Index
Andromeda's 3-D Filter Help Index

Welcome to the help system for the Andromeda's 3-D Filter. Scroll down to see  more help topics. Click the mouse on green text to jump to descriptions for  each topic.

Help Topic Categories

Preview Window and C(ursor) Checkbox

Wireframe Window

Preview Revert, Cancel, FastView and OK Buttons

Model Check Buttons (Surface, Colors, Grids, Photo)

Render Check Buttons (Viewpoint, Shading, Display)

Default, Save and Restore Buttons


Preview Window

Reference:

Low Res Input Photo, Low Res Output Photo, Revert Button, Surface  Limit Lines, Surface Break Lines, C(ursor) check box, "X" or  Crosshair cursor, Swatch window.

The Preview Window on the left side of the screen shows the  Input Photo, which is a low res of the active Photoshop  image when the Filter is initially selected. When you click on the  Preview or FastView button, the Preview Window also shows a  low res rendering of the Output Photo.

The Input Photo shows the following visual aids superimposed on top  (Use the Revert button to re-display the Input Photo):

 	Surface Limit Lines showing boundaries of the selected surface.  Use these to determine which parts of the Input photo are on which  sides of multi-sided surfaces such as the Box and Cylinder.

 	Surface Break Lines show explicitly with diagonal hatched lines  where the discarded photo sections are when the Input Photo is  wrapped on the Cylinder or Box.

 	"X" cursor or Crosshair cursor. The C(ursor) check  box may be toggled to choose either an "X" cursor or a Crosshair  cursor displayed superimposed on the Input Photo. When you move  either cursor, they behave similarly to the Photoshop Eyedropper tool,  by picking up the Input Photo color under the X (the hot spot being  the intersection) and displaying it in the Swatch Window (the  small window below the Wireframe window).


Wireframe Window

Reference: Input Photo, Viewing Frame, Light Source (p.o.l.),  Green Oval, Dotted Red Oval, Yellow Cross, Hollow Yellow Cross.

The Wireframe on the right side of the screen can be constantly  monitored when adjusting the Filter slider (parameter) settings; its  state immediately reflects changes in those settings. The Wireframe  display shows the following regardless of which Surface is selected: an  Input Photo wrapped on the surface and a Viewing Frame  as a dashed rectangle with same aspect ratio as the Input Photo. The  Viewing Frame determines the rendered Output Photo size and area;  click down and drag any side or corner to zoom in or out on the scene.  (If you cannot see it, retrieve it by dragging an arbitrary point at the  corner or side of the window toward the center). When the Light  Source (p.o.l.) is positioned such that greater than 50% of  illumination falls on the surface, the Wireframe contains that area  with a Green Oval. Any part of the Oval that lies beyond the  displayed bounds of the surface is shown with a Dotted Red  Oval. The Light Source (p.o.l.) illumination also bounces off a  selected surface as a glossy highlight (a hot spot) at the same angle  as it came in. This reflection position is displayed by the Filter as a  Yellow Cross. If the center of the cross is either beyond the  surface boundaries or hidden by the surface itself, it is shown as a  Hollow Yellow Cross.


Preview Buttons

Reference: Low resolution rendering, interrupting Preview or  Fastview, final full resolution rendering, Output Photo.

The Filter will display a low resolution rendering of the scene  contained by the Viewing Frame if you click the FastView or  Preview buttons. The filter will interrupt the Fastview or Preview  if you click anywhere in the dialog box, incuding any other button.  The Revert button causes the Preview window to re-display the  original Input Photo with superimposed visual aids: "X" or Crosshair  cursor, Surface Break lines and Surface Limit lines. The Cancel  button exits the Filter and puts you back in Photoshop; any changes  you made to the slider settings before you clicked on Cancel will not  be saved unless you did a Default/Save. Clicking on the OK  button saves the parameter settings for the current surface and  computes the final full resolution rendering of the scene inside  the Viewing Frame; the Filter then exits and control is returned to  Photoshop which displays the full resolution Output Photo. The  Output Photo from the Filter is rendered the same size as the Input  Photo.


