I have played and replayed this slideshow, and learned much from analysing every element.
At frame 48, 03.22.1, and the next 6 frames – what is being done here with the stacking of the 2 photos?
Can someone direct me to what this technique is and how I learn about it. It looks great, but I’m not sure why.
Many thanks.
Stacking of the two images allows for a simulated 3D effect. The TOP image is a .png file – .png files allow for “transparency” so that wherever the background of that image has been removed, the underlying (bottom) image can show through. You CANNOT do this from within FotoMagico itself – it does require a third-party application (obviously, Photoshop immediately comes to mind). You open the file in PS and assign the background as being transparent, then “delete” that part of the image where you want the underlying (background) image to appear, and then save that file as a .png. When you place them in FM, the transparent area allows the background to show. By panning and zooming one or both of the layers, you can create that 3D effect of one layer over another.
In the Machu Picchu demo, slide 52 is the easiest to describe (although they all are done the same way). The image of the stone wall was opened in PS assigning the background as transparent, the area within the “window” was erased, and the file was saved as a .png. By placing that image on top of the background mountain image in FM, and then zooming the foreground .png file, it appears that you’re approaching the window and “expanding” your view to what’s beyond it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this so comprehensively and clearly. It is much appreciated.
May I ask how you gathered this sort of ‘under the hood’ knowledge – it doesn’t seem to be in the manual, or at least, I can’t find it. I’m asking, not so that you have to give away trade secrets, but to ascertain if there is some resource that I’m unaware of.
Thanks again – a great help.
I don’t recall there being any helpful info about how to do it. When the effect was first introduced back in FM 5.x, there was a demo showing a surfer on a board moving over a wave, and a multi-layered pan of various mountains (near, midrange, and further away) moving over each other. By looking at the demo files and extracting the layers in question, I was able to see how it was done. It’s not that difficult to do, but it does require some extra steps and time – although the final effect is worth the reward.
Assuming you have some type of photo editor (again, Photoshop comes to mind – or any editor that can work with transparent backgrounds and save as .png files), I would suggest you go into the Machu Picchu demo, right-click on one of the layers in question in the Timeline, and select File > Reveal in Finder. Then open that .png file and see what the image looks like – the opaque part of the image, and the part that was erased (which is the part that allows the underlying layer in FM to show through).
Also, you’re not just limited to TWO layers – you can get creative and stack multiple .png files to do some very interesting stuff.
Good luck…
That was very clever of you to figure that out. Thanks for the further information on examining the png files. I use the Affinity suite, including Affinity Photo, which is a sort of Photoshop app and can certainly handle the png transparent background processes that you describe.
I’m looking forward to trying all of this out. Thanks again.
Where can I find the Machu Picchu demo Fotomagico online?
kubalibre
When you start FotoMagico 6.1.6, the top of the main splash screen displays New, Open Recent, Demos, and Tutorials. Click on the Demos button and you should see all the demos offered by Boinx. The one for Machu Picchu is labeled “Demo Slideshow 2016” – just click on the Download… button.