DFXPlus 4 Manual

Table Of Contents : General
TABLE OF CONTENTS : GENERAL

1 About DFX+ Modules
Modules Evaluating Modules Module 1 - Visual Effects Module 2 - Keying Module 3 - Input And Output Module 4 - 3D Tools Module 5 - Network Rendering Module 6 - Paint Module 7 - Particle Tools Third-Party Plug-Ins
1
1 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 10 10
Getting Started
Reviewing System Requirements Installing The Software Registering Your Software The License File Learning DFX+
11
12 13 15 15 18
Tour Of The Interface

The DFX+ Interface Adjusting The Interface The Bins Toolbars Display Areas Flow Editor Console Window Timeline Editor Spline Editor Tool Controls Time Ruler Area Context Menus
19
19 21 22 23 25 26 26 27 28 29 30 32
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DFX+ Basics
The Flow Current Time Global Range Render Range High Quality Proxy And Auto Proxy Caching Interactive Playback Background Rendering
33
33 34 34 35 35 36 37 38 38
Compositing Basics
Mattes Keying Animation Rotoscoping Tracking And Stabilization Keyframes And Splines Color Spaces Alpha Channel Auxiliary Channels Frames, Fields And Video Rendering Video I/O AVI Codecs
41
41 42 43 44 44 45 46 46 46 47 49 49 51
Frame Formats
Setting Your Frame Format Fields Pixel Aspect Color Depth
53
53 57 62 66
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Final And Preview Renders

Cache Playback File Sequence And Disk Previews Flipbook Previews AVI Previews Final Renders The Render Settings Dialog Queueing Multiple Flows To Render
67
67 68 70 74 76 79 84
The Flow Editor

Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Flow Context Menus Adding Tools Connecting And Disconnecting Tools Inserting Tools Replacing Tools Deleting Tools Selecting Tools Moving Tools And Organizing The Flow Groups Displaying Tile Pictures Viewing Tools Tool Tips And The Status Bar Copying And Pasting Tools Flow Context Menus Tool Context Menus Tool Tile Color Coding And Icons
85
86 89 90 96 98 99 100 100 102 103 107 110 112 112 114 117 120
Tool Controls
The Controls Area Interface Common Controls Tab Types Of Controls Animating Controls
123
124 128 132 138
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10
Display Views
Types Of Display Views Displaying Images In The Views Adjusting Layout And Scaling Of The Display Views Scaling The Display View Panning The Display View Previews On-Screen Controls A/B Buffers Split Wipe Images Status Bar Information Display View Label Displaying Color And Auxiliary Channels Tool Specific Toolbars Effect Masks Guides Aspect Display View Normalization Preferences Display Context Menu
141
141 143 146 148 149 149 150 151 152 153 153 154 154 155 156 157 158 158 158
11
Timeline
Timeline Interface Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Timeline Working With Tools In The Timeline Working With Splines In The Timeline Timeline Filters Timeline Options Guides Spreadsheet Timeline Tool Color Coding Tool Context Menu
161
161 163 165 166 168 171 175 177 179 179
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12
Spline Editor
What Are Splines? Spline Editor Interface Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Interface Displaying Splines For Editing Working With Keyframes Advanced Spline Manipulation Managing The Spline Interface Importing And Exporting Splines Additional Spline Options
181
181 183 185 187 190 196 203 206 207
13
Bins
Opening And Closing The Bins Stamp Files Sharing Bins
209
209 214 217
14
Polylines
What Is A Bezier Polyline? 220 Polyline Creation Modes 222 Protection Modes 224 Saving And Loading Path Shapes 232 Advanced Spline Shaping Modes 234
219
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15Masks 235
Effect Masks, Pre-Masks, And Garbage Mattes 235 Mask Shapes 240 Working With Effect Masks 241 Common Mask Controls 244 Bitmap Masks 248 Ellipse Mask 250 Rectangle Mask 251 Triangle Mask 252 Polygon Mask 253 Paint Mask 259 Wand Mask 260 Copying And Pasting Masks 262
16Motion Paths 263

Animating A Control With A Motion Path 263 Displacement, Splines And Path Timing 265 Path Centers 271 Working With Motion Paths 271 274
17Keying 275
Different Types Of Keyers 276 Using The Ultra Keyer And Chroma Keyer 277 Using The Luma Keyer 282 Using The Difference Keyer 283 Post Multiplication 283 Garbage Mattes 284 Rotoscoping 286 Combining Alpha Channels 288 Auto Save 288
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18Tracking (Module 1) 289

Uses Of Tracking 290 Pattern Overview 291 Choosing A Pattern 294 Tracking A Pattern 296 (Un)stabilize Operations 302 Corner Positioning Operations 306 Perspective Positioning Operations 307 Tracker Outputs 308
19Grid Warping (Module 4) 311

Controls Tab 314 Render Tab 321 Toolbar Buttons 322 Advanced Spline Shaping Modes 324
20Paint And Rotoscoping (Module 6) 325

What Is Paint? 325 Working With Paint Tools 326 Working With Paint Strokes 336 Cloning 342 Wire Removal 347 Rotoscoping With Paint 348 Mask Painting 350 Interactive Flipbook 351 Creating Custom Brushes 352
21Auxiliary Channels (Module 4) 355

Introduction 355 DFX+ Auxiliary Channels 356 Image Formats That Support Auxiliary Channels 359 Performing A Depth Merge 360 Using Object And Material IDs To Perform Masking 361 Viewing Auxiliary Channels 362 DFX+s Four Depth Tools 362 Additional Tools 363 364
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22Transformations 365
Introduction 365 Concatenated Transformations 365 368
23Film And SCSI Tape Devices (Module 3) 369

Introduction 369 The Cineon And DPX Formats 369 Setting Up To Use Cineon Files 370 Working With Tape Functions 373
24Connections And Modifiers (Module 1) 379

Introduction 379 Connections 380 Modifiers 387 Offset Modifiers 390 Shake Modifier 394 Vector Modifier 395 Expression Modifier 397 MIDI Extractor Modifier 404 Text Modifiers 410
25Importing 411
Introduction 411 Loading Adobe Photoshop Files (PSD) 411 Loading AVID OMF Files 413 Loading EDL Files (Module 3) 414 416
26Preferences 417
DFX+ Preferences 417 Appearance Preferences 419 Bins Preferences 421 Default Preferences 422 Flow Preferences 423
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Frame Format Preferences 425 General Preferences 428 Layout Preferences 431 Memory Preferences 434 Network Preferences 435 Paths Preferences 437 Preview Preferences 439 Script Preferences 441 Timeline Preferences 442 Transports Preferences 444 Tweaks Preferences 445 View Preferences 448 I/O And AVI Preferences 450 I/O And QuickTime Preferences 452 EDL Import Preferences 454
27Scripting (Module 3) 455

What Is Scripting? 455 Examples Of Scripting Use 456 About DFScript 456 Types Of Scripts 457 Scripting Directories 460 Learning Scripting 462
28Network Rendering 463

Introduction 463 TCP/IP And DFX+ 463 Setting Up Network Rendering 464 The Render Manager 467 The Render Queue 470 Groups 472 The Render Log 475
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Preparing A Flow For Network Rendering 475 Submitting A Flow 477 Remote Administration 478 When Renders Fail 480 Managing Memory Use 483 Things You Need To Know 484 Optimizing The Network 486 Troubleshooting 486
29Caching And Memory Use 489

Introduction 489 RAM Cache 491 Other Memory Preferences 496 498
30Loader And Creator Tools 499

Common Controls 499 Loader Tool 501 Background Tool 508 Text+ 510 Toolbar 532 Text Tool 538 Fast Noise 538 Perlin Noise Tool 541 Plasma Generator 544 Mandelbrot Generator 546
31Saver Tools 549

Introduction 549
32Color Tools 555

Auto Gain Tool (Module 2) 555 Brightness/Contrast Tool 556 Channel Booleans Tool 558 Cineon Log Tool (Module 3) 563 Color Corrector (Module 2) 565
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Color Curves Tool (Module 2) 578 Color Gain Tool 583 Color Space Tool 587 Pseudo Color Tool 590 Light Trim Tool (Module 3) 592
33Composite Tools 593

Dissolve Tool 593 Merge Tool 596
34Depth Tools 603

Depth Blur Tool (Module 4) 603 Fog Tool (Module 4) 605 Shader Tool (Module 4) 606 Texture Tool (Module 4) 610
35Filter Tools 611

Blur/Sharpen Tool 611 Custom Filter (Module 1) 613 Defocus Tool (Module 2) 616 Directional Blur Tool 618 Erode/Dilate Tool 620 Filter Tool 621 Glow Tool 624 Soft Glow 627 Grain Tool 629 Highlight Tool 631 Hot Spot Tool 633 Unsharp Mask Tool 640
36Matte And Keying Tools 641

Chroma Keyer 641 Difference Keyer 646 Luma Keyer 648 Matte Control Tool 650 Ultra Keyer (Module 2) 655
37Miscellaneous Tools 661

Fields Tool (Module 2) 661 Shadow Tool 663
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Time Speed Tool 666 Time Stretcher Tool (Module 2) 667 Trails Tool (Module 1) 669 RunCommand Tool (Module 1) 673 Custom Tool (Module 1) 676
38Particle Suite (Module 7) 685

Introduction 685 What Is A Particle System? 685 How The Particle Suite Works 686 Particle Tools In The Flow 687 Network Rendering 688 Particle System Common Controls 688 Emitter <pEm> 692 Render <pRn> 707 Avoid <pAv> 713 Bounce <pBn> 714 Change Style <pCS> 716 pCustom <pCu> 718 Directional Force <pDF> 720 Flocking <pFl> 721 Friction <pFr> 723 Gradient Force <pGF> 723
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Image Emitter <pIE> 724 Kill <pKl> 726 Merge <pMg> 726 Point Force <pPf> 727 Spawn <pSp> 729 Tangent Force <pTF> 730 Turbulence <pTb> 731 Vortex <pVt> 732
39The Tracker (Module 1) 733

Introduction 733 Display View 734 Trackers Tab 736 Operation Tab 744
40Transform Tools 751

Camera Shake Tool (Module 1) 751 Crop Tool 754 DVE Tool 756 Letterbox Tool (Module 1) 759 Resize Tool 760 Transform Tool 763 766
41Warp Tools 767

Coordinate Space Tool 767 Corner Positioner Tool 768 Deform Tool 769 Dent Tool 770 Displace Tool 772 Drip Tool 774 Grid Warp Tool (Module 4) 776 Perspective Positioner Tool (Module 1) 776 Vortex Tool 777
42Appendix A : Supported File Formats 779

Loader File Formats 779
43Appendix B : Keyboard Shortcuts 781

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General 781 Function Keys 782 Displaying An Image In The Views 783 Viewing Color Channels And Masks 783 Setting Numeric And Positional Values 783 Splines and Polylines 784 Advanced Polyline Transformation 785 Flow Editor 785 Spline Editor 785 Time Ruler Area And Render Range 786
44Appendix C : Toolbars 787

The Toolbar 787 New Tools 787 Toolbar Abbreviations 787 Particle Tools 788 Customizing The Toolbar 789 Undocking And Moving The Toolbars 789 Adding And Removing Tools From The Toolbars 789 To Create A New Toolbar And Add Tools 790
45Appendix D : ASCII Export 791

Introduction 791 Exporting A Motion Path 791 Exporting A Mask Or Matte 791 Importing A Motion Path Or Shape 792 ASCII Export Of LUT And Color Corrector Splines 796 798
46Appendix E : Additional Resources 799

Print 799 Third Party Plug-ins And Expansions 800 Message Boards And Discussion Groups 801 802
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DIGITAL FUSION DFX+ Copyright 1988 - 2002 eyeon Software Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. BY INSTALLING OR USING THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
DIGITAL FUSION DFX+ software product is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The software product is licensed, not sold. The software application and this reference manual are licensed as is and without warranties as to performance or merchantability. The software application is licensed without express or implied warranties whatsoever. Because of the diversity of conditions and hardware under which this program may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user is advised to test the application thoroughly before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. Any liability of seller or manufacturer will be limited exclusively to the product replacement or refund of the purchase price. Information contained in this publication is subject to change without notice.
LICENSED FOR USE ON A SINGLE COMPUTER. All of the images contained in this program are for tutorial or demonstration purposes only. All of these images and footage are the property and copyright of eyeon Software Inc. The images are not for distribution of any kind or to be used in any way, other than as tutorial examples for demonstration purposes of the DFX+ 4.0 software program.
TRADEMARKS AND PRODUCTS. DIGITAL FUSION, Digital Fusion DFX+ and eyeon Digital Fusion, are registered trademarks of eyeon Software Inc. All brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. The software application and reference manual that comprise DFX+ 4.0 are the confidential property of eyeon Software Inc. and cannot be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose without written permission by eyeon Software Inc.
ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

MODULES
Modules are packages that extend DFX+, providing additional tools and capabilities to the software. Modules can be added to DFX+ to provide more powerful keying, pattern recognition and tracking, scripting and automation, particle systems and more. As your skills with Fusion grow, and the projects you attempt become more complex, modules allow you to expand DFX+ so it can keep up with your pace. You do not need to install modules, as they were installed with the base software. All that is required is a license key to unlock the tools and capabilities packaged with each module. The tools and capabilities of the modules are documented throughout this manual. This introduction summarizes the contents and capabilities of each module, and provides information on where to find details about that module in this manual. Visit the eyeon web site, or contact your reseller, to learn more about adding modules to DFX+.
EVALUATING MODULES
DFX+ is a modular feature version of eyeon Softwares flagship product, Digital Fusion. As above, all of the tools added by the modules are present within the base DFX+ software.
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ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 1 - Visual Effects
To evaluate a module before purchase, we suggest that you download the demonstration version of Digital Fusion from www.eyeonline.com and install it onto your workstation. This will allow you to evaluate the features of a module before committing to its purchase. A copy of the demonstration version of Digital Fusion may also be available from your install CD ROM, if space permits.
MODULE 1 - VISUAL EFFECTS

Tracker Tool And Tracker Modifier
The Tracker tool detects the motion of a selected pattern of pixels in an image and generates a path from that motion. One or many patterns can be tracked within a single tool. The motion from the pattern can then be applied to any other control in your flow, driving position, rotation and scaling. The Tracker can stabilize your footage, either by removing motion entirely to produce a rock solid image, or by preserving the original intent of the motion while smoothing any noise or unsteady motion in the shot. The tracked motion can also be applied to a foreground image to match the movement in the background plate for believable 2D / 3D image integration. Four or more trackers can be used together to track the four corners of a rectangle, and to replace the contents of signs or computer monitors and other such shapes. Perspective in an image can be identified, tracked and removed to match perspective from one scene to another, or compensate for odd camera angles and lenses. See the Tracking chapter, and the Tracking Tool reference in this manual for more details.
Letterbox Tool
The Letterbox tool can be used to perform image conversion from one format to another, taking into account pixel and image aspect ratios to preserve the original aspect of the footage. The Letterbox tool can also be used to perform Pan and Scan style conversion of large format images to more restrictive formats like PAL or NTSC. See the Transform Tools reference chapter for more details. DFX+ 4 2
ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 1 - Visual Effects
Camera Shake Tool

The Camera Shake modifier applies randomized motion to your footage, simulating the effects of environmental noise from small vibrations to large scale earthquakes. Adjustable control over the period and intensity of the motion, as well as the type of randomizer, makes this tool flexible enough to simulate organic noise (like an unsteady camera operator) and mechanical noise (like a camera mounted on a car). See the Transform Tools reference chapter for more details.
Expressions And Calculations

Expressions and Calculations connect controls together using simple (or complex) mathematical expressions that can access the values from any control on your flow, at any time in the project. See the Connections and Modifiers chapter for more details.
Offset And Vectors

Offsets and Vectors calculate new positions for controls based on the difference or offset between two other positions. These mathematical controls can be used to increase the size of a blur as a subject moves further away from a camera, to force an element in your composite to revolve around another, or to lock two elements together. See the Connections and Modifiers chapter for more details.
Shake Modifiers
The Shake modifier drives the animation of a control using a random number generator. This modifier provides flexible seeding, dynamic animatable ranges, and adjustable smoothness. See the Connections and Modifiers chapter for more details.
Midi Extractor Modifier

The MIDI Extractor modifier drives the animation of a control using the events and controls from a MIDI file on disk. See the Connections and Modifiers chapter for more details.
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ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 2 - Keying
MODULE 2 - KEYING
Ultra Keyer Tool
The Ultra Keyer is an advanced Keying tool designed and optimized specifically to remove the Blue or Green backgrounds commonly used in production. It combines ease of use with a powerfully effective keying engine. Fringe color correction and spill suppression, intelligent blurring, contracting and expansion of the matte, combined with lightening quick rendering, makes this keyer a peer to any third-party alternatives. See the Keying chapter, and the Matte and Keying Tool reference for more details.
Color Corrector Tool

The Color Corrector is an intuitive color correction tool designed for use by the most demanding artist, without sacrificing the fine degree of control required by a video engineer. Fully dynamic and adjustable range separations for shadows, midtones and highlights allow you to narrow your correction down to exactly the portion of your image that requires it, without aggravating spillover. Input, Result and Reference Histogram analysis allows you to see exactly how the color in your footage is distributed, how it is affected by your correction, and how it compares to other images in your flow. More than just a diagnostic display, the histogram can be used for sophisticated matching of one image sequence to another, or you can let DFX+ automatically match the histogram from one image to another. Hue rotation, tinting, saturation level and color suppression are just a few of the other abilities this tool provides to DFX+. See the Color Tools reference chapter for more details.
Color Curves Tool

The Color Curves tool appeals to the more technically inclined - providing a spline-based Look Up Table, or LUT, that can be used to specifically map the input color values from your image to new output values. Splines in the LUT can be animated or static, and this tool can process color in RGB, YUV, HLS, YIQ and CMY color spaces. The shape of the spline can be automatically matched to a reference image with adjustable precision, all with the click of a single button. DFX+ 4 4 See the Color Tools reference chapter for more details.
ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 3 - Input And Output
Corner Positioner Tool

The Corner Positioner tool provides a simple four-point rectangle, which can be used to deform an image to match or remove the perspective in a scene by hand. See the Transform Tools reference chapter for more details.
Time Stretcher Tool

The Time Stretcher adjusts the timing and speed of your footage using spline-based time interpolation. Smoothly accelerate and decelerate between changes in the timing of your clip using a Bezier spline. You can even halt the motion entirely or reverse the direction of your footage by making simple adjustments to the shape of the spline. Interframe blending keeps your footage looking smooth, even during extreme slow motion. See the Miscellaneous Tools reference chapter for more details.
Auto Gain Tool

The Auto Gain tool automatically stretches an images dynamic range so that the darkest pixel in your image is mapped to pure black and the brightest pixel to pure white. Colors between these values are stretched to fit within the new range. This is the perfect tool for dealing with those low contrast muddy images. See the Color Tools reference chapter for more details.
MODULE 3 - INPUT AND OUTPUT

