Time Point Morph

Use Timepoint Morph tools to seamlessly blend one image into another, creating an animated presentation of the changes that have occurred over the course of the patient's treatment, using any image type, and any number of timepoints. You can view the animations immediately, save them as independent video files, easily email them to patients and parents, upload to FaceBook, or export them to Edge Animations.

Premier Imaging Required - .This feature is a part of the Premier Imaging add-on module to Edge Imaging. Please contact Ortho2 for further information.

Time Point Morph vs. Image Morph - This article describes the use of Time Point Morph tools to create an animated presentation of the changes among two or more images. You may also want to explore Image Morph tools, which give you a way to clean up and enhance an individual image. See "Image Morphing" for details.

Use This Feature

Choose Image to Work With - Open the patient's Imaging page, and select the image you want to work with.( See "Patient Imaging Page" for details.)
Open Timepoint Morph Tools - Imaging ribbon bar > Imaging section > Morph > Timepoint Morph.
Select Timepoints - Use the Select Images section of the ribbon bar to select which timepoints you want included in the morph. All the timepoints available for the image type you selected are available to choose from. You can do something as simple as a before and after with the initial and final images, or make a more in-depth video using all images throughout treatment. The bottom of the screen updates to display only the timepoints you have selected.
Markers - Click and drag your cursor to draw markers on all the images simultaneously. Markers help keep the image changes consistent, and help you better assess and present the changes that have occurred during treatment. The more markers you place, the less grainy the images will be during the morph. At minimum you should trace the eyes, eyebrows, nose, inside of the mouth, chin, and around the head.

Two-point line - To make one line with two points, for example, to make a line under the nose, simply click where the first point should go, then click where the second point goes.

Multi-point line - To make one line with several points, for example, to make the line inside the mouth, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard, and click where each point should go.

Choose prominent points - When making points, pick points that are easy to select on the other image. For instance, for the eyebrows, go from the edges to arch.

Ghosting issue - If you see ghosting (where you can see multiple edges of the same feature halfway between two images), add a structure to that feature, or add more points to an existing structure. For instance, a new hairstyle may require more points or even require the hairline to be remarked.

Multiple-person morph - Morphing between different people will typically require more structures and points because features can be dramatically different.

Clear markers - Click Clear Markers from the Options section of the Timepoint Morph ribbon bar to erase all markers from the images, including any markers you had saved from previous timepoint morphs.
Frame Display Options - Use the Options section of the Timepoint Morph ribbon bar to adjust the frame display to determine the quality and speed with which the morphing animation occurs.

Frames per image - (Default = 40) Enter the number of morphing frames to base off each timepoint image. The more frames, the more gradual the morphing appears.

Frame delay (in milliseconds) - (Default = 60) Enter the number of milliseconds to remain on each frame, before advancing to the next frame in the morphing animation.

Image delay (in milliseconds) - (Default = 1000, or 1 second) Enter the number of milliseconds to remain on the final frame of each image included in the animation.

Pixel quality - Select the video quality to use for this animation. The better the quality, the longer the a saved morphing video will take to load, especially over poor Internet connections.

Reset options - Click Reset Options to return all frame display options to their default values.
View / Save Timepoint Animation - Use the tools in the General section of the ribbon bar to view and save your animation.

View morph - Click View Morph to animate the images, using your frame display options.

Export to File - Click Export to file to save the animated morph as a video file that you can attach to e-mails, upload to a web site, and play on most standard media players.

Export to Edge Animations - Click Export to Edge Animations from the Timepoint Morph ribbon bar to open Edge Animations for this patient, and create a new filmstrip that includes a copy of this morphing animation. You can then use Edge Animations tools to further build and publish a video. See "Create & Edit Edge Animations Filmstrips" for details

Presenter - Use the Presenter to duplicate whatever is currently being shown on your Edge Imaging or Edge Animations screen onto a secondary monitor. This feature is particularly useful for showing patient images to parent and professionals, as well as presenting case, compliance, and treatment progress information. See "Presenter" for details.

More Information

Save Markers - When you exit the morphing window, you have the opportunity to save the markers you have drawn. If you choose to save the markers, they will not appear on the patient's images in Edge Imaging, but will appear across all timepoint images when you morph that image type for that patient again.