Concept in Definition ABC

Starting from one image to reach another through subtle consecutive transformations is a technique graph that became fashionable a few years ago and that constitutes a very spectacular visual effect.

The morphing technique consists of starting from a given image to, through small transformations, arrive at another given image, totally different.

It is a technique that can be applied both to Photography as to video. In the case of photographs, it is done with a Format animated, like a GIF.

Let's take an example of video morphing, specifically used in the movie theater: the transformation of a person into an animal, such as that carried out by an act of witchcraft.

It is possible to see some examples, precisely that follow this line of argument, in the film Willow, a fantasy of the middle Ages with fantastic touches.

The morphing technique would not have been possible without computer science.

This is because a gradual transition is needed between both images, through intermediate images in the that both snapshots begin to combine, and such a smooth transition is only possible using complicated calculations for

computer.

That is why the history of morphing is relatively recent, going back to the late eighties, early nineties of the last century, when the computing power of computer equipment and its graphic capabilities, finally made it possible to carry out very complicated operations that, previously, were impossible.

Morphing is based on relating key points of the starting image, and which points would correspond to them in the destination image, calculating the intermediate points.

As they consist of smooth transitions, this means that the computer must calculate and represent a series of intermediate images, the product of the “mixture” of both.

Halfway between one and the other, the image will be a mixture of 50% or approximately, a percentage that will grow towards the destination or origin as we get closer to it.

In the early and mid-1990s there was a boom in the software for the realization of morphing effects in desktop computers.

Virtually any computer magazine of the time had a few pages each. month to talk about it, explaining techniques, and detailing the use of programs, which were given away with the CD ROM or floppy disk attached to the magazine.

That “boom” has long since passed, and morphing has remained, for consumers and end users, more as a rarity that they see in film and television than as something to be done by themselves.

However, we can still see complicated morphing techniques in expensive Hollywood productions, such as the Terminator saga (like not remembering the Terminators from metal liquid that metamorphosed into any person or object).

In the application of morphing techniques, colors also come into play.

It is not enough to connect points and make transitions from one to another, but we must also make a color of the area of ​​origin to that of the destination area, which multiplies the amount and difficulty of the calculations to perform.

It is these types of graphical calculations that are left to the GPU, the processor included in the computer graphics card.

Photo: Fotolia - jozefklopacka

Themes in Morphing