Animated background textures?

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Telemacus
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Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

Hi.
Does anybody know of any program (apart from After effects or any other with an unaffordable price tag) which can do animated background textures? you know, things like plasma effect or any texture background image and add animation effects to it?
I've googled and googled but can't really find anything.
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slowtiger
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by slowtiger »

When you ask "animated BG textures" I read this as "do it automatically". Of course lots of programs can do that, but all for a price. You don't pay, you don't get automatic.

But why so shy of a bit of work? Lots of stuff can be done inside AS, even more if you incorporate video. PLay around, experiment, and you get lots of odd effects.
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

I've mentioned it before but PD Pro can do this kind of thing very easily and a lot besides. It's not very expensive.
http://www.thebest3d.com/howler/the-dog ... -list.html

Telemacus
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

Thanks slowtiger.

There are certain effects which, although theoretically possible, would be really difficult to achieve in Anime studio.
Here's a sample: (image reduced + edited to minimize size)

Image

It would take me ages to create a tunnel effect using a plain background image in AS.
I don't mind paying a reasonable fee for a program that does this well.
There are certain things which -although possible- would be too time consuming. It's a bit like editing music. I wish I could do it on my own, but I'd rather pay 10$ to use a song in a video.
Becoming a good animator will take me years. At present, I know my limitations :) but I'm nearly ready to do what I bought AS for. (which is to add characters to some tutorials I'm working on).

Amigaman: very interesting. I've downloaded the demo version. It keeps crashing on my Windows 7, 64 laptop. But this could indeed be the type of program that I'm talking about, yes. (although 300 bucks... doesn't seem realistic to me, but still...)
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

Telemacus: I'm not sure where you saw $300 as the price I saw was $89? I bought it years ago and have upgraded ever since so I don't see the full price often but I'm pretty certain it's nowhere near $300. For several licences maybe?

I have the same configuration laptop as you and I don't get crashes. I would contact Philip Steiger via the website there and let him know if that's the case. He WILL get back to you and help.
Telemacus
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

Oh dear, where did I get those 300 dollars from?? :oops:
$89 is definitely a most reasonable price! My interest in growing in this program after watching a couple of videos. Really cool stuff you can do with it!
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

The first price you see is for 'up to 10 licences' at $300 so it's not very clear. I had to almost go through to the point of purchase to see the single license price. It is $89. Philip confirmed that today and is going to make that clearer I believe.
Yes it's quite useful software to have at times.
Telemacus
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

I just got a copy of Howler 9.2 (Which has just come out).
There's a 29% discount till April 14th:

http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/sales/

I love the product. Very impressive!
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

Good Telemacus. I'm pleased you like PD Pro Howler and find it useful. I think Philip viewed your posts here and has done a whole series of tutorials on creating an animated tunnel especially for you :D

Telemacus
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

I know, I've been watching the tutorials on youtube. :)
Philip did ask me if there was any tutorial I'd be interested in, and I did mention the tunnels (and gave him a couple of links). I think this triggered his imagination and he began creating those amazing tutorials. It's just incredible how much you can do with Howler!

Really nice people too...
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

I agree Telemacus. Philip always replies and usually within minutes. I have asked Dan Ritchie, the creator, if there's any chance of adding additional animation layers. Fingers crossed.
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by Telemacus »

That'd be really cool.
Did you know Dan is (was?) going through really difficult times? I heard he was homeless at one point, carrying all his stuff in a pushbike. Not sure if he still is, but it's possible.
It's just unbelievable and terribly unfair that such a brilliant mind should have it so tough. :(
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AmigaMan
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by AmigaMan »

I remember reading on his website that he'd been through difficult times. I hope things have improved since then.
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InfoCentral
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Re: Animated background textures?

Post by InfoCentral »

I think a lot of graphics programs now do animated flash files and GIF's. Serif Draw Plus and Xara come to mind as 2 that I know do.
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