Long lost filter

[ALADDIN]

Lets try again,

I have a photo to which I applied a filter 5 years ago. I need to identify the filter. Not close but the actual filter. All I have to go on is the photo itself, with the filter applied of course. Can anyone help me, I am new to forums, first ever post but in theory, I figured someone would recognise it. I don't know how to insert the image, when I click on insert an image, instead of browse where I could select and post the image, the dialogue box asks for a URL address. I may just have found the attachment command.

DW

[tmanni]

To obtain the effect of smooth surfaces and rounded geometry, try Filters > Blur > Mean Curvature Blur...
For a less degenerated geometry and sharper edges, Tools > Gegl operation... and choose Bilateral Filter

[Ofnuts]

Could be Artistic>OIlify... But actual settings are anyone's guess. Plus the Oilify filter has been rewritten for GEGL, so if you want absolutely equal processing you would have to dig out an old version of Gimp.

[ALADDIN]

Thank you, I'll look into that but to be honest I really don't know what you are saying.. Oilify sounds a bit familiar, all I know is that it ended in 'fy' but what does this actually mean.....?

'Plus the Oilify filter has been ref=written for GEGL, so if you want absolutely equal processing you would have to dig out an old version of Gimp'.

That may as well be Chinese to me sorry. It makes me think I used something old that is no longer around? Yes? If so, is there an equivalent filter, or something so similar I couldn't tell the difference?

David

[Ofnuts]

Oilify is more of an "artistic" filter where people tweak parameters until they get a result that looks nice with the picture at hand. I don't think developers feel too obliged to the reproduce the exact same results as in the previous version. But of course I could be wrong.

You can always get your initial image, use the new Oilify and see of you can get the same results with it.

[ALADDIN]

Thank you. I will try all suggestions. Probably a bit optimistic to think I could just post the photo and someone says 'I know that filter, it's....' I will have to rediscover it.

[denzjos]

I think tmanni answered with the right solution, mean curvature blur. There is also a (transparent) face, hands and smartphone from the photographer visible on the photo and on the right side a piece of a window frame. I think the photo is taken from reflection on a window and then used the mean curvature blur filter. The photo has an orange color haze because it was long exposed to light. I've used the filter on another photo to show a photo before/after :

   

[denzjos]

(05-24-2020, 08:35 AM)denzjos Wrote: I think tmanni answered with the right solution, mean curvature blur. There is also a (transparent) face, hands and smartphone from the photographer visible on the photo and on the right side a piece of a window frame. I think the photo is taken from reflection on a window and then used the mean curvature blur filter. The photo has an orange color haze because it was long exposed to light. I've used the filter on another photo to show a photo before/after :

After a second view on the photo, I saw that it was not a photo from a reflection but a photo THROUGH a window (otherwise you should see a sharp reflection from the face of the photographer). What I noticed is that the window frame right on the picture is sharp. Also the reflection of the hands and the bandana on the head of the photographer are reasonable sharp. I wonder if the filter as aladdin is looking for is that the rest of the photo is out of focus and transformed by the bad quality of the glass it is taken through.

[Ofnuts]

Also noticed the reflection, but the look of the boats isn't a focus blur or distortions due to glass. The edges are rounded not blurred. The median blur filter sometimes produces this kind of look (but there was no Median blur in Gimp 5 years ago, unless the OP used GMIC?)

[AngelH]

   
Hi DW,
Yes, the techy stuff can be a bit much for us creative types. I don't understand it most of the time either, but those who helped you today did well in explaining where to find things.

There is another site which leans more to the artistic side of things and someone there might recognize the filter or plugin right away. It's url is https://pixls.us/

I thought I recognized the filter but wanted to check it out first, so I wasn't wasting your time.

I downloaded a Public Domain image from Rawpixel that had windows in a boat, and some water that wasn't extremely calm.

Here are the filters I used (as suggested by the others). I'll tell you what I used for each one.

   
The original image

   
Filters > Artistic > Softglow (Legacy - means it an old filter)

   
Filters > Artistic > Oilify

   
Filters > G'MIC > I used the search box and put in Mean Curvature and it was there under the Heading 'Repair'

   
Filters > Blur > Mean Curvature Blur at the setting of 10 for Iteration as denzjos  showed in his photo.

---

   
Filters > Artistic > Clothify (it's in the bottom half of the list)

   
Filters > Artistic > GIMPressionist (just below Clothify)

   
This is the one I thought it was. It is called Dream Smoothing.
It has more clarity than it used to even a couple of years ago. I use it all the time. I like the new clarity but it would have had the more blurred look of your image a few years ago.

For this image I used the Default setting, but you could play around with it to get it more blurry like your image is.
It's a G'MIC Filter

I don't know which version of GIMP 2.10 you're using. I'm using GIMP 2.10.34
The menu used to be:
Filters > G'MIC (In the bottom section of the Filters menu), but in my current version the menu is:
Filters > G'MIC - Qt...

Then G'MIC opens up in it's own window.
Artistic > Dream Smoothing

I hope one of our answers gives you what you're looking for.

AngelH.