Using actions

[drummerboy678]

Quick question --
I'm doing a lot of frame-by-frame blurring and smudging in Photoshop and I wanted to create an action using the smudge tool. I'm trying to smudge and blur the lines between a character and the abstract background. I don't mind it jittery -- it's an abstract, experimental short. I was just hoping to save some time by creating 5 or 6 actions and rotating between them.

As far as I know, painting can not be recorded using an action. Does anyone know if there are any tricks around this?

Thanks in advance,
Taylor

[drummerboy678]

Shit, I accidently clicked the smiley face right before I posted. Now I'm the wierd member that actually uses those...

[dynamic01]

hmm ill get back to you..on a side note, photoshop is limited in this frame by frame animation..i would recommend finding a .gif animator or learn Adobe Flash

[drummerboy678]

I appreciate the advice... I'm workin under the animation director and he's been working on this film in photoshop for 4 years now... I don't really want to change it now, but you are probably right, considering it's taken him over 4 years to complete it.

Photoshop has a unique look with the smudge tool that I've yet to find in another program... Just hoping to create an action to save some time.

Thanks

[Matt Grunau]

I didn't know you couldn't record painting with an Action. Hmm.

What about if you created a frame for use with the Displacement Map feature?

Take a frame and fill it with medium gray (127,127,127 exactly) and then paint the kind of smudging you want with black, white, or both. Then save it as a .psd.

Create a new action, and then apply the .psd you just created as a Displacement map. You may get some results that are pretty close.

Or, try using the Liquify tool and make an Action with that. You can definately do smudging with Liquify.

[drummerboy678]

Matt,
"I didn't know you couldn't record painting with an Action. Hmm."

You can't as far as I know, that's why I was looking for some alternatives. Thanks for the suggestions, I had never thought of using a displacement map, but that should give me the look I'm hoping for. I will also play around with the liquify filter, as long as I can use it in an action.

Thanks man.

[Matt Grunau]

I just tried it, and you can indeed use the Liquify in an Action.

So, good luck with your results. :thumbsup:

[zoostory]

I mean, there's really no way (yet) for PS to record the brush strokes your brain wants to make - PS needs some sort of algorhythm or pattern to draw from. Thus it does not create actions out of the smudge tool.

If you have the patience, and you are going frame by frame doing custom smudge work, then you will create a work like no other, each frame being truly unique.

If you want to speed it up, sounds like you should really look into After Effects. It's basically PS for motion images. From there, you can lay down strokes and interpolate them over time in many ways, by motion tracking, tweening, etc. Those strokes can be used as masks to overlay just about any effect you want, such as a feathery smudge.