Scripts and Movies

Corel Painter allows you to play back a script in a movie file. This allows you to create some interesting effects, as well as automate processes.

Corel Painter lets you apply a script to a movie. This feature is particularly useful when you have a script that functions as a macro.

For example, you might want to apply an effect like Motion Blur to a video clip. You can record a script that applies the Motion Blur effect to a single image. Then, with a single command, you can apply the script to each frame of a movie. You can also use a script to set grain position in a movie.

For more information about applying a script to a movie, refer to "Applying Scripts to Movies". For more information about setting the resolution of a movie, refer to "Replaying a Script at a New Resolution".

Converting a Scripted Session into a Movie

You can convert a script into a Corel Painter movie and save it as a QuickTime or AVI movie. Every action you take becomes a frame in the movie. This is a great way of creating special effects for your movies.

For more information about creating movies, see "Creating a Movie".

If the script was recorded to be resolution-independent, you can replay your session into a movie with different dimensions. For additional information, refer to "Replaying a Script at a New Resolution".

If the script is not resolution-independent and the new image window is larger, the script plays back in the upper-left corner of the movie. If the new image is smaller than the script dimensions, only the upper-left portion of the scripted session appears in the movie.

To replay a script into a movie

1. On the Scripts palette, click the Script selector arrow and choose a script.
2. Open a new image at the size you want the movie to be.
3. On the Scripts palette, click the palette menu arrow and choose Script Options.
4. In the Script Options dialog box, enable Save Frames on Playback.

This is the option that directs Corel Painter to create a movie on playback.

5. Choose how many tenths of a second you want between frames.

The lower the number, the more frequently a frame is created and the more fluid the movie is. More frames, however, use more disk space.

6. On the Scripts palette, click Play.
7. In the Enter Movie Name dialog box, type a name, choose a destination folder, and click Save.
8. In the New Frame Stack dialog box, choose the number of layers of onion skin and the storage type you want. Corel Painter plays the script into the frame stack.

• Not all actions can be converted into a movie. For example, a script that contains a File menu > New command will not be converted properly.