Multimatic FAQ
This is the FAQ and discussion page for Multimatic. Home, manual, examples, downloads.
Why "Multimatic"?
Well, it was going to be Lomo-matic or something that implied that it was made for faking Lomo-like photos. Then I realised that it could do a lot more than a Lomo could, and also didn't want to have any legal issues.
Why not just use Photoshop?
Everything that Multimatic does, Photoshop does. Indeed, Photoshop does many other wonderful things, too. You can use Photoshop filters to fake Lomo-like colourings, for instance. There are a few reasons why having this as a separate tool made sense to me.
- First, not everyone has a copy of Photoshop. Truly.
- Second, if you do this in Photoshop, it's done very precisely, and with intent. It's all to easy to labour over exact placement or selection. Multimatic lets you set some options and generate five, ten, or fifty options that you can browse through and choose ones you like. Part of the joy is in the unexpectedness - you're giving up some control, and getting a surprise in return.
- Third, as a standalone tool, it focuses your effort upon a particular way of thinking about (and making) composite images. Work within the constraints.
And I guess it could have been a Photoshop plugin or action, but I'm not clever enough to make those, and you're still left with the not-owning-Photoshop issue.
You mock Lomography! Stop it!
No, no I don't. I'm intrigued by what "lomography" might have to offer, and you can debate that amongst yourselves. Part of the reason I made Multimatic was to give myself a chance to explore what "lomography" might be - the "philosophy" behind a different type of photography. Sure, part of it is to do with the physical characteristics of some particular camera or cameras, but it seemed silly to me that everything always came back to the brand. Multimatic was built with this philosophy in mind, one reason why it lets randomness back in to the process.
These photos don't look like Lomo photos!
That's true. Multimatic doesn't mess with colours and the like. If you would like to do compositing with Lomo-like images, you have a couple of options. You could scan your genuine Lomo prints, or get them digitised somehow, and then use them as input: this will let you treat your Lomomatik as if it was an Action Sampler, for instance. Or, you could use a Photoshop filter to Lomo-ize your image.
Your program is arcane and impossible to use.
Multimatic has a few options that you can set in a number of ways. It's in the combination of these options, and the variety in your own images, that allows for a lot of different types of compositions. I decided to go with a command-line approach, where you write little files with your options in them. The GUI isn't any different, you still need to know what all the options are. I'm sorry that this isn't as user-friendly as you may be used to, but if you read the manual, read the examples, and give it a go, you'll be fine. Alternatively, I'm more than happy for you to build another interface for it!