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			SEMI-TRANSPARENT SHADOWS

When you have a picture background all but complete, but wish to add a
few foreground objects or perhaps some large text for titling, it would be
desirable to be able to have the object cast a semi-transparent shadow -
one which darkens the background areas it falls on, but allows some detail
to show through the shadowed area. Double-click on the picture "Shadow" to
view it. Look for detail in the shadowed areas. To examine it in more
detail, you'll need a hi-res paint program with "zoom" option.

HR136 can make it easy for you to create the effect in "Shadow"! I have
worked out the technique for Deluxe Paint II, and will leave it to your 
ingenuity to devise a technique for other paint programs.

Assuming you have a picture background ready to add foreground with
shadows:

1. First, save the picture to disk so you don't lose it!

2. Swap to the alternate screen with "j", and use it to construct your
text title or foreground object.

3. Pick the title or object up as a brush, and stamp a duplicate of it, if
it consists of one solid color. If not, pick it up, press F2 (to make it
solid and one color) and stamp this as the duplicate.

4. Swap to the other screen with "j" and load HR136. It will change your
palette. You must go to your top pull-down menus using the right mouse
button, and choose "Picture", then "Color Control, and then "Restore
Palette" to get the previous palette back.

5. Be sure that color 0 is selected as the background color. Now look down
the left-hand column of HR136 colors, and pick a fairly DARK color or shade
of grey that would make a good tint for a shadow.

6. Use the Brush Tool to grab a 2 x 2 brush sample of this color. Use the
right mouse button on the Fill icon to set up "From Brush" and "Pattern"
selections on the submenu. The window to the right of these gadgets should
fill with the color you want.

7. Swap screens again, select "Fill" with the left mouse button, and click
within your shape or title to fill it with the color mixture.

8. Grab the foreground shadow as a brush. You may wish to save it to disk
at this time. As you move it around the screen, it will seem as if you can
see through it as though through a pair of sunglasses! This is an illusion
- it is a checkerboard of color 0 and another color.

9. Swap your screen, and load your background scene, thus erasing the HR136
palette screen. 

10. Move your shadow carefully into position on the background, allowing 
the desired offset from the eventual location of the foreground object
or title, and stamp it on the background. It should appear as a dark shadow 
with the background scene showing through it!

11. Swap screens, and grab the foreground object or title as a brush.

12. Swap again, and stamp the foreground slightly offset to the shadow
(usually up and to the left a bit).

13. Look carefully. The shadow will appear uncannily real - so real that
you would swear the object or title is an inch or two IN FRONT of the
background!

THINGS TO TRY (OR AVOID):

1. The effect is best in higher resolutions.

2. You may wish to use perspective or distortion on the shadow. You may
even invert it, if the light source appears to be behind an object.

3. The shadow effect works poorly when you stamp the shadow over areas that
already use HR136 color mixes. The problem is that you hide one of the two
colors in the previous mixture with a new "checkerboard" of color.

4. Shadows falling over other shadows will also lack the desired realism.
You may be able to "hand-paint" an even darker color in a checkerboard
pattern (using magnify mode) in an area where two shadows overlap.

5. If you are transferring to video, always check to see if the shadows are
solid and steady, without vibration or moire patterns. Certain colors, 
particularly complementary colors (far apart in the spectrum) that are fully
saturated (rich) can cause video "artifacts" which are distracting.