Wishlist: store a little image component (Bomber related?)

So, this is sort of a crazy idea: what if we had a component which simply stored a small image, which is then used w/ bombers. When you save the file, the image is could be stored directly in the filter; embedded into it. (So, the files would also have to be small)

Lots of particle engines will store the image right with the filter, often as part of the emitter file, and they don't get too huge because they are size limited (often 512x512 max), and usually just grayscale. In Particle Illusion, I think they have some overall kb limit, because it will scale down large images to ~256.

Advantages:
-Really powerful: imagine all the cool effects one could do.
-You could take 1 image and combine it w/ another using FF. Right now you have to build either the bomber particle or the background in FF.
-Might actually be easier to, say, make a the letter 'Y' externally, and then load it in, than create it from scratch from FF parts.

Disadvantages:
-Have no idea if this is even possible to store an image in w/ the FFXML file.
-FFXML files would get big. I don't know if this is a big issue.
-Breaks the basic FF 'everything can be enlarged huge' rule. Your embedded files would get all pixelized, I suppose.

Additional thoughts:
In Particle Illusion, you can load a series of files, and then use them as separate animation frames. You can also load in animated GIF's and have them separated as frames for that particle. The particle frames can be kept in order, or used randomly. So, I wonder if in FF, a hypothetical embedded image component could even contain an image series, and then have a selector for choosing which one to use.

This sounds like a great idea, although it would require the FF team to approve all the images and ensure that they arent copy-writed prior to being approved to the library. I would like to assume that is why they have steared away from that idea.

Kraellin, some of us dont have over 10k posts, and thus resort to repeating history in an ever circular fashion. These kind of threads are going to continue to circulate as members join and become active on the forums. As for you, with the 10k posts your that wise man on the top of the hill, you saw it all, and you scare me

Did he jsut confirm that its comming? =P

It would however be kewl if we could choose from 3-4 images that it would use when submitting to the library. Because the lifesaver does not do justice to all filters.

I hate being a "bastid" too... for starters I don't even know what one is.

I just highjacked a thread

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CorvusCroax wrote: So, this is sort of a crazy idea: what if we had a component which simply stored a small image, which is then used w/ bombers.

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CorvusCroax wrote: But, it seems strange to me that your bomber has to be 1:1 ratio with your image. It seems that the point of a bomber is repetition, which means that it would neccesarily be smaller than the overall image. It seems like the way it is now forces people to make things huge just to use them as tiny items as a bomber. (Which strikes me as render - inefficient)

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CorvusCroax wrote: I don't know about other people, but generally speaking I'm not using FF with really complicated filter on anything bigger than 4,096 px.

I'd like to propose a possible solution: Introduce a Particle Image component that is not restricted to the pixel width and height of the source layer that FF works upon.

A filter using this component would display a warning similar to the Selection warning. You would have to load this Particle Image via the main menu using File > Open Particle Image.

So, can I ask the basic question:

Suppose you are working on a 2000 x 2000 px image. You want to place a bunch of 128 bombers particles. Say 4 differnt types. Is it slow / otherwise bad for Filter Forge to have to enlarge each one, just to shrink it back down as the bomber particles are placed?

FF team...?