ArtMatic Designer and Explorer Creative ToolboX 1.x Documentation

Getting Started with ArtMatic Creative ToolboX eLearning Course

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ArtMatic Designer and Explorer Creative ToolboX Overview

Overview & Basic Concepts
Preferences
Canvas View, Main Gradient and View tools
Global Input Matrix
Tree Editing & Shading area
Parameter area
Mutations Explorer Dialog
Timeline and Keyframes Area
Left Tool buttons
Component Descriptions

Video Tutorials on YouTube

ArtMatic Designer CTX Version Details
ArtMatic Voyager CTX Version Details

Structure Tree & Components

The structure Tree is a web of Components wired together in limitless combinations. It is essentially a flow chart that defines the procedural mathematics creating the image. The tree takes its initial inputs from image space coordinates, time and various optional global inputs. Values are flowing from top to bottom and transformed by each Component until the bottom Component(s) outputs the final results.
Each component has up to four parameters that can be modified over time using keyframes. Component are represented graphically by a Tile and the term 'Tile' is often used in place of 'Component'. Component can have 1 to 4 input dimensions and 1 to 5 outputs. When a Tree final component outputs a single value, the tree can be seen mathematically as a scalar 2D or 3D function. When the Tree final component outputs a RGBA vector the entire tree is an image rendering algorithm that creates each pixel color and alpha value. The number of input dimension used by the Structure Tree determines if the system is 2D, 3D, or even 4D if the Tree uses global time input as well.
The number of inputs of a Component sets its dimension, the number of outputs sets its type (scalar or vector (2D to 5D)). Component are often referred to using the in-out number before component's name so that the component's type and dimension is clear. For example 31 perlin noise will refer to a 3D scalar noise function that has 3 inputs (3D) and 1 output (scalar).

A number of components allow you to access and process external images and movies (up to eight different movies or pictures can be accessed in a single Tree). These components are especially powerful for creating video special effects. Complex fades and wipes and sophisticated distortion and color-processing can all be animated and rendered as movies or image lists.

Components are described individually in the component reference html files organized by input/output dimensions. A particular component's reference can be invoked from ArtMatic Designer with command-F (OnLine Help Menu) after selecting a Tile. The aim of a full interactive reference system accessible on line is to provide an accurate and scientific database of what each component does to make ArtMatic huge toolbox a seriously documented toolset usable not only in computer graphics but also for education in mathematics and computer science.

1D Components links:
11 components , 12 components , 13 components , 14 components

2D Components links:
21 components , 22 components , 23 components , 24 components , 25 components

3D Components links:
31 components , 32 components , 33 components , 34 components

4D Components links:
41 components , 42 components , 43 components , 44 components

A structure Tree can hold other structure trees in the form of Compiled Tree. That makes highly complex and rich systems with hundreds of components possible and easier to manage.

Resolution and outputs

ArtMatic's resolution is nearly infinite, both in depth and range. By default the canvas view is centered around zero and has a radius of Π. Moving the virtual camera or zooming it in or out can often reveal vastly different images from the same Tree. As a mathematical procedural function a Tree is resolution-independent. Some fractal function are nearly infinite in depth so you may zoom by several order of magnitude and still find details. The large set of procedural patterns and noises function provided by ArtMatic engine are only limited in extension by the range of what is representable in 64 bit floating point which is huge. Thus you can have a terrain than span an entire planet surface of 30 000 km square.

By default ArtMatic Designer shades 1D output Trees with the current Gradient by implicitly mapping the output values to the current gradient. Trees with 2 outputs are shaded likewise but both outputs gradient are blended into a single color. Trees with 3 outputs are interpreted as RGB Tree and the resulting color is taken directly from the RGB value. Trees with 4 output tile are interpreted as RGBA with the fourth output setting the transparency or Alpha channel. Negative and zero values are treated as transparent.
ArtMatic Tree systems that outputs RGBA can be rendered as PNG or TIFF images that includes an Alpha channel. PNG images can be rendered in 16 bit per channel allowing the maximum quality. Scalar Tree systems (a single-valued output) are usually rendered using specific shaders that maps the output to RGB and will be rendered without alpha channel as RGB tree systems.
The number of output Tile is not limited to 1. ArtMatic Voyager makes use of multi-outputs trees for various shading needs as documented for example in Shading DF Objects / Using extra outputs.
ArtMatic Designer can also render Multi outputs systems in the RGB Multi mode mode or using various shading options like depth cuing.

Definitions

Structure Tree : The ArtMatic Structure Tree, often called ArtMatic system, is basically the set of Components connected together that define the procedural function described in Structure Tree & Components. An ArtMatic file is composed by its Structure Tree plus additional shading variables and optional gradients data.
Structure Tree design and editing is only available with ArtMatic Designer in the Design Room.
Most of the time you will modify existing trees by changing its components and eventually adding new functions. Advanced users may want to create complete trees from scratch. All the Tree building and editing tools needed for that are found in the Tree Editing & Shading Area.
Learn more about designing tree concepts in the Building trees page.

Compiled Tree : A Compiled Tree (CT for short) packs a Structure Tree in a single Component. With CTs, Structure Tree can be nested without any limit in levels (CTs can contains CTs that contains CTs). A single level can contain several CTs so there is no limit in the complexity of an ArtMatic Structure Tree.
In general Compiled trees that have the same number of inputs than outputs can be used in feedback mode for recursive computation. Compiled trees are described in more details for each Component type in the component references organized by input/output dimensions. For example 21 Compiled tree will discuss 2D scalar CTs while 33 Compiled tree will discuss 3D vector CTs.

Streams : Stream simply refers to the flow of data through a set of components. An RGB-stream refers to the series of components through which RGB or 3D vector data are flowing. RGBA streams are 4D vector data (that can be packed or not) and represents a color + alpha.

Band-limited. A function is band-limited when its frequency content falls within specific intervals. (You can think of frequency as a measure of the size of the function's features--high frequencies generate small-scale features and low frequencies generate large-scale features). The Perlin Noise function is a good example of a band-limited function whose output falls in a very narrow frequency band.

Continuity. A function is said to be continuous when its derivative (its local slope) does not exhibit any sudden changes. Continuity is an important issue for ArtMatic Voyager. Certain functions (such as the Step Quantize function) produce a non-derivable, non-continuous result. Many discontinuous functions have a "smooth" variant or a smoothing parameter that softens the discontinuity and makes the result continuous

Linearity. A function is said to be linear when its derivative (or slope) has a constant value. If you connect the derivative operator to a linear function (such as the plane Ax+ By +C component), you will just obtain a single color -- an expensive way to clear your canvas.

Multi-fractal. A Multi-fractal function is a function with a varying fractal dimension. Fractal dimension is a measure of statistical roughness. Multi-fractals are very good for capturing the complexity of natural textures.

Periodicity. A function is said to be periodic when it repeats itself ad infinitum with a specific period.

ArtMatic Designer User Interface

Interface Basics & Conventions

Almost everything that you can see in the user interface is active, including the text, icons and glyphs. Pretty much every graphic item can be clicked or dragged to perform a task. Like all U&I Software applications, most tools are accessible directly from the user interface.

Aspect Ratio

Sets the overall aspect ratio of the canvas. The 16:8 (or 2:1) ratio is handy to build and visualize 360° environment maps or when using the Voyager 3D Sky Dome Global Input Matrix mode.

• Square,
  
• 4 : 3,
  
Horizontal 3:4.

• 16 : 9,
  
The HD aspect ratio, most commonly used for animation.

• 16 : 8
  
This 2:1 ratio is suited for 360 degree environment map creation.

• 3 : 4
  
Vertical 3:4, added in July 2020 builds.

Maximum iterations for fractals

Determines the number of iterations used by fractal noises and certain iterative functions. The larger the value, the higher the resolution of these functions when zoomed in as iterations adds higher frequencies most of the time. With large values images may take longer to calculate. Setting this value high will produce more higher harmonics that lets you zoom far inside the fractal to discover lovely details found at the "microscopic" level. This will affects also the level of details of ArtMatic based terrains used in ArtMatic Voyager.