Model Check Buttons

Reference: Surface button and related buttons-Show, Cylinder,  Plane, Sphere, Box, Anti-alias with Backdrop; Autosize; Color button,  "Swatch to Button" and "Button to Swatch" contact buttons, RGB  sliders, Alpha Channel, Swatch Window, Host  Foreground/Background, cursor sampled color; Grid button and related buttons-Surface Grid, Photo Grid, and sliders:  Line Width, Spacing, Number and Length; Photo button and related  buttons-Show, Tile, Drop dropout color, Drop other colors, Tolerance  slider, Shift, Scale, Shift to Origin.

Surface button: Clicking on it displays the Show, Cylinder,  Box, Plane, Sphere and Anti-alias with Backdrop buttons.  Clicking on any of the four surface buttons selects the working surface  with the Input Photo automatically wrapped on it. If you unchecked  the Show check box, only the Input Photo and/or Grids will be  rendered, wrapped as if on an invisible surface.

Cylinder button: Clicking on it displays six surface modes; each  provides a way to wrap the photo onto the surface of the cylinder. You  can place the Cylinder surface into any mode by clicking on the  following buttons:

Side Only button: photo is wrapped onto the side only Side+Polar button: photo maps onto the side and flows onto the  top, converging toward the north pole with distortion Side+Top button: photo is wrapped onto the side and top Top Only button: photo does not appear on the side, only on top Top+Lip button: photo flows off the top with no distortion,  continuously down to the upper part of the side, called Lip, with some  distortion on the lip

Top+Lip+Side button: combines Top with Lip which is adjacent  to but discontinuous with undistorted mapping on the remainder of the  Side.

Decreasing Top and Bottom slider lowers the height of the  cylinder; use both when adjusting height. Decreasing Radius and  Lip slider makes the cylinder thinner and Lip area smaller  respectively

Box: Clicking on it shows a box with three sharp edges, denoted  X, Y, and Z; and three faces, denoted XY, YZ and ZX. The positive  values of the box axes come forward out of the screen. The Box has  four surface modes, each providing a way to wrap the photo to its  surface (in either case three visible sides of the box are wrapped, not  all six sides):

Wrap Corner places the Photo continuously on the Surface with  some distortion at the origin. The Cutout X (Y, Z) modes  automatically wrap the photo on three visible sides without distortion;  however, an appropriate quadrant of the photo must be Cutout to  achieve the desired wrapping ... just as you would have to when  wrapping a square or rectangular paper onto three sides of a box. Use  the Surface Limit and Surface Break lines (click on Revert) displayed  on the Input Photo to see where the photo wraps on the Box surface.  (If the four wrapping modes are not your cup of tea, there is complete  freedom to shift, scale and rotate the Input Photo anywhere on the  visible surface using Photo/Shift button). To change the shape and size  of the Box, adjust the X Size, Y Size and Z Size sliders.  The Autosize button causes the Plane or Box surface edges  to move in until it hits a boundary (edge) of the Input Photo. Autosize  is useful to quickly adjust the sides and then fine tune. (If you are  using it to hide the Surface, instead consider making the surface  invisible by unchecking the Surface/Show check box.)

Plane button: Clicking on it accesses Left, Right, Top and  Bottom sliders to adjust any side and change the size of the  plane. In the Wireframe window, at the default settings you see the  Input Photo with an Origin at the center of the plane (lying in z=0).  For Autosize button see Box.

Sphere: Clicking on it shows a Sphere with Latitude and  Longitude lines (same as in geography) in the Wireframe  window. When set to default you see the Input Photo X coordinates  mapped to degrees of Longitude, Y pixels mapped to degrees of  Latitude. The Radius slider may be used to size the sphere. If you  want to re-size (scale) the photo, use Photo/Scale button. If you need to  anamorphically or proportionately scale the Sphere use the  Display/Scale button.

