Learning This Plug in

ok so got the settings down to a 'T' in the editing the exsisting filters people FAR more genius than I have made for us guys ( thanks btw how you managed to do that w/o any basic starters guide ill never know!) Ive done the 1 tut were we're taught how to make a rock texture and found following the insructions simple enough
but ask me to start to make my own and id cry laughing as theres no way I can remember all that w/o refering back to the tut and as it only shows how to make a rock texture...anyway.

Question:

For those of you in the filter making category, what is the best way to learn this plugin? Im I best playing with current filters for a while?

Just need some advice on where to begin on learning this in the best way w/o it sending me insane.

Is it just a matter of playing and seeing?

yes Im aware of the programs help files but theyre more factual than helpful, telling us the purpose of each componant but not really good at telling is ' if you do A to B then you will get C to do E' if you know what I mean.

What would make trial users want to stick with it and actually buy it is a really good basic starters guide which would include 30 tutorials from basic userface to maing comlex textures

I think if they rewarded ppl to make some good tutorials as well as making filters it would make us lesser mortals more excited about using it and decide to actually buy it in the long run.

Hell Id BUY a walk through tutorial DVD or CD or manual I could download to help me get to grips with this huge plug in

My back ground is PS and using presets and filters isnt something Ive had any experience with. I think if you have used systems like this before...you kinda pick it up quicker. ( just a guess )

Is there 'any' help out there other than ' the user manual'

Ive also noticed on the filters I have got from this website any changes I make and then the final render takes forever.... snails pace as it goes block by block changing the settings. Is there something im doing wrong here? Or a way I can change the interface settings to increase the speed of the final render when saving to my PC and also as I adjust a setting?

I DO like it...its way better than Genetica which makes cartoony type textures that I just dont like.

I make a living from selling my game textures freelance so this will come in very handy when I cant find a good photo to work with and also makes it a lot easier for making ready made seamless textures like roofing and bricks

One of my artists business assosciates uses this and Ive seen some of his work which is amazing for the most part.

I guess Im at that really frustrating stage when you can see the potential and want to harness the power of it.

Lastly..how exactly do the filters work regards to copyright?

I can tweak, and render and then what?

Thanks in advance

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roseenglish1 wrote: Is there 'any' help out there other than ' the user manual'

You mean other than this community?

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roseenglish1 wrote: any changes I make and then the final render takes forever....

You can go the 'View > Preview Size > Reduced' to activate preview render, which should be much faster for complex filters. You should also check your rendering settings under 'Tools > Options > Rendering' to verify that Multi-threading is used.

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roseenglish1 wrote: Just need some advice on where to begin on learning this in the best way w/o it sending me insane.

While this is not really needed, a little insane does help

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roseenglish1 wrote: Is it just a matter of playing and seeing?

Yep just what Crapadilla said. You could also take a filter and replace a component
with something else to an extent and see what happens. Just to see what the different components do and how they react with the others attached.

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roseenglish1 wrote: Hell Id BUY a walk through tutorial DVD or CD or manual I could download to help me get to grips with this huge plug in

Hmmm...

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roseenglish1 wrote: what no compliments of my 'tweaked' filter attached?????

You mean the "Pretty in Plaid" nice tex. Was that one that exsists already?

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roseenglish1 wrote: Okies well off to play with my componants...or what ever theyre called.!

You can also use, thingamajoe, thingamabob, thingie, what'sitsname, the thing that you connect to the other thing.

Book, manual, dvd ??!! Just plug stuff together people, it's freakin' legos for photoshoppers ha-ha

jffe

I do a bit of both, also at the experimental stage regarding the manipulation of the
filters.
But if you stare at the different components long enough I noticed it starts to make sense.

Oh and thanks Rose.

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Kraellin wrote: one of the basic concepts to FF editing is 'mapping'.

Yes, this is a key concept. Here's the help article:
http://www.filterforge.com/more/help/...nputs.html