7 Comments

Have you seen this? Looks like someone copied HueForge https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0l7v18L_Af/?igshid=N2ViNmM2MDRjNw==

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Yes, I saw that the other day. Fortunately it gave me some ideas :). I knew those guys had the knowledge to do this and they have been supporting the community for free for a long time.

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I love HueForge so I just wanted to reach out in case they were downright copying you. It was a brand new ad to me and I'm never sure of creator's presences on social media. I'm glad you got some ideas from them and it's awesome that they are supporting the community in this way.

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I don't really mean giving back to HueForge, but they coded up the Color Lithophane maker with the CMYK method and have offered that for free forever

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I know about the CMYK method, and have used that one before. The one in the link looks almost exactly like HueForge, and it looks like it uses the same methods- Load a pic, use various colors at different layers, not require light passing through to see the image, etc.

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Yes it's the same idea. My point was that anyone who could calculate the CMYK lithophanes is 100% capable of calculating Filament Paintings or Chromaphanes or whatever you want to call them.

The interesting thing is he goes about building the mesh in an entirely different way which makes color matching the original image a lot easier. Expect to see something similar in the build after v0.7.0. I am not sure if it can get the shading and fine details as well, but I don't know yet either.

However, the method he used is really clever and I'm glad I saw it because it gives me another tool in my toolbox. And as much as I love being the only game in town, competition is pretty much always good for the community.

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It seems a bit like raster image editing software. While the basic techniques behind image editing are the same with most editing software, the UI, tools and automation make all the difference. With enough skill and patience, one could edit images with Microsoft Paint and produce the same results as they would get with Photoshop.

I mean, it's a defined field of pixels, with each pixel having a specific color value. Anyone can edit those pixels with basic software. But what sets Photoshop apart from Paint is the plethora of tools provided. For example, with a handful of clicks and drags, a user can select a subject, defocus the background, enhance the subject, resize the image and save it in a different format with a smaller file size. The same edits could take years with Paint.

So all I'm saying is that the basics will remain the basics, so the tools are what really provide the value. And competition helps keep things moving. It helps keep the herd healthy, so to speak.

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