| Requirements: |
Paint
Shop Pro 5 or higher.
Animation Shop |
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| 1. |
Create a new image (50x30 pixels) with a black background in
Paint Shop Pro. Zoom in appropriately. |
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| 2.
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Draw
the background of the meter. This usually consists of small
squares that are dim, then light up when the meter level rises. |
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| 3. |
Copy
this layer by Select All (ctrl+A),
and then Paste->As New Layer (ctrl+L).
Rename this new layer as "Full VU". |
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| 4. |
In
the "Full VU" layer,
draw the meter with each level at full peak. This may just be
as simple as increasing the brightness, though any changes are
possible as long as there is a clear distinction between each
level's off and on state. |
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| 5. |
Copy
the "Full VU" layer.
Rename this new layer as
"Frame 1". This will
be the first frame of your animation. |
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|
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Layer
Visibility Toggle |
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| 6. |
Click
the Layer Visibility Toggle to
turn off the visibility of "Full
VU".
Using the Selection Tool, select
and delete parts from the top of each level in the desired way
in the "Frame 1" layer
only. |
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| 7. |
Copy
the "Full VU" layer again,
and rename it to "Frame 2"
(you may need to move the position of the "Frame
2" layer to the top, if it is not already).
Toggle the visibility of "Frame 1"
and "Full VU" so that
they are both not visible, and delete parts again from the
"Frame 2" layer only.
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| 8. |
Repeat
the process for a "Frame 3"
and a "Frame 4" layer,
remembering to toggle layer visibilities as necessary.
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| 9. |
Create
a new animation (50x30 pixels) in Animation Shop. |
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| 10. |
Go
back to the image in PSP, and select only the
"Frame 1" and the "Background"
layer as visible. Copy Merged (shift+ctrl+C)
the first frame, and Paste Before Current
Frame (ctrl+L) into the animation in Animation Shop.
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| 11. |
Go
back to the image in PSP, and select only the
"Frame 2" and the "Background"
layer as visible. Copy Merged (shift+ctrl+C)
the second frame, and Paste After Current
Frame (shift+ctrl+L) into the animation in Animation
Shop. |
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| 12. |
Continue
to paste "Frame 3" and
"Frame 4" into your animation
in a similar process, using Paste After
Current Frame (shift+ctrl+L). |
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| 13. |
In
your animation, select and delete the 5th frame (which should
be black). |
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| 14. |
Save
both files. Change the properties of the animation as desired.
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Finished
result. |
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| Advanced: |
Of course,
this is a very simple four frame animation. Adding more frames
makes a more realistic and random looking vu-meter.
However, the meter may look jumpy, so for a smooth look make
each frame "ramp" to the next. An easy way to do
this is to make twice the frames and have each second frame
simply an intermediate frame.
Eg:
However,
too much of this can also look too "obvious" and make
the vu-meter look forced.
A good idea is to study vu-meter's and how they look, especially
on each beat and offbeat, and which frequencies are triggered
when.
In addition, a separate semitransparent layer could be placed
over the top and copied with the other layers to add the realism
of plastic or glass covering the face of the vu-meter. |
written
8th april 2001 by youp
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