Command Line And Integrated Scripting
DFScript gives you the ability to fully automate DFX+, adapting it to the way you work, and eliminating the tedious repetitive chores of image processing. DFScript can take the monkey out of monkey work by automating common tasks like mass image resizing, path relocation, flow backup and more.
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ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 3 - Input And Output
A fully functional and detailed scripting language is exposed by DFScript, but even if you are not inclined towards programming, you can use the scripts created by eyeon Software and our user community to extend the capabilities of Digital Fusion even further that you ever imagined. DFScript offers automation not only of the local workstation, but can be used to control any open copy of Fusion across the entire network, anywhere that TCP/IP can reach. See the Scripting Tools chapter for more details.
OMF Import Utility

Import OMF files directly from an AVID to automatically build a flow based on the OMF, preserving embedded media, timeline information and even effects. Supports all version of the OMF codec, allowing information to be shared easily between the editor and the compositor.
EDL Import Utility

Import EDLs and use the timing contained within these files to rapidly assemble a prototype flow that can then be connected to footage acquired with that OMF. Support clipnames stored in EDL files exported from the dpsReality directly.
Batch Capture Utility

Users of the dpsHollywood and dpsPerception can perform frame accurate batch capture from directly within the DFX+ interface.
SCSI Tape Interface

Transfer files to and from large format SCSI DLT and Exabyte recorder, vastly simplifying the process of getting your film footage to and from the scanning facility.
Cineon Log - Lin Tool

This tool provides control over the conversion of Cineon and DPX film frames from 10 bit Log color space to 8 bit Linear color space, for more realistic mapping of black and white points and gamma. See the Film And DFX+ chapter and the Color Tools reference chapter for more details. DFX+ 4 6
ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 4 - 3D Tools
MODULE 4 - 3D TOOLS
Grid Warp
The Grid Warp tool applies simple or complex mesh deformation to your images. Independent source and destination grids provide powerful mapping of vertices between the grids, allowing for simple, animatable morphing of the image. Spline tools can be used to develop either grid, automatically generating a grid that matches the shape of your object with adjustable tesselation and snapping. See the Grid Warping chapter for more details.
Z-Buffer Composition
This module adds the ability to merge images based on the Z-Buffer channel as well as the alpha channel. This technique eliminates the concept of foreground and background since pixels are combined based on their position in 3D space as well as their transparency. Full support for z-coverage channels and background channels is provided to ensure that your Z-Buffer composite is properly anti-aliased. See the Auxiliary Channels chapter and the Composite and Depth Tools reference chapter for more details.
Depth Blur Tool

The Depth Blur tool uses the Z-Buffer data in an image to apply blurring based on the depth of each pixel in the scene. Adjustable, animatable near and far planes provide a way of simulating rack focus pulls in post production. See the Auxiliary Channels chapter and the Depth Tools reference chapter for more details.
Texture Tool
The Texture tool uses the UV mapping channels from a 3D rendered image to apply textures to an image. See the Auxiliary Channels chapter and the Depth Tools reference chapter for more details. DFX+ 4 7
ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 5 - Network Rendering
Shader Tool
The Shader tool uses the XYZ normal channels from a 3D render to adjust or replace the lighting applied to the scene, with control over ambient, diffuse, specular and reflection brightness. It also provides a mechanism for applying new reflection maps to the scene. See the Auxiliary Channels chapter and the Depth Tools reference chapter for more details.
Fog Tool
The Fog tool uses the Z-Buffer data in an image to create realistic fog that thins as it approaches the camera, and thickens as the fog recedes into the distance. Use noise maps or external images to moderate the color and appearance of the fog. See the Auxiliary Channels chapter and the Depth Tools reference chapter for more details.
Object And Material ID Masking

Mask the effect of any tool using Material or Object IDs assigned to an element in a scene.
Channel Boolean Tool

This module adds support for many additional 3D image channels to the Channel Booleans tool See the Color Tools reference chapter for more details.
MODULE 5 - NETWORK RENDERING

Render Node
Module 5 is identical to the DF Render Node, a non-interactive copy of Digital Fusion which provides DFX+ workstations with the ability to participate in a network renders from remote render masters. See the Network Rendering reference chapter for more details.
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ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 6 - Paint
MODULE 6 - PAINT
Paint
This module adds a resolution independent, vector-based flexible paint system for post production to DFX+. The Paint tool provides a variety of useful abilities for solving the common problems in modern post production. Each stroke in the Paint tool is an independent vector tool, with its own timing, animation, center and shape. Animate any of the controls that make up the stroke, even the timing, or record the time it took you to make the stroke and convert that into an editable spline. Convert any stroke directly to an editable polyline, or create polyline-based strokes from scratch in any mode. Use Paints primitive shapes to assemble rapid logo treatments or basic graphic elements for your scene. The cloning, copy polyline and copy shape tools provide time and position offsets for removing unwanted elements from a scene, or for extending a portion of a set. Use onion skinning to view the source and target for the cloning operation simultaneously. Wire removal tools use polygonal shapes or strokes to sample the pixels along the stroke, and pinch them inward to remove unwanted wires or rigging from the scene. See the Paint and Rotoscoping chapter for more details.
Paint Masking
Use the standard tools in paint to rapidly assemble a mask for any tool in the flow. See the Masks chapter for more details.
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ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Module 7 - Particle Tools
MODULE 7 - PARTICLE TOOLS

Particle Suite
The Particle Suite is a set of over 17 tools that combine to create complex physics-based particles in a 3D environment. This tool is perfect for creating atmospheric effects like fog, rain, snow and even water, or you can use it to create visually dynamic graphic elements. Create particles from basic primitives like points, lines, clusters and blobs, or employ custom bitmaps from the flow and disks. Create your own brushes and shapes and store them in a common library for easy access. Modify your particle systems with Bounce, Attract, Friction, Turbulence, Vortexes, and Directional forces to simulate real world physical forces, or apply Flocking and Spawning tools to emulate organic behaviors. Control which particles are affected by any modifier using 3D regions of affect and assignment sets. Convert any bitmap into a mesh of particles with the pImage Emitter tool, or apply complex custom expressions to the particles with the pCustom tool. Combine multiple particle streams together with the pMerge tool. Finally, render the whole system to an image using the pRender tool, with a completely 3D camera, and apply post glow, depth blurring and other effects to the result using standard DFX+ tools. See the Particle Suite reference chapter for details.
THIRD-PARTY PLUG-INS
In addition to the modules described above, DFX+ can also be extended with third-party plug-ins produced by several other companies. Demonstration versions for many of these third-party tools can be found on your installation CD ROM.
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GETTING STARTED
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ is an advanced, resolution-independent image processing and special effects compositing environment for image post-production. The tools in DFX+ were developed by professional special effects artists and editors in response to specific needs and challenges that arose daily in film and multimedia industries. These specialized tools have been integrated into a comprehensive, easy-touse program that meets the demanding production requirements of feature films, high-end broadcast video, web, DVD, multimedia and other moving image media applications. DFX+s architecture is an advanced, object-oriented, multi-threaded multiprocessing environment. All time-consuming operations are processed as background tasks, leaving the user free to create new projects without having to wait for a render to be completed. Threads are carefully managed, ensuring optimum resource usage and allowing frames to be pre-loaded, or saved, while other frames are being processed. This allows DFX+ to take full advantage of a multi-processor machines resources, and speeds up rendering significantly. Throughput is significantly increased, even on single processor machines. The multi-threaded architecture has another benefit; DFX+ can render different effects simultaneously in multi-processor systems. A dualprocessor machine will nearly double the render speed of most Flows and greatly increase the interactive responsiveness of even one operation. Machines with limited memory can reduce or eliminate parallelism to conserve RAM usage, while high-end multi-processor machines can be fully used, for better caching and pre-loading and increasing render throughput.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
Reviewing System Requirements
Due to DFX+s object-oriented design, components can be combined in any number of ways. Any control can be animated by connecting it to a variety of spline-based motion curves or paths. Trackers can be used to animate any point as easily as motion paths, and tools can be connected in any way imaginable. Brilliant and unusual effects are made possible by combining tools in new ways. DFX+ is built to give unlimited creativity in image composition and special effects.
REVIEWING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Before you install DFX+, review the following system requirements.
Hardware Requirements
To install and run DFX+, you must have the following hardware: INTEL Pentium II processor or greater. CD-ROM drive. Graphics card capable of displaying at least 1280 x 1024 at True Color. True Color at 1600 X 1200 or higher is recommended. 20 MB hard disk space (minimum install). 200 MB hard disk space (full install, including all the Help, AVI and Example files). 256 MB RAM (minimum). 256-512 MB RAM (recommended). For 4K-film work, 1 GB RAM is highly recommended. Multi-processor machines will take better advantage of multi-threading if they have more RAM.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
Installing The Software
Software Requirements
Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or greater), Windows 2000, or Windows XP. Graphics card driver. Driver software is available from the manufacturers web site. Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher is required to access the help files.
Hardware Lock
If your copy of DFX+ came bundled with the dpsVelocity or dpsVelocityQ products from Leitch Technologies, or Video Toaster 2 form NewTek, you may not receive or require a hardware lock for licensing your software. The hardware lock (or dongle) included with DFX+ plugs into the parallel printer port on the back of your computer. The hardware lock is an encoded connector that prevents software copyright infringement. Plug the lock into the computer before installing the software. Be careful not to force the lock into the parallel connector incorrectly. Secure the connector with the thumb screws so it does not fall off and interrupt DFX+ operation. If parallel ports are not available for your system, a USB hardware lock is available upon special request. Please contact eyeon Softwares Technical Support for details. Facilities with three or more licenses of DFX+ are eligible for Flex Lm based network licensing, which eliminates the need for a hardware lock on workstations by issuing licenses from a central server.
INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE

Bundled With Other Applications
The installation instructions below may not apply to copies of DFX+ shipped as part of a bundle with other products, like the dpsVelocity, dpsVelocityQ or Video Toaster 2. See the manual that comes with these products for details on installing bundled copies of DFX+.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
Installing The Software
Before You Begin

Make sure that your user account has local administrative privileges. Exit all other running programs. Before upgrading from a previous version: The CD ROM included with this manual is a complete installation of DFX+. It can be installed over an existing installation, or into a new directory. eyeon Software usually recommends that you install major upgrades separately from previous versions, allowing you to transition smoothly between versions. This is particularly true if you expect to re-render flows created in a previous version of DFX+. Flows created in previous versions of DFX+ will successfully load in DFX+ 4.0, but they cannot be expected to render exactly as they would have in previous versions. Take this fact into consideration before removing previous versions of the software from your computer.
To Install DFX+
1 2 Insert the CD labeled DFX+ into the drive. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. During the installation, you are prompted to install DFX+ or the Digital Fusion Render Node. If you are uncertain what product you purchased, contact your reseller for further assistance. The render node is a noninteractive version of DFX+ used for network rendering. 3 You are also prompted for a drive and path to install DFX+. The default is C:\Program Files\DFXPlus. Setup creates the main DFX+ directory and sub directories: Defaults, Filters, Flows, Help, Plugins, Tutorials and Settings. 4 Restart your computer. If you do not restart your computer, you may not be able to run DFX+. Some copies of DFX+ will require that a hardware lock be attached to the parallel port on your computer in order to operate. If this is necessary, a hardware lock will have been included in your packaging. If your computer does not have a parallel port, you can request a USB hardware lock from tech@eyeonline.com.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
Registering Your Software
REGISTERING YOUR SOFTWARE

You must register your copy of DFX+ in order to obtain your license and use the software. When software registration is complete, you will receive a license file by e-mail that will allow the software to run. Copies of DFX+ bundled with the dpsVelocity and dpsVelocityQ will be registered automatically when you register your editing software at www.leitch.com. The same applies to Video Toaster 2 registration. Standalone DFX+ licenses should be registered over the internet, via your user account at www.eyeonline.com. You can also fax the registration form included with the software to eyeon Software at 416-698-9315. You will need the following information to successfully complete registration.
Serial Number
The serial number is an eight digit alphanumeric code. It is not printed on the packaging or on the hardware lock. You can obtain your serial number in one of two ways - by reading it from the dialog box that appears when you start an unregistered copy of DFX+, or by selecting Help/About while DFX+ is running.
CD Key
The CDKEY is a seven digit alphanumeric code that came with your DFX+ packaging and verifies that you are eligible to receive a license. Instructions for installing the license will be provided in the e-mail with which the license is delivered. You may also read details on licensing below. Please keep an archive or backup of the license file you receive, as it will be required each time you re-install the software.
THE LICENSE FILE

eyeon Software uses FLEXlm for licensing. The FLEXlm licensing system is a flexible licensing format commonly used in the graphics and post production industries. For details on the FLEXlm licensing format beyond the notes in this section, visit www.globetrotter.com. DFX+ 4 15
GETTING STARTED | 1
The License File
When DFX+ starts, it will first look to see if a HASP hardware lock is attached to your computer. The hardware lock provides Fusion with an eight digit serial number used for license authentication. If the hardware lock is not present, DFX+ will check to see if a dpsReality or dpsQuattrus video capture device is present. If neither is available, DFX+ will look for a network license by checking for the name of a server in the EYEON_LICENSE_FILE environment variable. If no network license server is specified, an error message will appear, stating that a hardware lock was not found for this copy of DFX+. If a hardware lock or DPS editing hardware is found, DFX+ will then look for a license file called DFusion.dat, which contains a license matching the serial number of the device. This is normally located in the same directory as the application executable (DFXPlus.exe). See Finding The License below for details on where DFX+ looks for the DFusion.dat license file. Once the license is found, DFX+ examines the license to see if it is valid. If the license is for the correct serial number and version of the software, and if it has not expired, DFX+ will then start. If the license cannot be found, or is not valid, DFX+ will display a dialog claiming it could not obtain a license. Clicking on the More button will provide additional details that will help eyeons Technical Support Department resolve the problem with you.
Finding The License

DFX+ searches the following locations (in order) for a license file.
Application Directory
The application directory is the directory where the DFXPlus.exe executable is stored on your drive.
FLEXlm Directory
FLEXlm will always search the C:\FLEXlm directory for a copy of the license. This is a good place to store your license if you use multiple versions or installations of the software.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
The License File
Environment Variable
If you configure an environment variable for your system called EYEON_LICENSE_FILE, Fusion will search for the license in the directories listed in that variables value. For example, if EYEON_LICENSE_FILE has the value C:\DFXPlus\License;E:\Licenses, DFXPlus will search in the two directories specified for a copy of the license file.
Combining Licenses
If you have several copies of DFX+, keeping track of which DFusion.dat file goes with which hardware lock can become a chore. The solution is to combine your license files into one super - dat file that contains all of the licenses for all of the hardware locks. Create a new document in Notepad or the plain ASCII text editor of your choice. Never use Microsoft Word, Wordpad or other word processors to create or edit license files. Now open each of the licenses you have received with Notepad and copy the contents into the new document. Leave a line between each entry. Save the resulting file as DFusion.dat (taking care not to overwrite an existing file). When DFX+ finds a combined license file like this, it will ignore all licenses in the file except the one that matches its current serial number.
Network Licensing
Organizations with more than three copies of any product from eyeon Software are eligible for Network Licensing. Network licensing uses a single computer designated as a license server to issue licenses for DFX+. Any computer that can access the license server via TCP/IP can run a copy of DFX+. When the software starts, it contacts the license server and requests a license. If the server has not already exceeded its allotment of licenses, the software will start. When Fusion exits, it releases its license, allowing another computer on the network to run Fusion. With network licensing, no hardware lock is required for client workstations. The license server will issue licenses to workstations until the number of computers running the software simultaneously equals the number of licenses enabled. If you qualify, please contact eyeon Software for details on converting your hardware locks to network licensing.
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GETTING STARTED | 1
Learning DFX+
LEARNING DFX+
If You Have Never Used The Software Before
The best way to learn DFX+ is to follow the curriculum and tutorials outlined in the courseware book and DVD that come with your software.
If You Are Upgrading

Locate the Upgraders Handbook PDF on the release CD for a concise list of changes made to DFX+ since DF X+ 3.1 was released.
Online Help
DFX+ has online help for all of its components. To display help for a component, click the component and then press F1. You can also search the help for information using key words and phrases.
Training Curriculum
Please visit our web site for information on DFX+ training material and courseware.
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TOUR OF THE INTERFACE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will tour the major components of the DFX+ interface. To begin, you will need to start DFX+. Choose Start/Programs/DFXPlus, or doubleclick the DFX+ icon on the desktop.
THE DFX+ INTERFACE

The following image illustrates the DFX+ 4.0 interface as it appears when the software is started. The window is divided into eight main areas:
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TOUR OF THE INTERFACE | 2

The DFX+ Interface
Tools Toolbar
The Tools Toolbar displays shortcuts to the tools available in DFX+.
Display View
The Display View is used to view the images produced by tools in your flow. The view can be configured as a single view, or two separate views located side by side using layout buttons in the Toolbar. Additional floating displays can be created on demand from the view menu.
Display View Toolbar

The View Toolbar displays additional commands for polylines, text, motion paths, Grid Warp, Paint and Tracking.
Work Area
The Work Area displays the Flow, Console, Timeline and the Spline Editor. For more information, see the chapters on Flow Editor, Timeline and Spline Editor.
Controls Area
The Controls Area displays controls for the tools in your flow. Additional tabs in this area reveal controls for any masks or modifiers attached to the currently active tool.
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Adjusting The Interface
Time Ruler Area

The Time Ruler Area displays controls global to your project, such as the current frame, render range, proxy and quality modes and so forth. Buttons for playing, navigating and rendering the flow are also located here.
Transport Controls
The Transport Controls display is located at the lower right of the DFX+ window whenever a clip can be played. Use this to play and shuttle images or audio.
Status Bar
The Status Bar displays various bits of information about whatever is beneath the mouse pointer, as well as the time to render completion, time to render status, and the memory in use.
ADJUSTING THE INTERFACE

The Display View and Work Area occupy the same on-screen space. The more space used to display the Work Area, the less space available to show the Display View. Click and drag the separating line between the two areas to re-arrange the distribution of space between the two windows. Place your mouse pointer over the Display View or Work Area and press the F4 key to quickly maximize that region of the interface. Pressing F4 again will return the interface to the previous distribution. The top of the Tool Controls area can be aligned to the bottom of the Display View, or to the top of the screen. Click on the small arrow button at the top left corner of the Tool Controls to toggle between these modes. The Display Views will adjust their width to compensate automatically.
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The Bins
The Display Views can be configured to show one or two separate image displays. A new installation starts with both displays visible. Click on the vertical separator, or Splitter, bar between the two areas to adjust the width of one relative to the other.
Several common layouts can be quickly accessed from the Layout Toolbar buttons at the top of the screen.
THE BINS
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Toolbars
DFX+s Bin Library System provides a visual means to add, select and delete components for your project. You can organize clips, tools and plug-ins in any way suitable to your project or working requirements. To toggle the display of the Bins window, select File/Bins (CTRL B). You can resize the window by dragging the lower right corner and you can add, rename, and delete Bins to suit your project. Drag footage, tools, plug-ins, flows and saved tool settings into Bins from your file browser or toolbar. You can also drag tools directly from the Flow into the Bin to save that tools settings for later re-use. Right-clicking in the Bins window displays the menu from which you can view, sort and arrange your Bin items. For more information on using the Bins, see the chapter on the Bins.
TOOLBARS
There are several toolbars used throughout the DFX+ interface. Each is described briefly below.
Tools Toolbar
Normally found at the top of the interface, this toolbar is used to rapidly access commonly-used tools for use in the Flow. Each button is labelled with a short abbreviation of the tools name. The full name of the tool is shown in the status bar at the bottom left of the screen when the mouse is over the button, or in a tooltip when the mouse pointer stays over the button for any length of time.
For example, clicking the green button labeled BG places a Background tool in the Flow. If a tool is already active, the new tool will be immediately added after the current tool and automatically connected to the active tool.
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Toolbars
You can also click and drag a button from the toolbar directly into the Flow or Display View. If you drop a toolbar button into a Display View, the new tool will be added immediately after the tool currently being viewed. Rightclick on any button to display a dialog used to customize the buttons shown on the toolbar.
Display View Toolbar

