Create An Infinite Reflection Effect in Gimp
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00:03:00
This is a quick and simple tutorial on how to create an infinite reflection effect in Gimp, using the Recursive Transform tool that is new to Gimp 2.10. In fact the underlying aim of this tutorial is to demonstrate how to use this new tool, whilst creating an infinite reflections effect as an example. Once you know how this tool works you'll soon see just how versatile it can be, and how it can open up creative possibilities for your own images.
To learn how to create an infinite reflection effect in Gimp follow these simple steps. Click on each image to enlarge if you need to.
1/ First go into Second Life and take a snapshot of your subject.
2/ Also take a snapshot of the rear view. Using a photographer's poseball will ensure the figure maintains the same position in both images.
Once you have the images you'll need to remove the background. if you're unsure how to do this there are three tutorials here on SL-Inspiration that explain different techniques. The links are given below.
- How To Remove The Background From An Image With Gimp
- How To Remove The Background From An Image Using Gimp
- How To Remove An Image Background Using Gimp
3/ Open Gimp and add the first image.
4/ If the image is too large select the Scale tool in the Toolbox window (highlighted in red above). Click on the image and in the box that opens enter the new size for the layer.
5/ When the layer is scaled to size it may appear off centre, as in the image above. Simply drag it in position with the Move tool.
6/ add the second image to Gimp and follow the above steps to scale it. The rear view of the figure should be the top layer as its going to be the first reflection of the figure looking out at us (see the top image here if that sounds a bit confusing).
In a real mirror the reflections would almost mask each other, therefore we need to use a little artistic license in the spacing of the two images so both can be seen clearly. Also you might have noticed the rear view of the figure was taken slightly to the side to help visually explain the distance between it and the front figure.
7/ Hide the background layer by deselecting the eye icon to the left of it in the layers panel. You should now have just the two layers of the figures visible, both with their backgrounds removed.
Right click on one of the layers in the layers panel and from the drop down list select New from Visible. This will create a new layer with the figures merged as one image, whilst preserving the original layers.
If you prefer you can simply merge the two original layers, but this way, if anything goes wrong we have the original layers to fall back on.
8/ The layers panel should now look the same as the image above.
9/ Now we get to use the Recursive Transform tool. Select Filters > Map > Recursive Transform
10/ The above window will appear. The number of iterations will determine how many reflections we see. The default number of iterations when the window first opens is three, but here it has been changed to seven. Although this may not exactly be an infinite number of reflections, too many will just look wrong, so again a little artistic license is needed.
The Paste below option should be ticked otherwise the more distant reflections will appear on top of what should be the foreground reflections. (Toggle this option to see the difference).
11/ When you first make the adjustments in the Recursive Transform window nothing much may change. However there are handles that can be adjusted in the main image window (highlighted in red and green above). Generally speaking the handles highlighted in red will adjust the size and position of the recursions, whilst those highlighted in green will shear and taper them.
12/ After tweaking the handles a little this is what I ended up with. It does take a little trial and error, and it will be different for each image, but it is not difficult to grasp.
13/ A new background has been added to the image here.
15/ The image is now ready to be exported out of Gimp.
16/ for the final stage the image was uploaded to Second Life and added to a prim. Another snapshot was taken with the figure standing before the original image.
The set up here has been kept very simple so the basic concept of creating infinite reflections could be explained, along with the basics of how the Recursive Transform tool works. It doesn't take too much stretch of the imagination to work out how two reflection images could be uploaded to Second Life then juxtaposed to create a more convincing illusion of two mirrors reflecting each other. It is also easy to imagine different ways the Recursive Transform tool can be used, particularly to create Droste images. Enjoy experimenting with this tool and come back soon for more posts and tutorials.