Automatic high res render

When ON this checkbox option will trigger an anti-aliased rendering after any changes in the ArtMatic Trees or its parameters. This is generally unneeded as it slows down the workflow and a hi-res render can always be done at will using the render hi-res eye icon below the canvas view.

Open last at launch (1.5 addition)

When ON this checkbox option will make Designer start with the last opened ArtMatic file to save time when working on a project. Turn it off if you want to start with a new random system.

Preview Resolution

Preview resolution sets the pixel size resolution of preview rendering and fullscreen animation playback. In main UI the animation playback uses an adaptative resolution and this number sets the lowest possible pixel size.
Note that "Preview Resolution" is set at 2 when ArtMatic Designer or Explorer launches.

Window Skin

Sets the skin of the ui among :

• Blue Steel,
  
• Metal Noise 45,
  
• Dark Noise,
  
• Shaded Metal,
  
• Shaded Grays
  
• Paper Blueprint
  

Canvas View, Main Gradient and View tools

Rooms toggle

• Browse Room:
  This rooms provide the browsing services that were carried out by ArtMatic Browser no longer continued. By default the folder path is set to the Libraries shipped with the software. It offers Thumbnails previews of a folders hierarchy and allow to select ArtMatic files in a nicer and easy way by double clicking on any thumbnail or clicking in the larger preview.
  
• Explore Room:
  Available in ArtMatic Designer and ArtMatic explorer this room allows to play with and animate an existing system without having to handle the complexity of a full tree design and editing. Up to 6 components parameters are provided in the UI for adjustments.
• Design Room:
  Available only in ArtMatic Designer this room provide all the tool for deep-editing an ArtMatic Structure Tree.
• Listen Room:
  Available only in ArtMatic Designer this room is similar to the design room but is dedicated to sound design applications. Play button will play the sound and specific sound related controls are added in the UI. ArtMatic Engine works in 44100 hertz sampling frequency only.

Main Gradient

Precisely how the final output value is mapped to a color depends on the whether the tree is scalar or RGB-based. For RGB-based trees, the color is calculated directly from the 3 output values of the last Tree tile. If the tree is scalar or 2D (2 outputs), the color mapping is handled by the active Shading mode function that uses the main gradient to provides the colors. In most cases low values will be mapped to the left-hand color of the gradient and higher values are mapped to the colors further right.
Even when the Tree is RGB and don't use the Main Gradient it can have components that uses it to shade the component results like 13 Main Gradient .

What is a gradient? A gradient is a special type of palette that has a user-definable number of color slots. Each slot has its own color. ArtMatic automatically generates all the colors that lie between adjacent slots by linear interpolation ; so, with a few mouse clicks you can create rich palettes. For example, if you want to create a palette that goes from black to white with all the shades in between, you only need a gradient with two slots. Select black as the left-hand color and white as the right-hand color, and ArtMatic does the rest. Each keyframe can have its own gradient. You can store your own gradients in ArtMatic's gradient library. You can also export and import gradient libraries using the Gradient Editor.
Click on any color box of the gradient to choose another color. With shift key down the change is stored into all keyframes. Use the Edit gradient below for structural changes and more editing options.

Edit gradient

This buttons calls the standard U&I Gradient editor to modify the Main Gradient.

Choose gradient

This buttons lets you choose the Main Gradient among the built-in list of gradients.

Default view

This button reset the canvas view to the default scale (-Π,+Π) centered around zero. When shift key is pressed the default view scale and position will be stored in all keyframes as well.

zoom slider

Drag this button left-right to change the current canvas view zoom level. The image preview will be at lower resolution while dragging but should redraw at normal resolution when you let go. When shift key is pressed the new zoom level will be stored in all keyframes as well.

Render high resolution (h)

This button Trigger an anti-Aliased higher resolution rendering of the current canvas view. The left tool bar similar icon will trigger a full screen render.

Structures presets (pop up)

The Structure Presets folder provides many structural starting points for Tree building in ArtMatic Designer design room. Use this pop up to choose a new tree structure template from the Structure presets folder. Unless you keep option key down the chosen structure tree will be automatically mutated. With option key down ArtMatic Designer will simply load the structure preset file.
You can add in the Structure Presets folder your own ArtMatic files when they can be used as a generic template.

"Insert" pop up menu

• Insert top tile:
  If a tree has parallel branches that you would like to connect at the top, choose the Insert menu's Insert Top Tile. For 2D trees a rotation tile is inserted at the top of the tree to which both branches are connected. You can change the component to something other than rotation if you desire. For 3D tree a 33 space transform will be inserted at the top. Having a common father tile makes also creation of CT easier.
• Insert perspective:
  Inserts a group of tiles at the top with a perspective component by default.
• Insert iteration:
  Inserts an iteration tile to make the Tree iterative. A memory component shall be added to accumulate the results.


• Disconnect:
  Disconnects the selected tile from its predecessor. The selected tile (and any connected tiles after it) become a new branch of the Structure Tree.


• Insert Above (y):
  Insert a component above the current selected Tile.
• Insert Below (t):
  Insert a component below the current selected Tile. The component will have the same number of inputs as its father outputs.
• Insert 2 below scalar first:
  Inserts two tiles below with a scalar tile (1 out) at first.
• Insert 2 below scalar last:
  Inserts two tiles below with a scalar tile (1 out) at last.


• Append 1D filters (f):
  Appends a 11 tile to each output of the selected tile.
• Append 1 out (1):
  Inserts a one output tile after the selected one.
• Append 2 out (2):
  Inserts a two-output tile after the selected tile. Note: This command is only available when the selected tile has two or more outputs.
• Append 3 out (3):
  Inserts a three-output tile after the selected one. This command is only available if the selected tile has two or more outputs.
• Append 4 out (4):
  Inserts a three-output tile after the selected one. This command is only available if the selected tile has two or more outputs.
• Add branch (b):
  Adds a new branch which forks off from the selected tile. The last component in the system is modified to accommodate the new branch.
• Add Parallel branch (=):
  Adds a new branch parallel to the selected tile.
• Complete Tree:
  Completes the Structure Tree by closing it and joining any loose branches.


• Add Color Pict/Movie item:
  Adds a color RGB Pict/Movie component after the selected tile. This command is only available when the selected tile has two outputs.
• Pack Outputs (p):
  Adds a pack component to the selected tile. This command is only available if the selected tile has 3 or 4 outputs.

"Replace" pop up menu

• Split component:
  Split the selected component into several parallel components. A 22 tile, for example, is split into parallel 11 tiles; a three-in/two-out tile is split into a 21 and a 11 tile. This command is only active if the selected tile has two our more outlets.
• Split scalar & vec:
  Split the tile in two with priority for the first tile to be scalar.
• Split vec2:
  Split a 4 output tile in two 2 outputs tiles.
• Make group (g):
  Replace the selected tile with a group of tiles equivalent to the Make Group tool.
• Make z group:
  Adds tiles to the Structure Tree so that the selected tile feeds a three-input tile.
• Make RGBA group:
  When applicable it will create a group of tiles with RGBA outputs from 31 or 21 selected tile.


• Replace with scalar (1 out):
  Change the number of the selected tile's outlets to one. (Only available if the current number of inlets is compatible with one outlet.)
• Replace with vector (2 out):
  Change the number of the selected tile's outlets to 2.
• Replace with vector (3 out):
  Change the number of the selected tile's outlets to 3.
• Replace with vector (4 out):
  Change the number of the selected tile's outlets to 4.


• Replace with 1 in:
  Change the number of the selected tile's inlets to 1.
• Replace with 2 in:
  Change the number of the selected tile's inlets to 2.
• Replace with 3 in:
  Change the number of the selected tile's inlets to 3.
• Replace with 4 in:
  Change the number of the selected tile's inlets to 4.


• Replace with xz transform:
  Replace a selected 33 tile with a 22 space transform connected to x and z. This can save a lot of connecting time when you need the transform only on the xz plane.