The Display View Toolbar runs along the bottom of each display view, providing options for displaying individual color channels, adding masks, scaling the view, and showing controls and aspect correction.
Tool Display Toolbar

The Tool Display Toolbar is also shown in the Display View. This toolbar runs vertically along the side(s) of the view. It provides access to additional options for polylines, paths, and various tools. Specifically, the Text, Paint, Grid and Tracker tools will show additional options in this toolbar when these tools are active in the Flow.
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Display Areas
DISPLAY AREAS
You can view the output of any tool in the Flow on either one, or both, of the Display Areas. You can also view the output of any tool in a video (television) monitor using a supported video I/O board (for example, the dpsReality or Video Toaster).
To display a tools output in a view, right-click on the tool and select the desired display from the View On menu. You can also use the 1-9 hotkeys to quickly select a view. The 1 key selects the left view, 2 for the small view, with numbers assigned for each additional display. The shortcut for each view is listed beside its name in the tools context menu. You can create additional floating views by selecting Window/New View.
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Flow Editor
FLOW EDITOR
To display the Flow Editor, click the Flow tab in the Work Area or press F5.
The Flow Editor is the primary representation of your composite. Your project is displayed as a flowchart, with the connections between layers and tools shown as lines or pipes leading from one tool to the next. The interface is called the Flow because you can follow the progress of images through a project by following the lines that connect the tools, like watching water flow through pipes. All images are brought into DFX+ using Loader tools placed in the Flow. The images are then passed from the Loader to other tools in the Flow for processing. A Saver tool is used to save the result of the composite to disk. For more information, see the chapter on the Flow Editor.
CONSOLE WINDOW
To display the Console Window, click the Console tab in the Work Area or press F6.
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Timeline Editor
The Console Window displays error and status messages, the output from Scripts, and the statistics from completed renders. It can also be used to enter script commands interactively. For more information on using the Console Window, see the chapter on Scripting. Integrated Scripting is only available if Module 3 (Input/ Output) has been added to DFX+.
TIMELINE EDITOR
To display the Timeline Editor, click the Timeline tab in the Work Area or press F7.
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Spline Editor
The Timeline Editor displays each tools duration as a horizontal bar. You can adjust the timing of tools and the animation splines connected to the tools by clicking and dragging on the bars and keyframes shown here. Guides can be added to help align key frames with important events in your footage, or with a visible audio waveform, and multiple effects can be shifted in time together. Click and drag on the yellow bar to update the current frame of your project. Hold the middle mouse button down and drag to pan the displayed region of your project, or hold the middle mouse button down and click the left and right buttons to scale the display. For more information on using the Timeline Editor, see the chapter on the Timeline.
SPLINE EDITOR
To display the Spline Editor, click the Spline tab in the work area or press F8.
Animated controls, paths and modifiers in DFX+ are controlled by Splines; curves which describe the relationship between time and value for the animation. The Spline Editor is used to edit and compare one or more spline curves.
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Tool Controls
You can adjust the timing and value of individual keyframes in an animation, set looping on animation segments, and even scale entire splines over time. Segments of animation can be copied from one section of the spline to another and set to smooth or linear interpolation between keyframes. Click and drag on the yellow bar to update the current frame of your project, hold the middle mouse button down to drag to pan the displayed region of your project, or hold the middle mouse button down and click the left and right buttons to scale the display. For more information on working with the Spline Editor, see Spline Editor chapter.
TOOL CONTROLS
Whenever a tool is placed into a Flow, a Control Header for that tool appears in the Controls area to the right of the screen. There are three tabs of information in this area of the interface.
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Time Ruler Area
Tool
The Tool tab shows the controls used to adjust the settings of all tools in the Flow. The controls for the actively selected tool are shown here. If the Auto Control Hide option is disabled in the General Preferences, all of the tools are shown. Click on the Tools tab in the Controls Area or press F9 to display this view.
Masks
The Masks tab shows controls used to adjust the settings of any masks attached to the tool currently selected in the Flow. Click on the Masks tab in the Controls Area or press F10 to display this view.
Modifiers
The Modifiers tab shows controls used to adjust the settings of any Paths, Expressions or Modifiers attached to the tool currently selected in the Flow. Click on the tab in the Controls Area or press F11 to display this view. To expand the control header for a tool without selecting that tool, click the triangle button to the left of the tools name, or double click on the control header to both select the tool in the Flow and open its controls. You can click and drag a tools Control Header into a display to view that tools output. For more information on using the Tool Controls, see the chapter on the Tool Controls.
TIME RULER AREA

The Time Ruler Area is displayed at the bottom of the Digital Fusion window, beneath the Work Area. Use the Time Ruler Area to control the render start and end times of the project, the position of the current frame, the total extent of your project, and the quality and proxy settings for of interactive processing.
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Time Ruler Area
You can also change the current frame, start and stop playback of a flow, mute audio associated with the flow, and start final renders from the Time Area. The ruler across the top allows you to quickly scrub through the frames of your project. A small grey bar in the ruler represents the position of the current frame in the ruler. The current render range is shown in the ruler as a yellow bar or highlight. You can change the current frame of your project by dragging the grey current time indicator, clicking directly on a spot in the ruler, or by typing a new value in the text box to the right of the Time Slider control. Below the ruler are four text boxes, two to the far left, and two more to the far right. These are used to set the render range and global range for your project.
Global Range
The Global Range is the total length of your project in frames. This should be set to the overall length of your final rendered result. Set the Global Range for your project by entering a Start Frame in the edit box to the far left of the time ruler, and an End Frame in the edit box to the far right of the ruler.
Render Range
The Render Range represents the frames of your project output for final and preview renders as well as the frames played when you click on the Play button in the Time Ruler Area. Set the Render Range by entering a start frame in the edit box to the far left of the time ruler, and an end frame in the edit box to the far right of the ruler. You can also set the Render Range by holding the CTRL key down while clicking and dragging the ruler. Click and drag on the little arrows at the ends of the yellow highlight in the ruler to adjust the Render Start and Render End, or click drag the double arrows in the middle to shift the entire Render Range. There are no labels for the edit boxes in the Time Ruler Area, however, if you hold your mouse over any of the boxes, a description of the function will appear in the status bar at the bottom left corner of the screen.
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Context Menus
CONTEXT MENUS
Without Context Menus, the DFX+ interface would be so cluttered with buttons that there would be no space left to display the images and tools. Context Menus are shown when you right-click on an object or portion of the interface. The items listed in the Context Menu shown are specific to whatever was beneath the mouse pointer when you right-clicked. For example, if you right-click on the tile for a tool in the Flow, the Context Menu that appears contains options specific to manipulating tools. If you right-click on an empty area of the Flow, the options shown are specific to the display and manipulation of the Flow Editor.
Whenever you are unsure how to do something in DFX+, try right-clicking on the control or region of the interface most likely to accomplish the task.
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3
THE FLOW
DFX+ BASICS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to introduce the most basic concepts and terms you will encounter while working with DFX+. Most of the items described here are also discussed in far greater detail later in this manual.
The dominant interface in DFX+ is the Flow, a schematic-like display of your project. Images are loaded into the Flow, then passed down through tools and filters, finally ending in a Saver that writes the results back to disk. Each tool is represented by a Tile in the Flow. As several tools are connected together, the Flow begins to resemble a circuit board, or plumbing chart.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Current Time
The Flow Editor provides a top view of your entire project and makes understanding the way images are processed intuitive for even a beginner. This schematic interface is so important to the way the artist operates that DFX+ refers to compositing projects in general as Flows. Throughout this manual, you will see the term Flow used interchangeably to refer to the overall project or to the Flow Editor region of the interface. The difference is usually clear from the context of the sentence For example, Select the tools tile in the flow, and drag it into the view vs. The more tools in your flow, the more memory DFX+ is likely to consume.
CURRENT TIME
The Current Time is the active frame of the project on which you are working. The images viewed and produced will reflect the output of the tools at that frame. Current Time is set using the Time Area at the bottom of the screen, by entering a new value in the edit box, or with the [ and ] keys on the keyboard.
Current Time can be displayed as Frame Numbers or Time Code.
GLOBAL RANGE
The Global Range determines the maximum length of your project. Video editors should think of Global Range in Fusion as equivalent to the length of a timeline in an editing program. You can change the Current Time to a frame outside of the Global Range.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Render Range
RENDER RANGE
The Render Range is the section of Global Range used for interactive playback, disk caches and preview or final renders. The range is normally visible in the Time Slider as a yellow highlight over the Global Time. Frames outside of the Render Range will not be rendered or played in the Flow, although you can explicitly change Current Time to these frames to see what the image looks like.
HIGH QUALITY
When you work with DFX+ interactively to create a flow, the quality of the images in the display is often less important than the speed with which they are shown. You do not want to wait for the current frame to render before you can work with it. For that reason, DFX+ does not normally render images interactively at the same quality it will use for final renders. More complex and time consuming operations like area sampling, anti-aliasing and interpolation are skipped to produce results more rapidly. You can force DFX+ to produce images with the same quality as a final render by enabling the HiQ button at the bottom of the screen. Interactive processing will take longer, but the image seen on-screen will be identical to that produced during a final render.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Proxy And Auto Proxy
PROXY AND AUTO PROXY

The Proxy (Prx) button in the Time Ruler Area allows you to reduce the resolution of the images that you are processing interactively for increased performance. Enable Proxy mode to force DFX+ to process one out of every X pixels interactively, instead of rendering every pixel. The value of X is decided by right-clicking on the button and selecting a proxy ratio from the buttons context menu.
The Auto Proxy (Aprx) button enables DFX+ to interactively reduce the imagere solution while adjustments are made to controls, then snap back to normal resolution when the control is released. For example, while dragging a center control, DFX+ may only process the image at 1/3 resolution so that updates to the screen can keep up with adjustments. Once the center control is released, the image returns to full resolution so that changes can be confirmed. You can set the Auto Proxy ratio by right-clicking on the Auto Proxy button and selecting the desired ratio from the context menu.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Caching
CACHING
As you work on your composite in Fusion, tools will render their results so that you can view the effect in the display views. As each tool renders, the result of that tool is stored in memory on your computer. This is known as Caching. The next time you return to that frame in the project, the tool will avoid rerendering and use the cached result instead. If the settings of the tool (or one before it) are changed, the cache is automatically invalidated for the frames affected by the change, and that tool will re-render as needed. The amount of memory used by the cache is displayed in the bottom right corner of the DFX+ interface by default. DFX+ will use as much as 80% of the memory physically installed on your computer before elements of the cache will be dropped to make space for new frames. (This threshold can be adjusted in Preferences.)
DFX+ chooses which frames to drop from the cache by evaluating the amount of time a tool takes to render, how many other tools rely on that tools output, and whether the tool is currently displayed in the views. The more valuable the cache is on a tool, the less likely it is to be dropped when RAM becomes scarce. If a frame is placed in the cache while DFX+ is processing full resolution images and the HiQ mode is enabled, the cached frame will be used in final renders as well.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Interactive Playback
INTERACTIVE PLAYBACK
A series of VCR-style playback buttons at the bottom of the interface allow you to Play your flows render range as quickly as possible. Only the tools required to display the images in the views will render. Tools which are not required to produce displayed images will not render.
Simple flows will play quite quickly, where larger, more complex, flows will take some time to render each frame. The frame rate achieved is displayed at the bottom of the screen in the status bar. Playback speed is capped so it never exceeds the frame rate defined in the Frame Format Preferences. You can continue to make adjustments to controls during playback. The Flow is not locked in any way. Changes made to animated controls will add keys to the current frame of playback. As playback progresses, the rendered results are added to the cache. Generally, you will find that the first pass through the render range will require rendering, and the second pass will play back from cache at the full frame rate.
BACKGROUND RENDERING
DFX+ is designed to make the most efficient possible use of your computers processing power. Multi-threading and processor-specific optimizations like MMX and SSE have all been implemented to squeeze the best possible performance from low cost commodity workstations. During interactive usage, DFX+ can detect and use idle CPU cycles to fill the memory cache for viewed tools by invisibly rendering frames other than the current time in the background. This causes the cache to automatically fill while you answer a phone call, consider the result of an effect, or wander off to consult a co-worker.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
Background Rendering
Enabling the Background Rendering mode for a flow can vastly improve the efficiency of both the cache and interactive playback.
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DFX+ BASICS | 3
DFX+ 4 40
COMPOSITING BASICS
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ is a compositing system that merges or combines images. Images produced on a computer (for example on a 3D graphics application rendered with Alpha values) can be loaded into DFX+ and automatically merged with other images. Live action images typically do not include pre-built transparency information, so DFX+ includes tools to create a Matte (Alpha channel) from these images using a variety of keying techniques.
MATTES
A Matte determines which areas of an image are to be overlaid or discarded. In DFX+, the Matte is the Alpha channel of the image. All images in DFX+ have an Alpha channel.
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COMPOSITING BASICS | 4
Keying
If the image format contains no Alpha at the time of loading, it will be given one automatically. In such cases, the Alpha will be fully solid (the image will be fully opaque). The Alpha channel assigns levels of transparency to images, allowing images to have varying levels of transparency from solid to clear.
KEYING
DFX+ has a variety of keyers used to generate mattes from live action images. Most common is blue or green screen keying, where the subjects are shot against a blue or green background. Using the Chroma Keyer, you can create a Matte or Alpha channel. Additional keyers allow a matte to be created based on the luminance of the image or from the differences between two images. Module 2 (Keying) adds the Ultra Keyer, a more advanced version of the Chroma Keyer. DFX+ keyers have a wide selection of controls for fine adjustments of the matte, advanced color spill rejection, and fringe color correction.
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Animation
ANIMATION
Nearly everything in DFX+ can be animated. You can move image layers, rotate them, change their control values and animate them all over time.
These animations are controlled by Splines. Use spline-based motion paths to move images, effect and masks around in the composition with tremendous control and flexibility. DFX+ 4 43
Rotoscoping
ROTOSCOPING
Rotoscoping is a term applied to any process that requires the operator to manipulate the footage one frame at a time. Rotoscoping is commonly performed when matting out a section of an image for effect masking, color correction, or when obtaining an unwanted element from a scene.
TRACKING AND STABILIZATION
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Keyframes And Splines
If Module 1 is enabled, DFX+ can automatically perform image Tracking and Stabilization of an image using pattern recognition. There is no limit to the number of tracking points (Trackers) that you can use in a Flow. Trackers can be used to drive a variety of positional controls for effects. For example, the center of a Drip effect can be connected to a tracker patterns position, or four patterns can be used to replace the contents a sign. You can also connect pattern positions to the points on a Polygon Mask. The Stabilize mode uses several built-in Trackers to adjust for zoom, pan, and tilt in the camera.
KEYFRAMES AND SPLINES
Keyframes are frames with set values used to animate position or control values. Once you set keyframes, DFX+ calculates the values for the frames between the keyframes, which creates fluid motion for the entire sequence. Splines are curves that describe what happens to a value at any specific point in time. Animation curves are defined by splines.
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Color Spaces
COLOR SPACES
Normally, DFX+ works in Red, Green and Blue (RGB) Color Space. These color components are also known as channels. You can convert images to and from other Color Spaces (for example, HLS, YUV).
ALPHA CHANNEL
Alpha is the matte or transparency channel of an image. If an image file does not have an Alpha Channel (for example, JPG, YUV and PVD images), DFX+ adds a full (opaque) channel to that image to make up an Alpha Channel. The Alpha Channel is always present in images while they are processed in DFX+. Once an Alpha channel is present, you can use any of DFX+s matte tools (for example, Chroma Key, Matte Control) to manipulate and adjust the Alpha further. The Alpha is used to control the merging or overlaying of images over each other. The darker portions of the Alpha channel are transparent, while lighter or white regions are more opaque.
AUXILIARY CHANNELS
In addition to the normal Red, Green, Blue and Alpha channels, several computer graphic imaging applications use other channels. When Module 4 (3D Tools) is enabled, DFX+ can composite images using the additional information from these channels. The Auxiliary Channels allow additional information, such as depth and object ID, to be transferred to the final rendering of the image, together with the visible color channels. DFX+ 4 46
Frames, Fields And Video
This information is used by DFX+s tools to allow three-dimensional compositing, shading of objects, reflection mapping and more. All of this occurs within DFX+s interactive environment and does not require lengthy re-rendering.
For more information, please see the Auxiliary Channels chapter.
FRAMES, FIELDS AND VIDEO

DFX+ is resolution-independent. An image of any size can be loaded and processed. Images of different resolutions can be mixed together seamlessly. DFX+ can process images as frames or fields, or a mixture of both. Fields are a product of video systems. Two fields interlace together to create a frame. The most common video systems are PAL and NTSC. Each format has different resolutions, frame rates and field dominance. DFX+ 4 47
Frames, Fields And Video
Video Standards
NTSC resolution is 525 scanlines vertical resolution, with a frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps) (actually, 29.97 fps). In DFX+, it is commonly supported as ITU-R601 resolution of 720 X 486. The field dominance is Odd field first, Even field second.
PAL resolution is 625 scanlines vertical resolution and a frame rate of 25 fps. In DFX+, the common resolution is 720x576, also ITU-R601. The field dominance is Even field first, Odd field second. For more information on Frames, Fields and Video, see the chapter on the Frame Formats.
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Rendering
RENDERING
Images from any input can be processed as fields: Loaders, Text and Background tools all have field and frame processing modes. The fields can be reversed, if necessary. Also, both PAL and NTSC fields can be mixed together in a flow.
The Saver can also be set to save fields, frames or reversed fields. Both Loaders and Savers support 3:2 pull-down and pull-up for NTSC projects shot on film at 24 frames per second (or HD 24p).
VIDEO I/O
DFX+ is capable of playing back or viewing the output of any tool through a video (television) monitor, provided an appropriate supported video output device is installed in the computer workstation. DFX+ is also capable of reading and writing directly to the native file formats used by most of these devices.
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Video I/O
Supported Video I/O Hardware

