Ambient Design Ltd.

Having posted a Scatter tutorial previously, we thought we'd expand somewhat and show some other effects. This page contains five different 'tutorials' with images to show the results, and a download for MacOS and Windows containing a preset file that shows all of the effects (along with the source image used). Enjoy!

This is a smaller version of the source image used for all of these results. Note that shrinking the images down has degraded the detail in the effects somewhat, download the preset pack and run them yourself to check them out at full resolution!

	Because Scatter can reproduce a single particle, applying adjustments to its colour, you can recreate images in a number of different ways. This simple set of instructions shows how you can take a single crossed piece of string and cross stitch your image. Use the 'Cross Stitch' preset. 1. A single particle consisting of a cross of string is loaded. The particle is red to make matching it to the hue of the source easier. 2. Scale and density are set to create a distribution that overlaps each particle. Set Jitter to 0 so that the grid is even. Packing should be left to right, top to bottom to get a regular 'knitted' feel. 3. The particle's HLS needs to be matched to the source image. To do this, set the Hue variant to Hue type, min val 50%, max val 100% (this matches the red of the particle to the 50% red of the source, which then moves clockwise round the hue wheel to red again, matching the source). Set the Luminance variant to the Luminance type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Luminance. Set the Saturation variant to the Saturation type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Saturation. Play around with L and S to get the right kind of tone. 4. Applying a shadow can add a bit of depth to the result.

	Particles don't need to be 'solid', in fact this tutorial uses a particle that contains 4 different red dots to create a diffuse effect. Because HLS adjustment to the particle is done based on the pixel under the centre of the particle, this one takes the colour of each pixel and displays four replicas of it widely dispersed. Use the 'Particle Fuzz' preset. 1. A single particle consisting of four dots placed at the corners of a transparent square is loaded. 2. Scale and density are set based on the look you want. The smaller and denser you get, the more detailed the image. Packing type is set to random to increase the chaos. 3. The particle's HLS needs to be matched to the source image. To do this, set the Hue variant to Hue type, min val 50%, max val 100% (this matches the red of the particle to the 50% red of the source, which then moves clockwise round the hue wheel to red again, matching the source). Set the Luminance variant to the Luminance type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Luminance. Set the Saturation variant to the Saturation type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Saturation. Play around with L and S to get the right kind of tone. 4. Applying a shadow can add a bit of depth to the result. If you remove the shadow, drop the scale, and up the density, you can get some more detailed and 'image processed' results. 5. Rotation is set to random so that each particle diffuses the pixel it's placed on in four directions, but those directions aren't constant. Try changing the Rotation variant type to Smooth Random, Hue, Time etc. to see a less chaotic result.

	As an experiment, we created a mostly transparent triangle and placed a large circle inside each corner, coloured red, blue, then green going clockwise. The idea was that we'd pack the triangles in a regular pattern in to the source image, make them mostly transparent, and use the Hue of the underlying image to rotate them. With any luck, the intersections of the corners of the triangles would create an almost TV like effect, colours showing through from the source image. Note that in the preset, the original source image isn't shown at all, so what you're seeing is purely the result of the rotating triangles. Use the 'TV Triangle' preset. 1. A single particle consisting of a mostly transparent triangle with a dot at each corner, the top dot should be red, then blue to the bottom right, then green to the bottom left. 2. Scale and density are set to create a distribution that overlaps each particle. Set Jitter to 0 so that the grid is even. Packing should be left to right, top to bottom to get a regular grid. 3. The particle's Luminance and Saturation need to be matched to the source image. Make sure the Hue variant is set to 'None', with a Min value of 50% so that the hue of the particle is not changed.Set the Luminance variant to the Luminance type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Luminance. Set the Saturation variant to the Saturation type, min val 0%, max val 100% to match image Saturation. Play around with L and S to get the right kind of tone. 4. Make sure there is no shadow applied, that would darken the result. 5. Set the Rotation variant to Hue type, with a minimum value of 0%, and a maximum of 100%. This means that the particle rotates (clockwise) more based on the Hue of the image beneath, so as the image goes from red to green, the particle rotates from red to green and the intersections of adjacent particles should blend between. This trick could be expanded if you had a semi-transparent, circular Hue Wheel particle that did an anticlockwise hue wheel (remember, the particle rotates clockwise, so the wheel needs to go anticlockwise to make sure the right hue is in place).

	There's an old joke about Surrealists and Lightbulbs, and it involves a bath-tub full of brightly coloured power tools. So, here they are! This preset is rather like the PenguinSpeak one, but it produces a whole bunch of power tools in areas where your source image is white. Paint a blob of white on black and watch it fill the blob in! Use the 'Brightly Coloured Power Tools' preset. 1. Load in a variety of power tools that you can find on the KPT effects CD. 2. Scale is based on time so that we get a smooth progression, around 25% to 40% should be fine. Packing is random to keep with the chaos. Jitter is set to 100% to really break up the grid. Density is set to the Luminance variant, with a 0% minimum so that where the image is black there will be no particles, to around a 70% maximum so that there will be more as the image gets lighter. 3. The particle's HLS is completely randomised, set each of the HLS variants to Random. Hue range is around 50% min to 100% max to get a nice progression. Luminance range is around 50% min (no reduction) to 100% max (lots of increase) to get a reasonable range. Saturation range is around 70% min (lots of saturation, they are meant to be brightly coloured after all!) to 100% max. 4. Give them a shadow, it breaks the image up a bit and gives it some depth. 5. Rotation is set to Random to make it look cluttered.

	This result is simply the result of playing around with the BadTV preset and reducing saturation to nothing. Changing the Luminance range produced some additional depth. It's all about exploring! Use the 'Pin Sculpture' preset. 1. Follow the instructions for the BadTV tutorial above but take the saturation down to 0% min, No variant, and tweak the luminance.

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