Color Button: Clicking on it accesses two columns of buttons  adjacent to the labels "Swatch to Button" and "Button to  Swatch". These are momentary contact buttons. If you click  on any of the buttons in the Swatch to Button column, the color of the  Swatch is transferred to the color of the corresponding Filter element.  The column labeled Button to Swatch transfers Button color to the  Swatch. The buttons colorize the elements they represent. Suggested  methods to colorize elements: -use the RGB sliders to mix colors in Swatch Window and  then transfer to Button. The Backdrop may be used to define an  Alpha Channel if you colorize it with a solid color dissimilar to  any in Input Photo or Surface. -click on Host Foreground/Background to transfer color to  Swatch window and then to Button -Move the cursor over the Input Photo, it behaves like the Eyedropper  tool but continuously samples Input Photo color and transfers it  to the Swatch window; from there you can transfer to a Button.  Grids Button: Clicking on it accesses Line Width, Spacing,  Number and Length sliders. The Line Width is pixel width of  the grid line. Slider setting of 10 is 1 pixel. A one (1) pixel line will  break up due to perspective and foreshortening so the default is set to  20 or 2 pixels. Spacing controls the spacing between grid lines; as an  example, for the Sphere, Spacing =30 would mean that each Latitude  (and Longitude) line is spaced 30 degrees apart so between the equator  and north pole you should see 3 latitude lines. Number controls the  number of line segments between intersections. Length is length of  each line segment, so you can have short or long dashes or continuous  lines; to get a continuous line set Length to be large and Number to be  1 or 2. If you want just the edges of Box emphasized with lines, set  Length equal to 0 and Line Width to default value 20 or more.

Photo Button: Clicking on it accesses Show, Tile, Drop  dropout color, Drop other color, Shift, Scale and Shift to Origin  buttons and related sliders to manipulate the Input Photo. The  active Photoshop image is the Input Photo to the Filter; it is shown  automatically wrapped on the surface with its upper left edge  accentuated by heavy black line. On the Box and Cylinder, the selected  surface wrapping mode (see Surface) will automatically wrap the Input  Photo. The Input Photo is generally a 2D image with four sides; if it is  a irregular sided Photoshop selection, you must paste it into a white or  solid color background with four sides before importing it into the  Filter. (Then use the Drop dropout color feature to remove the  background). If Show checkbox is disabled, the Photo will not  show on the surface and none of the buttons and controls above will be  accessible. Click on the Tile button to repeat or tile the Input  Photo over the entire visible surface. If the Drop dropout color  button is clicked, the color set in the Color/Dropout contact button  is removed from inside the Input Photo (leaving the area transparent).  The Drop other Color button will remove all colors other than  the color set in the Color/Dropout contact button. The practical use of  this feature is to drop out solid color background surrounding a  foreground image in the Input Photo; after using the Dropout feature  you may notice some fringe (anti-aliased) pixels surrounding the  foreground image, to remove most of them use the Tolerance  slider. The Tolerance slider has a range from 0 to 255 and works  similarly to the Photoshop Magic Wand Tolerance settings. The  Photo/Shift button accesses Horizontal, Vertical, and  Angle sliders. These sliders move the Input Photo anywhere on  the selected surface. The Shift button may be used to unwrap the Cut  X(Y,Z) mode wrapping on the Box and shift the whole photo  elsewhere. The Photo/Scale button scales the Input Photo using  the Horizontal, Vertical and Overall sliders. Overall slider scales  in both the Horizontal and Vertical direction maintaining aspect ratio  of the Input Photo. (The default size of Input Photo wrapped on the  surface is half the Surface size; you may scale the surface to fit the  photo or vice versa; if you are using it to hide the Surface, instead  consider making the surface invisible by unchecking the Surface/Show  check box.) If you drag the cursor onto a feature seen in the Input  Photo, and clicked on Shift to Origin button, the photo  automatically shifts so that the feature is exactly at the Origin. This  assists in aligning a feature for special effects and package design.