• Replace with color pict:
  Replace a selected 21 tile with a 23 RGB Pict/Movie component.

"Tree" pop up menu

• Copy Tile (x):
  Echoes the Edit menu Copy Tile.
• Paste Tile (v):
  Echoes the Edit menu Paste Tile.
• Delete Tile (backspace):
  Delete the selected tile. Shortcut: delete key.


• Send Tile to Main output (m):
  This command makes the selected tile the main output that calculates the image displayed in the canvas. This command is only meaningful when: 1) the selected tile is in the bottom row of tiles, and 2) there is more than one tile in the last row.
• Send Tile down (o):
  Move a tile down one row. This only has an impact when there is space below the tile.
• Send Tile up (u):
  Send a tile down up level in the tree.
• Move Tile left (<):
  Move the tile one space to the left in the tree.
• Move Tile right (>):
  Move the tile one space to the left in the tree.
• Compact Tree (c):
  Let ArtMatic re-organize the tree automatically. This command is useful when you have been adding and deleting tiles and want ArtMatic to compact the display of the tree.


• New Compiled Tree (n):
  You can directly create a CT from any selected tile using this command. You may also select a group of tiles for grouping in a CT using the following method:
  1: select the top tile as usual.
  2: select the output tile using shift click on a tile below. Avoid having loose branches as CTs must have a single output tile. All tiles in between should be selected. The output tile will be highlighted in pink/velvet hue.
  3: Invoke "New Compiled Tree" to make a CT or type the 'n' key.
  
  
• Open Compiled Tree... :
  Open a compiled tree INTO the selected tile. ArtMatic will prompt you for the compiled tree to open. Only compiled trees with the same number of inputs and outputs as the selected tile can be chosen.
• Save Compiled Tree:
  Use this command to save a CT on disk for later use. It is a good idea to store useful functionalities in CTs in a CT folder somewhere.
• Edit Compiled Tree (e):
  Edit the selected compiled tree will open and display the CT content for editing. When editing a compiled tree, the input matrix changes to make room for CT inputs. Type 'e' to enter or leave this edit mode.
• Rename Compiled Tree... :
  Invoke the dialog to rename trees. The functionality is also available by clicking on the Tree name box.
  


• Input Matrix Setup ... :
  Invoke the Input Matrix Setup dialog that lets you set the mode described below.

The Global Input Matrix feeds information to the Structure Tree. In addition to the x and y canvas coordinates, time, audio analysis, and ArtMatic Voyager information can be sent to the tree. ArtMatic Voyager information is only sent to the tree when the ArtMatic structure is being used inside of ArtMatic Voyager. The other global inputs are generally used for one of two applications: 1) using time or audio input to influence the tree when rendering animation/movies, 2) using information from ArtMatic Voyager to create color maps influenced by elevation and/or slope.
The information passed out of global inputs (Z, W, A1, A2, A3, and A4) is determined by the Input Matrix mode. The x and y global inputs are always the (x,y) coordinates of the ArtMatic Canvas. The input matrix mode is set in the Input Matrix Setup dialog that is invoked by clicking on any label of the input matrix.

• Constant mode: Constant mode is the default mode of ArtMatic and is suited for 2D graphics and video applications.

  Z: relative time normalised (z flows from 0 to 1 during animation span, whatever its duration. This means that the speed of z will slow down when duration increases. Prior ArtMatic Engine 8.0.6 the z input was scaled by 4 ).
  W: absolute time in seconds.
  A1-A4: constant values;
  The Z input is time as a percentage of completion of keyframe animation. When keyframe animation plays, Z will be 0 when the animation starts and 1 (representing 100%) when the animation reaches completion. The W input, which is expressed in absolute time in seconds, is useful when you want some sort of change in the animation to be unaffected by the number of keyframes or the duration of the animation. For example, if you want the canvas to rotate at a rate independent of the animation's duration, use W. The constant values A1-A4 that can be set in the Input Matrix Setup dialog offers an alternate ways to send global values to component inputs. Unlike the 11, 12 or 13 constant components the input matrix constant can easily be used in the tree and within several level of Compiled Trees with the guaranty that the values will be the same for all sub-functions, thus acting like a global.

• Audio Input mode :
  Use this mode when you want to animate components with audio (either from audio file or live input) in Design or Explore room. Z & W: relative and absolute time;
  A1-A4: audio bands analysis information : A1 audio bass, A2 audio medium l, A3 audio medium h, A4 audio high.
  

  For the sound analysis to affect the Tree you will need to use values provided by inputs A1 to A4 to modulate tree parameters. See the examples provided in Libaries/Master Audio Input/ to learn various technics about how to make a Tree sound sensitive. The values in A1 through A4 represent the strength of the audio in the given frequency band. For example, connect a tile to A1 to have the bass frequencies influence the image. The audio can come from either live audio or an audio AIFF file. In audio input mode the following additional parameters are available: Input Device, Input Source, Audio Sensitivity, Sound In Inertia. The A1-A4 values are created by applying eight parallel DFT filters which are summed together in pairs. A1 is the sum of filters centered at 42 and 84 Hz. A2 is the sum of filters centered at 168 and 336 Hz. A3 is the sum of filters centered at 672 and 1344 Hz. A4 is the sum of filters centered at 7688 and 5376 Hz.
  ArtMatic Engine uses 44100 hertz for sampling rate and audio files needs to be in 44.1 to work properly. When connecting to an input device make sure the device is set to 44.1 (Sample Rate). Depth of input should not matter as its converted to float internally. On certain hardware monophonic input devices seems not to be supported.
  Audio Sensitivity is used to control how sensitive the system is to audio input. High values make the system more sensitive to audio. Sound In Inertia determines how smooth the transition between values is. When the inertia is low sudden changes in the audio can cause abrupt, jittery changes. Use inertia to smooth changes caused by the audio input.
  Animation playback will run forever in main ui and Full screen preview when using Audio Input mode with live audio. To start playback and sound input capture use space bar.
  
  
  TIP! When creating systems for audio control, you may find it useful to switch the Global Input mode to constant mode. While the dialog is open, you can change the constant values and observe how the system responds to the changes. This can give you an idea of what the A1 through A4 inputs do in the system without having to play audio.

• Time & Cycles:
  Time & Cycles mode is mostly used for sound design applications in the Listen room of ArtMatic Designer but can also be handy to control various looping features independently of keyframes. Z: absolute time in seconds. Note that z plays the role usually devoted to w input.
  W: integer counter (32 steps) with rate set in hertz
  A1-A4: free running oscillators (cycling values) set in hertz
  

  There is an additional parameter, BPM adjust, which adjusts the speed of all the oscillators at once - allowing them to all be sped up or slowed down. The W value is an integer value that cycles from 1 to 32 at a rate determined by the frequency (in Hz) parameter. A1 through A4 are the output of four independent saw-wave oscillators. For those unsure of what an oscillator is, A1 through A4 generate floating-point values that increase steadily from 0 to 1 as time progresses and then reset to 0 and start climbing again to 1. The oscillators repeat this over and over at a speed determined by the Saw Cycle setting in the Input Matrix setup dialog. The saw waves are especially useful for creating continuous rotation when connected to the third input of the 32 z Rotate component.

• ArtMatic Voyager:
  "ArtMatic Voyager" global input mode is used by ArtMatic files designed for 3D ArtMatic Voyager rendering. The mode provides various input information from Voyager context and rendering variables as explained below. Z: context dependent. When the ArtMatic Tree is 3D z will hold the third space coordinate.
  W: absolute time in seconds.
  A1-A2: Slope & Elevation;
  A3-A4: Image space view origin (x,y) or Image space sun position (x,y)
  

  This information is only passed in when the ArtMatic system is accessed from within ArtMatic Voyager. When an ArtMatic file is loaded into ArtMatic Voyager, it can receive various types of information from Voyager. This is covered in greater detail in the ArtMatic Voyager documentation. A1 and A2 are used to create complex color texture maps that allow color to be influenced by both elevation and slope.
  All values passed by Voyager through the X, Y and Z global inputs are scaled according to ArtMatic's view. The values passed through A2 are absolute and independent of the ArtMatic scale.
  Slope is only evaluated for color texture maps and at the color texture stage of combination mode planets. It has no meaning when the ArtMatic structure is being used as an elevation map.
  NOTE: Slope and elevation are only defined when the system is being used for the color texture/shading and cannot be used by those parts of a tree that define the elevation map (since slope and elevation only make sense after the elevation map has been calculated). In a tree that provides both color and the elevation map, the slope and Voyager elevation can only be used in that part of the tree that define the color.

