Deformed Art | |
by Jacci Howard Bear
This article includes a mini-review of Deformer 1.0 and was written in January 1998. The program, as of January 2002, is at version 2. This article contains evergreen tips on using images, no matter what program you use to create these or similiar effects. Also see the links to related software.
Sometimes you just want to have fun
Deformer 1.0, a program from Stoik Software is one fun and easy way to transform and deform pictures. It also creates animations. It's greatest strength is the realtime transformations. As you hold down the mouse or move your cursor you'll see the effect take place. (See Deformer 2.0 for changes)
The Deformer screen is fairly straightforward. Open an existing image or scan one directly into the program. Select from a variety of tools that magnify, shrink, stretch, move, and swirl parts of your image. Adjust the power (strength) of the tool to achieve the effect you want.
Place your circular cursor over a portion of the image, hold down the mouse and/or move it across the image. Your transformations are visible immediately.
You can save a single transformed image or save a series of deformations as an AVI (animation) file. Deformer automatically (and you can make adjustments) creates intermediate frames for a smooth transformation from one image to the next.
Ways to use deformed images
Yes, the effects can be fun but they can be useful too.
Spice it up.Transform a boring piece of clip art or a so-so photograph into something entirely new and original.
Emphasize or modify. Magnify significant portions of an image. Apply swirls or special effects to turn a 'bad' background into something softer or wilder.
Save time. Create animations that flow naturally from one image to the next without painstakingly creating each frame.
The image (above) started out as a photograph of me (yep, that's me in there). Creating the same type of image entirely from scratch would takes hours of painstaking painting. In Deformer it took just a few minutes (including the time to scan in the photograph).
Create quick and easy caricatures. Instead of boring mug shots for your newsletter, turn everyone into funny (but recognizable) faces.
Reveal yourself. Rearrange the frames in an animation so that a swirled and deformed image unfolds to reveal a person, a thing, an important piece of information -- for Web pages, presentations, etc.
The moving letters in this animated GIF took only a few minutes to create -- Deformer created the transitional frames after I deformed a few letters. [Note: Deformer 1.0 creates AVI files. I opened the AVI file in another program and converted it to an animated GIF.]
More Ways to Deform Images
Here are just a few sources of software and plug-ins that let you do wild and crazy things to your clip art and photos.
Stoik Software
The makers of Deformer, have more ways to transform your images, including Morph Man and Rubber.
Kai's
Smear, smudge, shrink, distort, and just have fun with photos. There's are several different packages including Effects and Power Tools.
Alien Skin Software
Eye Candy and Eye Candy After Effects offer dazzling special effects.
Human Software
Filters and plug-ins for Photoshop, Photo-Paint, Illustrator, and others give you a
variety of wild effects and funny images.
About the Graphics in this Article
All images were transformed in Deformer 1.0. That wild-haired spirit woman started as a photograph of your Guide (see the screen shot also). The animated New graphic was first created in Corel Photo-Paint 7, transformed and animated in Deformer 1.0, then opened and saved as an animated GIF (some frames removed also) in Photo-Paint.
