NAME
xmorph - digital image warping (morphing) for X window system
SYNOPSIS
xmorph [-start srcimgfile [-finish destimgfile]]
DESCRIPTION
xmorph is a digital image warping program, also known as a "morphing" program. It runs under the X Window System.
If imgfile names are provided on the command line, then those images are loaded in. Otherwise, xmorph generates images to be used in lieu of images provided by the user. Images may be loaded from menus within xmorph.
xmorph has built-in help pages that answer questions about the details of its use. Run xmorph and look at the online help for more information.
OPTIONS
- -start srcimgfile
-
Read the srcimgfile as the "source" image.
- -finish destimgfile
-
Read the destimgfile as the "destination" image.
MAKING MOVIES
xmorph is NOT a tool for making movies. xmorph is intended to be used with OTHER tools for editting movies in the digital domain. I do not intend to add movie making abilities to xmorph.
However, morphing is fun for some people who don't already have the means for making movies, so here is a brief explanation of how to make a movie from the images generated by xmorph:
xmorph uses the TrueVision Targa (TGA) image file format. You can use PBMplus or netpbm or ImageMagick to convert Targa to other still image formats. (This will be necessary if, for example, you use the Berkeley MPEG encoder.) See ftp://ikaros.fysik4.kth.se/pub/netpbm/.
Use another program, such as Berkeley's mpeg_encode, or SGI's dmconvert, to turn the sequence of images that xmorph created into a single animation. See ftp://mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/encode/.
Use another program, such as mpeg_play, or movieplayer, to view the animation. See ftp://mm-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/play/.
There are plenty of other programs available for doing that, and many of them are excellent.
AUTHOR
Written and Copyright (C) 1994-1996 by Michael J. Gourlay.
Help came from many places, including Andy Thaller, Warwick Allison, and Mike Hoefelein.
The original morphing algorithm is presented in ``A Two-Pass Mesh Warping Algorithm for Object Transformation and Image Interpolation'', ILM Technical Memo #1030, Computer Graphics Department, Lucasfilm Ltd., 1990.
Mesh-based digital image warping is discussed in detail in Digital Image Warping by George Wolberg.
SEE ALSO
X(1), ppmtotga(1), (netpbm or PBMplus), tgatoppm(1), (netpbm or PBMplus), mpeg_encode(1) from U.C. Berkeley, mpeg_play(1) from U.C. Berkeley, ImageMagick, dmconvert(1), (under Silicon Graphics IRIX). movieplayer(1) (under Silicon Graphics IRIX).
Adobe Premier, Art Department Pro Professional Conversion Pack (under Amiga).
BUGS
The only image file type currently supported is Truevision Targa (TGA) but xmorph will load any type of Targa, such as 8-bit, 15-bit, or 16-bit colormapped or grayscale; 24-bit or 32-bit true color (with or without alpha channel); run-length encoded or uncompressed.
Some versions of the program "xv" can not read xmorph's TGA image files. This is a bug in "xv", not in xmorph.
Report bugs to [email protected]
WEB SITE
http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~gourlay http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~gourlay/Software/Graphics/xmorph.tar.gz http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~gourlay/Software/Graphics/xmorph.README http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~gourlay/Software/Graphics/xmorph.txt