Using Microsoft Paint

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
I've been thinking about putting some basic images on my 10 string by 90 pixel matrix. I use LOR S3 Advanced. I thought that possibly a simple way of doing it might be to create a 10x90 pixel picture in paint, then draw the image I want and then use xlights to bring it in.

I know how to bring pictures in using xlights so that part is fine. I am more concerned about creating them in paint and its ability to save them in a format that comes across alright. Obviously they are only simple images as they are only 10 pixels wide maximum.

Has anyone done this with success. Is there free software that is better to use than paint. Paint seems a little restricted in what it can do in terms of usability (eg cut and paste images etc). Maybe I just need to learn paint a bit better.
 

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
Thanks Eddy. I didn't even realise windows 7 had the snip tool until I just did a search.

My thought process for using Paint was that when I get a picture and then resize it to only 10 pixels wide you end up with very poor resolution as you can only have one colour on each pixel. I figured if I start with the 10 pixel resolution then it will be exactly the same when I bring it into xlights.

With only 10 pixels I will only be working with effectively stick figure type images. I can get better images if I scroll them across the matrix but for what I want this time I want to try a still image.
 

damo1271

Full time elf
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Messages
202
Location
Adelaide
I use paint to modify pictures to import into Vixen3. I edit the image at full resolution, then scale it at the end. With paint, working on a 16 pixel high image doesn't really work very well - you cant zoom in enough. It works best with simple line type images. Ive done things like lightning bolt, heart, smiley face, a turkey, snowman and so on. Not sure how it looks in lights yet, but on the preview they look "OK" and you can tell what they are supposed to be!
 

Habbosrus

Back again
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
758
Location
Swansea, NSW
Hey Bundy, another thing I have used to assist in basic drawings is Excel spreadsheet. I used a spread sheet extensively this year when working out where to light pixels on my matrix. I can upload a sample this evening when I get home.
 

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
Habbosrus, do you use excel to draw it up then import the excel file somehow, or do you use excel to draw it up so you know which pixels to turn on and then do it manually in HLS.

I have my matrix drawn up in cad (have access through work) and can draw my images in cad and then determine which pixels to light up. This works fine and I have done heaps of it so far. I just though maybe if I could draw the image in the right pixel size to start with then I could just import the picture file and it is all done for me. Quicker than going through and turning o each pixel the right colour manually.
 

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
This is what I have in AutoCAD. It is part of the matrix with the face picture drawn and the pixel numbers shown beside each strip. Tells me what to turn on, but I still have to do each pixel manually. I know I can set up channel tracks but still labour intensive. Hence why I'm trying to import a correctly sized image from paint etc.

matrix.JPG
 

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
Just had a crack at it using paint. Works a treat. The only trick I had was you have to make all the pixels that are off black, leaving them as white as in the background on paint has them all turned on white. The only other drawback is the rectangular matrix in paint doesn't quite match the tapered matrix of the 2D tree so there is a little fine tuning required sometimes.
 

Habbosrus

Back again
Joined
Dec 5, 2012
Messages
758
Location
Swansea, NSW
BundyRoy said:
Habbosrus, do you use excel to draw it up then import the excel file somehow, or do you use excel to draw it up so you know which pixels to turn on and then do it manually in HLS.

I have my matrix drawn up in cad (have access through work) and can draw my images in cad and then determine which pixels to light up. This works fine and I have done heaps of it so far. I just though maybe if I could draw the image in the right pixel size to start with then I could just import the picture file and it is all done for me. Quicker than going through and turning o each pixel the right colour manually.
I have just drawn it up in excel and then done it manually in HLS. Now that you mention it, I wouldn't be surprised if you can just drop it in HLS somehow. If anyone can make that happen, I'm sure Joe can. The ingenuity of people on ACL is awesome. That auto cad thing looks great.
 

BundyRoy

Dedicated elf
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
1,026
Habbosrus said:
That auto cad thing looks great.

The good thing is it is drawn to scale. Distances on screen represent actual distances in real life. So it is very easy to ensure everything is in perspective.

The bad news is there is no way export cad to take it into a sequencer. Maybe if I had a newer version of cad I might be able to save the drawings as a jpg. The version we have can't do that.
 
Top