Render Check Buttons

Reference: Viewpoint button and related sliders for Rectangular,  Cylindrical, Spherical coordinate systems, Caution POV inside  surface; Shading button and related buttons -Enable, Effects(and  related sliders Amb-Surf:, Amb-Photo), photo too dark, shading and  high ambient setting, Light Source (p.o.l.), matte shading, glossy  shading, Green Oval, Yellow Cross, Dotted Red Oval, Hollow Yellow  Cross, controlling size and intensity of glossy shading (Spread and  Glare slider), positioning matte shading, Bright Surface, Bright Photo,  Caution Light Source inside surface; Display button and related  buttons Shift, Scale, shifting surface in its background, rotating for  mirror variations, anamorphic scaling for surface variations.

Viewpoint button: The Viewpoint button within the Render  Button Group provides access to three Coordinate systems:  Rectangular, Cylindrical and Spherical, each describing a  unique way of changing Point of View (POV). When you change POV  using any of three coordinate systems, you move so that you are  always facing the 3-D Origin, so the scene will appear to twist. To  change POV, you can use any coordinate system with any surface;  Rectangular coordinate system is the best for the Plane and Box,  Cylindrical coordinate system is most intuitive for the Cylinder and  the Spherical coordinate system is most natural for the Sphere. The  Filter default is set to Spherical coordinate system because it works  best for all Surfaces. However it is best to use Spherical/Distance when  adjusting POV distance and the surface's natural coordinate system for  other repositioning; as an example, for the Box surface, start with its  intuitive Rectangular Coordinate system, then click on Spherical  Coordinates to adjust POV Distance. If necessary click back to  Rectangular coordinate system to adjust POV based on easily  controlled X, Y or Z axes movements.

The Filter provides Three-Point Perspective, which is a fully general,  physically correct form of perspective. When you change Viewpoint  and get closer to the surface, the Wireframe window correctly shows  the surface getting larger as you approach it. This is not a just a  change in scale, but an actual closer view.

Caution: If you bring the Point of View (POV) close to the surface,  and keep reducing the distance, the POV enters the surface. The Filter  currently does not support POV inside the surface.

Shading button: Clicking on it accesses various buttons and  sliders for shading the surface and/or photo wrapped on it: Enable,  Effects, Light Source (p.o.l.) buttons and access to three  Coordinate systems: Rectangular, Cylindrical and  Spherical, each describing a unique way of changing the position  of the Light Source (p.o.l.).

You click on the Effects button to access controls that adjust the  Ambient light source. This is a uniform non-directional light  source. The Amb-Surf: slider adjusts intensity on the Surface and  Amb-Photo: slider on the Photo. The default Amb-Photo: is set  slightly higher than Amb-Surf: setting to show off the shading. If  the Photo appears to dark increase the Amb-Photo: slider value.  (Setting ambients to values above 30 can cause the intensity to  overwhelm any shading).

You click on the Light Source(p.o.l.) button to access three  coordinate systems that adjust the position of a white Light Source. To  adjust position, you can use any coordinate system with any surface  (similar in concept to Viewpoint changing); The Rectangular  coordinate system is the best for the Plane and Box, the Cylindrical  coordinate system is most intuitive for the Cylinder, and the Spherical  coordinate system is most natural for the Sphere. The Filter default is  set to Spherical coordinate system because it works best for all  Surfaces. However it is best to use Spherical/Distance when adjusting  Light Source (p.o.l.) distance and the surface's natural coordinate  system for other repositioning

For any surface, the Light Source provides two lighting effects. The  first is a normal matte shading on a surface; the second is a  glossy or highlight shading also on the surface. The surface area  containing the brightest matte illumination is shown by a Green  Oval, while position of glossy shading is shown by a Yellow  Cross. When matte shading goes off the surface it is represented by  Dotted Red Oval; when the center of the glossy shading is  outside the surface boundaries, you will see a Hollow Yellow  Cross.

For multi-sided surfaces, such as Box and Cylinder, when the Light  Source (p.o.l.) is not falling on the surface you will see multiple Dotted  Red Ovals and Yellow Hollow Crosses, a pair for each surface side,  but only one Green Oval and Yellow Cross when the light source is  illuminating the surface. Since there is one light source, you can  illuminate any one Box or Cylinder side at a time. To illuminate two  sides you will need to place the Illumination at their edge. Just as in  real life, matte shading of a point does not depend on changes in the  Viewpoint (POV); however, glossy shading depends on the Viewpoint  (POV) and the position of the Light Source (p.o.l.).

