Create a poster for LOVE MOTHER EARTH with CREATOR

The design workstation of the Belgian company Barco (known for its excellent monitors)

It is a BARCO CREATOR. It is said to be effective for image generation using 3D software CT-WARP, complicated image composition, mapping, color correction, etc. With the cooperation of Kodak Vins, AD Nobuhiro Shibayama tried the design work.

BARCO GRAPHICS (Belgium) BG-CREATOR is a photo retouching workstation with Silicon Graphics CRIMSON or INDIGO as PLATFORM. Wacom's tab letter (sensitivity pen / pressure pen) and BARCO's calibration monitor (SCITEX, CROSFIELD) are also available on the world's most reliable and proven silicon graphics hardware as UNIX for CG. A workstation with BG development software attached to it is called a BG-CREATOR. BARCO GRAHPICS relies entirely on Silicon Graphics for hardware development, and many engineers strive to develop software. We also upgrade our software at least twice a year, and all new versions of our software are installed free of charge to users with maintenance contracts. Therefore, CREATOR users can always use the latest software without purchasing any new hardware.

Here are just a few of the features of BG-CREATOR in the software, but some of the ones that stand out in particular.

• Brushing function BG-CREATOR has 6 types of brushing functions (airbrush, circular brush, square brush, pen brush, hard brush, pastel brush). Of course, the pressure and size of all these brushes can be adjusted freely, and it changes freely depending on the pen pressure. Also, with BG-CREATOR, these 6 types of brushes can be used for masking as they are. Therefore, you can apply a mask with gradation by using various types of brushes and feeling the pressure.

• CT-WARP (Conton Warp Function = Mapping) The CT-WARP function is a function for the work that we usually call mapping. You can have innumerable grids for mapping, and you can move the pattern data in any direction by picking up horizontal lines to move horizontally, picking up vertical lines to move vertically, and picking up each point. The number of lines in this grid can be created infinitely by inputting the number of lines for the X-axis and the number of lines for the Y-axis. Therefore, if you want to perform fine mapping, you can increase the number of lines.

• 2-POINT POSITIONING function (2-point positioning) This is a function for easily and accurately synthesizing two points. When synthesizing two points with completely different sizes and angles, you can freely change the size and angle just by picking up the two points, and match it with the part you want to combine.

• 3D (MODELING and RENDERING) 3D software BG-CREATOR has its own 3D software. This 3D software has 8 types of light sources, and the 8 types of light sources can be applied from all directions at the same time. Using this 3D window, for example, you can create an image with the poster turned over, bring that image into the normal window of BG-CREATOR, and perform composition, color correction, and mapping again.

• TRANSCRIPT (Transscript PostScript Converter) You can import PostScript data from Macintosh. What's more, you can translate PostScript into the BARCO language with software called TranScript. Therefore, even Macintosh data can be converted such as mapping, compositing, and color correction on BG-CREATOR.

• Spot color separation On BG-CREATOR, spot color separation can be performed by software. By putting a spot color on each plate data that has been color-separated to an infinite number, you can add a spot color while simulating what the original color will look like.

• CMYK BG-CREATOR currently has two types of CREATOR. There are two types, BG-PHOTO CREATOR and BG-P PRO CREATOR. The former is RGB and the latter is CMYK. BG-PHOTOCREATOR also has color matching software for inputting with CMYK, converting to RGB, converting to CMYK again and outputting, but since K color conversion cannot be 100% complete, printing is inevitable. We recommend BG-PE PROCREATOR for CMYK arithmetic for users.

• As the name of the system suggests, BG-CREATOR is very suitable for creative work. In particular, by using the 3D software CT-WARP function, it is a very convenient system for creating extremely complicated images, performing complicated mapping, compositing, or color correction.

• For this work, I had the opportunity to use the image composition system Creator from Barco, Belgium. This is the second time I have used this system. Five to six years ago, image composition was the only response of a major printing company. Recently, I have come into contact with various image composition systems. Shima Seiki's HyperPaint, Quantel's Graphic Paintbox, and MAMBA, Premier, and Macintosh Photoshop.

• Photoshop on the Macintosh can be tampered with in the office, but the processing speed is still high, but large workstations such as Creator are much easier to work with because the processing speed comes with sensitivity. Among them, the monitors of other companies use high-definition made in Japan, but the one of Barco uses a monitor developed independently, and it is difficult to understand without actually comparing it, but the white paper The part is not as bright as the high-definition one, and it seems that the texture is reproduced firmly.

• This time, I also tried using a special synthesis method using a method called Conton Warp among the creators. Image composition by a normal computer is limited to the method of synthesizing the positive of A and the positive of B and blending them, but this Conton Warp is to paste the texture of different material according to a certain shape, and other There is something similar in the image composition system, but in terms of freedom, this Creator is one step higher than the others.

• This time, I decided to focus on this function from the beginning. The image is that the earth, Mars, the sun, and the mother who harbored the stars in her stomach are holding hands as one family. The shapes of the mothers were shaped with 3D software, and the models were asked to pose in the same way and took pictures. The stars were created separately on the Macintosh as picts. It is a calculation work from the beginning to cut a mesh on the image of CG for simple hits and for shadows, and to stick the human body along the mesh.

• I think it was finished according to the image of the first rough. However, the quality of any machine is determined by the proficiency of the operator who handles it. Looking at Barco's interface, it seems as easy to use as a Macintosh. Perhaps a person using Photoshop will be able to use it after a week of practice. And since the software was originally designed to be used in combination with our original 3D modeler, it can be said that it is suitable for styles like this one.

• There will be various image composition systems like this in the future, but if you can only combine them, the speed problem may be overtaken by the Macintosh. Rather, I would like each manufacturer to expand the environment in which the opinions of designers and the people around them can be taken in. Perhaps Barco is a company that is willing to listen to such outside voices. There are other effects that I would like you to incorporate, but this mesh-mapping conton warp was amazing.

• We would like to thank Chie Ishiwatari who was in charge of the operation this time, Eiji Okamatsu who managed to use the machine for a long time, and everyone at Kodak Vins.

• (1993-5-21 Nobuhiro Shibayama)

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