Forgesmith and Electroflux

Scrapbooking and Wallpapers

2007-06-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

When using Filter Forge one could be working on a filter for hours just trying to get it
perfect thinking that its the best filter you have ever created. You hit save and watch the
window being rendered only to find out that you actually don't like it so it becomes
another filter to finish another day.

These are common place in Filter Forging. I think I have about 20 or so filters that are
not complete or just waiting to be complete. I create a filter and get about 3/4 of the way
finished with it then start to mess around with another idea. So the original idea gets
pushed to the back of the line to await for its' name to be called to the front of the "Finish
Me" line.

Sometimes I get a mental block and go back and look at these but creating a pattern
filter always seems like a good filter at the mental blockage moments. This is one that I
created during one of these moments. It really did not help the mental blockage but it
was just fun to create.

Might be good for those into the Scrapbooking or might make some good wallpapers.
The filters name is Wallpaper Generation..

Create a Filter With Weird Organics.

2007-06-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Creating textures in Filter Forge is always interesting. You could have put a lot of work and time into creating and tweaking the filter just to get it right. Then you create another one that looks much more life-like and by far more interesting and it only takes five minutes or so. Here's a tutorial for creating a nice disgusting organic texture. This is what it will look like when we are done. You can add to this and create your own disgusting mess.

This is what the components connected together will look like.

Following the images in order will give you the organic mess. The components being on the right side and the settings for that component on the left...

Set the refraction to 8

Now you can save this filter and adjust the light to your liking. This will give you different
looks to the texture. Also adding different control you can control the size of the cells.
Also adding a control to control the refraction and blur also brings out some more interesting
looks to the organic look..

Have fun with this..

of Art and Frames

2007-06-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Something interesting I came across a long time ago crawling and sailing through web pages was an article on engadget how someone made a pringles can macro lens.
I thought this was pretty cool at that time so I made one. It came out usable and the picts were good although none of those will get posted. However I started playing around with this method and different magnifying lenses. I had some old shipping tubes that were just taking up space so I thought I would put them to use. I will post the specs if anyone wants them, but first I need to put them together. I used 4 magnifying lenses for this. The 2 in the front are connect together and come off. Same with the one in the back. All the lenses can also be seperated. There is also a connecter in the back to connect this to a pringles can...

The lens is designed for those inexpensive digital cameras that have digital zoom but no optical.
I was using a Kodak Easy Share C300 with the pict below. Standing about 10 feet away from the subject.

Same with this pict below. This is the one that used and ran it through some filters in Filter Forge.

This is the image that I took and ran it through Impressionist Paint

Then I took the resulting image and had to put a frame around it using Used Frames 2

So if you do use Filter Forge now, you know who you are, or if you plan on using or trying it
sometimes applying more than one filter to an image can yield some great results..

Video Test Take 1

2007-06-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Finally put together a test video and posted it on Google Video. Took a while for this since I had to figure out a good way of getting the video without sacrificing to much of the quality......
Please no making fun of my voice it was a long week :>)

You can watch the video here by clicking the play button. Or go to Google Video and watch it. But either way you will have to get real close to the screen to see anything..Tha part I do not like about these type of video sites is for tutorials...But you can download the google video player and then download the video through that way...Then at least you can watch it at full screen and not some little box......

What a Weak Week!

2007-06-07T17:17:00.002-07:00

Have you ever woke up in the morning and had thought to yourself or even had written down on paper what you are going to do for that day? What about for the week? Then something comes along to prove you otherwise. Its sneaks upon you without notice and without regards for
you or anyone else. I am talking about life and time management. In life there is no time management. No matter how much paper you use nor how much thought you put into your plan.
There is always something that is never factored in somewhere...

I did however manage to acomplish something this week..Finally finished a filter that I had been working on..Its called Old Paint..

Heres a sample of the effect on an image of fruit..Kinda reminds me still of an antique poster..

Sidetracked For the Tenth Time Today...

