CustomFilter III and CustomFilter V

[WingedOne]

Forgive me for being a bonehead at the moment :rolleyes:, but what precisely do CustomFilter III and CustomFilter V do?

[MJ]

Hey don't feel boneheaded, I'm clueless myself. I keep meaning to ask this. So thank you for asking first.

As far as I can figure out, they are pretty much an 'open' brush. Open to your manipulation. See all those sliders? They control different variables. I'm guessing different combinations, of slider inputs achieve different results. As far as which sliders do what? I'm clueless.


MJ

[Mentat7]

They behave much like the custom filter settings do in Photoshop. I have gotten some pretty interesting results. Set intensity to a low value 1 to 5 to get subtle effects.

[juandel]

PS custom filter settings? ahhh, i dont get nada, once again :D lets see your results and please, share your insights once again, Lonnie! all i could come up with until now where some pretty colour transgressions (very soft and like shining/reflecting onto each other) in an unsaved doodle and this shading enhancer like effect below (i wished i had saved the other one, i dont seem to be able to redo it, with that magnitude of modifiers :))

http://www.cyber-webs.com/zbrush/fi2scape.jpg

thanks for bringing that up, WO!

- juandel

[Mentat7]

I was going to try to explain it myself but the Photoshop explanation seems to do a better job of it so here is how Photoshop describes. I believe it is similar if not the same in ZBrush. A confirmation or explanation from the Pixologic team would be greatly appreciated.

Lets you design your own filter effect. With the Custom filter, you can change the brightness values of each pixel in the image according to a predefined mathematical operation known as convolution. Each pixel is reassigned a value based on the values of surrounding pixels. This operation is similar to the Add and Subtract calculations for channels (in Photoshop).

To create a Custom filter:

:b4:1 Choose Filter > Other > Custom. (In ZBrush choose Custom Filer 3 or Custom Filter 5 in the TOOLS pallet)

:b4:2 Select the center text box, which represents the pixel being evaluated. Enter the value by which you want to multiply that pixel's brightness value, from -999 to +999. (in ZBrush values may be -100 to +100)

:b4:3 Select a text box representing an adjacent pixel. Enter the value by which you want the pixel in this position multiplied.

For example, to multiply the brightness value of the pixel to the immediate right of the current pixel by 2, enter 2 in the text box to the immediate right of the center text box.

:b4:4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all pixels to include in the operation. You don't have to enter values in all the text boxes.

:b4:5 For Scale, enter the value by which to divide the sum of the brightness values of the pixels included in the calculation. (in ZBrush this is known as AUTOSCALE and is either on or off)

:b4:6 For Offset, enter the value to be added to the result of the scale calculation. (this may be the ADDITIVE function in ZBrush but I am unsure)

:b4:Click OK. The custom filter is applied to each pixel in the image, one at a time. (no such function in ZBrush. Simply apply the custom filter by painting it on with the alpha brush and stroke type of your choice. Also you can set the intensity level...i.e. how strongly it will affect the pixols.)


Again the process may be different in ZBrush but my experiments seem to indicate the two apps perform the process similarly.

The following is a test. The first image was done in Photoshop with Photoshop's custom filters. The second one was done in ZBrush using the same exact filter settings that were used in Photoshop but applied to Custom Filter 5 brush. They are nearly identical.


http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1030646724nlm.jpg
http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1032073472jrw.jpg

I can see several benefits from using these custom filters. First it seems you can get a greater range and intensity on shadows and highlites. Second you can soften pixel transitions between neighboring pixels. Likewise you can sharpen those transitions.

[Stonecutter]

Thanks for the explanation Lonnie...I don't use Photoshop, so this was all news to me, and I did wonder what that whole filter deal was about! :tu: :) :tu:

[DeeVee]

Thanks for the information M7. I have Photoshop, but only use it to change my images to jpeg. I do have some book's on it though and will do some reading tonight.

[KingSalami]

those are cool pictures either way M7

[KingSalami]

Here is a link that discusses filters and picture made with a "fire" filter in Zbrush
I've also included the tool fire.ztl
http://www.flipcode.com/demomaking/issue05.shtml


http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1030655239ydg.jpg

fire.ztl (http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_file-1030655593kdw.ztl)

[Stonecutter]

Thanx, K/S!
Both you and Lonnie have given me a lot to experiment with, and as a fellow 'BoneHead W/O, ( :D ) I want to thank you as well for bringing up the subject of this tool... :tu:

[Spiritfoxy]

majorly kewl to find out that you can get these same effects in ZBrush! thank you all for all of these tips :D

[Frenchy Pilou]

Primitivly this filters were used for analysing medical, astronomy or industry pictures like "in this xray photo where is this blocked artery or where is the crack fissure on this close up metal photo etc...
III or V is for the square(in general) size of the matrix of "convolution".
This matrix is just a simple calculation of a color pixel in connection with their neighborings.
Go there very simple and more clear that mine :) http://manual.gimp.org/manual/GUM/Plugin_generic.html
Don't hesitate to press Next or Previous Arrows for another filters :)
Pilou

[Ron Harris]

thnx for the explaining...can any of this be done with paintshop pro? My other question or suggestion, and this may sound a bit retarded, but some of us (like ME) are not all that saavy when the code people on the ZBC community throw out just a bunch of numbers and say "Hey this is code orsomething"...some of us (ME) need that extra layman's explaining. The filter topic is great and I know it appears to take some intellectual talent to figure that stuff out. I unfortunately was blessed with the brains of a chicken's tit. I am just saying, that the step by step handholding is greatly appreciated when these topics arise. So can most of the filters and plugins be duplicated for Zbrush...like flood (my favorite) and stuff like that...flamingpear.com effects and eyecandy and stuff like that? Thnx for any considerations and answers to these questions. I am sure if I am wondering and asking that probably there are more lurking around here with the same question and more on the forum. You brainy gurus do a great job I can tell ya that.... :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[aurick]

Hi Ron,

Cameyo supplied a variety of matrixes for the Custom Filter brushes -- giving them several very cool results. You'll find the thread linked to in the ZBrush 1.5 QuickLinks. :)