• ArtMatic Voyager 3D Sky Dome:
  

  The input mode "Voyager 3D sky dome" is suited to visualize in 2D a 3D 360° Voyager Sky dome or to create 360° environment images in ArtMatic. A spherical inverse projection is used implicitly to view the Sky Dome. X Y and Z global inputs will return 3D coordinates on a sphere (with a 2:1 ratio). At default view size top and bottom line will map to north and south pole and coordinates will loop in X.
  Using 3D for the 360 environment has the advantage over 2D spherical mapping to have no deformation near the pole and can be viewed in spherical projection from any angle within Voyager.
  The component 3D SkyDome Planet makes creation of planets in 3D sky dome more easy.
  Except for the viewing geometry this mode is equivalent to the ArtMatic Voyager input mode. A number of 3D sky domes based trees are provided in the Environments 360 folder of the Voyager Library.

Tree Connections

Delete Tile (backspace)

Delete the current selected Tile. The functionality is also provided within the tree pop up menu. Designer does its best to reconnect father(s) and son(s) automatically. Note you can't delete the last tile, as a Tree needs at least one tile.

Insert Below (t)

Insert a component below the current selected Tile. The component will have the same number of inputs as its father outputs. The functionality is also provided within the insert pop up menu.
When you need specific dimensions or/and specific output types more options are available in the insert menu.
Tip : When building complex trees or experimenting with mutations or random path animation, you may find it helpful to insert filter components to restrict the range or modify the values being fed into some but not all of a component's inputs (or outputs).

Insert Above (y)

Insert a component above the current selected Tile. The same functionality is also provided within the insert pop up menu.

Make group (g)

Insert a similar component to the right of the current selected Tile and adds a mixing component below. The same functionality is also provided within the replace pop up menu. This is a convenient way to complexify a particular feature of the tree.

Add branch (b)

Insert a similar component to the right and below the current selected Tile without connecting further. This is a handy way to start a new branch.The functionality is also provided within the insert pop up menu. An alternative way to create a new branch is to use insert->add parallel branch function that will add a new similar component to the right and connected to the same father(s).

Complete Tree

In most cases, ArtMatic uses the output of a single component (the first component of the last row) to create an image. Trees should generally be complete (i.e. have only one component at the bottom of the tree with an unconnected output) except for cases where an unconnected output is used for depth cueing or global shading or where additional outputs are used by ArtMatic Voyager. Because you will often find yourself needing to connect parallel branches while editing tree structures (especially if you are creating a system with several pictures or 3D objects), the complete tree tool has been provided to automatically complete incomplete trees.
When the complete tree tool is clicked, ArtMatic will mix the branches of the tree by adding and connecting the appropriate components. For example, to mix two parallel RGB branches, ArtMatic will add any required pack components then mix the branches with a packed RGB mixer. Mixed systems that feature an RGB branch and a 1-output gradient-based branch will be mixed with the appropriate 4->3 mixing component. Multiple 1D branches will be mixed with a two or three to one mixer. In rare cases, ArtMatic may not be able to determine how to mix the system, in which case a beep will sound when the complete tree tool is pressed. If this happens, you will have to add some tiles yourself to complete the tree. If there is an RGB branch and a 2-output branch to mix, for instance, a 2D Scalar (2-in/1-out) component should be added at the end of the two output branch.
You can often save yourself a lot of work by using this tool.
Tip: Joining branches at the top. If a tree has parallel branches that you would like to connect at the top, choose the Insert menu's Insert Top Tile. For 2D trees a rotation tile is inserted at the top of the tree to which both branches are connected. You can change the component to something other than rotation if you desire.

This box display the names of current Tree and subtrees hierarchy. Click on the Name to rename the main Tree or the Compiled Tree if currently open for edition. This will open a dialog displaying some information about the trees and providing a text field where you can rename the Tree or Compiled Tree.

Exit Compiled Tree edition

Available when editing a Compiled Tree this buttons will send you to the top of the tree hierarchy.
Shortcut : escape key.

Edit Compiled Tree (e)

Available when the selected Tile is a Compiled Tree this buttons will open and display the CT content for further editing.
Shortcut : Select a CT tile and type 'e'.

Image and Movies Inputs

Choose Pict/Movie

Available when the Tree use a Picture/Movie component , either black & White like 21 Pict/Movie or full Color like 24 RGBa Pict/Movie , this pop up menu allows you to choose which picture input channel is used by the component.
Choosing an empty slot prompts you to select a picture or movie that will be added as an available input source.
To further organize the inputs list select the "Setup inputs" item. The invoked dialog will let you delete or add new inputs. When using movies you will be able also to select a starting time and some playback speed options.
In ArtMatic 1.5 the pictures management has been redesigned to offer more flexibility and speed. Images preview are precomputed and the list pop up is much faster. Pict/Movie input channel can have a picture Atlas as well to efficiently use hundreds of pictures.

Tree Shading controls

This group of tools relates to the Tree's color mapping and shading mode. They are available both in ArtMatic Designer and ArtMatic Explorer.

If the bottom tile of the tree has a single output and is passing out an RGB or RGBA packed stream, the tree is treated as an RGB or RGBA tree (rather than a scalar tree using gradient coloring) and the shading options are adjusted accordingly. ArtMatic Voyager will treat these as RGBA trees as well.
Scalar trees are rendered using various mappings involving the main gradient and optional components values.

The color used by Infinity, depth cuing when ON and certain Components like 44 Alpha Fade) or 23 Pict/Movie Overlay. The Depth cue color is always visible and available even if Depth Cuing is turned off. This color is used in RGB-based systems wherever the value infinity is encountered like the outside of pseudo 3D objects and where the infinity gate component is used.

Aux color A

Auxiliary color A (default : dark red) is used by several scalar tree procedural shaders (see below) and by RGB Multi mode mode for Tree extra outputs. A couple of components uses this color as well like 44 RGB * alpha or 13 Shaded plain color in certain modes.

Aux color B

Auxiliary color B (default : green) is used by several scalar tree procedural shaders by RGB Multi mode mode for Tree extra outputs. A couple of components uses this color as well like 44 RGB * alpha in certain modes. S:P Logic &Profiles uses Aux color B to shaded the edges for example.

The Icon below the color squares controls the current shading algorithm or Shading mode. Note that Shading mode is global to a particular ArtMatic file so it is not stored in keyframes and can't be changed over the course of an animation.
Click here to pop up a list of the color shading algorithms which are described below. The contents of this menu changes depending on ArtMatic Tree output type.
For scalar trees (1 or 2 outputs) the shading algorithms are the following:

• Cyclic clut:
  
  This shader causes the colors to cycle throughout the value range. It applies a sine function whose output value is mapped to the gradient. Zero is mapped to the gradient's central color. Clut stands for color lookup table.
  
  
• Ceiled Linear clut:
  
  This shader uses a linear scale to map incoming values to the gradient. 0 is mapped to the gradient's central color. The shader has a ceiling value above which the incoming values are mapped to the rightmost color. There is also a floor value. Values below the floor are mapped to the leftmost color.
  
  
• Logarithmic clut
  
  This shader is symmetrical about zero (i.e. -5 and +5 map to the same color) and the transition between becomes more gradual as the incoming values increase. Mathematically-speaking, the logarithm of the absolute value of the tree's output value is mapped to the gradient. 0 selects the leftmost color.
  