2007-06-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

Had to take a break on the tutorials for the day. So I deceided to mess with a couple of filters. If you have worked with Filter Forge then you know what I am talking about when I say sidetracked... Those who have not tried it...You will find yourself creating a filter and then submitting it to the library then you add one thing to it then you have another filter altogether...The interesting thing is spending an hour or two just adding things to that one filter will give you loads of other filters...These are filters that you never intended to create they just happened so you get sidetracked working on these filters instead of the original filter.....
But they come out just as cool as the original sometimes even better....
The picts below are from one of my sidetracked filters...

Video Tutorials

2007-05-30T16:57:00.000-07:00

Currently working on some video tutorials to use with the Filter Forge plug-in. For those that don't know it operates in two different modes. You have the "Stand Alone Mode" which you don't need
any other app to run it...Then you have the "Plug-In" mode which works with Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and compatibles.
The tutorials that I am creating I am using Filter Forge in "Stand Alone" mode. That way the video doesn't get bogged down by any other apps running. Not really needed but just something that I do to ensure a good video...But you can also apply it to the "Plug-In" mode.....
When I am finished with the first one I will post it and see how that one goes....

Waiting and Waiting.....

2007-05-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

Really wanted to use Filter Forge today but I am in the middle of rendering some textures with it right now. Been kinda rendering a new pack of textures. Not sure at the moment how many will be in it. Maybe 6 to 10.
Maybe work a little bit more on some video tutorials..I have the video, now just need to work on the audio a bit....Like write it out then record it...

New Layout

2007-05-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

All right, all right!!!...Changed the layout of the site and it dosen't look to bad. I am happy with it for the moment..So that means I will be changing it next week..haha..
The top graphic came out cool looking...If you go to my flickr photos you will see this one..
I fitted the graphic to the size and then ran it through my Color Degrade filter..

MUSIC-MUSIC-MUSIC

2007-05-28T04:30:00.000-07:00

Well who doesn't like some kind of disturbance now and then..Over to the right under the links I
posted a link to THE INTERNET ARCHIVE.....Where some of my music is now resting in the hands of the public..Whats even more scarey is one of the songs is named Electroflux...Which by the way if you listin to that song please make sure there are no dogs present in the room. Its a song that creates high pitch squealing sounds through an old Korg synth petal.
Which was fun to do..Just plug a instrument cable into the petal and touch the open end with the finger a certain way and you will get noise...Fiddle with the knobs on the petal while touching
the open end and you get a whole new kind of synth noises...
Same goes for FOOTSTEPS..All goldfish out of the room for this one...:>)
You can also click here for the archives..

Randomize and Presets

2007-05-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Using Filter Forge
Randomize and Presets
By CFandM

So you downloaded a filter that you really, really like or you just want to play around with but don't like the presets. Or just maybe want to create
your own masterpieces. Here's a quick tutorial to get started at randomizing and making your own presets.

In the Main window of Filter Forge and to the bottom left you will find the above tabs. Going to the Settings tab you will find
the buttons No 1 and No 2. Clicking Next Variant will move the controls in a random order. When the back button
is clicked it will take you to the previous random variant.. Clicking the button with the dots brings up the
Randomize Settings. (Which We will get to in a second).

TIP: Some filters do not work well with the Randomizer without first using the settings..So if you find you
have only a black screen either click a couple of more times or choose a preset then use the Randomizer Settings to
control the output more.

When you click the button with the dots the Randomizer Settings dialog pops up. This dialog needs no explanation except that if you
find you are getting a black screen when using the Randomizer I set the Level to LOW and the Parameters to either
Variation Only or Variation and Controls. If this works then you can go back and turn the Level back up to High or Medium..

Once you have found that perfect Variation you can save it with the presets. Its always good to wait for your creation to finish rendering before adding
it to the presets. Once it is done click the Presets Tab. There should be a little arrow where I have circled in the above pict. When that is clicked
the above menu pops up. Scroll to add preset and choose that.

Here is the new variation that was now added to the presets. So now you can edit that or use it for another time. It is now saved with the filter...
That's it for this tutorial. Hope it helps make Filter Forge more fun to use...

