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Ventuz Introduction

  • Introduction
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Quick Guides

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General

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Ventuz Designer

  • Designer Indices
Introduction
  • Designer Introduction Index
  • Designer Overview
  • Realtime Rendering
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  • Designer Options
  • Working with Nodes
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  • 2D Workflow
  • 3D Workflow
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User Interface
  • Designer User Interface Index
  • Designer Interface
  • Renderer Window
  • Layer Editor
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2D Workflow
  • 2D Workflow Index
  • 2D Workflow
  • Layer Editor
  • Common Layer Properties
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3D Workflow
  • 3D Workflow Index
  • 3D Workflow
  • Hierarchy and Content Editors
  • Renderer Window
  • Camera Navigation
  • Manipulate Objects with Gizmos
  • Layer Editor
  • Property Editor
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  • Isolated Objects
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  • Text Rendering
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  • Creating Realistic Reflections
  • Unreal Integration
  • Notch Integration
  • E2E Node Overview
Logic Workflow
  • Logic Workflow Index
  • Hierarchy and Content Editors
  • Content Editor
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  • Property Editor
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  • Multitouch
  • TUIO Protocol
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  • E2E Node Overview
Animation Workflow
  • Animation Workflow Index
  • Animation Workflow
  • Animation Editor
  • Content Editor
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  • Property Editor
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Project Structure
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How Tos
  • Designer How to Index
  • How to Run Ventuz
  • How to Work with Designer
  • Ventuz Designer Drag&Drop Workflow
  • How to work with Shadows
  • How to Build Content for Multiple Screens
  • How to Use Emoijs
  • How to Build a Template
  • How to Use the Color Difference Keyer
  • How To Use the HDR Engine
  • How Create Lens Flares and Bloom
  • How to Create Visuals Loader Node
  • How to Remote Control with a Phone
  • How to use Head Mounted Displays
  • How to work with 3D Reference Layers
  • How to create a Firework Particle System
  • How to use DDS with new Block Compression modes
  • How to use the Substance Integration
  • How To Integrate Unreal
  • How To Integrate Notch
  • How To use the Vertex Integration
  • How To Control and Customize Ventuz
Reference
  • Available Nodes
  • Animation Nodes
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Ventuz Director

  • Index
  • Introduction
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  • User Interface
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  • Command Line Options
  • Application Settings
  • Glossary
  • GPI Configuration

Ventuz Runtime & Configuration

  • Runtime Index
  • Configuration Configuration Editor
  • Machine Configuration
  • Video/Audio Configuration
  • Web Configuration Editor and License Manager
  • Render Setup Editor
  • Warping and Soft-Edging Editor
  • Machine Clustering
  • Supported Hardware
  • Director Mode
  • Runtime How Tos Index
  • How to Configure Audio
  • How to Use Live Options
  • How To Play Out On Multiple Screens
  • How To Render on a Machine Cluster
  • How to Use Head Mounted Displays
  • How to Setup Spout with Ventuz
  • How to Use Newtek NDI
  • How to Use a Mixed Frame Rate Cluster
  • How to Use Tracking

How To

Designer
  • Designer How to Index
  • How to Run Ventuz
  • How to Work with Designer
  • Ventuz Designer Drag&Drop Workflow
  • How to work with Shadows
  • How to Build Content for Multiple Screens
  • How to Use Emoijs
  • How to Build a Template
  • How to Use the Color Difference Keyer
  • How To Use the HDR Engine
  • How Create Lens Flares and Bloom
  • How to Create Visuals Loader Node
  • How to Remote Control with a Phone
  • How to use Head Mounted Displays
  • How to work with 3D Reference Layers
  • How to create a Firework Particle System
  • How to use DDS with new Block Compression modes
  • How to use the Substance Integration
  • How To Integrate Unreal
  • How To Integrate Notch
  • How To build and playback Ventuz Content in Vertex
Runtime & Configuration
  • Runtime How Tos Index
  • How to Configure Audio
  • How to Use Live Options
  • How To Play Out On Multiple Screens
  • How To Render on a Machine Cluster
  • How to use Head Mounted Displays
  • How to setup Spout with Ventuz
  • How to use Newtek NDI
  • How to use a Mixed Frame Rate Cluster
  • How to use Tracking
  • How To Integrate Unreal
  • How To Integrate Notch
  • How To build and playback Ventuz Content in Vertex
Director
  • How To Control Multiple Graphics Independently From Each Other
  • How to use the Companion with Director

