Requirements: Digital Fusion 5+, DFX+ 5+
Comp:  Final Comp (7K)
Images:  2048 image (712K) -  1024 image (614K)

With Digital Fusion 5 now shipping, and my commitments to the courseware now complete, it's time I get back to writing some of my tips and tricks. This is the first of Digital Fusion 5 or DFX 5 specific tips. We'll look at one of the new tools; Grid Warp.

The grid warp tool is a very powerful feature in DF5, and in this case we'll begin with using it to digitally extend a building. This is a great example to get you used to the basic features and functions of the Grid Warp. Stay tuned to the website for more advanced Tips later.

The whole reason we will be using a grid warp in this situation is to reproduce and maintain the perspective in the image as we add height to the building. If we were to just use a transform tool, and try to tweak it to match, it just doesn't line up correctly and looks wrong.

1. Begin by loading the provided JPG. If you're on a slower machine, use the 1024 sized image.

In Fusion 5 you will notice the Add and Insert tool functions in the Context Menu. This streamlines your workflow so you no longer have to move to the top of the screen to add a tool.

2. Next add a grid warp tool, which can now be accessed via the right click options. Select the loader, and then right click choosing "Insert Tool | Warp | Grid Warp"

Let's look at the controls briefly before we begin. Inside the controls you will see two tabs, One dealing with the main controls, and a second dealing with the rendering options. For now we'll concentrate on the main controls.

The next two prominent buttons select between the source and destination grids. Warping with this tool allows you to define the source independently of the destination. This makes the tool very intuitive, and powerful at the same time.

Below this we have 3 mode options and standard controls to vary the grid size, etc. For a complete breakdown of these controls consult the online help, or Reference Manual.

The grid tool defaults to applying an 8 x 8 grid over your entire image. We'll modify this to our needs, and simplify the grid to a more manageable size.

3. Select the Source grid.
4. Set your grid to X=6 and Y=1.

To move the grid as a whole, we can use the Edit Rectangle feature.

5. Select the Edit Rectangle button.

6. Move the two corner controls to roughly surround the building like so.

7. Go back to the grid, by selecting the Edit Grid mode.

At this point we have only modified the Source grid and positioned it around the building. Check your Destination grid now.

8. Select the destination grid

The building has been zoomed in on. This is because the Destination grid still occupies the whole frame. The grid warp tool is stretching the portion of the image covered by the source grid to match the destination grid.

The default destination grid should still be 8 x 8, and in region mode. Play around with the grid to get a feel for the effect.

9. Click and drag in the view similar to painting a stroke. This will move the points within your Circle of influence and begin to distort the grid.
10. When you are finished playing, return to the source grid.

With the basic outline of our Grid, we need to go in and fine-tune the vertical lines to parallel the perspective in the building windows.

11. Ensure you are on the source grid.
12. Unselect the Auto-Smooth points option.
13. Using the "selected" mode, reposition your grid points to follow the existing lines in the building. Your grid should look like this;

Now in order to see the results of our grid warp, and the effect we are trying to achieve, we need to merge the warped image over the regular image.

14. Add a merge to your comp. It should look like this.

When you are complete, we are going to copy the source grid to the destination grid as a starting point for the final effect.

15. Click the "Copy Source to Dest" button. This will remove any changes you have made to the destination grid

Viewing the merge doesn't show any real difference at this point, but that is because the two grids (source and destination) are identical. Let's reposition the destination grid, and get a better feel for the final composition.

16. Under the grid warp, destination settings, select the "Edit Rect" mode.
17. Select the center of the grid rectangle and move it up like so;

Once the main grid is in position, we'll tweak the destination grid to match the perspective of the existing shot.

18. Choose the "Edit Grid" mode.
19. Adjust the grid to look like so;

Once we have the perspective matching, the final touch will be to add a few color correctors to help match the lighting near the seam. Load the included flow to see how I accomplished this using color correctors and effects masks.

As you can see, the Grid Warp tool can be a powerful addition to your compositing arsenal. Not just for standard morph type effects, but also used for subtle image manipulation. Above all else;