Newbish

[Joel]

Hello, I have had PWL kicking around my my old desktop for a couple of years and just recently acquired a beefy new desktop replcment laptop with tons of power so I thought I'd reactivate my PWL onto this machine. Some questions I have are probably a bit silly but..let's say I have my subject, a girl, sitting down in a chair, and my projector is blowing out a blue screen on her and behind her(to measure my work space);

I'll eventually want to start importing various vid clips and start shaping them/masking them to not only illuminate her, but to illuminate my chosen objects surrounding her on the sides and background. I am assuming I would need to get my matted backgrounds all black if I only want certain areas lit. I love this concept because it seems like a cinematographers dream to have tightly controlled light sources like this, eliminating spillage. Of course, even with a black matter, there would still be some illumination just from the black video but whatever. I guess my question is...I use black, right? I probably already answered that question.

My other question is;

I have a single laptop, and a single projector...I cannot seem to allocate the output projection through my laptop while still being able to monitor my work space area (shaping my mesh, mattes etc -to be able to actually form them around objects in the room). Seems a bit of workaround guess work, with a lot of minimizing screen and testing, testing...is this how it's done, or am I missing a vital piece of knowledge on how to simultaneously do my size work while my projector outputs only the output screen (representing the final composition(s)?) In other words...my projector just projects my laptop work area..whether it's a bunch of 1/2 sized windows, my screen saver or whatever I have up. I wanted to be able to have my laptop only output the "output" screen from PWL, so I can retain my workspace on my laptop screen to be able to size, shape, work at the same time and only see my finished output screen being projected, and not my actual workspace.

Thanks...There will be more!

[bigfug]

I am assuming I would need to get my matted backgrounds all black if I only want certain areas lit.

Yes, that's quite correct. You're also correct that you will have to deal with some level of light spillage, plus the fact that projectors can't project pure black, so you'll get a little illumination (or quite a bit, if you're projector is on the lower end of the quality scale).

I cannot seem to allocate the output projection through my laptop while still being able to monitor my work space area

Sounds like you haven't set up your screen configuration quite right. As I've just discovered that the PWL online manual isn't working anymore (I'll fix that!) there is a PDF version that explains what you need to do (towards the end):

http://bigfug.com/wp-content/uploads/pa ... ight-1.pdf

Alex

[Joel]

Perfect, Alex, thank you! I'll check that manual out. Hope you don't mind me popping in here from time to time to unload a laundry list of questions...

In the meantime though, I'll try to learn as much as I can so I don't overwhelm you. Great stuff you have here!

Oh, is SPOUT what I need to output my video to projector and still maintain a visual on my workspace simultaneously?

I may find out before you answer. Still need to grab an official licensed copy of this. I will.

Cheers!

[Joel]

Hello,

I have more questions and these probably tie into the manual but I wanted to throw them out there anyway in hopes of eventually gaining some clarity.

Sequencing - this is something I still haven't experimented with yet so I'm not really asking a question here as much as I am hoping that this will be covered more in the future. It would be lovely if I could do all of my compsoing inside of PWL instead of adobe premiere, though that's an easy enough workaround. But it still makes me question how I will be able to start all of my synched clips up at the same time to coincide. I'll just have to find out by trial and error. I'm thinking out loud at this point, sorry.

Revisiting mesh windows or other overlays - Once I've made a mesh overlay (etc) of a particular video, what if I want to go back and let's say change the color tint or resize it, is this doable? I'm not sure how to allocate a past video layer in the event I need to change the dynamic of the look I originally created on the first go round.

Compressor codecs - I see 3 DTX1, DTX2, DTX3 - I have tried just dtx1 and it makes a big file but playback does improve strangely? Was hoping for maybe a little info on this but in the meantime I will snoop around the internet for leads. I'm wondering if using these converts will help my playability if I first convert my HD footage down to a more manageable resolution like 480?

Mapping and Masking - I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Who knows, maybe if I figure it out I can write a section and pass it on, save you some work. I appreciate your terrific software!

Losing accidentally removed textures - I accidentally removed that "animated static tv screen"-type texture that came with PWL. When I went to try and reload it, I could not find it. I've uninstalled, cleared cookies, restarted, gotten rid of all evidence of PWL and re-installed but still all of my settings load up as before with my now missing texture. Oh, what to do?

Projection output window still retains "Painting with Light"tab on window top - I've noticed the PWL label is still visible on the top bar tab of my output window as I project in extend screen mode. I've tried lifting it up but it doesn't go past the threshold of the top of my monitor. I suppose I could arrange my physical space to just have a dark object to deflect that part of the projection so it doesn't show up on my space, but was wondering if there was another solution? Fullscreen mode just overtakes me workspace with no apparent mobility over to my extend right hand side area...

Here's my first ever map using PWL. It's sloppy and all over the place and has no theme other than me utilizing my available footage and music but I love the paint brushes and editability. Now I just need to learn how to draw a straight line when in freehand mode.


https://vimeo.com/222998683

[Benefield]

Thanks for the manual Alex!