New video capture and output devices become available all of the time. At the time of this printing, the following devices are supported directly by DFX+.
Digital Processing Systems

dpsQuattrus Video Recorder dpsReality Video Recorder Hollywood Video Recorder Perception Video Recorder Perception RT Video Recorder Personal Animation Recorder
DVS
SD Station Pro HD Station Pro Clip Station Pro
Matrox
Digisuite Digisuite LE
NewTek
Video Toaster RT
Pinnacle/Truevision
Targa 2000 series Targa 1000 series
SGI
SGI 320 SGI 540
Viewgraphics
Viewgraphics SDXStream VideoPump SD VideoPump HD In addition to these systems, new driver support is constantly being created. Contact eyeon Software, or your local reseller, for an up-to-date list. DFX+ 4 50
AVI Codecs
AVI CODECS
Many video capture and playback boards use an AVI software interface. DFX+ supports most of these devices via their AVI Codecs. Install the board and supplied software drivers, then choose the AVI codec for your board in the DFX+ preferences. (Select File/Preferences, click the AVI tab and, beside Settings For, select Saver. Beside Compressor, select the AVI codec.) DFX+ offers additional direct support for video I/O hardware with AVI Codecs, which enables you to preview the output of any tool in a flow directly on their hardware. To use this support, set the Preview codec to the one supplied by the hardware vendor. Select File/Preferences, click the AVI tab and, beside Settings For, select Preview. Beside Compressor, select the AVI codec.
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FRAME FORMATS
INTRODUCTION
One of the first things you are likely to do with DFX+ is load footage from your computers hard drives into DFX+. Depending on the type of work that you do, this may be NTSC, PAL, HD, film, or even multimedia. Each of these formats has different properties, from pixel aspect ratios to field order, resolution to color depth. Since DFX+ allows you to seamlessly mix and match material of different formats together in a single composite, you need to be aware of how DFX+ configures and combines materials of different formats when you load and merge them together.
SETTING YOUR FRAME FORMAT

The first thing to do when starting on a new project is to set up your preferences to match the intended format of your final output. The Frame Format Preferences are used to determine the default resolution for new creator tools (such as, Text or Background), the pixel aspect for display and rotation, as well as the frame rate used for playback. If you tend to work with the same frame format day after day, your Global Frame Format Preferences should match your most commonly used footage. For example, if you have an NTSC dpsVelocity system, and the majority of your footage will be DPS files loaded from that machine, it will make sense to set up your preferences to match the NTSC frame format. The Preferences are described in greater detail in their own chapter later in this manual. This chapter focuses solely on the behavior of the Frame Format Preferences.
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Setting Your Frame Format
Setting Up The Default For New Flows

Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu. You will see that the preferences tree is organized into separate branches; one for the Globals and New Flow Defaults tree, and one showing the preferences for each flow loaded into DFX+ at that moment. Open the branch for Globals by clicking on the plus sign next to its label, then click on the Frame Format entry in the list to open its controls. You will see a dialog like the one below.
The options you choose here determine the default frame format for each new flow created. Changing frame format options in the Globals section does not affect currently open flows, only the default for new flows.
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Each Flow also presents its own copy of the Preferences settings in the tree to the left. Because each flow maintains a copy of its own preferences, you can easily have one flow with a default PAL format while also working on a second flow set to film defaults. To change the settings for the current flow, access the Frame Format Controls listed under that flows name in the tree.
Default Format
The Default Format drop-down list provides some presets for commonly used frame formats. Locate the format you use most often from this list. You can add new formats to this list if yours is not shown by clicking on the New button and configuring the options under Settings.
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The Default File Formats are stored in a file called VidModes.def in the same directory as your DFXplus.exe file. If you have modified existing defaults or created new ones, they are contained within this file. To move your settings from one computer to another, simply copy this file to the new machine.
Width And Height

These determine the image size set for new creator tools like Backgrounds, Text and Fast Noise when they are added to the Flow.
Frame Rate
The Frame Rate sets the target frame rate for all forms of playback from DFX+. Flipbook previews, Caches, Audio and Final Renders to AVI or QuickTime all use this setting to determine the rate of playback.
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Fields
Has Fields
Selecting this checkbox tells DFX+ that new Loaders and Creator tools should default to Fields processing instead of Frames processing. An entire section of this chapter (below) is dedicated to reviewing how field order is handled in DFX+.
Aspect Ratio
This sets the default pixel aspect for the current format. Pixel aspect is an extremely important, but often overlooked, topic in compositing. An entire section of this chapter (below) is dedicated to the discussion of pixel aspect and its effect on creating and compositing images.
FIELDS
What Are Fields?
Although it is standard to say that the frame rate for NTSC is 30fps (or 29.97fps) and PAL is 25fps, this is actually misleading. Televisions display twice this number of images per second, which is accomplished by storing two separate images in each frame of video. Each image contained in the frame is called a field. The two fields are combined into a single frame by alternating scanlines (rows of pixels). When a television receives the frame and displays it, the television first shows every second scanline, leaving a blank line between each to avoid squashing the image. It then fills in the blank lines with the scanlines it missed in the first pass. In this manner, two images are stored in a single frame by interleaving the images into alternate scanlines. The television actually displays a new field every 1/60th of a second (NTSC), or every 1/50th of a second (PAL). This technique dramatically increases the smoothness of motion, at the expense of image quality. Both NTSC and PAL employ fields in this manner, as do several of the HD standards. There are no film formats that use fields to increase apparent frame rate.
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Fields
Even though each frame of NTSC video is said to be 720 X 486 pixels, each frame contains two half-height fields, each with a resolution of 720 X 243. PAL video frames are 720 X 576 pixels, with half-height fields at a resolution of 720 X 288. The ordering of these fields is different between NTSC and PAL. When processing fielded video for effects and image processing, it is extremely important that each field is treated as a separate frame. Because of the field order difference between NTSC and PAL, to separate each frame of video into its component fields, you must tell DFX+ the field order for that footage. This is done by selecting the field order from the Process Mode control in the Loader.
If we call the field containing the first scanline (the top most row of pixels) in an image the upper field, and the field containing the second row of pixels the lower field, we can see how each video format alternates fields.
NTSC Fields
The first field is the Lower field. This is occasionally referred to as Odd field order because the first field is stored on the odd numbered scanlines (row 1, 3, 5, 7).
PAL Fields
The first field is the Upper field. This is occasionally referred to as Even field order because the first field is stored on the even numbered scanlines (row 0, 2, 4, 6). DFX+ 4 58
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Fields
HD Fields
The first field is the Upper field, as with PAL. DFX+ will automatically process a frame as two separate fields if the Loaders process mode is set to anything other than Full Frames.
Combining Fielded And Full Frame Images

Although combining fields and frames is handled by DFX+, it takes some experience to understand exactly what happens. Accidentally processing fielded footage as if it were frames would seriously affect the quality of the results, particularly if warps or transformations were applied to that layer. Fields can be incorrectly blended together causing ghosting and stuttering on playback. Conversely, processing full frame footage as if it were fields does no serious harm, but may lower the general quality of your results, as there is less information for DFX+ to work with. You can see if a tool is outputting fields or frames by holding your mouse pointer over that tools tile in the flow. The tooltip that appears will read Field x: Frame Size if the tool is processing fields, otherwise it will only read Frame Size. This information will also appear immediately in the status bar.
When combining Field processed footage with Full Frame processed footage in a Merge, the Merge will output the same type of images, frames or fields, as the tool connected to the background input. In other words, when merging frames over fields, the result will be fields, and when merging fields over frames, the result will be full frames. Most other multi-input tools (e.g. Dissolve and Channel Boolean) should be given the same size and type of images, as they have no special handling for different types.
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Fields
For example, picture a flow with two Loaders connected to a Merge. The Loader connected to the background input of the Merge tool is set to process as NTSC fields, and the foreground Loader is set to process as Full Frames. The Merge will output fields, and any tools connected to the output of the merge will process the footage as separate fields.
Note
For this reason, the flows overall process mode, whether your saved results contain field motion or not, is determined by default by the Process Mode setting of the bottom layer in your composition; the first Background or Loader over which you merge all other layers. This can also be overridden by the Savers Process Mode setting, as described below. The basic rule of thumb is simple: always set your Loaders to the type of footage they are loading. It is also recommended that you set your generated source tools (e.g. Background, Text+, Fast Noise, etc.) to Full Frames, to maximize the amount of information available to Fusion.
Setting Field Processing For Your Flow

Because the mode of the background input determines the processing and field ordering when merging images, one way to get smooth, field motion and correct field ordering (or unfielded frames) is to start every flow with a black Background tool set to the desired Process Mode, and with the color as R0, G0, B0, A0 (black with no alpha channel). Another way, new to DFX+ 4, is to set the Process Mode in the Saver tool. This defaults to Auto, which will use the bottom layers mode, but can be forced to Full Frames, or NTSC or PAL Fields. This effectively overrides the default process mode and renders the entire flow with field motion or unfielded frames, as desired.
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Fields
Note
This does not override how the images are loaded by Loaders or created by other source tools, only how those images are processed. It will change how your animation is completed, with field or frame accuracy, but not the size of the images being processed. In all cases, footage will be re-interlaced, if necessary, and saved as frames on disk. For example, a still image can be loaded as Full Frames, with title text (created with a full frame Text+ tool) merged over the top and set to roll upwards. Saving this using a Saver with Process Mode set to Auto will result in frame-accurate animation; the frames on disk will not contain fielded motion. Setting the Savers Process Mode to NTSC Fields will result in fieldaccurate animation; the text will be merged over the background twice as often, but still at full frame resolution. The resulting frames will have the appropriate scanlines extracted and interlaced together, and the frames saved to disk will contain smoother, field motion.
As another example, consider a non-animated title (created as a full frame) merged over fielded video footage (loaded as fields). By default, this would be saved with field motion, as that is the mode of the bottom layer (the footage). By forcing the Savers Process Mode to Full Frames, only every second field is rendered.
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Pixel Aspect
Every other field of the video footage would be dropped to avoid getting field motion in the results and the remaining field is interpolated from the first field to produce the full frame, then saved.
PIXEL ASPECT
Pixel aspect refers to the dimensions of an individual pixel. While your computer screen and most film formats use square pixels, many video formats use rectangular pixels. When you are using a computer to produce images for display on a device that does not use square pixels, you must account for the pixel aspect of your source material, as well as the eventual display device. Pixel aspect affects the way that images are displayed in your views, the way that they are merged, and the way that they are transformed (especially rotation). If you do not set the pixel aspect of your footage to match its format, your images will be distorted. DFX+ represents pixel aspect as a ratio between width and height. A pixel with an aspect of 1:1 is perfectly square. A pixel with an aspect of 1:2 is twice as high as it is wide. Listed below are the pixel aspects for some of the more common formats. NTSC (D1) - 1:1.1111 NTSC (widescreen) - 1:0.83333 PAL (D1) - 1:0.9375 PALPlus (widescreen) - 1:0.70325
How Pixel Aspect Affects The Display Views

When you display an image with a non-square pixel aspect in the display views, DFX+ must transform the image slightly to compensate for the fact that you are viewing the image on a computer monitor with square pixels. This ensures that you are always seeing the correct geometry; circular shapes are not squashed into ellipses and squares do not become rectangles.
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Pixel Aspect
A very fast method is used to apply this transformation, which prevents it from slowing down your display and playback. The side effect to using a faster transformation is that the image quality may suffer slightly, and occasional steps may appear on diagonal edges. The drop in image quality only affects how it is viewed. It does not affect the quality of DFX+s processing or image saving. If you see this type of aliasing in your images, try overriding pixel aspect compensation in the view by clicking on the Display View toolbar button labelled 1:1. This will show the true square pixels without compensation. If the aliasing you see disappears, you will have nothing to worry about when the image is displayed in its final output format. You can also enable Smooth Resize (from the view context menus Options submenu). This uses a filtered aspect transformation that eliminates the aliasing, but slows image display (sometimes noticeably). Once again, the Smooth Resize option only affects how the image is displayed, not image processing.
Another way to detect apparent aliasing problems arising from aspect compensation is to view the image in a display that matches the images pixel aspect. For example, if you are creating text for NTSC broadcast, viewing the image on the framebuffer of a dpsReality or Video Toaster will help identify if there is a real problem.
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Pixel Aspect
Setting Pixel Aspect

When a new creator tool is added to a flow, the pixel aspect for the image it produces is determined by the default value configured in the Frame Format Preferences for the Flow. You can set a new aspect for the creator tool with the Pixel Aspect control in the tools Image tab. Try right-clicking on this control to display a menu of default values for each format, or type a value in manually.
To control the pixel aspect for footage in Loaders, you need to look at the Use Aspect From button array under the Import tab of the Loaders tool controls. The following options are available.
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Pixel Aspect
Format
This is the default mode for new Loaders. When the Format button is selected, DFX+ first looks to see if the pixel aspect for the image is stored in the header of the image file on disk. Certain formats (notably TIFF) can contain this information. If the aspect is present, that value will be used, otherwise, the default value specified by the Frame Format Preferences for the Flow is used.
Default
The pixel aspect defined in the flows Frame Format Preferences is used, even when pixel aspect information for the image is stored in the file header.
Custom
Selecting this option will reveal a Pixel Aspect control that can be used to manually set the aspect for this footage. Try right-clicking on this control to display a menu of default values for each format, or type a value in manually. If you are not certain of the pixel aspect of a tool, hold your mouse over the tools tile in the Flow and a tooltip will appear containing details on the resolution, color depth and pixel aspect of the image last processed by that tool, as well as in the status bar.
Combining Images With Different Pixel Aspects

When combining footage with different pixel aspects in a Merge tool, the output of the tool will have the same pixel aspect as the background input. The foreground input will be correctly transformed to produce a correct image. Most other multi-input tools (e.g. Dissolve and Channel Boolean) ignore pixel aspect differences.
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Color Depth
COLOR DEPTH
DFX+ processes images at 8 bits per color channel, or 32 bits per pixel total. This color depth is appropriate for video, multimedia and basic film applications. DFX+ can load Cineon, DPX and HDRI images, but cannot process or render at the higher color resolutions possible with these formats. To process images at 16 bit per channel of floating point color depths you should use eyeon Softwares Digital Fusion, which is optimized and designed to manipulate film and HDRI images at higher color depths. For more information visit the eyeon Software web site at www.eyeonline.com.
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FINAL AND PREVIEW RENDERS
INTRODUCTION
Since most composites happen over time, it is very important to be able to view your project or a selected clip at the intended frame rate, not just a single frame at a time. Although this can often be done by rendering the final output to disk, on complex composites, a full resolution render can be prohibitively slow. When the intention is to evaluate an effect, a lower resolution preview is often sufficient. DFX+ offers several different ways to perform such previews.
CACHE PLAYBACK
As you move through the composite, the frames rendered for interactive display are cached to memory, up to a preset memory limit. Priority is given to maintaining Caches for tools that are currently viewed in a display. Other tools may also cache their result, depending on available memory and the time cost of the tool, among other factors. Pressing the Play Forward or Play Backward buttons in the Time Ruler Area will attempt to play back the frames in the current render range at the rate configured in the Frame Format Preferences. For example, if your frame format is set to NTSC D1, the frame rate attempted will be 29.97.
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File Sequence And Disk Previews
The flow will render only the tools required to produce the image from the tools currently viewed in the display views at that time. If a cache already exists for the tools currently being played, the flow will play at the full frame rate. The actual frame rate achieved during playback will be displayed in the status bar during playback. Frames without a cache will need to render first but, as they render, they will add themselves to the cache, and the next time they play through it will be at full speed.
This is not a preview in the technical sense of rendering a preview, but it does fulfil the same function in most cases, and it also has the advantage of populating the cache used by DFX+ to increase interactive performance. For more details on RAM Caching, see the Caching and Memory Use chapter of this manual.
FILE SEQUENCE AND DISK PREVIEWS

File Sequence and Disk Previews are previews of file sequences on disk, or of the files used by a tool that has been cached to disk. A file sequence preview plays a series of files from disk as quickly as they can be loaded from disk and formatted for use in the display view. Loaders and Savers, tools that both point to files on disk, are able to play these types of previews. When a Loader or Saver is selected tool in the Flow, Transport Controls appear beneath the tool controls. Tools that have a pre-rendered or populated disk cache will also reveal Transport Controls when they are selected.
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File Sequence And Disk Previews
Clicking on any of the Transport buttons will enable the file sequence playback. The left display view is normally used to display these previews, although the target display can be changed using the Preview Preferences/ Display File Sequences menu. The target frame rate is chosen from the Frame Format Preferences, but it can be changed using the RATE (FPS) control in the transports. The faster the drives are able to provide footage, the faster DFX+ will be able to play the frames. A striped pair of IDE drives is often sufficient for full speed playback of NTSC or PAL frames. Frames played through file sequence playback are not spooled into the interactive cache. While the file sequence playback is active, the Display View cannot be used for normal image viewing. To disable the playback of the file sequence preview, de-select the tool that has enabled the file sequence preview to turn the display of the preview off.
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Flipbook Previews
FLIPBOOK PREVIEWS
Flipbook Previews are stored entirely in RAM. These previews can playback smoothly at frame rates limited only by the bandwidth of the video hardware, typically as high as 100 fps. The frame rate is artificially limited by the rate configured in the Frame Format Preferences. When a Flipbook Preview is available, Transport Controls will appear beneath the tool controls.
Creating A Flipbook Preview

There are two ways to create a Flipbook Preview. Right-clicking on a tool and selecting Create Play Preview from the tools context menu will create a flipbook preview in the display view chosen.
A quicker method of creating a flipbook is to hold down the ALT key while dragging the image into the Display View, although this method cannot be used to create previews to video display hardware like the dpsReality or Video Toaster.
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Flipbook Previews
When a display view contains a flipbook preview, the image will be surrounded by a beveled border to distinguish it from a normal image display. The Display View cannot be used for normal image viewing while the flipbook is present.
Mouse Shuttle
Click and drag the mouse over the Flipbook Preview to shuttle through the frames in the preview. Dragging to the left will scrub backward through the preview. Dragging to the right will scrub forward. Double-click on the preview for normal playback.
Removing A Flipbook Preview

The Flipbook Preview can be removed from the Display View by rightclicking directly on the preview and selecting Remove Preview from the flipbooks context menu.
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Flipbook Previews
Full Screen Previews

