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natron [2015/07/06 10:53]
slackermedia 		natron [2021/06/03 19:48] (current)
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 ====== Natron ====== ====== Natron ======
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 The install can happen in two different ways: The install can happen in two different ways:
  
-  * Run the installer as a normal user and install to a location in your home directory (for instance, ''​~/​bin/​natron''​) +  * Run the installer as a normal user and install to a location in your home directory (somewhere in ''​~/​bin''​ is customary; ​for instance, ''​~/​bin/​natron''​) 
-  * Run the installer from a terminal using the ''​kdesu''​ command and install to a systemwide location, (such as ''/​opt''​)+  * Run the installer from a terminal using the ''​kdesu''​ command and install to a systemwide location, (''/​opt'' ​is customary)
  
  
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 </​WRAP>​ </​WRAP>​
  
-Now assume ​+=====Basic Animation===== 
 + 
 +Natron would be an over-complex version of GIMP were it not for the fact that it composites pictures that move. Since most of the pictures in Natron will be moving, it's not unusual for the elements you are using to composite them together to have to move. 
 + 
 +Currently, the Slackermedia logo and the text in the demo composite are static. Anything that has a keyframe button {{natron_keyframe.png}} next to it can be animated, and there are several additional nodes that add more animate-able properties to your assets. 
 + 
 +To animate something in Natron, use keyframes. The keyframe buttons are located in the **Property Panels**.]:​ 
 + 
 +  - Make sure the playhead is at frame 1 by using the play controls along the timeline. 
 +  - In the TuttleText property panel, click the keyframe button and select **Set Key (All Dimensions**. This creates a new keyframe; in the timeline, the playhead turns blue. 
 +  - Move the project playhead to frame 16 (or some frame later in time), and click the keyframe button again to set a new keyframe. 
 +  - You have two keyframes, but no motion between the two points in time. The easiest way to tween in Natron is the **Curve Editor** window, which is a tab behind the **Node Graph** window. If there is no **Curve Editor** tab, click the **Layout** button to the left of the **Node Graph** tab and select **Curve editor here**. 
 +  - Switch to the **Curve Editor** window and locate the lines that represent the X and Y positions. As in Blender, use the mouse wheel (or the scroll function1 on your touchpad) to zoom in and out. Middle-mouse click to move around in the **Curve Editor**. 
 +  - Grab onto the keyframe markers in the **Curve Editor** to change the values of the TuttleText node in whatever way you want your animation to occur. For instance, try moving the text from right to left. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_curve.jpg?​666 | The curve editor makes keyframing easy and familiar to any Blender user. }}] 
 + 
 +When you're finished your animation, send the playhead back to the start and press play. 
 + 
 +Not all assets have handy position markers built in the way TuttleText does. You can add properties, like position, crop, size, rotation, and so on, by adding more nodes to your script. For example, to add a transform node: 
 + 
 +  - Click the Slackermedia logo node in the **Node Graph** window. 
 +  - Right-click anywhere in the **Node Graph** window. 
 +  - Select **Transform** → **Transform**. A transform node appears inline directly after the selected node. 
 +  - Click the transform node in the **Node Graph** window. 
 +  - In the **Transform** property panel, change the position, skew, scale, rotation (and more). 
 + 
 +As with any property panel, anything with a keyframe button can be animated. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_effect.jpg?​666 | With OpenFX, you get plenty of effects and nodes to keep you busy.}}] 
 + 
 +===== Example Composite Task ===== 
 + 
 +Slightly more advanced is the ubiquitous green screen effect. For this, you need sample footage. Sample footage abounds online, but much of what you find online is heavily compressed, which by definition discards information. For a clean green screen, the //less// compressed your footage, the better. 
 + 
 +The Internet has quite a lot of sample greenscreen footage. If you cannot find any that suits, download sample footage from [[https://​drive.google.com/​open?​id=0B_nYaI3DodmMdmZWSE9sbTRQbGs|this online mirror]]. 
 + 
 +  - Add a greenscreen shot with a **Read** node (''​r''​ on your keyboard, or a right-click anywhere in the **Node Graph** window). 
 +  - Add a background shot, also with a **Read** node (''​r''​ on your keyboard, or a right-click anywhere in the **Node Graph** window). 