  
• Procedural A:
  
  Base shader: logarithmic color shader
  Auxiliary shading: pixel brightness determined by sine function
  Auxiliary colors: none
  This shader combines logarithmic and cyclic shading. The Logarithmic Clut algorithm determines the pixel hues. ArtMatic then imposes shadows by applying a sine function to vary the pixel brightness. Where the sine function is 0, the image is black and where the sine function is 1 the color is unchanged. The result is a sort of 3D cylindrical banding. To make the most of this shader, use a two input tile for either the final or the penultimate tile. Watch how the shading changes as you manipulate that tile's inputs.
  
  
• Procedural B
  
  Base shader: logarithmic color shader
  Aux.shading: aux. input 1 influences luminance, aux. input 2 determines color shift
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color B
  This shader uses two auxiliary inputs from the tree to modulate an image calculated using a logarithmic shading algorithm. The first auxiliary input provides luminance information and the second provides a color shift using the second auxiliary color. Note: the first auxiliary color is ignored by this shader.
  


• Procedural C:
  
  Base shader: logarithmic color shader
  Auxiliary shading: Auxiliary inputs one and two create a second image using a cyclic shader. Auxiliary input three controls the mix of the base and second image.
  Auxiliary colors: none.
  This algorithm calculates two intermediate images which are mixed together under the control of the third auxiliary input. The first intermediate image is calculated from the system using a logarithmic algorithm. The second intermediate image is calculated by feeding the first two auxiliary inputs into a sine-based shader. The third auxiliary input (from god knows where on the tree) controls the interpolation (mixing) of the two intermediate images.
  
  


• D:Log+Depth cueing+Color Filters:
  
  Base shader: logarithmic color shader
  Auxiliary shading: color filtering using aux. colors and inputs
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  Global shading options: Depth Cueing
  This shader calculates a base image using logarithmic shading, turns on depth cueing (discussed later in this chapter) and uses the second and third auxiliary colors to filter the image. Two color filters (whose colors are provided by the second and third auxiliary colors) are calculated using two auxiliary values from the tree and applied to the base image. The filtering is done by multiplying the pixels of the filter with the pixels of the base image.
  
  
• E:Linear+Depth cueing+Lights:
  
  Base shader: logarithmic color shader
  Auxiliary shading: color filtering using aux. colors and inputs
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  Shading options: Depth Cueing
  This shader is based on linear shading and operates similarly to shader D except that the auxiliary color images are combined with the base image using addition rather than multiplication. This shader also turns on depth cueing.
  
  
• F:Linear+Directional Lights:
  
  Base shader:linear color shader
  Auxiliary shading: directional lights controlled by the system's last vector function plus black shadows to emphasize lighting direction.
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  This shader creates directional lighting effects. The last vector function (i.e. the last function with two outputs) of the Structure Tree provides direction information for directional lights used to shade the image. A primary white light is shined on the surface while lights of the three auxiliary colors are shined from different directions. Black shadows are provided which emphasize the lighting effect.
  
  
• G:Linear+3 Lights:
  
  Base shader:linear color shader
  Auxiliary shading:
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  This shader is based on linear shading. Three pre-defined slots from the structure tree are used to provide lighting information using three auxiliary colors. The rules for determining which auxiliary inputs are used are complex. If there is a three-input component, its inputs are used to add the auxiliary colors. If there is no three-input component, the last three inputs on the tree are used. If the auxiliary colors are all black then the image will be identical to one shaded with the ceiled linear clut.
  Tip: To see how this shader works, use an all black gradient and note the effects of changing the auxiliary colors.
  


• H:Global Shade+3 Lights:
  
  Base shader:linear color shader
  Auxiliary shading: aux. inputs provide shading and lighting information
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  Shading options: Global Shade On
  This is another complex shader based on linear shading. The Global Shade option--discussed later in this chapter--is turned on which uses an auxiliary input to control the luminance (brightness) of the image's pixels. The final component's output provides global illumination multiplied against the linear-shaded image. Three auxiliary colors provide additional lighting. Tip: For many structures, this can yield dramatic three-dimensional effects especially when the last component in the tree is the derivative (dx) function.
  
  
• I:Global Shade+Lights+Depth cueing:
  
  Base shader:linear color shader
  Auxiliary shading: aux. inputs
  Auxiliary colors: Aux color A and B
  Shading options: Depth cueing on
  This is another complex shader based on linear shading. It uses the last vector output function to provide depth cueing information and two other aux. inputs which control the application of auxiliary colors two and three.
  
  
• Linear clut (zero based) :
  
  This shader is essentially similar to the linear shader but maps zero to black and uses a normalised range so that 1 gets mapped to white.
  
  
• Balanced Log clut:
  
  Balanced Log performs logarithmic mapping of the gradient by using the gradient's colors for values greater than 0 and complementary colors of the gradient for values less than zero. This is a variant of the 'standard' Logarithmic Clut shader which uses the same colors for positive and negative values. This shader is especially useful when using ArtMatic to design sounds as it is very easy to see that positive and negative values are balanced (which is important for sound--since sounds that are out of balance suffer from DC Offset and will often result in clicks and distortion.
  


• Geographic clut
  
  Geographic Clut is a shader that aids artists designing DF fields or terrains for ArtMatic Voyager as this mode shows clearly the boundary between the inside and the outside (shaded with blue shades evoking underwater depth) of a DF volume or the elevations under sea level (at zero) for terrain modeling.
  ArtMatic Geographic Clut uses hard-coded colors to represent specific elevations. This mode is also available with RGBA trees.
  
  

• RGB Alpha (main out):
  
  RGB Alpha does no additional image processing. Most of the time, this is the shader that you will use when creating RGB-based graphics. When a tree has three outputs, they directly provides the Red, Green and Blue channels of the RGB image. If there is a fourth output its content is treated as an alpha channel that modulate opacity. A checkerboard pattern is used for transparent regions. If you don't want an alpha channel you can either :
  -use the mode RGB Multi mode
  -add a 33 tile to the end to convert to pure RGB (no alpha)
  -add a 44 tile "Alpha scale and offset" to zero the alpha scale and set the offset above 1 to ensure total opacity.
  NOTE: When rendering a movie with an alpha channel, make sure to select a codec compatible with alpha channels.
  
  
• RGB Density (main out)
  
  This shader is similar to RGB Alpha but turns any alpha value above zero to fully opaque. It is suited for DF color texturing when one need to preview the colors but still have a clue about the exterior of the object that will be fully transparent in this mode.
  
  
• Geographic clut (main out)
  
  Geographic clut creates a 3D topographic map where the fourth output of the tree provides elevation data and where the colors are provided by the built-in geographic clut. The first three outputs of the tree are ignored. So, it is often used while fine-tuning the system alpha or elevation output. Alpha channel/elevation values below zero will be shaded with blue shades evoking underwater depth. For DF modeling this mode shows clearly the boundary between the inside and the outside of a DF volume.
  In addition to elevation color mapping this shader uses the terrain derivative to bump-shade the surface for increased clarity. The 'Bump gain' tool described below controls the bump shading amount.
  This shader is more computationally-intensive since calculation of a system's derivative requires several Tree evaluation .
  
  
  
• RGBA Bump (main out):
  
  The tree's RGB output is lighted/textured using the derivative of the fourth output (bump shading). Negatives values will be shaded with bluish hues getting darker when the distance to zero increases. This shader provides a sense of how a four-output system will appear in ArtMatic Voyager when used as a colored terrain (where the first three outputs will be treated as color and the fourth as elevation). It is also suited for DF objects previsualisation as the exterior zones are below zero and the shades will give a sense of the Distance Field itelf.
  If the tree has only 3 outputs, a derivative calculated from a mix of RGB values.
  The 'Bump gain' tool described below controls the bump shading amount.
  This shader can also create dramatic 3D-like textures. While the Geographic Clut gives an accurate portrayal of the elevations created by the ArtMatic system, the Geographic Clut ignores the color information embedded in the ArtMatic system. The RGB+Alpha Bump shader gives you an idea of what the elevation map will look like when colored with the RGB information embedded in the system.
  This shader is more computationally-intensive since calculation of a system's derivative requires several Tree evaluation .
  
