Automating image morphing via Lua script running on AWS EC2

Hey there,

I am evaluating Fusion to address the problem regarding images morphing.

The problem is the following: I have a sequence of images in the input that I need to morph and create a gif animation with smooth transitions in between the input images as the output.

Having watched the tutorials I know I can easily achieve the desirable effect using Fusion (using Optical Flow or Retiming tools).
Another challenge is that I would like to automate this process to generate the output animation on demand which means that command line is what I am looking for only.

Fusion offers scripting capabilities and I have managed to write simple Lua instructions in the console attached to the Fusion Application. I haven't succeeded with executing the standalone script via the fuscript application.

I have a few questions that I would be grateful for answering:

1. Is it possible to execute the standalone scripts via fuscript in free version of Fusion? Or is this capability available in the paid version only?
2. Given I succeed with generating the script transforming the input into the output, would there be any problems with running the script on GPU-optimized AWS EC2 instance with Fusion software installed?

Many thanks for the answers to my questions.

external scripting is a Studio feature, not possible in the free version

Wouldn't it be easier to manipulate/generate .comp script for each job and simply render it from command line on EC2 instance? You could use python or whatever for creating the comp, so you are not tied to Fusion directly.

Wouldn't it be easier to manipulate/generate .comp script for each job and simply render it from command line on EC2 instance? You could use python or whatever for creating the comp, so you are not tied to Fusion directly.

Hi Hendrik, thanks for the reply. Does generating the .comp script (Composition effectively) mean exporting manually created configuration in Fusion and launching the script that loads and executes the .comp configuration via command line?

I managed to export the examplary .comp composition but I could not launch it and receive the transformed output. I assume I need the paid version with full standalone scripting support in order to successfully execute the .comp configuration, is that correct?

Speaking of executing the .comp script on the EC2 instance, what you're describing is the solution for my case I believe.
I don't follow the sentence with being tied to Fusion though - the .comp extension is the format supported by Fusion so launching it would require using the prebuilt binaries coming with Fusion, right? Could you elaborate more on the dependency on Fusion please?

Many thanks,
Dawid.

Hi Hendrik, thanks for the reply. Does generating the .comp script (Composition effectively) mean exporting manually created configuration in Fusion and launching the script that loads and executes the .comp configuration via command line?

Yes, this is what I meant. As .comp file is simple text, you can generate them at will with simple text processing. And then run them as command line render tasks in Fusion.

I'm not sure about the free/studio version difference on command line execution, it should be possible to simply run Fusion headless without additional render nodes which come with studio version only.

I don't follow the sentence with being tied to Fusion though - the .comp extension is the format supported by Fusion so launching it would require using the prebuilt binaries coming with Fusion, right? Could you elaborate more on the dependency on Fusion please?

You need to install Fusion on your EC2 machine image. When you launch an instance, you can then use Fusion as usual and run command line rendering. You can't just run .comp file, it is Fusion composition that needs installed Fusion, just like AfterEffects project for example needs AE to do something with it.

Even command line fusion won't run on a headless system. It will start a gui version of fusion and start rendering

It can be done, check this post on WSL (links to further information): https://www.steakunderwater.com/wesuckl ... 163#p21163

Hey there,

I am evaluating Fusion to address the problem regarding images morphing.

The problem is the following: I have a sequence of images in the input that I need to morph and create a gif animation with smooth transitions in between the input images as the output.

Having watched the tutorials I know I can easily achieve the desirable effect using Fusion (using Optical Flow or Retiming tools).
Another challenge is that I would like to automate this process to generate the output animation on demand which means that command line is what I am looking for only.

Fusion offers scripting capabilities and I have managed to write simple Lua instructions in the console attached to the Fusion Application. I haven't succeeded with executing the standalone script via the fuscript application.

I have a few questions that I would be grateful for answering:

1. Is it possible to execute the standalone scripts via fuscript in free version of Fusion? Or is this capability available in the paid version only?
2. Given I succeed with generating the script transforming the input into the output, would there be any problems with running the script on GPU-optimized AWS EC2 instance with Fusion software installed?

Many thanks for the answers to my questions.

As far as I know it is not possible to execute standalone scripts via fuscript in the free version of Fusion, you need to purchase the full version with all extensions. Could you have problems running the script on a GPU optimized AWS EC2 instance with Fusion software installed. Basically, the problems will be with the setup. When I found myself in a similar situation, I had problems configuring AWS and found everything I needed on https://cciedump.spoto.net. For a long time I was looking for the necessary scripts, but in the end everything worked out for me. I hope I could help you somehow.