Right-click on the preview and select Full Screen from the Flipbook context menu to expand the preview to the full size of the screen. There are no transport controls displayed. Press spacebar or double-click on the preview to initiate playback. The screen resolution can be changed using the context menu.
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Flipbook Previews
Press escape or de-select Full Screen from the flipbook context menu to return to normal.
Resizing Flipbooks
Use the + and - keys on the numeric keypad to resize the display of a flipbook, or select the desired scaling from the flipbook context menu.
Saving Flipbooks
A Flipbook Preview can be saved to disk for later use by right-clicking on the preview and selecting Save As. Flipbooks are saved to disk with the extension of .FB, and can be reloaded in a Loader or Display View at a later time for playback.
Memory Usage
Since flipbooks are stored in memory, they consume memory normally used for image processing and tool caches. The amount of available memory determines the number of frames that can play back smoothly.
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AVI Previews
When creating a File Preview, the Render Settings dialog will display the number of frames DFX+ estimates will fit within working memory. Rendering more than this number of frames will likely exceed available memory and cause the system to use the swap file.
AVI PREVIEWS
In addition to the previews listed above, it is also possible to create previews using Video for Windows AVI files. AVI Previews are rendered to disk, so they do not have the memory limitations of Flipbook Previews. AVI Previews are well suited to previewing long frame ranges that would normally exceed available memory. AVI previews are normally disabled in preference for flipbook previews. This option can be changed by selecting the AVI Radio button in the Global Preview Preferences.
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AVI Previews
AVI files offer a wide range of codecs and settings that affect compression and file quality. To select and configure the settings used by AVI-based previews, go to the Global Preferences/IO/AVI panel.
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Final Renders
FINAL RENDERS
When all is said and done, your composite has to be rendered to disk. This is accomplished by adding a Saver tool to the flow and pointing it to a directory on disk or over the network. Any number of savers can be present in a flow, at any point in a composite, making it easy to save intermediate composites, as well as final results in any resolution or format with a single pass.
Any tool that has a valid high-quality full resolution frame in the memory cache will not need to render. The cached result for that tool will be used instead.
Starting A Final Render

The green Render button in the Time Ruler Area is used to start a Final Render. You can also use F12 as a keyboard shortcut for starting a render, or select Start Render from the File menu at the top of the screen. When a render is started, the Render Settings dialog will appear.
This dialog, and its options, are described in the next section of this chapter. Once you have configured the options for your render, click on the Start Render button on the dialog to initiate the actual render. The dialog will disappear and the flow will begin to render. You may continue to use DFX+ while the render progresses, opening flows and creating new flows as needed, although performance will definitely be affected by the ongoing render.
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Final Renders
You can also view tools in the rendering flow to monitor the images as they are rendered. Any attempt to change controls or settings in the rendering flow will display a dialog asking if you would like to abort the current render. To bypass the render settings dialog when starting a render, hold SHIFT down while clicking on the Start Render button.
Stopping A Final Render

When a render is in progress, the green Start Render button turns into a Stop Render button instead. Click on the Stop Render button in the Time Ruler Area to halt the render at the current frame. A dialog will appear asking for confirmation.
You can also halt a render by pressing the ESC key on your keyboard.
Render Status And Statistics

While a render is in progress, the status bar at the bottom right of the interface will display some statistics about the current render. The time taken to render the last frame, the average time per frame, the amount of time remaining, and the estimated time and day of completion are shown.
When the render is complete, final statistics for the time taken to render and the average time to render each frame will be displayed in a dialog box.
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Final Renders
Troubleshooting Renders
A render can fail to start or complete for several reasons. Generally, a failed render will display an error message in the console window indicating a possible cause of the error. The following are common errors that can cause a render to fail. Missing frame in a file sequence on disk. DFX+ could not find the footage for a loader used as a background input for a merge. Background input of a merge tool failed, perhaps because it ran out of footage. Attempt to overwrite a .DPS file with a new file of a different length. Saver path is invalid. Ran out of drive space on the destination.
Memory Optimization
The Memory dialog in the Preferences has two options that affect memory use during rendering. To access the memory preferences select File, open the Preferences tree for the Flow, and select the Memory Options in the tree.
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The Render Settings Dialog
These options can be adjusted during a render to tune memory performance as a render progresses.
Simultaneous Branching
Disabling this checkbox will cause DFX+ to render one branch of the flow at a time. This significantly reduces memory usage. Normally, DFX+ will render multiple branches of the flow simultaneously, making the most efficient use of the processors in your system. If you find that the memory used during rendering exceeds your physical memory, disable this checkbox.
Render X Frames At Once

This slider is used to select the number of frames DFX+ will render at once. Generally, the default value of 3 is sufficient. Increase the number of frames rendered at once if it appears your CPUs are not being fully utilized during rendering. This is often caused by slow I/O when loading frames, usually over a network. Increasing the number of frames at once allows DFX+ to pre-buffer the next frames while the current one is still processing, smoothing out any spikes in processor usage. Decrease this value only if you find you are running out of memory, and disabling Simultaneous Branching did not solve the problem.
THE RENDER SETTINGS DIALOG

Rendering Dialog And Options
This dialog will appear whenever the Start Render button is selected or whenever a preview render is initiated. The dialog, as pictured below, provides control over the quality, range and size of the rendered frames. Features like step rendering, non-linear render ranges and low quality, proxied final renders are available from this dialog.
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Final renders initiated from the Start Render button always default to the Final Configuration, which renders every frame of the current render range at full quality, full size. These options are disabled unless the configuration is changed from Final.
High Quality
This checkbox is disabled in the final configuration mode. With the High Quality checkbox selected, the rendered image will be produced with the best possible quality. De-selecting the High Quality checkbox will cause DFX+ to use faster, lower quality methods for Merges, Transforms, Blurs and other operations. Aside from producing fast renders for use as previews, this function may also be useful when producing images that should not be sub pixel positioned by the Merge tool.
Use Network
Selecting this option causes DFX+ to submit the render task to the Render Master configured in the Network Preferences. When selected, the Network Groups portion of the dialog will be enabled, allowing you to select the group of slaves used to render the Flow.
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Network rendering farms of computers can be used to produce Flipbook and AVI Previews, final renders and preview renders on supported video devices, such as the dpsReality or Video Toaster. For details on network rendering, please see the Network Rendering chapter in this manual.
Size
The Size dialog provides control over whether the full image is rendered or if the image is processed at the selected proxy resolution. If you are rendering a Flipbook Preview, a rough estimate of the number of frames that can be held in memory without paging to disk is displayed to the right of each size option.
Frame Range
This dialog is used to set the range of frames rendered. It can accept a Start and End Frame Range separated by two periods, individual frames separated by a question mark, or a combination of both methods. For example: 1..100 1,5,10 1..100, 110, 120, 121 You can also use dashes (-) to separate the frame numbers in a range, such as 1-50, however, this notation can cause confusion if you are rendering frames with a negative value (for example, DFX+ allows a render range of -50..100).
Shoot On
By default, DFX+ will render every frame in the Render Range one at a time. For quick previews, it is often useful to render only one out of every few frames for an overview of the motion or effect. This technique is known as Shoot On. To perform a Shoot On render, select the Step option and enter the Step Interval desired in the Spinner Box beneath the control.
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When this option is enabled for a preview render, the frame rate of the preview will be modified so that playback of the preview will still take the same amount of time as it would if all frames had been rendered.
Example
If the Shoot On option is set to a step of 5 frames for a RAM preview, and the Render Range is set to 1..100, the render will render frames 1, 5, 10, 15 until frame 100. When the preview is replayed, frame 1 will be held for 5 frames, frame 5 will be held for another 10 frames, and so on until the last frame is reached.
Configurations
It is possible to store the current render options for future use. Selecting the Add button will produce a dialog to allow the current render settings to be named. That name will then appear in the menu.
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The render range is not stored in the configurations.
Status
The Status dialog displays any warnings and informational messages related to the render. For example, warnings for flows that do not contain Savers, or have passed through tools, will appear here.
Bypassing The Render Settings Dialog

It is possible to skip or bypass the Render Settings dialog using whatever settings were last applied to the render. To bypass the render settings for a preview render, hold the SHIFT key down while alt-dragging the tool into the Display View. To bypass the render settings for a final render, hold the Shift key down while clicking on the Start Render button. To reverse this behavior so that the Render Settings dialog does not appear by default and will only be displayed when the SHIFT key is held down, use the option in the Preferences/General dialog.
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Queueing Multiple Flows To Render
QUEUEING MULTIPLE FLOWS TO RENDER

It is often desirable to queue many flows to render one after another. This allows you to render several flows without waiting for each one to finish. A list of flows to render is called a Render Queue. You can create a queue in DFX+ using the Render Manager. To open the Render Manager select File / Render Manager, or press CTRL M on your keyboard.
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THE FLOW EDITOR
INTRODUCTION
Positioned below the left and right image displays, the Flow Editor is DFX+s primary workspace. In this area you can obtain an overview of the structure of your project. Each tool is represented by a tile in the workspace, with connections to and from the tile to indicate how each tool relates to the overall processing of the image result. This workspace is known as the Flow because your images move through the connections like they were water through pipes. By watching the Flow of your images through these pipes, you can form an intuitive overview of the image processing operations as they take place.
This view offers tremendous flexibility for connecting tools together, including the ability to branch a tools output into separate streams, to collapse entire groups of tiles, and to view a thumbnail image of a tools, or several tools, outputs.
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Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Flow
The following illustration shows a simple flow, containing a Loader that brings footage in from disk, connected to a Resize tool, which is connected to a Saver for rendering the result to disk.
The next illustration shows a more complex flow, which combines multiple layers of footage and demonstrates the idea of branching.
VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE FLOW

Displaying The Flow
The Flow Editor is displayed by default when a new flow is created. Since the Flow Editor shares the same space in the interface used by the Spline Editor, Timeline Editor and Console, you must switch between these views as needed.
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To display the Flow when it is not currently visible, either select the Flow tab from the tabs at the top of the Work Area, or press the F5 key on your keyboard.
When the Flow is the active area of the interface (has keyboard focus), it will be surrounded by a yellow border.
Resizing The Flow

To Resize the Flow, place your mouse over the edge of the raised border that splits the Display Views and the Flow. Click and drag on this boundary with the mouse to adjust the size allocated to the Display View and the Flow Editor respectively.
To maximize or minimize the Flow, place your mouse pointer over any part of the Flow and hit the space bar once. This will expand the flow to cover the display views, or return a maximized Flow Editor to its original state. A maximized flow takes over all of the space used by the Display Views.
Panning The Flow

To pan your view of the Flow, hold the middle mouse button down and drag the mouse in the direction you wish to pan, or click and drag on the standard scrollbars at the right and the sides of the Flow.
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If your mouse does not have a middle mouse button, holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys down while clicking the left mouse button will have the same effect as holding down the middle mouse button. If you select a tool in the Timeline, Spline or tool controls view, the display will automatically pan the view to show that tools tile.
Scaling The Flow

To adjust the scale used by the Flow, use one of the following methods :
Mouse Drag
Place the mouse pointer over the Flow, then hold the middle and left mouse buttons down while dragging the mouse to the left and right to scale smoothly in and out.
Mouse Click
Place the mouse pointer over the Flow. While holding down the middle mouse button, click on the left mouse button to increase the scale, or the right button to decrease the scale of the flow by a fixed amount. This scales in and out of the mouse pointer position.
Keyboard
Press the + or - keys on your numeric keypad while the flow is active to change the scale. CTRL 1 will set the flow back to its default scale, and CTRL-F will fit the flow, or selected tools, into the visible region. The default scale used by a new flow can be set in File/Preferences/Flow.
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Context Menus
CONTEXT MENUS
There are two Context Menus in the Flow Editor; the Tool and the Flow context menus. Most functions in the flow are accessed using these two menus.
Flow Context Menu

Right-clicking on an empty region of the flow will display a context menu with options and functions for manipulating the flow display in general.
Tool Context Menu

Right-clicking directly over a tool in the flow displays the Tool Context Menu, with options and functions specific to that tool.
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Adding Tools
More detail on the various options of the context menus can be found at the end of this chapter.
ADDING TOOLS
The Flow is always empty when you start a new project, since no tools or loaders have been added. Tools are added to your project and the Flow using one of the methods described below.
From The Menus

The Tools menu at the top of your screen displays every single tool available to DFX+, loosely organized into categories. To add a tool to your flow from this menu, select the name of the desired tool from the menu.
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Adding Tools
If another tool is currently active in the flow, the new tool is automatically inserted downstream of the existing tool. If there is no active tool, the new tool stays disconnected from the rest of the Flow and it will be placed in the first available space found by DFX+ in the Flow.
From The Toolbars

The toolbars can also be used to add tools to the Flow. These small bars display an abbreviated form of each tools name (e.g. BC for the Brightness/ Contrast tool). Hold your mouse over any toolbar button for a moment to display a tooltip containing the unabbreviated name of that tool. To add a tool to a flow using the toolbar, click on the button once with the mouse, or drag the tool into the Flow from the toolbar by clicking and dragging with your mouse.
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Adding Tools
If you simply click on the Toolbar, the new tool will be added or inserted depending on the same conditions described in Adding tools with the menus (above). If you drag the Toolbar button into the Flow, you can choose where the tool is added to the flow. This offers you the ability to replace one tool with another or to insert the new tool between two others. These operations are described in greater detail further below. You can also drag tools from the toolbars into the Large and Small Views. This allows you to add tools to your project even if the Flow display is not currently visible. Tools dragged onto a view from the Toolbar are added to the Flow immediately after the currently viewed tool, regardless of the currently active tool. The toolbars can be customized to display different tools, and they can be docked at the top of the screen, to either side, or they can float. To customize your toolbars, right-click on the toolbars and use the dialog box that appears.
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Adding Tools
For details on customizing toolbars, refer to Appendix C : Toolbars in this manual.
From The Context Menu

Right-clicking in the Flow will display the flows Context Menu, which may contain one or more tool submenus. These are copies of the tool menu described above, and can be used as a shortcut for adding tools to the flow.
Add Or Insert Tool

Selecting a tool from the Add Tool or Insert Tool sub menus will insert a tool into the Flow at the position where the mouse pointer was when the Context Menu was opened. If the mouse pointer is positioned over a connection between two tools at the time, the new tool will be inserted into the flow already connected to that pipe (between the existing tools).
Replace Tool
The Replace Tool option only appears when the context menu is opened by right-clicking directly on an existing tools tile in the Flow. Selecting a tool from this menu will replace the current tool with a new one. If the new tool has controls with the same name as the existing tool, those settings will be copied into the new tool. For example, replacing a Transform tool with a DVE will preserve the values of the Center, Angle and Size controls.
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Adding Tools
From The Bin

The Bins operate in much the same way as the Toolbars do. They also offer a greater ability to organize your tools. All of the tools available to DFX+ can be dragged from a Bin into the Flow Display or Display Views. Bins can contain tools, saved tool settings, tool groups, macros and footage; something toolbars cannot do. For more information on the Bins, refer to the Bins chapter in this manual. To toggle the Bins on and off, select CTRL B from your keyboard, or select File/Bins from the menu.
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Adding Tools
From The File Browser

Footage
Dragging a file from the File Browser to the Flow will automatically add a Loader to the Flow, pointing to the specified file or file sequence. If multiple files are dragged into a flow, a separate loader is added for each file.
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Connecting And Disconnecting Tools
Saved Tool Settings

Dragging a tool settings (.dfs) file from the File Browser to the Flow will add the tool (or tools) saved in that file to the flow, configured with the settings that were saved into the file.
CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING TOOLS

Each tool in your project has its own tile in the Flow. These tiles show the input and output for the tool as small colored nodes attached to the tile. The arrow-shaped nodes represent the image inputs, while the grey or red square nodes at the bottom of each tool represent the tools processed output. A tool must have both an input and an output node. It cannot have more than one output node, but it can have several additional inputs. A classic example of a multi-input tool is Merge, which has both a background input and a foreground input.
A tool must have at least one input connected to another tools output before it can generate a result. Hold your mouse over a tiles node for a moment to display a tooltip with the name of the input that the node represents.
Connecting Tools
You build a flow by connecting tools using their inputs and outputs. To connect the output of a Text tool to a Glow tool, click on the output node of the Text tool with your mouse, and drag the connection over the input node of the Glow tool. A small line, or pipe, will be drawn between these two nodes to represent the connection.
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Connecting And Disconnecting Tools
Disconnecting Tools
To disconnect a tools inputs or output, click on the second half of the connection pipe, or on the node, and drag it away from the tool (or doubleclick anywhere on the pipe). You can also disconnect tools by holding the SHIFT key down while moving a tool. If the Shift key is depressed when you let go of the tool, all existing connections to that tool will be removed.
Replacing Connections
To replace an existing connection on a tool with another connection, simply drag the new connection over the input of the existing tool.
Tracing Pipes Through The Flow

Several visual cues exist to help you follow the pipes through the flow. If the connection between two tools is long enough, a small arrow will appear at regular intervals to indicate the direction of the images flow from the output of one tool to the input of the next.
Placing your mouse over a specific tool will cause the pipes connected to that tool to become highlighted. Placing your mouse directly over a pipe will cause a tooltip to appear with details on its source output and destination input.
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Inserting Tools
The output of any given tool can be connected to multiple inputs on other tools, a feature called Branching in DFX+. An example of branching is shown below. Branching permits a single image to be separately processed by two or more streams of tools.
Only one connection per input is allowed but a tool output can have any number of branches and outbound connections.
INSERTING TOOLS
Use one of the following methods to insert a tool into an existing connection between tools.
Drag And Drop

Click on the tool you wish to insert from the Bins or Toolbars, and drag it into the Flow. Position your mouse over the pipe to which you wish the tool be connected so that the pipe is highlighted in Blue, then let go. This will cause the new tools first input to be connected to the upstream tool, and the output to be connected to the downstream tool.
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Replacing Tools
Shift Insert
If the tool you wish to insert is already present on the Flow, hold the SHIFT key down and drag the tool over the pipe where it should be inserted. When the mouse is positioned correctly, the pipe will become highlighted. Release the mouse button to insert the tool.
From Toolbars And Menus

Select the tool you wish to connect the new tool in the Flow. Then click once on the Toolbar button for the tool you wish to add, or select the desired tool from one of the tool menus. The new tool will be added immediately after the selected tool.
REPLACING TOOLS
To replace a tool, drag the new tool onto the Flow from the Bin or the Toolbar, and place your mouse pointer directly over the tool you wish to replace. When you let go of the mouse button, a confirmation dialog will appear that asks if you would like to replace the existing tool with the new tool.
If the new tool has controls with the same name as the existing tool, those settings will be copied into the new tool For example, replacing a Transform tool with a Merge will copy the existing center and angle values from the Transform to the Merge.
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Deleting Tools
DELETING TOOLS
To delete a tool, or tools, from a flow, select the tools in the Flow and press the DEL key on your keyboard. You may also select multiple tools to be deleted. Finally, you can right-click on the tool(s) and select Delete from the Context Menu that appears.
SELECTING TOOLS
There are two selection modes for tool tiles in the Flow Editor. These are Active and Passive selections.
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Selecting Tools
Active Selection
Active Selections are made by clicking directly on a single tools tile in the Flow. The tile of the actively selected tool will change color to yellow to indicate its state. An actively selected tool will display its controls for modification in the Image Views and the tools controls will become visible to the right of the display area. Only one tool can be actively selected at any given time.
Passive Selection
Passive Selections are made by box-selecting groups of tools using the mouse, or by holding down the CTRL key while clicking on the tool. The tile of a passively selected tool will turn Blue to indicate its selected passively state.
The passively selected tools can then be moved or deleted together, or they can be grouped into a single tool to improve the organization of the Flow. See Collapsing and Uncollapsing Tools below for more details. A passively selected tool does not display its controls in any of the other views. There is no limit to the number of tools that can be passively selected at the same time.
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Moving Tools And Organizing The Flow
MOVING TOOLS AND ORGANIZING THE FLOW

