fpic / pictctrl reduce quality?
hi all,
I'm making an interface using a picture created in photoshop.
The problem i have is that both fpic and pictctrl objects display the picture slightly 'different' from photoshop (or preview,or.. etc.).
When i'm saying 'different' i mean that the original colour of the picture is dark green while the colour in fpic and pictctrl is light green for some reason.
However, the option 'paste picture' seems to work fine but I'm not sure if I can use it as the comments in 'fpic' object are a bit discouraging.
"hassles of saving pictures into patcher files" ?
the interface will be used for making pluggo plugins
regards,
Mike
Did you read this in the manual:
Note: The fpic object requires that QuickTime be installed on your system to open any files other than PICT files. If you are using Max on Windows, we recommend that you install QuickTime and choose a complete install of all optional components.
It might be an issue of format.
_
johan
hi Johan,
i forgot to mention, I have Quicktime pro installed on a powerbook g4 running osx 10.3.9.
I still can't find the problem. It doesn't make sense to me...
thanks,
Mike
Is there an asnwer?
"install quicktime on windows" was already half the answer.
the other half would have been "take care that you´ve flattened the image" (because you will otherwise end up with max only showing the topmost layer of a psd document.)
Thanks for the fast reply.
What do you mean with flattening the image?
Not only the png's in fpic look aliased, it is also the whole max environment. I mean, look at how 'Why' is written. Do I solve this too with flatenning?
Flattening didn't do it..
And what about this sentence from the manual:
The primary change is Max’s use of QuickTime as a media layer for graphic and audio content: QuickTime is unavailable under 64-bit Windows
Could that be the reason why everything doesn't look smooth?
Question remains, how do I build a standalone for windows in a 64bit environment with the proper graphics and fonts?
just install it. qt for win 32 runs in win 64, too. it just ends up in another location, somewhere under x68 programs.
however you are right that max7 should do it without. maybe there is a problem with the image format you are using?
but since mike was talking about pluggo i assumed max 4-5 - they will need quicktime for almost everything.
"flattening" is how adobe calls it to render multiple layer document down to only one layer. in the case of png we can probably forget about that.
The image format I am using is png, which is recommended. I am also in Touch with Support, they told me Max7 doesn't currently support hidpi on Windows and results in the blurry fonts.
So when I change my monitor, my standalone looks good on other computers? I still don't know what to do to get sharp graphics on windows.
I only need to port the standalone. Anyone using windows with good graphs? Please share your specs and I'll use that instead of mine.
The image format I am using is png, which is recommended.
i´ve no idea if that could make a difference but what about color profile, color correction data, transprency, and channels? and what about bit depth?
what also comes to mind is scaling. are you sure you are displaying this max patch at 100% ?
that "font smoothing" issue is strange. the look of a raster graphic might differ a little bit from the original when scaled, but not that much as in your image and really only when scaled.
On Mac the very same picture looks great and the fonts are sharp.
Back on Windows, the zoom is set at 100%. But even in other zooms (150%, 75% etc), the fonts still look blurry.
I use a lot of fpic and pngs (24bit!) with transparent backgrounds. No trouble. Never. (WIN/MAC)
Could you please post the PNG you are using? Maybe there is some trouble with that file..
You could also use svg files for even higher quality..
And maybe there is something wrong with your graphics/screen settings. (the distorted text in your screenshots looks wrong to me)
As attachment, you can find the file. Flattened, not sure if it is 24 bit. It is good to hear that it is possible in windows. I guess it is my screen set up. I am using an ACER x223w LCD Screen. And an NVIDIA 8400, may be that is causing the blurriness.
Though why is it that it has to look sharp on my screen in order to create a standalone with the wanted sharpness visible on other machines? I just need windows to create a standalone for windows. what screen do you recommend.
The resolution I am using for this picture in fpic is 129 (258) x 47
Your PNG file is OK. If you keep your aspect ratio correct (what is doesn't in your first graphic) it should look correct. But your font is very very thin, and not good readable with 129 x 47, even not in photoshop.
Your blurriness on your screen is probably a wrong antialias setting in your system and/or graphics settings.
The first graphic was just to show how horrible it looks when changing the dimensions. The aspect ratio shouldn't be changed so much in the original standalone. 129 x 47 is the goal.
Good to know that the picture is ok. Thanks for checking. Are you sure it looks good on Windows 7 with 64-bit Max 7?
Even with the extreme dimension settings (which I am not gonna use), it looks quite all right on mac. (See below)
Still I don‘t understand that I have to use a proper setting of my system and graphic card in order to just render a windows standalone. I don't need it to look good on my computer, I just need a good looking standalone, how does that work? On Mac, the fonts and png's look sharp.
Do you reckon I should use another windows system of a friend to render the standalone, which system are you on and what kind of monitor. Since my acer lcd doesn't do the job and Max7 doesn't support hidpi.
Any idea how I should set my computer with my screen? Where to start? I already updated the nvidia.
The aspect ratio shouldn't be changed so much in the original standalone
the dimensions should not be changed at all.
fpic is not a graphics program, it wil just skip every odd line if you compress Y to 50%.
at least thats what i thought until today. :)
that the mac version obviouly uses another method suprises my a bit and justifies your attept do do that. but i would generally avoid stretching images used in max externals (or anywhere else where you dont have control over the method)
Hmm, I guess so.
I am now rendering all my pictures again from Photoshop in the exact same dimensions as I would need them in the Max environment. I will also try too change my computer environment (read: a friends computer).
Too bad that this works smooth on Mac. Probably Quicktime communicates better with fpic on a mac than on a windows.