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NAME

       xmorph - image warping and dissolving (morphing) for X window system

       morph - command line interface image morphing program

SYNOPSIS

       xmorph  [-start  srcimgfile  [-finish  destimgfile]]  [-src srcmeshfile
       [-dst dstmeshfile ]] [-help]

       morph [-start srcimgfile [-finish destimgfile]] [-src srcmeshfile [-dst
       dstmeshfile  ]] [-out outimgfile ] [-mt morphtween ] [-dt dissolvetween
       ] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       xmorph is a digital image warping and dissolving program, also known as
       a  "morphing" program.  It runs under the X Window System.  The primary
       use of xmorph is to generate and modify meshes which control the  shape
       of an image.  xmorph also has the capacity to dissolve images together,
       and to generate a sequence of warped and dissolved images.   When  this
       sequence is made into a movie, it is called a "morph".

       morph  is  a  morphing program with no graphical user interface.  morph
       performs image warping and dissolving but provides no means  to  create
       or modify meshes.  The intent is to use morph after meshes have already
       been generated with xmorph.  Since morph has no GUI, it can be run as a
       background  job and can be distributed over many machines or processes.
       This parallelization of the task can significanly speed  up  the  image
       processing.    morph   can  run  on  machines  which  have  no  display
       whatsoever, and is therefore very portable.

       Both xmorph and morph use a library called libmorph which can  be  used
       separately in the creation of other morphing programs.

       If  imgfile  names  are provided on the command line, then those images
       are loaded in.  Otherwise, xmorph generates images to be used  in  lieu
       of images provided by the user.  Images may be loaded from menus within
       xmorph.

       xmorph has built-in help pages that answer questions about the  details
       of  its  use.   Run  xmorph  and  look  at  the  online  help  for more
       information.

OPTIONS

       -start srcimgfile
              Read the srcimgfile as the "source" image.

       -finish destimgfile
              Read the destimgfile as the "destination" image.

       -src srcmeshfile
              Read the srcmeshfile as the "source" mesh.

       -dst destmeshfile
              Read the destimgfile as the "destination" mesh.

       -help  Display command line options.

MORPH OPTIONS

       -out outimgfile
              Write the the output image to outimgfile .

       -mt morphtween
              Use morphtween as the warping tween parameter.  Values are  from
              0  to  1.   0 means that the shape of the output is according to
              the source mesh.  1 means that the shape  is  according  to  the
              destination mesh.  Default value is 0.

       -dt dissolvetween
              Use  dissolvetween  as the dissolve tween parameter.  Values are
              from 0 to 1.  0 means that the image of the output is  according
              to the source image.  1 means that the image is according to the
              destination image.  Negative  values  indicate  that  a  sigmoid
              sharpening function is to be applied to make the dissolving more
              concentrated  to  values  near  0.5.   The  idea  is  that   the
              dissolvetween  value  should  be  the negative of the morphtween
              value in order to have the dissolve be more rapid during  middle
              values  of  the  warp tween parameter, and less rapid otherwise.
              This makes the morph more visually acceptable.  Default value is
              0.

MAKING MOVIES

       xmorph  is NOT a tool for making movies.  xmorph is intended to be used
       with OTHER tools for editting movies in the digital domain.  I  do  not
       intend to add movie making abilities to xmorph.

       Here  is  a  brief  explanation  of how to make a movie from the images
       generated by xmorph:

       xmorph uses the TrueVision Targa (TGA) image file format.  You can  use
       PBMplus,  netpbm, ImageMagick or some other program to convert Targa to
       other still image formats.  (This will be necessary  if,  for  example,
       you  use  the  Berkeley  MPEG encoder or want to make an animated GIF.)
       See, e.g., ftp://ikaros.fysik4.kth.se/pub/netpbm/.

       Use  another  program,  such  as  Berkeley’s  mpeg_encode,   or   SGI’s
       dmconvert,  or  whirlgif  to  turn  the  sequence of images that xmorph
       created   into   a   single   animation.     See,    e.g.,    ftp://mm-
       ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/encode/.

       Use  another  program, such as mpeg_play, xanim or movieplayer, to view
       the         animation.           See,          e.g.,          ftp://mm-
       ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/multimedia/mpeg/play/.

       There are plenty of other programs available for viewing movies.

AUTHOR

       Written and Copyright (C) 1994-2000 by Michael J. Gourlay.

       Help  came  from  many places, including Andy Thaller, Warwick Allison,
       and Mike Hoefelein.

       The original morphing algorithm  is  presented  in  ‘‘A  Two-Pass  Mesh
       Warping  Algorithm for Object Transformation and Image Interpolation’’,
       ILM Technical Memo #1030, Computer Graphics Department, Lucasfilm Ltd.,
       1990.

       Mesh-based  digital  image  warping  is  discussed in detail in Digital
       Image Warping by George Wolberg.

       Xmorph is a GNU program.

SEE ALSO

       X(1), ppmtotga(1) (part of netpbm or  PBMplus),  tgatoppm(1)  (part  of
       netpbm  or  PBMplus),  whirlgif(1),  mpeg_encode(1) from U.C. Berkeley,
       mpeg_play(1) from  U.C.  Berkeley,  ImageMagick,  dmconvert(1),  (under
       Silicon  Graphics IRIX).  movieplayer(1) (under Silicon Graphics IRIX),
       xanim(1), GIMP(1).

NOTES

       The only image file type currently supported is Truevision Targa  (TGA)
       but  xmorph  will  load  any  type  of Targa, such as 8-bit, 15-bit, or
       16-bit colormapped or grayscale; 24-bit or 32-bit true color  (with  or
       without alpha channel);  run-length encoded or uncompressed.

       Some  versions  of  the  program  "xv"  can not read xmorph’s TGA image
       files.  This is a bug in "xv", not in xmorph.

       Use image conversion programs (such as those listed  in  the  SEE  ALSO
       section) to convert to and from TGA image files for use with xmorph and
       morph .

       Report bugs to gourlay@colorado-research.com or mennucc1@debian.org

WEB SITE

       http://sourceforge.net/projects/xmorph

       http://colorado-research.com/~gourlay/

       http://colorado-research.com/~gourlay/software/

       http://colorado-research.com/~gourlay/software/Graphics/

       http://colorado-research.com/~gourlay/software/Graphics/Xmorph/

                                                                     XMORPH(1)