window.  What that basically means is that the distance of the point from the vertical edges of the photo is the same on both sides.  Because our brains determine depth by the horizontal shift, the point will always be the same distance from the upper and lower edges of the photo in both the left and right sides.

All the points are currently far away from the viewer.  Even without crossing our eyes, we know that we're moving a point closer by clicking the Shift in Depth button and moving the point in the left side farther to the left.

To send it back to the same depth as the original stereo window, we simply select the point or points, and click this button, or go to Align > Set Selected Points to Stereo Window.

5:47

(Opal's first secret technique... Sshhh!)

Now, here's an important tip.  It can be difficult to accurately determine the depth of an object.  The best way to do that is to find a distinctive mark in the picture, like an edge that crosses the horizontal of the point you want to adjust.  For example, if I want to move this point to be the same depth as this part of the platform, I can move it to where this edge meets the point's horizontal level.  First, I move the point in the right side, then I adjust the depth by moving the point in the left side to that same junction.

For this point, I can use the tip of the rock as a guide.

Here, I can use the color changes on the rock as a guide.

And I could do the same here.

For very small shifts, it is better to zoom in for more accurate placement of points.

(A tip from Bernd Paksa)

Here's another tip.  You can access several of the available modes by using the right mouse button to cycle through them.  Like this.

This is most useful when you are working with your eyes crossed and you don't want to uncross and cross again, just to find the button in the icon bar.

Now cross your eyes, and you can see that we have placed the points at the right depth simply by getting clues from the picture itself.

8:45

To bring this point forward to the same depth as this one, we can select this point as the reference point, select the second point, and click this button or Align > Adjust Depth to First Selected Point.

And we can do the same for the right side points.

9:15

ADDING DEPTH TO HANDLES AND SIMPLE CURVES

Let's create a curve with this edge.  And choose one of the handles.

This group of buttons allows you to rotate the handle around the control point, while restricting the rotation around a specific axis -- around the Z axis, around the Y axis, around the X axis. 

Now cross your eyes to see how they work.  Around the Z axis, it rotates this way.  Around the Y axis, it rotates this way.  And around the X axis, it rotates this way.

The functionality is also available in the Move menu -- Rotate Along Axis Z, Along Y, Along X.

If we want to bring the handle back to the same depth as the control point, we select the handle and click this button or go to Align > Set Depth of Handle to Control Point's.

Or if we want to set the handle's depth to the same depth as another handle, we select the reference handle first, then we select the handle to align with it, then we click this button, or choose Align > Align Depth with Reference Handle.

11:09

ADDING DEPTH TO EVEN/SYMMETRIC CONTROL POINTS AND COMPLEX CURVES

The same functionality applies to even and symmetric control points and their handles.

(Opal's second secret technique... Sshhh!)

To make this area more interesting, I will create swerving curves with this point as an even control point. 

Now, let's zoom in.

I want to move this point somewhere between these two points.

Then I cross my eyes and set the depth so it's flush against the platform.

Then I uncross my eyes and shape the curves on the right side.

Then I cross my eyes again and adjust the depth of the curves to follow the surface of the platform by manipulating the handles.

It may require some minor adjustments with the position and depth of the control point, or the shape of the curves.

13:51

Now, let's add curves to this side as well.

We have a window violation here because the frame cuts through the rocks.  So let's fix that.

Now make sure that the frame does not go past the edge of the photo on this side

And we do more adjustments.

Now we check for window violations all around, and fix those.

And voila!

14:35

This concludes Lesson 3 of Stereo Framing with Stereomasken.

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My name is Opal Lei.  Thanks for watching.