To move a tool, simply select it and drag it to its new position in the Flow. All currently selected tools will be moved. Larger flows can become disorganized and difficult to understand, so several techniques for organizing the flow exist to assist you. Right-clicking on an empty section of the Flow will display the flow context menu. Choose Line Up from this menu to cause all of the tools to line up vertically and horizontally. To line up the currently selected tools only, right-click on one of the tools and select Line Up from the menu. Tools that are not currently selected will be left as they are. You can choose to have the tools snap to an invisible grid as they are positioned on the flow. Enabling the Arrange Tools To Grid option in the flow context menu will enable this feature. As you position tools in the flow, a faint rectangle will indicate where that tool will snap when the tool is released.
To set the Arrange Tool To Grid option as the default for new flows, set the Preferences/General/Arrange To Grid checkbox to On.
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Groups
GROUPS
Groups are containers on the Flow that can hold multiple tools in the space of a single tile. They are excellent for keeping the visual complexity of a flow to a minimum. Groups can contain other groups as well as tools. There is no limit to the number of tools that can be contained within a group. A Group can be collapsed or expanded. A collapsed group is represented by a single tile on the flow, where a group that has been expanded is represented by a sub flow showing the tools contained within the flow.
Creating Groups
To create a Group, select the tools to be added to the Group. Next, right-click on one of the selected tools and choose Group from the Context Menu. You can also use the CTRL G keyboard shortcut.
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Groups
The tools contained within the group disappear from a flow, and are replaced by a single tile representing the collapsed group. If any of the tools in the group have an unconnected, or free, input when the group is created, those inputs will not be visible in the group. If you are creating a group that will be saved to disk for later use, you should connect the input to another tool before creating the group, especially if you need that input to be visible.
Expanding And Collapsing Groups

A Collapsed Group is represented by a single tile on the Flow. To open a Collapsed Group, and to see the tools within, click on the small icon to the left of the groups name in the tile.
This will reveal a sub-flow that shows the tools within the group. The subflow is a separate area that can be scaled, resized and panned independent to the main flow. To collapse the group again, click on the minimize icon in the top right corner of the sub-flow.
The controls for the various tools within a group can only be accessed if the group is expanded. Double-click on a tool tile within a group to display that tools controls. The controls will disappear again when the group is collapsed.
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Groups
Tools can only be added, inserted or deleted from a group while that group is expanded. Use the CTRL E keyboard shortcut when a group is selected to switch between Expanded and Collapsed Modes for that group.
Ungrouping Tools
To remove the Group without deleting the tools within it, right-click on the group and select Ungroup from the context menu. The tools inside the group will be placed back in the main flow.
Deleting Groups
Deleting a Group is no different than deleting a single tool. The group is removed from the Flow, including any tools contained within that group.
Renaming Groups
To Rename a Group, select the group and hit the F2 key, or right-click on the group and select Rename from the context menu.
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Groups
Saving And Reusing Groups

One of the best features of a group is that the group and its settings can be saved for later use in other flows. Use one of the following methods to save a groups settings.
Drag And Drop

You can drag a group from the Flow into the Bins. A dialog will appear, requesting the name of the new .dfs settings file and the path where it should be saved on disk. The .dfs file will be saved in the specified location and placed in the Bins for easy access in the future.
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Displaying Tile Pictures
Context Menu
A group can also be saved by right-clicking on the Group and select Settings/Save As from the context menu.
DISPLAYING TILE PICTURES

It is possible to expand a tools tile so that it displays a thumbnail image of that tools result. These small thumbnail images are an enormous help in visualizing the operation of a flow.
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To display tile pictures for all of the tools in a flow, right-click on an empty area of the Flow and select Force All Tile Pictures from the context menu. Tile pictures can also be enabled, for selected tools only, by right-clicking on a selected tool and choosing Show/Show Tile Pictures from the context menu.
If you want a tool to show its tile picture whenever it is actively selected, choose Force Active Tile Pictures from the Flows context menu.
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It is often useful to display tile pictures for source tools only. This mode can be turned on by selecting Force Source Tile Pictures from the context menu.
A tool may not display its tile picture under certain circumstances, as described below. In these cases, the default icon for that tool is displayed instead of an image.
Concatenated Tools
Some transformation tools are able to concatenate their result, passing the actual processing downstream to another tool later in the flow. These tools do not actually process the image, and so they do not produce a thumbnail. Affected tools include Transform and Merge.
Particle Tools
The only Particle tool that generates an image is the pRender tool, so all other particle tools display their default icon instead of an image. Particle tools are part of Module 7 (Particles).
Failed Tools
If a tool fails to process for some reason, it will not produce a thumbnail image. This usually happens when an upstream loader has no footage, is out of range, or if the tools valid region has been trimmed in the Timeline.
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Viewing Tools
Pass Through
Tools that have been set to Pass Through mode are effectively disabled and do not generate an image to display in the thumbnail view.
VIEWING TOOLS
Any tool in a flow can be viewed in the Display View, or through the frame buffer of supported video hardware. There are several methods for viewing tools.
Drag And Drop

You can drag a tool into the views by selecting it in the Flow and dragging your mouse over the View you wish to see the image in. The tool will appear to move at first, but will snap back into its original location once your mouse leaves the area of the Flow Editor.
View Indicators
A tool displayed in one of the views will have a series of indicators displayed on the left side of its tile in the Flow. One indicator is present for each available view. The indicator will turn magenta for the view in which that tool is displayed. To see what view is related to which indicator, hold your mouse over the indicator until an informative tooltip appears. You can click on one of these indicators to toggle the display of that tools image in the related view.
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Viewing Tools
If a tool is not currently showing in any of the views, holding the mouse over the tile will make the indicators visible and available for clicking.
Context Menus
View the output of a tool to one of the Image Views by right-clicking on the tool and selecting View On from the context menu for that tool.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Each Image View has a numeric keyboard shortcut assigned to it, from 1-9. Pressing that number on the keyboard will display the selected tool in the appropriate Display View. The Left Display View is 1, the Right Display View is 2, and additional floating displays and hardware frame buffers are assigned numbers in sequence. For more information about working with the Image Views, refer to the Display Views chapter in this manual. DFX+ 4 111
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Tool Tips And The Status Bar
TOOL TIPS AND THE STATUS BAR

Tooltips
Holding your mouse over any tool will display a pop-up Tooltip with that tools name, aspect, resolution and color depth. Any additional comments that have been entered will be displayed as well.
Status Bar
The Status Bar at the bottom of the screen, left of the interface, also displays the name, aspect and resolution of the tool beneath the mouse pointer.
COPYING AND PASTING TOOLS

Copying Tools
To copy a tool on the Flow to the internal clipboard, right-click on the tool and select Copy from the context menu, or select the tool and choose Copy from the Edit menu. The standard shortcut, CTRL C, will also work.
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Copying And Pasting Tools
Cutting Tools
To cut a tool on a flow and place it in the clipboard, right-click on the tool and select Cut from the context menu, or select the tool and choose Cut from the Edit menu at the top of the screen. The standard shortcut, CTRL X, will also work. Note this will remove the selected tool from the Flow.
Pasting Tools
To paste a tool back into a flow from the clipboard, right-click in the Flow and select Paste from the context menu.
If you would rather replace a tool already in the Flow with the contents of the clipboard, right-click on the tool you wish to replace, and select Paste from the tools context menu instead. You may also insert a tool from the clipboard between two other tools by selecting Paste while the pipe is highlighted. The standard shortcut CTRL V can be used to perform a paste. DFX+ 4 113
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Flow Context Menus
Pasting Tool Settings

DFX+ also offers the ability to paste the settings of the tool from the clipboard into another tool. This function has no keyboard shortcut, but can be accessed by right-clicking on the tool into which you wish to paste the copied settings.
When copying the settings from one tool to another, only the settings that match between two tools will be copied. For example, when pasting settings from a Merge tool to a Transform tool, the center control values, the blend, angle and size controls will be copied from one to the other.
FLOW CONTEXT MENUS

Each tool tile has an associated context menu that is accessed by placing the mouse over the tool and right-clicking. The context menu allows for operations like passing through a specified tool or group, caching the tool to disk, creating a preview, or viewing the tool. A description of the options in this menu follows.
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Flow Context Menus
Scale
Options
Arrange
Pipes Always Visible
This option will cause pipes to be rendered on top of the tools instead of beneath them.
Build Flow Vertically/Horizontally

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Flow Context Menus
Aspect Correct Tile Pictures

Forces the display of tile pictures to be aspect corrected (may leave black border around the tile).
Line Up To Grid
This option allows you to arrange tools according to an invisible grid.
Force
Active Tile Pictures

This option enables tile pictures for the actively selected tool
Source Tile Pictures

This option enables tile pictures for Loaders, and creator tools like Text, Background and Fast Noise.
All Tile Pictures

This option enables tile pictures for all tools in the flow.
All Tile Names

This option enables the display of tool names in the tile when Display Tile Pictures is on.
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Tool Context Menus
Paste
This option only appears when a tool is in the Clipboard.
TOOL CONTEXT MENUS

View On
Display the image from the tools output on one of the available image displays or hardware frame buffers.
Create/Play Preview
Create a preview of the tools output on one of the available image displays or hardware frame buffers. You can also create a preview by holding down ALT while dragging the tool into the Display View.
Settings
Options in this sub-menu are used to save a tools settings to a .dfs file, and load settings from disk, as well as to create or remove saved defaults for that tool.
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Tool Context Menus
Modes
Update
This option is selected by default. If Update is turned off, the tool will still allow changes to its settings and parameters. It will not update or process an image unless the Update option is turned back on.
Locked
Locking a tool will prevent you from making changes to the tools settings.
Show Controls
This option is on by default. If Show Controls is turned off, the tool will no longer appear in the Tool Controls area, and its on-screen controls will no longer appear in the Display Views.
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Tool Context Menus
Pass Through
A tool that has been passed through will not process its images or masks when rendered. The tool will simply Pass through any images it receives in its inputs.
Force Cache
When this option is enabled, the tools output is always cached in RAM.
Set Render Range

This menu command will set the Render Range of the Flow to the valid range of frames available to the tool.
Show
The options in this sub-menu enable and disable the display of additional information on a tool tile, such as the tiles name, whether a tile displays a thumbnail picture, and icons representing cached and locked states.
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Tool Tile Color Coding And Icons
Rename
Change the name of the selected tool(s).
Swap Inputs
This menu command will swap the Primary and Secondary inputs on a multiple input tool, for example, the Foreground and Background of a Merge tool. The keyboard shortcut CTRL W will also swap the inputs of the selected tool.
Cut And Copy

Cut and Copy the tool to the clipboard.
Paste Settings
Paste the Settings from the tool to the clipboard.
Delete
Delete the selected tool(s) from the Flow.
Group/Ungroup
Collapse the selected tools into a group, or expand an existing group.
Edit Splines
Switch the view to the Spline Editor. The splines for the selected tool(s) are displayed and enabled for editing.
TOOL TILE COLOR CODING AND ICONS

By default, the Tile Display for all tools in the flow is a Light Grey. Certain tiles will change color to indicate special properties or selection states.
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Yellow
A Yellow tool tile is the actively selected tool. This overrides all other tool coloring.
Blue (Saturated)
A saturated Blue tool tile is part of a passive selection.
Blue (Pale)
A pale Blue tool tile is a group tool.
Green
Green tools are source tools, either loading footage from disk, or creating images from scratch.
Pink
Savers are the only tools displayed in pink.
Purple
Particle tools are all colored purple.
Red
A Red tool tile indicates that the tool has failed to render for some reason.
Passed Through Tool Colors

A tool that is Passed Through (disabled) will be indicated by having its color darkened.
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Mode Icons
The following Icons are used in the tile pics to indicate that a tool has a special mode or option applied to it. Locked
No Update
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TOOL CONTROLS
INTRODUCTION
Every tool added to a flow in DFX+ has a set of parameters, or Controls, that determine how that tool behaves. When a tool is added, its controls appear in a window on the right side of the screen in the Controls Area. Each Control Window has a Header; a small title bar for the window that displays the tools name and a button to collapse or open the window. The Control Header is also a good place to access the tools context menu.
In addition to the controls that are unique to a given tool, any number of Masks and Modifiers can be attached to a tool and its parameters. Each mask or modifier attached to a tool has its own set of controls, in its own window. These control windows are visible when the tool is selected, and they can be found in the Mask and Modifier tabs of the Controls Area.
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The Controls Area Interface
THE CONTROLS AREA INTERFACE

Maximizing The Control Area
A small button labelled with a pair of arrows can be found at the top of the Controls Area, to the left of the tabs. Clicking on this button will toggle the controls area between Maximized and Regular Modes.
In Maximized Mode, the tool controls are aligned with the top of the screen, taking up the maximum possible height for the display of controls. In Regular Mode, the tool controls are aligned with the bottom of the Display Views, making the best possible use of horizontal space for the displays.
Viewing The Control Window For A Tool

To see the Control Window for a given tool, double-click on the tool in the Flow. This will open the control window for that tool. Scroll the Control Area so those controls are visible. Double-clicking on the Control Header for a tool will also open the controls for that tool, as will clicking on the small black arrow to the left side of the Control Header.
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Hiding The Control Window For A Tool

The Control Window for a tool can be hidden from display, so that the controls never appear, even if the tool is selected. To hide a control window for a tool, right-click on that tool in the Flow, or on the Control Header, and de-select Modes/Show Controls.
To re-enable the display of the Control Window for a tool, re-select Modes/ Show Controls from the tools context menu by right-clicking on the tools tile in the Flow.
Control Area Display Preferences

By default, DFX+ displays only the controls for the active tool. Controls for other tools in the Flow are hidden until the tool becomes active. This behavior is controlled by two options, Auto Control Close and Auto Control Hide. To find these options, select File/Preferences from the menu, and open the General Preferences.
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Auto Control Close

When the Auto Control Close option is enabled, the control window for the selected tool is the only open window. Every other control window is automatically closed whenever a new tool is selected.
Auto Control Hide

When the Auto Control Hide option is enabled, the only control window visible is the one for the currently selected tools. All other control windows are hidden to reduce clutter.
Selecting A Tool With The Control Header

Whenever you click on a tools Control Header, that tool becomes the Active tool, and any on-screen controls for that tool will be displayed in views that contain an image. This is exactly the same as activating a tool in the Flow.
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When a tool is the active tool, its control header turns Yellow to indicate that it is selected. Note that passive tools (blue selections) are not indicated in the tools Control Header, only active ones.
Viewing And Previewing A Tool With The Control Header

To view a tool in one of the display views, click and drag the tools Control Header into one of the display views. To make a preview in one of the display views, hold down the ALT key while dragging the tool header into the view.
Viewing A Tools Splines With The Control Header

To view all of the animated parameters associated with a tool, drag and drop the tool into the Spline Editor. The splines attached to the tool (if any) will automatically be selected and displayed for editing.
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Common Controls Tab
Renaming Tools
To rename a tool from the default name to something more meaningful, place the mouse pointer over the tools Control Header. Press the right mouse button and select Rename from the context menu. You can also select the F2 function key to rename the currently active tool.
COMMON CONTROLS TAB

Although every tool in DFX+ has its own unique controls and parameters, some controls can really apply to any tool. These controls have been collected into a Common Controls Tab found in almost all tools.
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Common Controls Tab
This tab is labelled with a radioactive symbol to indicate that it contains controls. The following controls are found in this tab.
Blend
The Blend control is found in all tools (except Loader/Creator tools). Use the Blend control to blend between the incoming, unaltered image and the final modified image. When the blend value is 0.0, the outgoing image is identical to the incoming.
Process When Blend Is 0.0

The tool is processed even when the input value is zero.
Apply Mask Inverted

Enabling the Apply Mask Inverted option inverts the complete Mask Channel for the tool. The Mask Channel is the combined result of all masks applied to a tool.
Multiply By Mask
Selecting this option will cause the RGB values of the masked image to be multiplied by the Mask Channels values. This will cause all pixels of the image not included in the Mask to be set to black.
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Common Controls Tab
Object And Material ID Masking

Use Object/Use Material (Checkboxes)
(With Module 4 Only) Some 3D software can render to file formats which support additional channels. Notably the RLA and RPF file formats support Object and Material ID Channels, which can be used as a mask for the effect. This checkbox determines whether the channels will be used, if present. The specific Material ID or Object ID affected is chosen using the next set of controls.
Pick (For Use Object/Use Material)

(With Module 4 Only) Use these controls to select which ID will be used to create a Mask from the Object or Material channels of an image. Use the Pick button, like the color picker, to grab IDs from the image displayed in the view. The image or sequence must have been rendered from a 3D Software package with those channels included.
Correct Edges
(With Module 4 Only) This toggles the method used to deal with overlapping edges of objects in a multi-layered image. When this control is toggled on, the coverage channels are used to improve the edges of tools and masks that make use of Auxiliary channels. When this option is toggled off, the coverage channels are ignored. For more information, consult the Auxiliary Channels chapter.
Motion Blur
This toggles the rendering of Motion Blur on the tool. When this control is toggled on, the tools predicted motion is used to produce the motion blur caused by the virtual cameras shutter. When the control is toggled off, no Motion Blur is created.
Quality
This determines the number of samples used to create a blur. A Quality setting of 2 will cause DFX+ to create two samples on either side of an objects actual motion. Larger values produce smoother results but increase the render time.
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Common Controls Tab
Shutter Angle
This option controls the angle of the virtual shutter used to produce the Motion Blur effect. Larger angles create more blur but increase the render times. A value of 360 is equivalent to having the shutter open for one whole frame exposure. Higher values are possible and can be used to create interesting effects.
Center Bias
This modifies the position of the center of the Motion Blur. Center Bias allows for the creation of motion trail effects.
Sample Spread
Adjusting this control modifies the relative weighting between the center sample and the secondary samples.
Information Tab
The Information Tab is also found on every tool. It can be extremely useful, especially when a number of artists are working on a flow. Click in the entry area and type any text. When you add a note to a tool, a small Blue icon with the letter I appears on the Control Header. To see the note in the Flow, hold the cursor over the tool tile for a moment.
Additional controls appear for the Loader tool. See the Loader And Creator Tools chapter for details.
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Types Of Controls
TYPES OF CONTROLS
Although a few tools use highly customized interface elements, the vast majority of parameters are modified using a mix of sliders, angle wheels, checkboxes, and so on. The following is a description of the most common control types found in DFX+.
Slider Controls
Slider Controls are used to select a single value from a range of values. Slider Controls are often set to a default value, but it is usually possible to add values outside of that default range manually.
Drag the slider left to decrease the value or to the right to increase it. Place the pointer over the slider bar, press the left mouse button and use the cursor arrow keys to change the values in small increments, or click on the sliders path to make large adjustments. You can also type the value directly in the box.
Thumbwheel
A Thumbwheel Control is basically a slider that does not have a maximum or minimum value.
Thumbwheel controls are typically used on angle parameters, although they do have other uses. To use a Thumbwheel Control, click on the center portion and drag left or right. You can also fine tune the parameter by clicking the arrow heads at either end of the control. As with all DFX+ controls, you can also type values directly in the text box. DFX+ 4 132
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Range Controls
Range Controls are used to define a range of values. To adjust the end values, drag the handles on either end. To move the entire range, drag the center of the range (colored bar). You can expand or contract the range symmetrically by holding down the CTRL key and dragging either end of the Range Bar.
Checkboxes
Checkboxes are controls with an on or off value. As with most DFX+ controls, they can be animated. The spline that controls such an animated control steps in and out instead of interpolating smoothly between keys.
Drop-Down Lists
Drop-Down lists are used to select one of a list of options. They function in much the same way as checkboxes; they are either at one discreet value or another.
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Types Of Controls
Color Wheel And Picker