To control the size and intensity of the glossy shading, first click  on Shading/Effects button and then adjust the Spread slider and  Glare slider.

To position matte shading where you want it, first click Light  Source (p.o.l)/Spherical and then reduce the Distance slider to get the  Green Oval on to the surface. Then change to the native coordinate  system and move the Green Oval and Yellow Cross anywhere on the  selected surface. Since the Yellow Cross depends on Viewpoint and  position it may not always follow the Green Oval but will be close to  it. For the Box surface, click on Move Oval & Move Cross to  buttons, then adjust if necessary using native Rectangular coordinate  system.

If you bring the Light Source (p.o.l.) close to the surface (the Green  Oval should appear small on the surface), and unchecked the Bright  Surface and Bright Photo check box you will see a ringed  spotlight effect with dramatic shading fall off (try it with very low  Amb-Surf: and Amb-Photo settings.).

Caution: If you bring the Light Source (p.o.l.) close to the surface, and  keep reducing the distance the Green Oval will become smaller until it  disappears because it entered inside the surface. The Filter currently  does not support Light Source positions inside the surface.

Display button: Clicking on it accesses Shift and Scale  buttons and related sliders. The Shift button related  Horizontal and Vertical sliders shift the surface on its  background; use it to shift the surface or scene back to the center or  away to the side after Viewpoint changes. The Angle slider will  rotate the surface; use it to get more perspective variations and mirror  image variations.

The Scale button will change the magnification of the Output Photo.  Use the Horizontal and Vertical sliders to anamorphically  scale the surface for more shape variations. (Any photo on the surface  will get scaled as well, so you may want to disable Photo/Show and use  it to get different colorized surface shapes.) As an example, using the  Surface/Sphere and then Display/Scale/Vertical you can reshape it  look like an ellipsoid. (Moving the Viewing Frame is exactly  equivalent to using the Display Scale and Display Shift sliders; it is  more convenient but is limited in range compared to the Display  sliders).


Default, Save and Restore Buttons

Default button: The Filter saves the slider settings for the current  surface when you click the OK button to render the Output Photo. This  allows you to re-enter the Filter with all settings the same as when you  left it. This is useful when you need to make slight adjustments to the  Output Photo (and re-render), however when you need to create a new  scene, you may want to set the Filter back to its default settings. The  Default button allows three levels of resetting the parameters and  sliders to their default values:

Settings displayed on the screen button. This resets the sliders  you are currently seeing on the screen back to their default values.  This is useful to re-orient and start specific slider manipulation again.

All settings for this surface button. This resets all sliders  (parameters) for the currently selected surface to their default values.  This is useful to start a new scene with a selected surface.

All settings for all surfaces button. All slider settings for all four  surfaces are reset to their default values. The state of the Filter is as  when you first installed it.

Save button: When working with the Filter, clicking on the  Save button saves slider settings. You have to click on the  Restore button to reset the saved settings. Save and Restore are  useful when you need to save settings that you think may be useful  later.

There are two levels of conventional Save:

Save settings for this surface button: All slider (parameter)  settings are saved for the currently selected surface.

Save settings for all surfaces button: All slider (parameter)  settings are saved for all surfaces.

Note: when you click the OK button to render the Output Photo, the  settings for the current surface are re-saved, so you will lose the saved  settings for that surface if different.

In addition to the Save settings above, there is also an opportunity  to save settings for a demo:

Save demo for this surface button. All slider (parameter) settings  are saved for this surface as demo settings. This provides an  opportunity to save settings independent of the conventional Save  discussed above.

Save demo for all surfaces button. All slider (parameter) settings  are saved for all surfaces as demo settings.

The Save demo settings will not be lost when you click OK to render  the Output Photo

Restore button: To restore conventional Save settings and Save  demo settings you may use the following Restore buttons that  compliment the Save buttons discussed above:

Restore settings for this surface button

Restore settings for all surfaces button

Restore demo for this surface button

Restore demo for all surfaces button