Liquib is not just about creating still, static images. It can be
truly fascinating to watch the process of transformation as Tool and
Effect manipulations are applied -- the evolution from an original source
image to uniquely distorted, perhaps even grotesque, creations. Of course, such
action can easily be recorded using the Scripting function. Unfortunately, the resulting
Scripts can only be played by the Liquib program. The Video
Capture feature makes it possible to preserve performances as Video files that
can be played with any common video player. Video files can be shared and
viewed from websites. Action can also be captured as sequences of still image
files, which allows greater control and flexibility for producing high-quality
animations.
The Video Player
is available to play captured
Liquib Videos (and most other Video files).
The Video Options screen provides
parameters that control how animated Liquib scenes are captured to Video files
or as sequences of still image files. (Press the
button on Edit Tools to access.) Either
AVI or WMV (Variable Bit Rate or Contstant Bit Rate) Video files can be
produced. Still Image Sequence files can be saved in most common image
formats. Optionally, an Image Sequence Control File can be created
along with an Image Sequence capture to contain timing data for each frame,
allowing much more precise control over animation of the still images.
Just press the
button
on Edit Tools to initiate recording. The Capture button will
change to
while
recording. Press again (or hit the Esc key) to stop capturing.
Image Sequences can be played as animations with the Image Sequence Player, accessed via the
button on Edit Tools.
The Image Sequence Player also provides options to record to AVI or WMV Videos
while playing animations. Particularly when using a Sequence Control File,
better efficiency and more precise control over timing is possible, often resulting
in captured Videos of greater quality.
HINT: It can be very useful to first capture actions as a Script (Script files are very small). Then after the Script has been perfected, it can be played while Video Capture is activated. That's also a good way to compare different Compression formats.
DVD Creation
Liquib is not currently able to create DVDs directly. Primarily this is because the MPEG2 technology used to encode DVDs is proprietary, and that would make it necessary to pay royalties to the several companies that own related patents. However, Liquib does provide the capability to create Videos and Image Sequences in formats that can fairly easily be converted into DVDs by other programs (like Windows DVD Maker). Another excellent program for creating DVDs from Video files is DVD Flick, which is freeware (http://www.dvdflick.net/) This makes it quite practical to produce high quality DVDs of Liquib action sequences that might then be viewed on TVs with standard DVD players.