The Color Picker is displayed wherever a tool parameter requires a color as its value. The selected color is shown in the swatch below the Pick button. The swatch has two halves, the left half shows the color, and the right half shows the color overlaid on a checkerboard to visualize the transparency. The Color Picker is extremely flexible, and has four different techniques for selecting and displaying colors.
The Windows Color Picker

Click on the Pick button to display the standard Windows Color Picker. Select one of the pre-saved colors, or create custom ones either by using the sliders or entering values in the text boxes.
The Color Wheel

Clicking on the small arrow button above the Pick button will reveal a Color Wheel and a luminance bar which can be used to select a color.
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Types Of Controls
Picking Colors From An Image

To use the Picker, click and hold on the Pick button. The cursor will change to the familiar eyedropper tool. While still holding down the mouse button, move the eyedropper over the View. The swatch will interactively display color values, and the selected color will fill the background of the Color button above. When the color displayed is the one desired, release the mouse button to set that color.
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Types Of Controls
Gradients
The Bar Gradient control is used to create the colors that a gradient follows from start to finish, using keyframe colors set along the length of the bar. The Gradient control is actually nine or ten controls in total, which are described below. Gradients have their own context menu, accessed by right-clicking on the Gradient. This provides options for animating, publishing and connecting one gradient to another. It also reveals one modifier specific to Gradients, which builds a custom gradient by sampling colors from an image produced by a tool in the Flow.
Gradient Type
Use this button array to select the method to draw the gradient. You may choose from Linear, Reflect, Square, Cross, Radial and Angle gradient types.
Start And End Coordinates

The Start and End controls are represented by two crosshairs in the display views, as well as a set of X and Y controls. They determine where in the image the Gradient begins and ends.
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Types Of Controls
Gradient Colors
This bar type gradient control is used to select the colors through which the gradient will transition when moving from the Start position to the End position. Only two color positions are available by default; the Start and End colors. To modify one of the colors, select the triangle below the color on the bar. Use the Color Selector controls to set the color. New keyframes are added to the Gradient Control by clicking just beneath the Gradient Bar. The position of the keyframes can be adjusted by clicking and dragging on the keyframe. To copy an existing keyframe, hold the CTRL key down before dragging the keyframe. To remove a keyframe, click and drag it straight up past the Gradient Bar, or select the keyframe and click on the red X button.
Gradient Interpolation Method

This button array determines what color space is used to calculate the colors between keyframes.
Offset
The Offset control is used to offset the position of the gradient relative to the Start and End markers. This control is most useful when used in conjunction with the Repeat and Ping-Pong modes described below.
Once / Repeat / Ping-Pong

These three buttons are used to set the behavior of the gradient when the Offset control scrolls the gradient past its Start and End positions.
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Animating Controls
1x1, 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5

These buttons control the amount of sub-pixel precision used when the edges of the gradient become visible in Repeat mode, or when the gradient is animated. Higher settings will take exponentially longer times to render.
LUT- Look Up Tables

Spline-based color controls appear in the Color Curves, Shader, Grain, Hotspot and Particle tools. Splines within the color control can be moved and shaped via their control handles.
To move a key point, simply drag it. New points can be added by clicking on an empty section of the Spline. Finally, these splines can be smoothed and linearized. For more information on working with LUTs, see the documentation for the Color Curves tool.
ANIMATING CONTROLS
Adding animation to controls is very easy and powerful in DFX+. Multiple controls can be modified by a single spline, as well as be affected by modifiers such as expressions. DFX+ 4 138
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Animating Controls
To Animate A Control
Place the mouse pointer over the control. Press the right mouse button and select Animate from the context menu.
To Set A Keyframe On An Animated Control

Place the pointer over the control. Press the right mouse button and select Set Key from the context menu.
Removing Animation
To remove an animation spline from a control, right-click on the control and select Remove Animation from the context menu.
Connecting One Control To Another Animated Control

Right-click on the control and select the name of the animated control to which you are connecting from the Connect To context menu. Connections between tool controls can only be applied when Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled.
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Animating Controls
Connecting One Control To Another Static Control

It is often useful to connect two controls without either control having to be animated. In this case, you must publish one control by right-clicking on the control and selecting Publish. Next, connect the second control as described above. Connections between tool controls can only be applied when Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled.
Attaching To Modifiers
Modifiers allow a tools controls to be animated by more procedural techniques, such as an expression or random number generator. Different modifiers are exposed for each type of control, i.e. point values like centers will reveal vector and distance modifiers, while numeric controls like sliders will reveal shake and calculation modifiers. Modifiers can only be applied to tool controls if Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled. Right-click on the control and select Modify With, then select the modifier you want to add. Only valid modifiers for the selected control are listed. DFX+ 4 140 For more information on Connections and Modifiers, see the Connections and Modifiers chapter later in this manual.
DISPLAY VIEWS
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ provides the ability to display the result of any tool in your flow. An unlimited number of displays can be active at any time, showing the progress of your composite at different tools simultaneously. DFX+s Display Views are also a dynamic area where you add, modify, and manipulate advanced tools such as Paths, Masks, Mattes and Keyers. By default, DFX+ opens with two Display Views visible at the top of the screen. Additional display views are added by opening a new Floating display area with the Window/New Window menu option. Each Display View has two buffers for images; the A and B Buffers. These buffers are also used to implement split screen wipes, allowing rapid comparison of the differences between the images in each buffer.
TYPES OF DISPLAY VIEWS

Left/Right Display Views
The primary display regions in DFX+ are the Left and Right Display Views. Located immediately above the Flow, Timeline and Spline regions, these views are always available for use.
Hardware Frame Buffers

When supported video hardware is present in the computer, DFX+ can take advantage of the hardwares frame buffer to display images on an external NTSC, PAL or HD monitor. They are extremely valuable for evaluating your images in the same format to which they will be output, and for determining color fidelity and accuracy with a properly calibrated output monitor. DFX+ 4 141
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Types Of Display Views
See the appendixes at the end of this manual for a complete list of supported video I/O hardware.
Note
The hardware display cannot be used to manipulate on-screen controls, like center crosshairs or masks.
Floating Display Views

In addition to the Large display views above the Flow, an unlimited number of Floating display views can be created for use. These views are excellent for taking full advantage of a dual monitor configuration.
To create a new Floating Display View, select Window/New View from the menu bar at the top of the screen. The position and configuration of the new view can be saved in the Layout Preferences, if required.
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Displaying Images In The Views
DISPLAYING IMAGES IN THE VIEWS

Viewing Tools
There are several methods for displaying the output of a tool in the Display Views. When a tool is displayed in one of the views, a status light will appear on the left side of the tools tile in the Flow. To determine in what view the tool is displayed, hold your mouse pointer directly over the status light until a tooltip appears.
Viewing Images With Drag And Drop

From The Flow View
Click and drag any tool in the Flow into a Display View, then release the mouse button to display that tools output.
From The Tool Controls

From the Control View to the left, click and drag the tools Control Header into the Display View to display that tools output.
From The Timeline

Click and drag the name of the tool from the Tree menu (to the left of the Timeline Editor) into the Display View to view that tools output.
From The File Browser

Drag and drop an image from the operating systems file browser into a Display View. This will not add a tool into a flow, and is used only to rapidly preview an image before actually adding it to the Flow.
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Viewing Images With The Context Menu

From The Flow View
Right-click on a tools tile in the Flow to display its context menu. Select View On, then select the name of the desired Display View.
From The Tool Controls

Right-click on the tools Control Header, on the left, to display the context menu for that tool. Select View On, then select the name of the desired Display View.
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From The Timeline

Right-click on the tools name, in the Tree menu right of the Timeline, to display the context menu for that tool. Select View On, then select the name of the desired Display View.
Viewing Images With Keyboard Shortcuts

Each Display View in DFX+ is assigned a numeric shortcut between 1-9, which can be used to quickly display the result of the currently selected tool. The Left Display View is accessed by pressing 1, the Right Display View is accessed with 2, followed by successive hardware frame buffers and floating views that are assigned numbers in the order in which they are created. To determine the shortcut assigned to a Display View, bring up the View On menu in any tools context menu. The shortcut assigned is displayed to the left of the tools name in the menu. The key found to the left of the 1 key can be used to quickly remove all images displayed in the views. Keyboard shortcuts are available for use when the Flow Editor or the Tool Controls are active.
Note
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Adjusting Layout And Scaling Of The Display Views
Viewing Images From Disk

Use display views to show stills, videos or sequences from your hard drive. From the desired view, right-click and select Load Image from the context menu. This will open a Windows file browser. Navigate to the folder with the footage or image to be viewed and click OK.
Still images will be displayed on the View in a static manner. For image sequences and multi-frame formats, the Transport controls will appear in the bottom of the Control Area, to play, review, and loop the sequence.
ADJUSTING LAYOUT AND SCALING OF THE DISPLAY VIEWS

There are several ways to layout the Left and Right Display Views, depending on your preferences, the operation at hand, and the size of the images with which you must work. The Left Display View can be used alone or enlarged to the full width of the display area for maximum working space. You can split the display between the Left and Right views equally. For even more working space, the top of the Tool Controls area can be aligned to the bottom of the display region, allowing the display views to use the entire width of the screen for images.
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Adjusting Layout And Scaling Of The Display Views
Layout Toolbar
The Layout Toolbar at the top of the interface (shown below) can be used to configure the display views to several preset layouts.
Button 1 Button 2
Maximizes the Left Display View, aligning the tool controls with the top of the screen. Split the available display region equally between the left and Right Display Views, aligning the tool controls with the top of the screen. Fully maximizes the Left Display View, aligning the tool controls with the bottom of the display area. Fully maximizes the display region, splitting the left and right views equally. The tool controls stay aligned to the bottom of the display region.
Button 3 Button 4
Splitter Bars
The relative sizes of the Left and Right Display Views can be adjusted using the Horizontal Splitter Bar between them. Click and drag on the splitter to increase or decrease the amount of space used by one view. The adjacent view will adjust to suit the new layout.
The amount of vertical space available for both display views can be adjusted by clicking and dragging on the Horizontal Splitter between the display region and the work region.
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Scaling The Display View
SCALING THE DISPLAY VIEW

Mouse Drag
Place the mouse pointer over the Display View and hold the middle and left mouse buttons down. Drag the mouse to the left and right to scale smoothly in and out. The scale is centered around the center of the image.
Mouse Click
Place the mouse pointer over the Display View and hold down the middle mouse button. While holding down, click on the left mouse button to increase the scale, or the right button to decrease the scale of the Flow by a fixed amount. The scale is centered around the position of the pointer.
Keyboard
Press the + or - keys on your numeric keypad while the Display View is active to change the scale by a fixed value. CTRL 1 will set the display back to its default of 100% scale. CTRL F will fit the display into the visible region.
Context Menu
Press the right mouse button while the pointer is positioned over the Display View and select Scale from the Display View context menu.
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Panning The Display View
View Toolbar
The Scale button in the Display View toolbar can also be used to adjust the scale. Click on the button once to bring up several scaling preset options.
PANNING THE DISPLAY VIEW

To Pan in any Display View, hold the middle mouse button down and drag the mouse in the desired direction. If your mouse does not possess a middle mouse button, you can hold CTRL SHIFT and click drag the view for the same effect.
PREVIEWS
In addition to displaying the output of a tool, the display views are also used to display Flipbook previews, file sequence playback, QuickTime and AVI files.
RAM Flipbook Preview

RAM Flipbook Previews are preview renders that exist entirely within RAM. They are created by holding down the ALT key and dragging a tool into the display views, or by selecting Create/Play Preview from the tool context menus.
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On-Screen Controls
When a RAM Flipbook is present in the Display View, the image is bordered with a slight bevel to distinguish it from normal tool views. Transport Controls for Flipbook playback are also shown beneath the tool controls to allow playback of the preview.
File Sequence Previews

When a Loader or Saver is selected, the file sequence or footage loaded by that tool can be played back in the Display View. Press Play on the Transport Controls that appear in the bottom of the tool controls region. When the Play button is selected, the file preview becomes active. DFX+ will load the images as quickly as possible and play them to the Display View. By default, the Left Display View is used for this purpose, but that default can be changed using the Preview Preferences. While the File Sequence Preview is enabled, normal viewing of tools to that Display View is disabled. To return to normal operation, select another tool or a blank area of the Flow. For more information, refer to the Final And Preview Renders chapter.
ON-SCREEN CONTROLS
The display views show On-Screen Controls for manipulating the controls of the currently selected tool. Common controls include crosshairs, angle indicators, polylines and paint strokes. Each of these controls can be manipulated directly in the Display View, using the mouse.
The controls displayed are for the active tool, which means that they are often displayed over an image produced by an entirely different tool. For example, it is often useful to display the controls for a Transform while viewing a downstream Merge tool. This allows you to see the affects of your actions on the overall composite as the adjustments are made. DFX+ 4 150
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A/B Buffers
Enabling/Disabling On-Screen Controls

The On-Screen Controls for a view can be disabled so that they do not interfere with viewing the image. To disable the On-Screen Controls, double click on the Show Controls button in the view toolbar, or select Show Controls in the Options submenu of the Display View context menu.
Making Fine Adjustments To Controls

Adjusting a control with the mouse often lacks the precision required for fine work. In these cases, the keyboard can often be used to make small finite adjustments to the selected control. The arrow keys can be used to adjust the position of the control along the vertical or horizontal axis by small steps. Holding the CTRL key down while using the arrow keys will reduce the distance of each step dramatically. Holding SHIFT down increases the distance of each step.
A/B BUFFERS
Each Display View has two buffers for viewing images. Each buffer can be considered a complete and separate view. The A/B buttons on the view toolbar are used to toggle the display between Buffer A and B.
Clicking once on one of these buttons will cause the display of the next buffer to momentarily toggle on. Double-clicking on the A/B button will cause the Display View to toggle and lock onto the other buffer.
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Split Wipe Images
SPLIT WIPE IMAGES

The A/B Buffers can be used to enable a split display, where the separate buffers are displayed on-screen simultaneously. The displays are separated by a red splitter bar, which can be adjusted in any direction or angle by clicking and dragging on the splitter.
To enable or disable Split Wipe mode, double click on the button between the A/B Budder buttons.
While Split Wipe is enabled, you can drag and drop new images into either buffer. It is possible to zoom into the image so far that the splitter is no longer visible. Holding down CTRL SHIFT on the keyboard and clicking anywhere in the image will cause the splitter to jump to the current mouse position.
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Status Bar Information
STATUS BAR INFORMATION

The Status Bar at the bottom of the DFX+ interface will provide the exact RGBA and Z values for the pixel beneath the mouse pointer, if the mouse is over one of the display views. Additional information about the X and Y coordinates of the mouse, and the exact pixel position, are also displayed in the Status Bar.
DISPLAY VIEW LABEL

Each Display View has a text Label, shown at the bottom of the view and to the right of the view toolbar. This Label displays the name of the tool currently viewed in the display. Double-clicking on the label will select the viewed tool and pan the Flow Editor so that the tool is visible (if it is not already).
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Displaying Color And Auxiliary Channels
DISPLAYING COLOR AND AUXILIARY CHANNELS

DFX+s display views are not limited to displaying only the full color version of the image. The individual Color and Auxiliary Channels that comprise the image can be viewed separately. Clicking once on the Toolbar buttons shown below will momentarily enable the display of a specific channel, respectively the Color, Red, Green, Blue, Alpha, Mask and Z Buffer channels. To lock the display of the channel, double-click on the button instead.
The following hotkeys provide one-touch access to the various channel views:
C R G B A M Z
Full RGB color display. Display Red channel only. Display Green channel only. Display Blue channel only. Display Alpha channel only. Display Masks channel only. Display Z-Buffer channel only.
TOOL SPECIFIC TOOLBARS

In addition to the Display View Toolbar at the bottom of each view, DFX+ also has a space reserved on the edge for toolbars specific to certain tools.
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Effect Masks
Masks, Paths, Text, Grid Warp and Paint all use this toolbar to provide rapid access to their features. You may customize the size and type of buttons displayed in this toolbar using its context menu, accessed by right-clicking on the toolbar.
EFFECT MASKS
DFX+s Effect Masks are used to restrict the affect of a tool to a specified portion of an image. Masks can be polylines, basic primitive shapes, paint strokes or bitmaps from other tools. To add an Effect Mask to the currently displayed tool, click on the button for the desired type of mask in the View Toolbar, or right-click in the Display View and select Effect Mask from the context menu.
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Guides
In addition to standard Effect Masks, two other types of masks are available on certain tools; Garbage Mattes and Pre-Masks. Garbage Mattes are similar to Effect Masks but are used to clear or solidify a portion of the images Alpha Channel. Pre-Masks are similar to Effect Masks but operate on the tool before the effect is applied. Not all tools support PreMasks. Garbage Mattes can only be applied to keying tools and matte control tools. Pre-masks can only be applied through the context menu. The mask buttons in the display toolbar will only add Effect Masks. For more information, see the Masks chapter.
GUIDES
You can display a number of standard Guides in the display views. Click the right mouse button over the view, select Guides, then select one of the following options from the Context menu.
Monitor Safety
This indicates the safe area viewable on monitors and television screens.
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Aspect
Safe Title
This indicates the safe area for titles viewable on monitors and television screens.
Center
This option shows the Center point, and X and Y axis, of the view. Toggle all enabled guides in View On and Off using the Show Guides button in the Display View toolbar.
ASPECT
Both NTSC and PAL standards, as well as some film formats, use a nonsquare pixel for display. DFX+ will automatically adjust the image displayed in the view to compensate for the square pixel Aspect used in your computer monitor. Although this aspect correction helps to keep the shape of objects in your image correct, it can occasionally cause the appearance of tearing on vertical edges. Clicking the 1:1 button on the View Selector bar, or selecting Options/View As Square Pixel from the views context menu, will override the aspect correction in the view and allow you to confirm that the tearing is an artifact of aspect correction, and not a problem with your composite.
For more information on the affect of Aspect on your composite, and how DFX+ handles Aspect Ratio, see the Frame Formats chapter in this manual.
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Display View Normalization
DISPLAY VIEW NORMALIZATION