 +  - Add the "​greenscreen effect",​ more technically known as a chroma key, from **Keyer** → **ChromaKeyer**. 
 +  - Connect the greenscreen node to the chromakeyer **source**. 
 +  - Connect the background node to the chromakeyer **background**. 
 +  - Connect the output of the **Chromakeyer** node to the **Viewer** node. 
 + 
 +Use the color picker in the **Chromakeyer** properties panel (use the color picker in the //panel// not the //title bar// of the panel. The title bar colour picker is for the visual appearance of the node in your scripts area, it has no affect on the actual function of the node. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_color.jpg | Use the colour picker in the panel, not the one above it.}}] 
 + 
 +Once you have a good chroma key, you'll see it in your viewer. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_chroma.jpg | A basic chroma key. }}] 
 + 
 +To get a feel for how flexible Natron is, and how a little extra effort in compositing can render improved results, add a little style to the setup: 
 + 
 +  - Add a **Merge** node to the **Node Graph** window. 
 +  - Connect the output of the **ChromaKeyer** to the ''​A''​ side of the **Merge** node. 
 +  - Add an **Filters** → **BlurCImg1** node after your background image, and disconnect the background (or the blur) from the ChromaKeyer. By freeing the background from the chroma key process, you add flexibility to how you can process the output of the keyer. 
 +  - Connect the blur node to the **B** side of the **Merge** node. 
 +  - Connect the **Merge** node to the **Viewer**. 
 +  - In the **BlurCImg1** property panel, increase the blur amount until the background gets a "soft focus" look. 
 + 
 +Now you have a scene with the suggestion of depth-of-field at best, or a de-emphasis on any clutter at worst. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_blur.jpg?​666 | A basic chroma key with separate pipes for foreground and background. }}] 
 + 
 +In this example, the ballerina in the shot is still a little rough around the edges. There are several ways to deal with that issue, but in this case an artificial glow to suggest stage lighting is what the client is looking for. This is a good example of how output can be doubled up on itself to produce a unique effect. 
 + 
 +  - Without removing any nodes or connections,​ click and drag to select **Read** and **Chromakeyer** nodes. Right-click on your selection and choose **Edit** → **Duplicate Nodes**. 
 +  - Move the duplicated nodes to the side so you can work with them. 
 +  - Add a **Merge** → **Dissolve** node. 
 +  - Connect the new **Chromakeyer** output to the **Dissolve** node. 
 +  - Add a **Filter** → **Tuttle Blur** node and connect it to the **Dissolve** node. 
 +  - Now disconnect the original **Chromakeyer** from the **Merge** node and re-connect it into your new **Dissolve** node. 
 +  - Connect the **Dissolve** node to the **Merge** node. 
 +  - In the **TuttleBlur** properties panel, increase the blur amount just enough so that an outer glow appears around the subject. 
 + 
 +[{{ natron_green.jpg?​666 | Composites can get complex, and when they aren't frustrating,​ they'​re a lot of fun. }}] 
 + 
 +Were this an actual deliverable shot, you would apply colour correction and probably an additional transform to position the subject, and so on. There are plenty of effects and nodes available to help a composite reach its best possible quality, and the best way to learn them is to experiment. 
 + 
 +The important lesson here is the segmentation technique; rather than hooking all nodes into a central **Merge** node, the script keeps individual effects in their own subroutines,​ which are then finally connected to a **Merge** just above the final viewer. That's not always how a composite will go, but it's important to keep in mind that few scripts are just three or four nodes, and fewer still are linear. 
 + 
 +===== Documentation ===== 
 + 
 +Natron is still a young project. There is a surfeit of documentation on Natron proper, but the compositing principles and even the kind of effects it uses are well documented. The Foundry'​s Nuke tutorials even have free downloadable example assets that you can use in Natron, so look around online if you are not familiar with node-based compositing;​ with a little translation,​ you can learn everything you need to know. 
  
  
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 <WRAP tip> <WRAP tip>
 **See Also** \\ **See Also** \\
-Blender \\ +[[blender|Blender]] \\ 
-Synfig+[[synfig|Synfig]] 
 +</​WRAP>​ 
 + 
 +<WRAP centeralign>​ 
 +<wrap fa>​[[mypaint|R]]</​wrap>​ <wrap fa>​[[start|S]]</​wrap>​ <wrap fa>​[[non|Q]]</​wrap>​
 </​WRAP>​ </​WRAP>​
  
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