Using 2 Color Gradients to Colorize Procedural MSG Textures

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Many MSG presets that generate 1 channel procedural textures use the 1to3GradMap processor to index map the black and white texture image through a color gradient to generate full color output. However, you can also work with 2 different color gradients to colorize procedural imagery. This post will show off how to do this using the 1to3ModGradMap processor.

The image gallery shows off the IO (input-output) connections for the simple MSG preset that generated the procedural image at the top of this post. Note that 2 different GenAdvTurb processors are used to generate 2 different turbulence noise fields in the ROut and GOut image channels.

The 3rd processor, called 1to3ModGradMap, index maps between 2 different color gradients to generate color output. It’s In port is attached to the ROut image stream. So this is the image stream that is being index mapped by a color gradient. The Mod port is attached to the GOut image stream. So this image stream is being used to modulate between the 2 different Gradient inputs, which are attached to the ColorGradient and ColorGradient1 streams.

By using a second image stream to modulate between 2 different color gradients, you can generate procedural imagery with more color complexity, since different color gradients will be mapping local textures in different parts of the overall output canvas.

The first 2 gallery images below show the output of the first and second GenAdvTurb processors (the intitial ROut and GOut image streams after those first 2 GenAdvTurb processors are run.

The 3rd gallery image shows ROut index mapped by the ColorGradient stream. The 4th gallery image shows ROut index mapped by the ColorGradient1 stream. Note that the look of index mapping with a single color gradient is very different than what you get when you use a second image stream to modulate the index mapping between 2 different color gradients (as shown in the image at the top of this post).

Real world imagery (even real world textural imagery) often has spatially localized color statistics. Using spatially localized modulation of color gradients or color palettes is a way to program MSG presets that generate more interesting colorized abstract procedural imagery. This is a fairly simple example. We’ll try to elaborate on different approaches to colorizing procedural abstract imagery in future posts.

Category: MSG

Tags: gradient procedural art

Using 2 Color Gradients to Colorize Procedural MSG Textures

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