Using screen capture in Present3D to save images and make movies.

This is a test volume render in Present3D using a Colour Look Up Table to hide and colour selected parts of the CT data. The movie was created using Present3D's save to image sequence feature and then opened in Quicktime Pro 7 to convert to a movie. Three sequences were saved then combined in Motion. The final zoom sequence used a path in Present3D to create the zoom.

Single Image :

To capture a single image press the "m" key and an image will be saved to the same directory/folder where your presentation xml file is located. If you want to change the location where files will be saved you can do this by starting your presentation using the following additional command  : 

--screenshot folder_name/filename.jpg

So starting your Present3D show becomes :

present3D myshow.xml --screenshot folder_name/filename.jpg

You can also change the format the file will be saved as by changing the extension you use for your filename. You can currently use .rgb .tiff .jpg, others may work so give it a try.

Image Sequence :

Capturing an image sequence to create a movie file is very similar, but this time you use "shift m" keys i.e. "M" to start capture and again to stop.

As with single image above, you can set the folder and format by using the additional command :

--screenshot folder_name/filename.jpg

However, you can also set a target frame rate that may help when trying to achieve smooth movement with large datasets and you do this by adding the following command :

--targetFrameRate x

Where x is a number setting for the frame rate. So starting a show for capture could be :

present3D myshow.xml --targetFrameRate 2  --screenshot folder_name/filename.jpg

You might find that slowing down the rotation speed (if you are using this) and changing the target frame rate will allow you to achieve much better results.

To create a movie from the image sequence, I use Quicktime Pro 7. Start QTPro and go File/Open Image Sequence navigate to the folder with your captured files and select the first of the screen capture files. QT will then ask for a frame rate and then create your movie file. Save or export as required.

If you want to further modify the frame rate, you can remap in Motion or After Effects.

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