Re: Warp Brush and Deformation Maps

"m.fuerst" wrote:
> 
> I understand how to create, save, and apply deformation maps.   I just
have
> not seen any examples convincing me why I would want to save a deformation
> map so I could apply it to another image.

Suppose, for argument's sake, you want to take photos of
individuals and make them look thinner because everyone you
encounter is a fat person but vain into the bargain. You
can, using Mesh Warp, subtly squeeze the center of the image
together along the horizontal and expand it slightly on each
side to compensate. Now you save the deformation map. Later
you can load it and thinify anyone whose photo you have taken,
much like the Thinify tool in Photo Album. It's much quicker
to load a map than to move each element of the mesh from
scratch. Having got the basic deformation with the map you
can, however, still tweak it within the tool. Other reasons
why you'd want to save a deformation map are up to your
imagination. In some respects these reasons are similar to
why you would choose to use any filter under the Effects >
Deformation Effects or Geometric Effects menus. Warp tools
are just more general than these individual filters but,
being more general, are possibly harder to use to apply a
specific kind of deformation. Once you have devised such aa
deformation you can, however, save it as a map to make it
much quicker to create the next time. Also bear in mind that
you can drive the Warp Brush with a script just as you can
drive a painting brush. This allows you to set up mathematical
equations for the brush path and then apply a complex warp
according to this path. I suspect that the Duelling Spirals
deformation map that comes with PSP was made in this way.