Ventuz Node Reference

ANIMATION
  • Mover
  • Alternator
  • Simple Control
  • Timeline Control
  • Anmation Rig
  • Keyframe Animation
  • Animation Group
COLOR/MATERIAL
  • Alpha
  • Fog
  • Ground Fog
  • Sky Box
  • Color to RGBA
  • HSLA to Color
  • RGBA to Color
  • Color Transformer
  • HLSL Shader
  • Color
  • Material
  • Color Picker
  • Substance Material
DATA
  • Database
  • Excel
  • JSON
  • RSS Feed
  • Resource Linker
  • Text File
  • XML
E2E
  • E2E Axis
  • E2E Data
  • E2E Control
  • E2E Layer
  • E2E Provider
  • E2E Node Overview
GEOMETRY
  • Rectangle
  • Rounded Rectangle
  • Gradient Rectangle
  • Overlay Rectangle
  • Cube
  • Circle
  • Sphere
  • Cylinder
  • Cone
  • Torus
  • Chart
  • Random Points
  • Mesh Loader
  • Geometry Import (Live)
  • Volume
  • Get Bounding Box
  • Arrow
  • Particle System
  • Path Renderer
  • Geometry Renderer
INTERACTION
  • Interaction Rect
  • Touch Button
  • Touch Excluder
  • Touch Marker
  • Touch Paint
  • Touch Pattern
  • Touch Proxy
  • Touch Ripples
  • Touch Transformations
  • Web Browser
  • Touch Teleport
  • Touch Simulator
INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O)
  • GPI
  • Joystick
  • Keyboard
  • MIDI
  • Mouse
  • Network
  • Open Sound Control
  • Serial
  • Timecode
  • DMX
  • HTTP
  • RamDiskWriter
LAYER
  • 3D Layers
  • 3D Layer Reference
  • 2D Layers
  • PSD Import Layer
  • E2E Layer
  • Others
LIGHT
  • Light Sources
LOGIC
  • Array Processing
  • Convert To Text
  • Cluster Synchronization
  • Counter
  • Date Time
  • Directory
  • Dispatcher
  • Enumeration
  • Expressions
  • Invert
  • Log
  • Loop Breaker
  • Math Effects
  • Matrix Operations
  • Scene Event
  • Script
  • String Operations
  • System ID
  • Text Splitter
  • Timer
  • Toggle
  • URL
  • Value Switch
  • Value Buffer
  • Variables
  • Visual Indexer
RENDER OPTIONS
  • Alpha Blending
  • Color Write
  • Alpha Testing
  • Clip Plane
  • Filter
  • Mask
  • Mirror
  • Effect
  • Render Cube Map
  • Draw Modes
  • Stencil
  • ZTesting
SOUND
  • Audio Clip
  • Sound
  • Volume Control
  • Audio Analysis
SLIDES
  • Slide Manager
  • Slide
  • Slide Port
  • Pivot
TEXT
  • Text Effects
  • Text Layouts
  • Text Rendering
TEXTURE
  • Background
  • Hatch
  • Image
  • Texture
  • SVG Loader
  • Gradient Texture
  • Live Video
  • Movie Stream
  • Movie Frame
  • Movie Clip
  • Texture Loader
  • Snapshot
  • Snapshot Framebuffer
  • Texture Saver
  • Video Source Selector
  • VIO Input
  • Spout Receiver
  • NDI Receiver
  • Substance Loader
  • QR Code
VR/AR
  • Tracked Devices
  • Draw Tracked Devices
WORLD
  • Axis
  • Billboard
  • GetWorld
  • SetWorld
  • Arrange
  • Ticker
  • Layout
  • Group
  • World Z Sort
  • YesNo
  • Switch
  • Spread
  • Filter Pass
  • Set Pass
  • Hierarchy Container
  • Scene Port
  • Content Container
  • Template Port
  • Container Info
  • Camera
  • Paths

Advanced and Development

  • Advanced and Development Index
  • Command Line Options
  • Ventuz IP Ports
  • Ventuz Machine Service
  • TUIO
  • .NET Scripting
  • HLSL Shader Programming
  • Ventuz API and SDK
  • Ventuz Extension API
  • Ventuz VIO API
  • Ventuz File Format (VFF)
  • Ventuz Stream Out API
  • Lens Calibration File for FreeD
  • E2E Node Overview
  • Unreal Integration
  • Notch Integration
Remoting
  • Remoting Index
  • Remoting Overview
  • How To Control and Customize Ventuz
  • Remoting 4
  • Remoting 4 via Websockets
  • Remoting 4 via HTTP
  • Director Remoting
  • Deprecated Remoting
  • Remoting Machine Signature

Misc

  • Presets
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2D Workflow Introduction

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Basics
  3. Photoshop Import
  4. Blending
  5. Effects
  6. Conclusion

This overview will serve as an introduction to the 2D workflow inside of Ventuz Designer. You will learn to work effectively with imported Photoshop (.psd) files and different blending techniques. Throughout this page you will find quick links to more detailed and technical descriptions of relevant topics. We recommend reading trough these as well, even if you are a more advanced Ventuz user.