  
• RGBA Multi
  
  In this mode the alpha channel is ignored for the first output tile. Additional outputs will be composed to the overall image using the following rules :
  scalar (single out) values will be shaded in additive mode with Auxiliary colors coloring the output.
  RGB (3 outs) colors will be shaded in additive mode.
  RGBA (4 outs) values will be composited as alpha layer, that is the alpha value of the component will control the blending of the color.
  RGB multi is a fast way to compose several alpha layers over the first output that will be treated as an opaque background. It can also be used when the alpha channel is unwanted to render a RGBA system in opaque mode.
  
  
• RGBA Bump (multi out):
  
  This shader is similar to RGB Bump but can handle multiple RGBA outputs. It is particularly useful for dual shaded DF objects used in Voyager like :
  Opaque + Light
  Opaque + Transparent
  Opaque + Transmissive
  
  
  

• Depth Cueing Off:
  
• Depth Cueing Small:
  
• Depth Cueing Medium:
  
• Depth Cueing Strong:
  Depth cueing simulates the color-filtering effect of the atmosphere (the same effect that causes distant objects to appear faint). Depth cueing works by assigning the Depth cue color color according to a depth/distance evaluation. By default, ArtMatic picks the component in the tree associated with distance (generally the first auxiliary input). This assignment can be manually overridden (as explained below). This color is superimposed on the image in relationship to the depth /distance. As the distance increases, so does the brightness and opacity of the depth color. ArtMatic provides direct manipulation of depth cueing which can be used for both distance and purely decorative effects.
  For more control on depth cuing you can alternatively use the 44 Alpha Fade tile where the fourth input will drive a depth cuing.
  


• Global Shade Off:
  Turs Off Global Shade.
• Global Shade On:
  Another shading option is Global Shading (or shadowing) that can be turned on via the options menu. Global shading creates shadows and light in the image by modulating the luminance (brightness) of the image's pixels. Where the shading component generates low values, the image will be dark (shadowed), and where it generates large values, the image will be brighter. As with depth cueing, you can now choose component that provides the shadows (global shading) as described below.
  For more control on shading you can alternatively use tiles like 43 w Multiply and Illumination to implement shading within the tree.
  Note: The global shading glyph is the small marking in the icon's lower-right corner.


• Component sets Depth:
  The selected tile will be used to provide the Depth information.
• Component sets Shade:
  The selected tile will be used to provide the Shade information, usually a derivative component. A small shaded glyph is used to indicate components that have been manually assigned. Restoring automatic shade/depth control. If you have used the Component Sets Depth or Component Sets Shade commands and want ArtMatic to restore its automatic depth/shading choice, select the Fog and Shade Automatic item from the shading options popup menu. Note that Fog and Shade Automatic may have a check mark even if depth and shading are turned off. The check mark merely indicates that if shading/depth are turned on that ArtMatic will choose the components automatically.
• Evaluate only for colors:
  This option is only relevant for systems to be used by ArtMatic Voyager. Turn this option on for any tile that should only be evaluated by ArtMatic Voyager during the color texture evaluation phase. This can greatly optimize rendering time by avoiding texture and color computation when unneeded. For example when designing RGB+Alpha trees that provide both the elevation map and the color texture to ArtMatic Voyager, set the color texturing part to "evaluate only for colors". Voyager will ignore tiles that have this option set when calculating the elevation map. If possible, put all tiles used for generating the color texture in a compiled tree and apply this option to that single compiled tree tile.


• Fog and Shade Automatic:
  Usual state where ArtMatic will choose which tile provides Depth Cuing automatically.

RGB Bump (main out) and Geographic Clut uses the Tree elevation or alpha value to bump-shade the result implicitly. The Bump gain button lets you slide the amplitude of this bump shading. It is often quite useful to have a better grasp of terrain relief features or DF field derivative.
For final renderings we recommend to use custom shaders where the derivative is shaded using the Structure Tree components to have a better control of the bump shading function (instead of relying on RGB Bump mode). Examples of customized advanced bump shading technics can be found in the Libraries/Textures/Shaded Surfaces/ folder

Parameter area

Parameter grid options

This popup turn on/off various grids mode to restrict the parameters settings to the selected grid. Options: no parameter grid, Integer Grid, Snap Grip (closely spaced grid), Pi/4 angle grid (this restricts rotation and other angle-based parameters to increments of 45 degrees), Pi/6 angle grid (this restricts rotation and other angle-based parameters to increments of 30 degrees).

Randomize colors & shaders

Mutate the active gradient and the active Shading mode.

Randomize All ('$')

Randomize all of the structure's function assignments, parameter values and color assignments. Control-click randomizes the entire structure tree as well as the function assignments. Tiles whose parameters are completely locked are protected from Randomize All.

Randomize parameters

Randomize the parameters of all unlocked tiles. Repeatedly clicking this tool is one way to explore the possibilities of a particular system. The parameter locks can be used to prevent randomization of a particular parameter.

Mutations Explorer Dialog

Invoque the Mutations Explorer dialog.
The Mutations Explorer is one of ArtMatic's most powerful tools and uses genetic algorithms to generate mutations while your choices takes the role of natural selection. It allows to quickly and easily explore the huge Parameter Space of ArtMatic systems and mutate the current ArtMatic Structure Tree algorithm by randomly mutating it's tiles functions.
When the mutations explorer first opens, the current canvas image is the parent (the large image in the upper-left). Clicking on the parent generates a new set of mutations. ArtMatic creates mutations by randomizing unlocked parameter values and the gradient and/or function assignments (depending on the selected options). Clicking any mutation (any 'child'), makes that mutation the new parent. If the auto-mutate option is turned on, clicking any mutation makes that child the parent and generates a new set of mutations.

The Mutate (dice button) triggers a new set of mutations. Interesting mutations can be stored in the Keyframes using the Add or Replace Keyframe buttons.
Clicking the OK icon button closes the dialog and validates the current state of the Tree.

Mutation rate :
The mutation rate slider controls the mutation probability. High values will let you explore a large region of parameter space. Low values are often used to fine-tune a system or to find small variations in very sensitive systems like fractals. 'Locked' parameters won't be mutated so you can use this property to protect certain parameter from mutations. Flow controllers like Iterations and Recursions parameters are not mutable, even unlocked.

Explore modes :
Several strategies are provided to explore the Parameter Space:

• Cumulative:
  The default mode accumulate mutations sequentially. The distance to original point in the P-space increases row by row from topleft.
• Points cloud:
  The Points cloud mode explore a region of random points around current state in the parameter space. The distance to original point in the P-space increases proportionally to the 2D distance with the topleft thumbnail.
• Random path:
  The Random path mode uses a continuous random path within the parameter space to display the mutations. The distance to original point in the P-space increases row by row from topleft.

Keyframes Parameters

Invoke the Keyframes Parameters Envelop dialog that display time curves for each active parameter of the current selected tile. This dialog is available when more than 2 keyframes exists in ArtMatic Designer only. To create Keyframes visit the Timeline and Keyframes Area.

A, B , C , D (pop up buttons)

Theses popup menus gives you access to parameter-related functionalities and shortcuts for each used parameter :

• Publish parameter:
  The advanced user can "publish" parameter from the tree in the designer room even if they are located deep inside CT's. "Published" parameters will appear on top of the 6 parameters that the explorer room offer to show. "Published" parameters will also be directly accessible in ArtMatic Voyager for fine-tuning. Published parameters have a green lock icon or a orange lock icon if the parameter is locked.
• Unpublish:
  Unpublish a published parameter.
• Published parameters names...
  Invoke a dialog that lets you rename the 6 (or less) published parameters. The published parameters should be renamed when the default generic parameter name is not informative enough in certain cases, especially when you plan to share the ArtMatic file for other users. Theses names should be set once the tree is stable enough as they can get lost in the editing process : Copy/paste won't preserve published flags and names for example, and tree editing may mess up the order of the parameters and their name.


