How to do an animated overview of a pdf

[Gaby_64]

I want to virtually bring up a pdf in 3d space and animate a zoom on sections of it, how do i do this?

here is an example of what I want to do, http://tinypic.com/r/2ef0sk3/9

[budwzr]

You need an NLE that has 2.5D animation. IOW, X,Y and Z(depth). Most do.

An you rotate, spin, flip, whatever based on a timeline.

[pippas]

You might try one of the 'Ken Burns' slide show type apps?... I made the attached sample clip using an old version of Canopus Imaginate, together with Virtualdub and a simple Avisynth script. The last two of those are free...

I'm not sure if Imaginate itself is still available?... but there are several alternatives...although as budwzr says, you will need to check that the app can handle 'z' mode..

EDIT: I've added a second 'zoom' from a higher resolution PDF scan (600ppi) ...See post #11

[Brainiac]

Is it safe to assume that the OP will have to export the pdf as a jpg or some other image format for import into an app? I ask because I do not know if there is any editing app that will import a pdf file

Brainiac

[raffriff42]

Lots of image programs can import PDFs as vector art. You could export a series of bitmaps with increasing zoom...

...the simplest method though, would be to grab a HUGE bitmap from the PDF and zoom it in the editor:

zoom PDF reader to full page.

[Attachment 39640 - Click to enlarge]

select the portion you want to show

[Attachment 39641 - Click to enlarge]

zoom in to 200%, 400%, 1600% or whatever, right-click, copy

[Attachment 39642 - Click to enlarge]

You can go as big as your editor will allow.

[Attachment 39643 - Click to enlarge]

[pippas]

Is it safe to assume that the OP will have to export the pdf as a jpg or some other image format for import into an app? I ask because I do not know if there is any editing app that will import a pdf file

Brainiac

Well, the sample PDF page I used for my short clip in post#3 was imported into Photoshop as a PDF page, and exported as a .png for processing in Imaginate, which does't accept PDF inputs directly.

The same is probably true for most other NLEs and 'slide show' apps.....Still looks pretty much the same as the original document though

[Brainiac]

Is it safe to assume that the OP will have to export the pdf as a jpg or some other image format for import into an app? I ask because I do not know if there is any editing app that will import a pdf file

Brainiac

Well, the sample PDF page I used for my short clip in post#3 was imported into Photoshop as a PDF page, and exported as a .png for processing in Imaginate, which does't accept PDF inputs directly.

The same is probably true for most other NLEs and 'slide show' apps.....Still looks pretty much the same as the original document though

Thanks for the info. I was just wondering.

[budwzr]

Don't forget PDFs have their own resolution too. So if created as 300dpi it will convert great, but not so good on 100dpi. 75dpi are junk.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, The best rez for the source should be >= 2x dpi of most zoomed in segment (match the zoomed rez but supersampling).

So for most beautiful, smooth but crystal clear look in FHD throughout the animation, if you had for example a 8.5"x11" pdf page and are going to do a KB zoom move into 1/8th the page (basically 3.75"x2.25" if you pillarbox your 4:3 landscape section), you want at least 1200dpi.

Scott

[pandy]

Same as raffriff42
Vector representation is preferred way to work in 3D - it will allow to create highest quality - 2D texture must be insanely high res especially for 'zoom in' where it can be infeasible to provide high quality even with 2D texture rendered with for example 3000DPI.

[pippas]

I looked at the sample the OP linked to - which is not very hi res, but conveys the idea of what he is looking for..

My sample clip in post#3 is a single page from an online camcorder manual PDF, imported to Photoshop, and exported as a 23 x 16 cm .png with a resolution of 200ppi. The file is only 181KB.

That seems to 'zoom' quite reasonably - using Imaginate - to display the text without too much pixelation as a 1280 x 702 video file.... I should probably have gone a little higher resolution - 300 ppi or even 600 ppi perhaps? - but for 'zoomed' text reproduction, I don't think it looks too bad...

EDIT: I tried out another Imaginate 'zoom' using the same PDF page scanned in at 600ppi - I think it looks quite reasonable, resolution wise....for such a simple solution..

[budwzr]

Same as raffriff42
Vector representation is preferred way to work in 3D - it will allow to create highest quality - 2D texture must be insanely high res especially for 'zoom in' where it can be infeasible to provide high quality even with 2D texture rendered with for example 3000DPI.

2.5D animation software does not support vector graphics, so you'd have to jump up to a "Full 3D" software. Steep learning curve.