BLEND SETTINGS cont... (page 2 of 4)

Blend Settings in Detail.
Lets take a closer look at how the Object Blending in PP9 works.

The concept of blending the active object with the underlying objects depends on the colours within the objects. To demonstrate Object Blends as clearly as possible, I have constructed a simple set of coloured bars for Red (255,0,0), Green (0,255,0), Blue (0,0,255), Cyan (0,255,255), Magenta (255,0,255), Yellow (255,255,0) and a grayscale blend from 0-255. All of these bar objects were spaced out evenly then combined. A duplicate was made, rotated 90 degrees clockwise and placed on top of the original (Figure 13). The upper object contains the horizontal bars and is always selected as the Active Object in the following examples. The lower object contains the vertical bars and will always be used as the Composite Underlying in the following examples.

This then allows for the examination of blend interactions between all the major colours. You will probably think that these simple bars are quite boring and I do agree. However these simple objects with basic colours should help demonstrate these quite complex effects adequately.

Figure 13. The two objects used for most of the examples in the Object Blends section of this review. The upper object with the horizontal bars is always used as the Active Object here, while the lower object with vertical bars is always used as the Underlying Composite.

Let's start with the full RGB Channel adjustments.

RGB Channel: Decreasing Maximum and Minimum blends.
In Figure 14 (below) I have moved the Decreasing Maximum (top right) node of the active object halfway down the scale (126 from 255). Note that the changes have only occurred in the top object. All colours which are considered as lighter in the grayscale representation (yellows and cyans) have been rendered transparent to various degrees and the underlying object shows through. The lighter regions of the grayscale bar are also affected.

Figure 14. Decreasing Maximum blend of the Active Object using the combined RGB channels.

 

In the next example (Figure 15, below), I have adjusted the Decreasing Minimum node (bottom right) to the same value as the Decreasing Maximum node (top right). This causes a sharp cut-off to occur rather than a gradual decrease. Note that all of the yellow, cyan and green bars are now completely transparent. The grayscale bar is also cutoff sharply at a precise point.

Figure 15. Decreasing Minimum and Decreasing Maximum nodes set to the same point to cause a sharp cut-off of lighter colours in the Active Object blend.

 

RGB Channel: Increasing Maximum and Minimum Blends.
Adjusting the top left node on the active object affects the Increasing Maximum settings. In the image below (Figure 16) the active object has first been reset and then the Increasing Maximum node moved from 0 to 126 (half way). All of the darker regions and colours are affected. The black borders around each box disappeared first, followed by graduations of the darker colours starting with blue and then red. The lower end of the grayscale bar is also affected. Note that we have only been adjusting the Actice Object settings and so far no changes have occurred in repect of the Underlying Composite Object/s.

Figure 16. Effect of Increasing Maximum node change to the Active Object using all RGB channels.

 

In the next example (Figure 17) the Increasing Minimum node (bottom left) has been dragged to the same value (126) as the Increasing Maximum node to cause a sharp cutoff point but this time at the lower (grayscale) colour ranges. Note that all of the 'darker' colours have now become completely transparent and the grayscale bar is cutoff midway.

Figure 17. Increasing Maximum and Increasing Minimum nodes set to the same value to cause a sharp cutoff of darker colour opacity in the Active object using all RGB channels.

 

RGB Channel: Full Increasing and Decreasing Maximums.
In Figures 18 and 19 below, the Decreasing Maximum and Decreasing Minimum Nodes have been dragged to cover the complete grayscale spectrum. All colours are now affected to some degree but this depends on which node we have altered. The Increasing Maximum (Figure 18) has decreased the opacity of the darker colours, while the Decreasing Maximum (Figure 19) has decreased the opacity of the lighter colours.

Figure 18. Full spectrum Increasing Maximum node settings on the Active Object using all RGB channels.

Figure 19. Full spectrum Decreasing Maximum node settings on the Active Object using all RGB channels.

Cross-over Blends and Removing Specific Colours.
The nodes in both ends of the blend can actually overlap and even cross over each other. Try dragging the Maximum Decreasing (top right) node of the Active Object down to a value of about 10, and then drag the Maximum Increasing (top left) node over the top of this node and past it to a valure of about 245. In fact, by dragging the Minimum nodes as well, one can exclude centre regions of the graph, not just the outer (darker and lighter) regions. By doing this, one can effectively cause the upper and lower regions to be seen but remove the colours represented in the middle of the grayscale graph.

Figure 20. Completely crossed over RGB blend settings which allow the colurs represented by the middle of the grayscale blend to be rendered transparent.

 

In the example to the right (Figure 20), the blend setting of the Active Object have been created by crossing the Increasing and Decreasing nodes completely over. Note the values on both sides of the Active Object graph. The Increasing Maximum node (originally top left) was dragged all the way accross to a value of 248. The Decreasing Maximum node (originally top right) was dragged all the way down to 81. The corresponding Minimum nodes for both sides were then dragged to be directly under their Maximum counterparts causing a very sharp cutoff in transparency at that point.

 

Now only the very light (white) sections and the relativey dark (blue and red) colours in the Active object are opaque while all the other colours are transparent.

 

Figure 21. Cross over RGB blend used to display only blue and yellow colours of the Active Object.

 

In a similar fashion but using different settings, Figure 21 shows how to display only the blue (dark grayscale) and the yellow and white (light grayscale) colours to appear in the Active Object.

 

 

 

Figure 22. Using similar values to before but not crossed over now displays only colours represented by the middle of the grayscale blend.

 

Setting similar values but without crossing the nodes over now causes colours represented by the central grayscale areas only to be seen, while the lower and upper regions are completely transparent (Figure 22).

Note the values on each side of the Active Object blend and how they differ from those in the examples just above.

 

 

Continue to Page 3 of the Object Blends section