Victrolux + MothAngel Tutorial

	Here are a few notes about my approach to creating MothAngel using Studio Artist by Synthetik Software.

	To view MothAngel in a pop-up window while reading these notes click here: MothAngel - pop-up window.
	Overall I wanted to emphasize the dancer's wild motion, the strong contrasty light from above and the deep, dark background. Here is a still frame from the source movie:

	As you can see it's not all that different from the final product.
	Here is the same frame from the finished SA movie:

	Key elements of the MothAngel PASeq: .
	1. Careful tweaking of the number of MAXIMUM STROKES in PATH START. 70 strokes holds just the right amount of detail. 80 was too many (blotting in the white areas with too much white paint, losing the lace-like quality) 60 strokes was too few, resulting in a loss of definition in the dancer's form. 2. It uses a very fine BRUSH SOURCE; 1 x 1 pixel, giving a "spider web" feel to the paint strokes. 3. Its first action step (ImageOp/FixedColor/Black/40%Mix) is where the phantom afterimage is born. By retaining 40% of the previously drawn frame as a foundation for the next frame, an image trail is left behind the dancer's arm and leg motions. This is an important step in the PASeq. It mixes in the right amount of Fixed Color (black) leaving just the right amount of trailing light. The trails don't dominate the motion, yet they are substantial enough to still be felt. They are meant to create an impact on a subconscious level. The beautiful/nervous quality of the dancer's motion is largely derived from this delicate yet sinister afterimage. 4. Carefully adjusted Image Compression is added as the last step. This step works in a balanced way with the Fixed Color Black step which starts the PASeq. Adjustments to the Image Compression step often require re-adjustments of the Fixed Color step in order to maintain the nature of the motion trails. This animation uses a frame rate of 15fps. 10 fps was too clunky, 24fps was too smooth. 15fps provides just enough motion information, but is "staccato" enough to emphasize the frenetic energy of the dancer's motion. Choosing the best compression codec to prepare this movie for the web was tricky. Like most folks I usually use Sorenson... but in this case Sorenson tended to soften the color and smooth the motion too much (even at a relatively high data rate). This worked against the feel of the material. It's the GRAPHICS compression codec which gave a more desirable, harder edge to the spider web paint strokes, while the limited 256 color palette of GRAPHICS compression was not a significant factor at all. In fact it even added some impact to this movie's limited color palette.
	If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me anytime. + Victor +

(within Victor's site)

(to Synthetik Software's Studio Artist site)