You can modify the duration setting in the timeline by going to the Animation panel’s flyout menu and selecting Document Settings. In the dialog, you can set the duration and also choose a frame rate from the pop-up menu or you can enter a custom setting.
Archive for May, 2009
You can quickly scrub through the timeline by clicking-and-holding on the Current Time Indicator. You will notice the cursor turn into opposing arrows. Just click-and-drag either to the left or right to scrub through the timeline.
When animating objects in the timeline, Photoshop interpolates between keyframes to give a sense of movement. However, if you would like the animation to toggle between keyframes, Control-click (PC: Right-click) on that keyframe in the timeline to bring up the contextual menu and select Hold Interpolation. The appearance of the keyframes will change, and when played back it will cut to each keyframe.
If you choose Analysis>Set Measurement Scale>Custom, you will get a dialog where you can set a series of presets. Although you are in the dialog, you can still move outside of it and click-and-drag out a measurement.
When using the Analysis tools in Photoshop, you will need to establish the scale of measure. Go under the Analysis menu, choose Set Measurement Scale, and select Custom. You have three settings to modify: Pixel Length, Logical Length, and Logical Units. An example would be if you know your document is 100 pixels wide, you would enter 100 in the Pixel Length field. Then, if you know that 100 pixels equals an inch, you would enter 1 for Logical Length. Then type inches for Logical Units. Now you have set the Measurement Scale to measure every 100 pixels as one inch.
You may find yourself setting up measurement parameters for a number of different size images. To keep from having to reset the values over and over, click on the Save Preset button. It is perhaps a good idea to name the presets after the pixel dimension to make them easy to identify.
You know those scale markers they have on maps that say that 1″ equals 1 mile? Well, Photoshop can create something called Scale Markers. These are measurement guides that are created based on the measurement scale you use. Once a measurement scale is established, go under the Analysis menu and choose Place Scale Marker. In this example, I have established my measurement scale to interpret 100 pixels as 1″ in a file that’s 10″ wide at 100 dpi. So if I want to create a 3″ scale marker, then I would enter 3 in the Length field. I can also choose to display text as a label for the marker. You can choose its color and placement depending on the file.
While working in the Vanishing Point filter, you can create a multi-plane grid and return the part of the image contained in the grid back to Photoshop as a 3D layer (choose Return 3D Layer to Photoshop from the flyout menu). Once it is a 3D layer, you can move the object around in three dimensions using Photoshop’s 3D tools.
If you have imported a 3D object that has a texture applied to it, that texture will show up as a sublayer with your 3D layer. To modify or replace the existing texture, simply double-click directly on the texture name in the Layers panel. A dialog will open with the 2D texture. Make whatever changes you need, then close and save the document. Just like a Smart Object, it will update automatically in the main document.