Introduction

After reading through this introductory guide, you should have an understanding of the most common 2D workflow use cases. We will cover topics such as: where to find the different Blending modes, Layer Groups and how to import of Photoshop (.psd) files.

Basics

It is important to understand how the rendering order works inside of the Layer Editor. The bottom layer will always be rendered in front, which is the opposite to how layers work in programs like Photoshop. To access the contents of any layer, you need to  click on the icon next to the layer name. Clicking on the Layer in the Layer Editor will provide you with access to the properties of the selected Layer inside the Property Editor.

New 2D layers can be added by pressing the small + in the top left corner of the Layer Editor, and selecting the type of 2D layer you would like to add from the drop-down menu. One of the most commonly used types of 2D layer is an Image Layer. This is a basic 2D Layer that allows you to directly import images into Ventuz and manipulate things like orientation, blending or the mapping of the image.

Layer properties can also be accessed inside of the Layer Editor by  click the small triangle (next to the icon). This will expand the properties section for the selected Layer.

Every 2D Image layer will have a root node inside of it. Accessing this node is done by clicking the icon for the specific layer, and looking inside of the Content Editor. This root node contains the Texture Loader where additional properties can be edited, predefined images can be selected, or you can change the whole Texture property to something different

The Group Layer is a helpful tool when trying to keep things organized. This Layer type can be found at the very top of the list when adding a new Layer.

Adding additional Layers to a Group Layer is done by pressing the small triangle to expand the Group Layer properties, and then  click dragging the Layer you would like to add into the Group Layer properties area. An orange line will indicate where the selected Layer will be moved to after the mouse button is released.

Photoshop Import

Ventuz supports the direct import of Photoshop (.psd) files. Importing a Photoshop file will maintain its layers as individual Ventuz Layers, as well as preserve the original Transparency and Blending Mode properties for each layer.

To add a new Photoshop Layer, click on the small + on the Layer Editor, and select Photoshop Import from the drop-down menu.

To import a Photoshop file, click the small triangle on the newly added Photoshop Layer to expand its properties. Then, click on the three dots in the Asset field and locate the Photoshop file you would like to add using the Open dialog.

If the imported Photoshop file has multiple layers, they can be found inside of the Photoshop Layer by clicking on the small triangle to expand its properties. Each of these Layers can be modified inside of Ventuz without affecting the original Photoshop file. On import, the Photoshop file is converted to a Ventuz Group Layer.

For more information regarding Photoshop Layers please refer to the Photoshop Import documentation.

Blending

The Ventuz Designer has a wide range of different blending modes. You can find the blending modes for each layer in either the Layer Editor or the Property Editor.

To access the different blending modes, you need to expand the Blending property group by clicking the small triangle next to Blending, and then click the the Mode drop-down menu.

You can blend 3D and/or 2D content with each other using these options. It is also possible to blend complete scenes with each other by using a Scene Layer. A detailed description of the effects from different blending modes can be found here.

Effects

Layer Effects can also be found in the Layer properties. You can access these different Layer Effects by clicking the small triangle to expand the Effect Group properties.

Now you can click the small + to add an effect to the selected layer.

Effects are grouped into different categories. Some of these effects requirement movement on the layer for the effect to be noticable, while others will be immediately visible.

Effects can have a big impact on scene performance, so use them wisely and downscale them whenever possible. Effects can also be applied to a Group Layer (rather than individual layers) which can help improve scene performance.

Conclusion

With this information, you should now be capable of establishing an effective 2D workflow within Ventuz Designer. For more help visit the links below, or join our ​Discord server to get in touch with our community to get additional help or feedback on your projects.

See also:
  • Effects
  • Blending
  • Scene Layer
  • Layer Editor
  • Property Editor
  • Photoshop import
  • Texture properties
  • Content Editor
  • Hierarchy Editor
  • Group Layer

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