Photoshop brush randomizer

[RobA]

Here: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...wing-Buildings is a post on doing this with gimp (like Carnifex).

It would be possible to make a tower-bridge-tower brush that follows direction in gimp, even with random tower variations. (randomize the two tower ends, and make all the vridge segments the same).

-Rob A>

[Meridius]

RobA, I think you might've hit 'holy grail' level there already Just not in the right program.

But I think you might've put me on a good direction. I'm experimenting with GIMP, and I must say that I'm impressed. They should put that functionality in Photoshop. (I've tried GIMPshop, but it crashed on me at startup on 4 different installations divided over 2 computers). So I'm working on a Photoshop-GIMP hybrid way. Since GIMP and Photoshop seem to be working together quite comfy, I'd figure: why not use GIMP for the housing brush, and CREATE the image which will become the brush in photoshop.

To see if it's capable of what I want, I first have to see if it works for me... I'm low on time, so that may take a while. I'll keep you guys posted, and perhaps I'll make a little PS-GIMP-combo tutorial or something if I get it to work like I want it to work.

It may not be a PS brush randomizer (or image-hose or whatever you want to call it), but it seems like a VERY decent solution, especially since GIMP is free.

[SkarValidus]

I just wanted to drop by and say that I'm watching this thread with great anticipation. Before I moved to Photoshop, I made brush pipes (I called them "Animated Brushes") and used them happily all the time. I'm sure someone with programming knowledge could take a look at the Gimp script and convert it for Photoshop, but that guy isn't me. Anyway, Photoshop brush pipes would be massively helpful for photomanipulation and editing, digital painting, cartography, and just about everything else, so I think we should definitely all put our heads together here at the Guild and figure out how to make it work...

[guyanonymous]

For those of you who have continued to experiment with Filter Forge (or similar) - can it be used to apply random shapes (brushes) with randomized settings (i.e., size, rotation) to an area in this way?

[Meridius]

Up until 20 seconds ago I didn't even know what filter-forge was.

I'll try some fiddling, but I see I have a time-limit to create something useful. 30 days... And I know nothing about it. I think I'm going for the PS-GIMP-hybrid method and wait until someone with a a more technical brain.

edit: Oh, I forgot to post the original message, so this isn't really an edit. Anyway, Filter Forge seems more something for rendering effects and other surface improvements. Mainly stuff you make to make a picture prettier, you don't actually create plugins but filters. A filter rather seems a speedy way of applying a multitude of settings at once. I know next to nothing about Filter Forge, but my impression is that what we're looking for won't be coming out of Filter Forge. I may be wrong though.

[pixelpusher]

For those of you who have continued to experiment with Filter Forge (or similar) - can it be used to apply random shapes (brushes) with randomized settings (i.e., size, rotation) to an area in this way?

I'm knowledgeable about Filter Forge, and yes, using the new bomber tool you can scatter and rotate an input image. You can't use the brush in the middle of it, though. It's a filter.

btw: you might also take a look at Art Rage. It's inexpensive (~$20 std - $80 pro) and you can make pretty sophisticated 'image hose' like brushes.

[pixelpusher]

Here's a recent example of using the ArtRage 'sticker sheet' to make trees. It's from a sheet I have of about 64 trees, rendered in a 3d package (Vue), and arrayed on a grid.

It's easy to load the source into artrage and make a sticker. I then brush the trees around. What's going on here is that I've keyed the height channel of the map (the grayscale elevation) to the luminosity of the trees. So they automatically get darker in valleys (by the rivers), and lighter in high spots. Works pretty well, actually.

CompTest 004.jpg

[Raskat]

:O ...that's awesome pixelpusher. It's a great example. I have not understood anything of what you said (and not because of you , I just can't get how u managed to obtain this nice result) but this example is incredible!

[tilt]

that looks really good pixelpusher - but what I'm hearing is that you have to have artrage and Vue? to do this? Are they plugins or programs in their own right?

[pixelpusher]

raskat: thanks!

tilt: thanks. It's really just Artrage. You can do a similar technique using whatever trees you have handy. I just had some laying around that I'd done before in Vue. Artrage is a program in it's own right. It's inexpensive: $20-$80 US http://www.artrage.com/index.html

Here's a screenshot:
artrage.jpg

On the right you can see the array of trees, just a big .png. ArtRage calls this a 'sticker sheet', and you can drag and place them individually or using the spray tool, which you can see at left. The spray settings are very robust, and you can create a lot of controls using the settings (like what I'm doing with the tree brightness up in my post above.

Vue is a separate program in it's own right. Learn more over at http://www.e-onsoftware.com/ There is a free version you can play around with, but it watermarks any renderings.