• Send current value to all KF:
  Sends the current parameter value to all keyframes.
• Ramp full range:
  Meaningful only when keyframes exists, this function ramp current parameter value from minimum to maximum for all keyframes.
• Ramp from first to end:
  Meaningful only when keyframes exists, this function ramp current parameter value from first KF value to last KF value in all keyframes. If they happen to be the same this will make the parameter static over the animation.
• Reverse time:
  Meaningful only when keyframes exists, this function reverse the time of paremeter keyframes envelope.


• Reset to default:
  Lets you reset a particular parameter to its default value.
• Reset All to default:
  Lets you reset all of a tile's parameters to their default values.

Parameter sliders (A,B,C,D)

Component's parameters are modified using the parameter sliders. Each tile in a structure has from 0 to 4 parameters (settings). Each keyframe in a file can have different settings. To modify a tile's current parameters, click on the tile then manipulate the parameter sliders. To see what a parameter controls, move the mouse over the slider and note the Tool Tips display. Drag a slider to change its value or option click to make a small changes.

In ArtMatic Designer Design room, the parameters slider changes the current tile's values. The changes will be lost if you have keyframes and either change the current time or select a keyframe as the parameters value will then be derived from the animation keyframes. To store parameters changes in a keyframe you may need to replace the current (or any) keyframe, unless the parameter is locked in which case the current value applies to all keyframes. To access and edit the keyframes values in Design room click the Keyframes Parameters button to open the Keyframes Parameters Envelop dialog.

In Explorer or Explore room, the published parameters sliders will directly edit the keyframe values (if any) and the parameter envelop is displayed in the main window for direct editing of the entire set of values. Select first a keyframe to get the parameters value at that time then any changes will be assigned to the keyframe without having to replace it.

Parameter Locks

The parameter locks (found to the right of the parameter sliders) allow function parameters and component assignments to be locked to prevent them from being changed by operations such as mutation that normally change parameter values. When a parameter is locked its animation is disabled as well. When all parameters are locked the tile itself can no longer be mutated.
To lock all tiles, shift-click any unlocked parameter. Locked parameters shows the lock icon in red. This makes it possible to use the Mutations dialog to explore variations of only a few parameters. To unlock all tiles, shift-click any locked parameter.
Locking parameters and functions is a great way to explore ArtMatic systems. Parameter/function locking makes it possible to use mutations and the large die to explore subtle refinements. For example, you might have a system that uses a few tiles to provide the surface texture. You could lock all of the parameters and functions of the system except for the tiles that provide the texture and then use the big die or the Mutations window to discover new textures created by function mutation that affects only the few components that provide the texture.

Note: When parameters are locked, keyframe animation uses the last values assigned to the locked parameters when animating the system. As a result, any parameter changes stored between keyframes are ignored while the parameters are locked. The parameter changes are not lost however; they are just ignored. When the parameters are unlocked, any parameter changes stored in the keyframes will be honored during animation. Parameter locking is intended for refined mutation control and for investigating how a particular parameter affects the system.

Certain components uses an indexed gradient directly from the built-in gradients library like 13 Indexed Gradient . This gradient is displayed for editing when such a component's tile is selected and the button below may open the standard Gradient editing dialog if needed.

Certain components parameters sets a RGB color. This color pop up is available when such a component's tile is selected and can be use to edit the 3 RGB value at once. For example the 13 Set Constant tile sets a constant RGB color with its parameters.

Timeline and Keyframes Area

This area is focused on Animation controls. It provides the Keyframes UI, the main timeline slider and various buttons to control keyframes. Keyframes stores not only all the current Tree parameters but also the current Canvas View Zoom and Position and the current Main Gradient. The animated sets of zoom and position stored in Keyframes constitute what we call the "camera path".
All components constituting the Tree can have its parameters animated as long as they are not locked. ArtMatic creates animation by changing the system's parameters over time morphing the values from keyframe to keyframe. Various modes of parameter interpolation are available : they can be chosen inside the Keyframes Parameters dialog. The default is using bezier curve to ensure a smooth interpolation.

Sound can be used to modulate ArtMatic animations when they are rendered, and a soundtrack can be added or generated (using the sound algorithm last used on the Sound page) when rendering. Audio modulation is a powerful technique to use for creating video for music videos and multimedia compositions. To modulate ArtMatic animation with audio, audio input must be routed from the Global Input Matrix into the Structure Tree. See the Global Input matrix section for more information about this topic.

Tip : Making global changes to all keyframes
Holding down the shift key when performing many operations applies the operation to all of the ArtMatic tree keyframes. (These operations include: gradient selection, zooming and scrolling the canvas, and changing parameter values.)

Animation pop up menu

The Animation menu provides the following:

• Animation & Camera setup...(a):
  Invoke the Animation setup dialog which determines the animation duration, animation type and the camera movement. This dialog and its settings are covered in the Animation page.


• Add Keyframe (k):
  
• Replace Keyframe (l):
  
• Delete Keyframe:
  
• Insert In-between Keyframe (i):
  Same functionalities as the corresponding buttons.
  
• Guess Next Keyframe (G):
  Generate a keyframe that continues the motion of the previous keyframes. This command is only available when the last keyframe is selected and at least 2 keyframes are present.
  
• Copy Camera Path:
  Copy the current camera path to the clipboard so that it can be pasted into another file.
• Paste Camera Path:
  Paste a copied camera path onto the current system.

Keyframes store all tree's components current parameters values so they can be animated over time. They also store the current canvas view and the main gradient. The ArtMatic system's keyframes will be mapped in time so that all the keyframes play back over the course of the animation. When just 2 Keyframes are present the first represent the state of the system at time 0 and the second at time 1 (the end of the animation).
Keyframes are not limited to animation : they are often used to store interesting variations of the huge Parameter Space of ArtMatic Trees. Sliding the timeline will interpolate these parameters to let you discover more interesting points in the space of possibles.

Click on any empty slot to store a new keyframe from the current Tree parameters.
Click on a keyframe will select it. When selecting a keyframe the Tree parameters variables stored in the keyframe will be copied to the current Tree, with the exeption of parameters that were specifically LOCKED to not be animated. The time slider will also reflect the particular time position of the selected keyframe and send this time information to Voyager when the Voyager hot link toggle is ON. In Explore room it will hilit the published parameter envelop value if the parameter has an envelop. Then you can modify the keyframe parameter directly in the envelop as well as with the parameter slider. Although you can edit the entire envelop it is safer to just move the hilited parameter to see the changes result.
Command-Click on a keyframe will replace it.
Option-Click on a keyframe will delete it.

Note : Keyframes thumbnails are not recomputed for every changes you can make so they may become misleading in certain cases. To force a full keyframe redraw you can lock/unlock any parameter.

Play (space bar)

Preview the current animation. The resolution adapts to the CPU load of the current Tree to keep fluidity of motion. Unlike in earlier versions the priority is given to frame rate to ensure at least 12 fps. Slow systems may playback very pixellated. The old small preview mode is gone but you can alternatively use the small animation preview provided by the Animation & Camera setup dialog that won't change the resolution.
Shortcut: Spacebar. Even without keyframes play will flow time so that time-sensitive or time connected components will be animated as well.

Duration MSF

The watch icon is used to set the animation duration. Click and drag left or right to change the duration. Duration is displayed in MSF format (minutes, seconds, frames)

Delete (keyframe)

Delete the selected keyframe. Shortcut: option-click any keyframe to delete it.

Insert (keyframe)

Calculates a new keyframe that is halfway between the selected keyframe and the keyframe after it.

Add (keyframe)

Add a new keyframe with the current Tree parameters. Shortcut: you can also click on the first blank keyframe to add a new keyframe.

Replace (keyframe)

Replaces selected keyframe with the current Tree parameters. You may also use command-click on a keyframe slot to perform the replacement.

Open ArtMatic file

This button echoes the File->Open command and will prompt you to locate an ArtMatic file (extension .artm).

Save ArtMatic file

This button echoes the File->Save command and will either directly save the current scene if the file already exists or prompt you to set a name to save the ArtMatic file.

