Advanced Image Scaling

[deaddrift]

hi! very interesting, i checked out the PDF and it is very impressive they way they smoothed out those pixels!!!

so here are my questions:

1) so how do we actually use the smoothing technique they describe in the PDF?  i understand the link you gave to the EXE is a selfcontained resizing solution, but how would we do this without the program? How did the guys in the PDF test it? In photoshop somehow?

2) The  algorithm described in the PDF is different from the link you gave to the DLL and exe?  Where do we find the technique described in the PDF?

3) Ok, so I DL'd the .exe and .dll, what do i do with the dll? place it somewhere in Photoshop files?  or is it part of the .exe to make it function?

thanks for any help, i'd really like the example in the PDF, since none of the EXE program seem to do near as good of a job..

*********EDIT: so i used the same image they used in the PDF, and the EXE program does nothing even close to what the PDF technique does, it simply increases size, not smooths out the pixels.... am i missing something?   dont get me wrong! i really appreciate what youve shared with us!!

ive tried indesign and it does indeed not look so hot when trying to smooth pixels

 

[Tsukihime]

It's not a photoshop plugin. It's a Paint.NET plugin.

 

[BigEd781]

Hmmm...


1.  The program scales an image using one of many scaling algorithms.  The image I presented was the output of the program.  I assure you, it works.  You need to select the correct algorithm before resizing.


2. The PDF is a white paper. It describes the algorithm, it is not an implementation.  In software we often have to implement algorithms which are detailed in papers such as this.


3. The DLL is a Paint.NET plugin as Tsukihime said. The exe is an executable that you can launch which will also resize your images.


This is not a script or anything that will filter your images at runtime. This is a program with which you can pre-process your images before importing into RPG Maker.

 

[Black Bart]

"You need to select the correct algorithm before resizing."

hi, i too tried the program, and tried every one ont eh big drop down list, but i can only seem to make it simply enlarge the image, which algorithm actually smooths the pixels like in the PDF????

 

[deaddrift]

Hi Big Ed!

thanks for your reply, thanks for clearing up the plugin issue-

so which algorithm on the EXE lets you get results like this example below, maybe i am missing an option or something?

 

[BigEd781]

@Black Bart: This is a scaling algorithm, not an in place filter. It will always scale by a fixed size.


@deaddrift: xBR 2x2 Smart (or any of the xBR variants)

 

[Tsukihime]

I think the two of you are misunderstanding the image.


The original image was 40x16 as indicated at the very bottom. The image on the left is the result using one algorithm, and the right is the result using their algorithm.


The images you see are definitely bigger than 40x16.


Granted, the title of that paper is also quite misleading...they do mention vectoring an image but the whole paper seems to be focused on just (up)scaling.

 

[Scythuz]

So I'm not versed in image scaling at all but I've seen scaling options like hqx2 super sai and so on when I've played snes emulators and the like.  Am I right when I say that this allows you to pull off a similar effect?  That's how it looks from the pictures but I thought I'd make sure.

 

[BigEd781]

Yes. However, this is just a converter, so you'd have to do your conversions before importing (i.e., no runtime scaling/filtering). Just scaling guys.

 

[deaddrift]

thanks again for sharing this!

let me also recommend for pure image enlargement the alien skin Blow-Up plugin is good for making things very very large

 

[Scythuz]

Yes. However, this is just a converter, so you'd have to do your conversions before importing (i.e., no runtime scaling/filtering). Just scaling guys.

Ah that makes sense now, thanks!

 

[inflamer]

i was trying to do something like that, i got one .dll but the effect was still too slow and not with the same quality as the images posted.

This would make making graphics far easier, as you could use 16bit resolution (I.E.: SNES resolution) and scale the graphics ingame without having them pixelated. this would also reduce the game size.

The effect i wanted was the HQX2 but this one still more like ScaleX2. Since i didn't find the algorithm for HQX2 i gave up.

The contours are very softened, I like it! Can you keep 60fps while using this dll/script?

 

[Jeorg]

This is pretty neat, can't quite tell yet if this or alien skin blow up is better at making things larger, and the latter has more flexibility in larger sizes, but this is a good free alternative.