Technical Slop

Curve It Squish

Some where in all this, I hope you started getting a feel for certain things. So far, just some really basic building blocks, but those things are important. Let's keep building by doing some more fiddling.

What I am about to show you is one of the coolest things ever. It's also one of the harder things to grasp. When I first started fiddling with the little trick about to follow, I was dumbfounded and intrigued all at the same time. Yes, it's that cool. It's also very handy once you get it.

We've already seen what gradients can do in a D-Map. On the previous page, we took a quick peek at what Curves (ctrl + m) can do to those gradients and their end result in Displace. Ah, but it was was only one way: swervy bending. What happens when the gradient goes the other way?

Oh, I'm so glad you asked.

Yes, this is our D-Map. It's a mere 256x25. For this example, the height doesn't have to that big, but I did make it big enough to show the gradient. Basic Black to White. It will serve us just fine.

So, let's toss some Curve on it and see what happens.

That's what happens. I only used Horizontal displacement, by the way. Man, now that's cool.

First, we have Biker Chic with a lot of Squish Factor going on. I have tossed some red lines in there, but they only go half way up so you can better see the transitions in the upper half.

Now, the transition from expand to contract is smooth or nonlinear. There is a casual flow from one to the other. However, the expanding in the middle is rather pronounced. That's because the Curve for that area is rather steep, so to speak.

Right beneath Biker Chic is what the D-Map looks like when it's Curved. Oh... ah...

Then, beneath that, is the Curve itself.

The red lines are to show how these things correspond. Did I already say that this cool?

I already mentioned the steepness in the Curve and the pronounced expansion on Biker Chic's face.

So, what does all this mean?

It means that you can control the amount of Squish Factor not just by percentages used in Displace, but by the steepness in the Curve. It also means that you can have either expansion or contraction by the direction of the steepness. Where the Curve goes down, there is expansion. Where the Curve goes up, there is contraction. And the amount of expansion or contraction is directly related to the steepness.

Another thing to notice is that the ends of my Curve are at 128 -- smack dab in the middle. This gives me a net Squish Factor of zero. Had either end been not 128, then Repeat Edge Pixel or Warp Around would have taken affect.

For this particular example, I did things a certain way. Can you guess what would happen if my gradient went the other way or if I used negative Horizontal? Well, the expansion and contraction would have went the other way. That is, where things are contracted in this example, things would have been expanded, and vice versa. Had the gradient gone the other way and I had used negative Horizontal, then it would look exactly the same. If you flip one, then things go backwards. If you flip both, then things go the same. Just like algebra when multiplying positive and negative numbers. To add to that, I could have made the Curve upside-down of what it is to flip expansion and contraction. Ha!

Still with me?

Curves are good - very powerful when used in making a D-Map, especially when it's an Adjustment Layer. Don't believe me? Move on to Tweakables and see for yourself.