Render pict to screen

Render the current scene fullscreen with Anti-Aliasing ON. Once the current image render is done you may animate the system using Space bar. The full screen animation preview is done at the preview resolution set in Preferences and won't be changed for slow systems. Frame rate may vary with the CPU load of the ArtMatic Tree. When the animation mode is set to "free run loop" or the global input matrix is set to audio input the fullscreen animation playback will loop forever. With fast ArtMatic Trees you can set the preview resolution to 1.

Render Image to file (cmd-R)

This button opens the Render Picture dialog that gather the settings to render image file(s). Size pop up and size fields: Common dimensions are provided by the Size pop up menu. The numeric fields accepts any entry up to 24000. Over 15K size the rendering will be performed directly to disk and may take a while.

Formats:
PNG 8 bit per channel,
PNG 16 bit per channel:
PNG is a lossless widespread format an is recommended. Use the 16 bit version for printing and high quality graphics. It will solve any banding or quantization artifacts.
TIFF : Save the image in 8 bit per channel, TIFF format.
PDF : Save the image in 8 bit per channel, PDF format (.pdf).
JPG : Save the image in 8 bit per channel, jpeg format (.jpg). Note that jpg has no alpha channel. Use this for high compression Web application.

HeightMap 1025 16 bits,
HeightMap 2049 16 bits:
Save the image in RAW, 16 bit per channel gray scale image. This is suited to store terrain elevation in 1025 and 2049 square format for 3D applications like Unity 3D.

PNG HeightMap 16 bits:
16 bit per channel gray scale image of any size suited to store terrain elevation or high quality texture channel for bump mapping in 3D applications.

Render all keyframes (checkbox): When set ArtMatic will render one image for each stored keyframes. Keyframes can be used to store interesting variations of a given tree. In that case it may be quite useful to render the entire set instead of just the current image.

4 by 4 anti-aliasing:(checkbox)
Turn ON/OFF 16 samples 16 sample per pixel rendering mode. Use it to improve quality for fractals and systems with a lot of high-frequencies.



File Path:

Click this button to set the image file path. By default the path is set to be in the same directory as the ArtMatic file. You don't have to set it for every save as it will remember the output directory. Note that no warning is given if you overwrite a file when saving without setting the path.

Render Animation (cmd-M)

Click the Render Animation tool to render an animation. The file does not need keyframes to be animated. To stop a render, press the escape key.

Mode popup (movie or picture sequence)- The options are:
Movie :
ArtMatic Engine 8 uses AVFundation to save animation in the .mov format. Possible codecs are :
H264 (no Alpha),
Apple ProRes 422 (no Alpha),
Apple ProRes 4444 (8 bit Alpha),
Apple ProRes 4444 (10 bit Alpha)
Apple ProRes 4444 will support alpha channels and the 10 bit version offers the best quality. H264 is more compressed and widely supported.
Note: Make sure you set the file path as no warning is given if you overwrite a .mov file.

List of Images (png),
List of Images (Tiff).
The "List" options render the movie frames as sequentially numbered image files (in either PNG for List of Pictures or TIFF for List of Tiff). Such sequences are recognized by most movie editing programs and by ArtMatic pict/movie inputs. Using image sequences is a good idea when performing a long render since nothing will be lost if the computer shuts down unexpectedly. (movies will likely be unplayable if the render is interrupted by anything else than escape key).

Preset popup:
- The preset popup provides a list of common frame size/frame rate combinations. Choosing a preset cause the format and fps fields to be filled in with the appropriate values.

4 by 4 anti-aliasing:(checkbox)
Turn ON/OFF 16 samples per pixel rendering mode. Use it to improve quality for fractals, systems with a lot of high-frequencies or high contrast graphics with fine details. Rendering time will be multiplied by 4 with this option ON.
Note the default anti-aliasing is 2 by 2, that is, 4 samples per pixels.

File Path:

Click this button to set the animation file path. By default the path is set to be in the same directory as the ArtMatic file. You don't have to set it for every save as it will remember the output directory. Note that no warning is given if you overwrite a file when saving without setting the path.

Save sound file

Available in Listen room this button will save the sound file produced by the current Tree. The file is AIFF and uses 44.1K for sampling rate.
Note that when rendering the sound to file the internal maths are more precise than in real time playback and the sound may slightly differs.

Voyager hot link (toggle)

This button lets you turn ON and OFF the Hot link with ArtMatic Voyager. When hot link is ON, changes in parameters and Structure Tree will be communicated to Voyager through Apple Events. When Voyager receives such an event it will pop up a floating preview of the 3D rendering. It makes of course the design of terrains, textures and the construction of volumetric object much more friendly as you can see the 3D rendering interactively while adjusting parameters.
Transport time information is also transmitted when using the time slider or selecting a keyframe.
When the tree is structurally modified ArtMatic will send the new tree to Voyager using a temporary file so the original is preserved. Unless you save the file in ArtMatic or the voyager scene in Voyager you can always go back to the original.
Changes in artmatic globals like optional colors and the main gradient colors are not transmitted automatically. However they will be transmitted if you turn OFF and immedialty ON the hot link : when turning ON the entire file is send as explained above for structural changes.

Important Notes:
- Using this feature along with published parameters changes of ArtMatic Tree within Voyager may lead to inconsistent situations. Make sure that if you use the Quick Edit ArtMatic params & shaders inspector and have changed the ArtMatic tree parameters inside Voyager to reload the file into ArtMatic again so that ArtMatic knows about the changes. Otherwise as soon as you modify the tree in ArtMatic it will undo the changes.

-If you use "save as" in Voyager that will de facto change the path of the ArtMatic file (ArtMatic files are stored within the Voyager bundle file) meaning the one opened in ArtMatic will no longer point to the right file location and still point to the original.
Again the solution is to reload the ArtMatic file into ArtMatic from Voyager after "save as" to make sure you edit the correct file.

TroubleShooting:
If communication don't work as expected there are a number of thing to double-check :
-Is the Voyager hot link ON ?
-Is the current ArtMatic file pointing to the right one ? To be sure re-open the file from ArtMatic Voyager. Same thing if you have changed the file name in either softwares.
-Make sure ArtMatic and Voyager versions are compatible and the only one running. Use both CTX or 7.5/4.5 together and don't mix versions. If various versions are running simultaneously the OS may send the Apple Event to the wrong Application.
-At last resort the OS Apple Events system is probably damaged and rebooting the computer usually fixes the problem.

• ArtMatic 1 in 1 out components.
• ArtMatic 1 in 2 out components.
• ArtMatic 1 in 3 out components.
• ArtMatic 1 in 4 out components.
• ArtMatic 2 in 1 out components.
• ArtMatic 2 in 2 out components.
• ArtMatic 2 in 3 out components.
• ArtMatic 2 in 4 out components.
• ArtMatic 2 in 5 out components.
• ArtMatic 3 in 1 out components.
• ArtMatic 3 in 2 out components.
• ArtMatic 3 in 3 out components.
• ArtMatic 3 in 4 out components.
• ArtMatic 4 in 1 out components.
• ArtMatic 4 in 2 out components.
• ArtMatic 4 in 3 out components.
• ArtMatic 4 in 4 out components.

U&I University provides video tutorials on Designer, Voyager, and Explorer. Take a look at our Official YouTube Channel for the latest episodes. We hold live Q&A sessions weekly. Make sure to check the topic schedule. Here are the videos so far:

• Designer CTX 1.0 - User Interface Basics
• Designer CTX 1.0 - Tile Tree Components 1
• Designer CTX 1.0 - Tile Tree Components 2
• Designer CTX 1.0 - Tile Tree Deconstruction (Making a Face)
• Designer CTX 1.0 - Tile Tree Components 2
• Voyager CTX 1.0 - User Interface Basics
• Voyager+Designer CTX 1.0 - Depth Field 3D Objects Basics 1
• Voyager+Designer CTX 1.0 - Depth Field 3D Objects Basics 2
• Voyager+Designer CTX 1.0 - Creating Depth Field 3D Objects
• Voyager CTX 1.0 - Sprites Basics
• More to come!