Submitting Filters to the Filter Forge Library

2007-05-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Submitting Filters to the Filter Forge Library.
a tutorial by CFandM
Updated March 2007

For this tutorial I will be submitting a filter called "Abstract Growth 3". It came out kinda cool. Anyway, you have made your own filter and now want to submit it.
First thing you want to check is what other filters are available at the time. In case someone had the same idea. Also check
names just in case there happens to be one with the same name.

First thing to do is select the filter that you want to submit. Right click on that filter and a menu will appear. Chose "Submit To Library".
Notice the dots, they represent that there is a dialog that will open.

The first dialog that you are greeted with during this process is the Welcome dialog. I have changed the name
of the filter to "Abstract Growth 2" for the moment which I will get to a little later in this tutorial.
Here you can click the "next" button to take you to the next dialog or check out the
"filter submission guidelines"

If you see this dialog this means that something is wrong with your filter. So you have to check it before moving on. I intentionally
forgot to connect something since this does sometimes happen. This was not the first time I seen this dialog. hehe
So now you have to click finish and find where the problem is.

If your filter has a lot of components finding the error may take a few minutes to find. Looking at the above picture above this is where the
error comes from. An easy fix is to just connect something to this and off we go. I won't go into details about
what to connect or other errors that's another tutorial.

After the first dialog and there were no errors with the filter this is the next one in the process.
After reading the agreement choose to accept by clicking the checkbox
or choose cancel. If you agree click the "next" button.

After the agreement dialog you are now taking to the log-in screen. A name and password is required here.
If you do not know what it is this is your user name and password for your Filter Forge account.
The cool part is the handy links in this dialog. Access your account or create one from here.

Next in the process is the dialog where you choose if your filter is a brand new filter or
an update to an early version of a filter.

NEW FILTER is a filter that you have never sent.
UPDATE is a filter that has been accepted and you are making changes such as correcting typos, adding new things etc...
TIP: Before sending an update to a filter the original filter must first be already in the Library.

If choose to update a filter you will be taking to the dialog where you can select which of
your submitted and already posted filters to update. This is my list. Just select
the filter to update and click next.

If you choose to submit a brand new filter just select that and click next.

If you have a filter with the same name you will get this dialog when trying to
submit it as a new filter. Just click "No" then click "Cancel" the process will stop so you can
change the name in the editor as normal.
Now I can change the name of the submitted filter back to "Abstract Growth 3"

Now that all the errors are fixed and the filter now has a different name we go through the submission process
again from the beginning. Once we are at the "New Filter or Update" dialog just select "Brand New Filter".
Now we need to select which category our filter will be placed in. If unsure what your filter may
be classified as check the Filter Forge website to see what and where the other user filters are.

Whatever one you choose you will be taking to this screen where you can look over the info that you wrote about this filter.
You can make changes with the edit button. From here click next. The next one is working to submit the filter
and adding it to the list. You should then see the dialog that says that your filter was successfully submitted.
Now all you can do is wait..........and hope people like it..
That's it for this tutorial.

Hurry up and post some more......

2007-05-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hurray its been a year for me using Filter Forge. Now I just need to put together some tutorials and some "how to" articles....Its funny putting together a tutorial. Thats when you really find out
how much you actually know about what you are writing the tutorial for...

Wow a year, no way a year............................

2007-05-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well its been a year since Filter Forge was brought upon the world. It still sparks the interest and imagination. You can find the post here.
My year is tomorrow...To bad I don't have anything interesting ready for that....

Sticking with the basics...

2007-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

The hardest part of a blog for me is a layout including the graphics. What to put on the blog to dress it up to make it more attractive to the veiwers, passer-bys and whom ever else wants to stop in.
I have been through a couple of different layouts and looks that I like. But I always ended up back at what you see now. One of the basic templates. I may change it later but for now I like it and it
is easy to read....

Hurry up and post something...

2007-05-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

Who is Forgesmith and what the heck is Electroflux?

Well Electroflux is what you would get if you combined Electrostatic and
a Flux Capacitor. Giving you an Electroflux..I never thought of the
Static Capacitor aspect of it..hmmm..

The name Forgesmith came at the last second. While over here at
Filter Forge. Which is a very cool plug-in for Photoshop. I have been
over there creating filters or smithing filters since the end of May 2006.
So there is the name Forgesmith..