Enabling the Display View Normalization button in the toolbars causes DFX+ to automatically normalize any image displayed in the view. Normalization causes the brightest pixel in a color channel to be mapped to a value of 1.0 (white) and the darkest pixel to be mapped to a value of 0.0 (black). Midrange values are scaled appropriately to suit.
This allows for visualization of the images Z buffer, or other auxiliary channels (when Module 4 is enabled), which often use value ranges far different from those in the color channels.
PREFERENCES
The default settings for each Display View can be changed using the View menu in the Preferences of DFX+. The position and size of each Floating View can also be saved using the Layout menu in the Preferences. For details on using the Layout and View Preferences, consult the Preferences chapter in this manual.
DISPLAY CONTEXT MENU

As with other views in DFX+, there are a number of options that can be set for the display views using context menus. Press the right mouse button in the view, select Options from the context menu and then select one of the following options.
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Display Context Menu
Scale
Use the selections in this sub-menu to resize the image in the Display View.
Display
This sub-menu can be used to select the Color Channel displayed in the views. The full color of the image is displayed by default, however, you may also choose to display greyscale representations of the Red, Green, Blue, Alpha and Mask channels.
Guides
Use the Guides sub-menu to enable the display of guides in the View, and to choose the specific guides to be displayed in the view.
Options
The choices in the options sub-menu provide control over the behavior of the Display View.
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Alpha Overlay
Use Alpha Overlay to view both the Alpha channel information and the full RGB information simultaneously. To change the color of the Overlay, from the context menu, choose Overlay Color. Smooth Resize Follow Active Show Controls Anti-aliases the display to improve its appearance at higher zoom percentages. Makes the display show the image for the currently selected tool. Toggles the display of masks, paths and on-screen controls.
Show Square Pixels This option disables the aspect correction normally applied to a view when images with non-square pixels are displayed. See Aspect earlier in this chapter.
Overlay Color
This sub-menu allows you to select the color used to display alpha overlays when the Overlay option of the Display View is active.
Inactive Control Color Selects the color of the Inactive control. Applicable Active Control Color Selects the color of the Active control.
Load Image
Use this menu option to load a picture, movie or image sequence from the hard drive into the Display View without adding a Loader onto the Flow.
Save Image
Use this menu option to save the image in the Display View to disk.
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TIMELINE
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ is not a non-linear editor, however, you will immediately recognize the Timeline view if you have any experience with non-linear editing. The Timeline Editor is a powerful tool for adjusting the timing of project elements. The length of a clip can be trimmed, with the duration of an effect clipped and multiple tracks moved with their associated splines.
TIMELINE INTERFACE
Timeline View
The Timeline View is the dominant part of the Timeline interface. Bars representing the valid time range of each tool are shown here, color-coded to tool type. The horizontal axis labels in this view represent time, and are usually labelled with frame numbers.
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Timeline Interface
Current Time Indicator

The Current Time Indicator is a vertical yellow bar running through the Timeline View and it indicates the position of the current frame or time. The current frame of a project can be changed by clicking and dragging this bar left or right. As you change current time, you will notice that the frame number is displayed to the right of the toolbars, to assist with precise positioning.
Tool Tree
The Tool Tree is a hierarchical view of the Flow, displayed to the left side of the screen. The name of each tool is displayed by name in this explorer-like interface tree. Tools with effect masks or animation splines can be opened further, revealing a sub-menu for each spline animation, modifier and mask attached to that tool.
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Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Timeline
Toolbars
The Toolbars sit above the Timeline view, providing access to various timeline filters, scaling modes and to the spreadsheet.
Spreadsheet
Normally hidden, the Spreadsheet View offers an alternate means of visualizing time in a project. The spreadsheet display is much like a financial spreadsheet, showing the numeric values of the selected tools, including trimming and keyframes.
VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE TIMELINE

Viewing The Timeline
Tab
Click the Timeline Tab located at the top of the Flow area to switch the work area view to the Timeline Editor.
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Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Timeline
F4
Pressing the F4 key with your cursor over the Timeline view maximizes the view on the screen. Press again to return it to the previous size.
Hotkey
Press F7 to switch to the Timeline view.
Panning/Scrolling The Timeline

To pan the Timeline view left or right, hold the middle mouse button and drag to the left or the right. You can also use the standard scrollbars at the bottom of the view.
Scaling The Timeline

To change the scale of the Timeline view, use one of the following methods.
Using The Toolbars

Scale Buttons Fit Buttons Zoom Buttons Located in the top left toolbar. Attempts to re-scale the view so that all currently visible tools fit within the Timeline view. Scales the graph view in or out.
Zoom To Rectangle Button Zooms into the region selected by clickdragging a rectangle.
Using The Axis Labels

Place the mouse pointer over the darker labels for the horizontal axis and click-drag to resize the Timeline view. The view is scaled with the position of the mouse pointer as center.
Using The Mouse

Place the mouse pointer over the Timeline view. With the middle mouse button held down, click once on the left mouse button to zoom in, and once on the right button to zoom out.
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Working With Tools In The Timeline
Using The Keyboard

Several keyboard shortcuts can be used while the Timeline is active to scale the display of the Timeline view. The + and - keys on the numeric keypad will scale in and out of the Timeline. Use CTRL R to enable scale to rectangle mode.
WORKING WITH TOOLS IN THE TIMELINE

Selecting Tools
To select a single tool in the Timeline, either click on the tools name or on the tools bar in the Timeline. To add another tool to the selection, hold down the CTRL key while selecting tools. Holding CTRL while selecting an already selected tool will remove it from the selection.
Moving Tools
To change the position of a tool in time, click and drag on the tools bar in the Timeline.
Trimming Tools
To trim a tool in the Timeline, click and drag on either end of the tools bar in the Timeline. When the mouse pointer is in the right location to trim, the mouse cursor will change to a vertical bar with a single arrow.
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Working With Splines In The Timeline
Trimming tools in the Timeline has a different effect depending on whether the tool is a source tool or an effect. Trimming a Loader tool will modify the Clip Time Start and Clip Time End of the loaded sequence or file. When any other tool in DFX+ is trimmed, it will modify the effect range of that tools effect. Outside of the trimmed region, the tool will behave as if it were passed through. This can be used to optimize performance in a flow. For example, imagine a clip that is 100 frames long, connected to a tool that animates a defocus from frame 80 - 100. There is little, to no, point in processing the defocus tool between frames 0-79, so trimming the tool to start at frame 80 in the Timeline will effectively prevent it from rendering and consuming memory or processor time until needed.
Extending First And Last Frame

To extend the First or Last Frame of a Loader tools clip, hold down CTRL while dragging the Loaders bar in the Timeline. See the tool reference for Loaders for details on extending frames.
WORKING WITH SPLINES IN THE TIMELINE

In addition to the bars that represent each tools valid region, the Timeline also shows any splines attached to that tool. When the splines are collapsed, they are drawn over the tools Timeline bar. Click on the Plus sign beside the tools name in the menu to display each spline with its own name and line in the Timeline.
Keyframes for the splines are normally represented as vertical bars, rather than points, to make them easier to manipulate.
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Working With Splines In The Timeline
Changing Keyframe Time

With The Mouse
Click and drag on the keyframe to position it at its new time. Multiple keyframes can also be moved in this fashion by box-selecting or CTRLclicking on the desired keyframes. Note that you are not restricted to moving keyframes from a single spline. Keyframes from several splines can be selected and moved together. The exact position of the dragged keyframe in time is displayed to the right of the Spline Toolbar while you drag, as well as in the Status Bar.
With The Edit Points Dialog

Select the keyframe to be moved using the mouse, then press E on the keyboard or select Edit Points from the context menu. This will display the Edit Points Dialog, which is used to modify the time of a single keyframe or the time offset and scaling of several keyframes.
With The Spreadsheet

When the name of the tool is selected in the tool menu, the keyframes will be shown in the Spreadsheet View. The timing of each keyframe can then be edited directly in the Spreadsheet. See the documentation for the Spreadsheet later in this chapter for details on its use.
Duplicating Spline Keyframes

Keyframes and multiple keyframe selections can be duplicated. Select the keyframe(s) you want to duplicate and, while holding down the CTRL key, drag the spline segment to a position without keyframes. The cursor will change from the forbidden symbol to a sub-selection cursor where the keyframes can be placed without over-writing existing keyframes. DFX+ 4 167
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Timeline Filters
Time Stretching
Time Stretching allows you to proportionally stretch or squash a selected spline or segment on that spline. To enable spline stretching, select this option from the context menu, or click on the Time Stretching button in the toolbar. If more than one keyframe is selected on the spline, the outer keyframes will be surrounded by two vertical purple bars. If no keyframes are selected, click and drag a rectangle to set the boundaries of the bars. The Time Stretcher can affect more that one spline at a time. Click and drag on the purple vertical bars to stretch or shrink the timing of the spline segments within the bars back and forth to stretch or squash the spline segment in time.
To disable the Time Stretching mode, click on the toolbar button again, or reselect Time Stretching from the context menu.
TIMELINE FILTERS
Flows with many tools can quickly become difficult to visualize in the Timeline. Timeline Filters can be applied to filter out the display of tools that are not necessary to the current operation. You can use pre-made Timeline Filters or create new ones as needed in the Timeline Preferences.
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Timeline Filters
Applying Filters
To apply a Timeline Filter, select the Filters button at the top left side of the Timeline view, as shown below. All of the available filters will be shown at the bottom of the menu that appears. Select the desired filter from the list to apply it to the Timeline.
Creating Filters
Open the Preferences dialog (File/Preferences) and select Timeline in the option tree to the left. This will display the dialog shown below.
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Timeline Filters
Click on the New button to create a new filter. Provide a name for the filter in the dialog box that appears. New filters default to having all tools enabled for display in the Timeline.
Configuring Filters
Use the checkboxes in the tool tree to enable or disable the display of specific tool types and tool categories in a filter. The Invert Categories and All Categories On/Off buttons can apply global changes to all of the checkboxes, toggling the selected states as described. When the Filter is Configured, select the Save button to close the Preferences dialog.
Removing Filters
A standard Show All filter is provided. To disable the currently applied filter, select the Show All filter from the Tools button in the Timeline. To permanently remove a filter, use the Delete button in the Timeline Preferences dialog.
Timeline.def
Timeline Filters you create are stored on disk in the file timeline.def, found in the directory where DFXPlus.exe is located. This file can be copied from one system to another to maintain your settings on a new installation.
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Timeline Options
TIMELINE OPTIONS
Collapse/Open All
The Collapse/Open All button is located to the far left of the Timeline Toolbar in the second row. It will be labelled with a + or a - symbol, depending on the current state of the tool menu. Clicking this button, when the label is a minus (-) sign, will collapse the tool menu, closing all open branches. When the label is a plus (+) symbol, all branches of the tree menu will be opened.
Current Time Mode

The Current Time button, labelled CT, is located to the far left of the Timeline Toolbar in the top row. When this button is enabled, it filters the Timeline Display so that only the tools that are valid at the current time are displayed.
This mode is extremely useful when dealing with a complex composite with many elements that appear and disappear.
Display Point Values

The Display Point Values option causes all keyframes in the Flow to be displayed as points instead of vertical bars. Select Options/Display Point Values from the context menu to enable or disable this option.
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Timeline Options
Line Size
The Line Size option controls the height of each timeline bar individually. It is often useful to increase the height of a Timeline bar, especially when editing or manipulating complex splines or audio waveforms. To increase or decrease the height of a Timeline bar, right-click on the bar in the Timeline view and select one of the five options for Line Size in the submenu that appears. The default Line Size is Medium.
Sort Order
The Tool Tree has several Sort modes to determine the order in which the tools are displayed in the tool menu. These Sort modes can be toggled by clicking on the button between the CT (Current Time) and the Fit button at the top left of the tool menu.
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Timeline Options
All tools
The default Sort Order is All Tools; it will display the tools in linear order.
Source
Source sorting will display tools starting with the most background element through to the most foreground, following the connections of the tools in the Flow.
Reverse
Reverse does the opposite of Source, working backward from the last tool in the Flow toward the most background source tool.
Animated
Animated mode is not really a sorting method. It is more of a filter type, which restricts the Timeline to showing animated tools only. An excellent mode to use when adjusting the timing of animations on several tools at once.
Autosnap
To assist you in precisely positioning spline keyframes and control points, options for Autosnapping to field, frame or guides can be accessed through the Timelines context menu. Autosnap only affects the horizontal (time).
Autosnap Points
To configure Autosnap, select one of the following options from the Options/Autosnap Points menu in the context menu.
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Timeline Options
None Frame Field Guides
Allows free positioning of keyframes and tool bar edges. When enabled, forces keyframes and tool edges to snap to the nearest Frame marker. Functions like Frame, except that the keyframes and tool edges will snap to the nearest Field marker. When enabled, the keyframes and toolbar edges snap to Guides in the Timeline.
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Guides
Context Menu
The context menu also has options for choosing how guides will snap when they are added to a flow, or repositioned. It is accessed from the Options/ Autosnap Guides context menu. None Frame Field Guides can be placed anywhere. When enabled, forces all guides to snap to the beginning of the nearest Frame marker. Functions like Frame, except that the guide will snap to the beginning of the nearest Field marker.
GUIDES
The Timeline provides Guides that can be used to precisely align and control the timing of tools and effects in the Timeline view. Tool range bars can be aligned and snapped to guides. They are also handy for keeping track of key events in your flow.
Setting Timeline Guides

To set a Timeline Guide, left-click directly beneath the Time Scale Label at the top of the Timeline Editor. For example, in the images below, a Timeline Guide is added at frame 100.
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Guides
Moving Guides
To Move a guide, click and drag the guide to the new time or right-click on the guide and select Edit Guide from the context menu.
Deleting Guides
To Delete a guide, click and drag the guide up past the axis labels, or rightclick on the guide and select Delete Guide from the context menu.
Renaming Guides
By default, a guide is named after the time (frame) where it is set. When using guides to navigate, it is often useful to give the guides more descriptive names. To Rename a guide, right-click on the guide and select Rename Guide from the context menu.
Guide Navigation Dialog

When the Timeline Editor is active, pressing SHIFT G will display the Guide Navigation Dialog. This dialog presents a list of guides that have been set in the Flow. Clicking on a guide will set the current time to the position of that guide. Right-click on the name of the guide in the list to display a context menu that permits either renaming or deleting of the guide.
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Spreadsheet
SPREADSHEET
Although a Timeline is an excellent place to visualize the overall timing of your project, it is not always the most accurate method of adjusting timing in complex animations. A Spreadsheet-style interface has been added to DFX+ to help with precision editing.
Displaying The Spreadsheet Editor

The Spreadsheet Editor is located beneath the Timeline Editor. To reveal it, click on the Show/Hide Spreadsheet button in the toolbar. The Spreadsheet will appear at the bottom of the Timeline interface.
To resize the display of the spreadsheet, place the mouse pointer over the splitter between the Spreadsheet and the rest of the Timeline. The pointer icon will change to a two-headed arrow. Click and drag the border to resize the available space reserved for the Spreadsheet.
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Spreadsheet
Selecting A Tool To Edit

To display a tools timing in the Spreadsheet, select the tool in the Timeline Editor. The tools In and Out points will appear in the spreadsheet. The In and Out points of the selected tool will appear in the keyframes line of the Spreadsheet. Clicking on the cell containing the value will make it possible to edit the value, which has the same effect as trimming the tool in the Timeline.
Selecting Multiple Tools To Edit

Multiple splines and tools can be edited together in the Spreadsheet. Select each tool in the Timeline Editor by CTRL-clicking on the tool name in the Tree view.
Selecting Animation To Edit

To edit an animation applied to a tool in the Spreadsheet Editor, select the Animation Spline in the Timeline. This will display each of the keyframes on that animation spline in the Spreadsheet. The values can now be edited by clicking in the cell and typing a new value for the keyframe.
Inserting Keyframes
New keyframes can be added by clicking in an empty keyframe cell and entering the desired time for the new keyframe. The new keyframe will be inserted into the Spreadsheet. A new value for the animation can now be entered.
Moving Between Cells Of The Spreadsheet

The Tab and Shift Tab keys can be used to move between cells in the Spreadsheet Editor.
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Timeline Tool Color Coding
TIMELINE TOOL COLOR CODING

A variety of different colors are used to draw the bars for each tool in the Timeline. These colors represent the type of tool and, in some cases, the tools status. Light Green Loaders and other source tools are generally represented in a very faint green, to indicate that this is an image source in the Timeline. Occasionally, a portion of the bar will be drawn in yellow to show extended or held frames. Brown will show frames which come from looping a Loader tool. Regular image processing tools in the Timeline are shown in light blue. Savers are shown as pink, or red, in regions where they will fail to save any frames.
Yellow Brown Light Blue Pink or Red
TOOL CONTEXT MENU

Most of the options found in the Tool Context Menu can also be found in the Timeline. The options in this menu are more completely documented later in this manual in the Flow Editor chapter. To open the Tool Context Menu, right-click on the name label for the tool in the tree menu, or right-click on the tools bar in the Timeline view. From here, view a tool, create a preview, set caching modes, cut/copy/paste, and perform other tool specific operations.
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Tool Context Menu
For complete documentation of the options in the tool context menu, see the chapter titled Flow Editor in this manual.
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SPLINE EDITOR
INTRODUCTION
The Spline Editor is where you manipulate the animation of various controls in DFX+. All animated controls are connected to a spline curve, as described below. One or more splines can be displayed in the editor for adjustment.
WHAT ARE SPLINES?

All animation in DFX+ is controlled by Splines, mathematical curves that describe the value of a control at any given point in time. Splines are represented on a graph, with time as one axis and the value of the control as the other. The advantage of using splines to represent animation is that splines do not require a value to be set for each and every frame of your project. For example, if you were to set a value of 1.0 on a control at frame 1, followed by a value of 10.0 at frame 10, the animation spline would automatically apply a value of 2.0 at frame 2, a value of 3.0 at frame 3, and so on. The values you explicitly specify are known as Keyframes, and the values between keyframes are smoothly interpolated or calculated based on the shape of the spline.
Creating Splines
To create a spline, right-click on the control you wish to animate in the Tool Controls and select one of the following options from the context menu that appears.
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What Are Splines?
Animate
Selecting Animate from the context menu will connect the control to a Bezier Spline. This is the most common method of animation, used in the vast majority of cases.
Bezier Spline
This option has exactly the same effect as selecting Animate.
Publish
This option will make the tools control values available to other tools when they are connected to the selected tool.
Modify With/Cubic Spline

The Cubic Spline option in the Modify With sub-menu will connect the control to a cubic-type spline. Cubic Splines try to find a smooth, natural curve that fits all of your keyframes. They do not use handles, offer less control over the curve, and are not commonly used.
Connect To
Please refer to the Connections and Modifiers chapter later in this manual.
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Spline Editor Interface
Deleting Splines
To remove an animation spline from a control, right-click on the control and select Remove Bezier Spline or Remove Cubic Spline from the context menu. The spline will be deleted if no other control is connected to the same spline.
SPLINE EDITOR INTERFACE

Spline Editor Working Regions
The Spline Editor Interface has three main working regions; the Graph View, Tree View and the Toolbars.
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Spline Editor Interface
Graph View
The Graph View is the largest region of the interface. It is here that the actual animation spline is displayed for editing. There are two axis in the graph view; the Horizontal Axis represents time and the Vertical Axis represents the splines value.
Tree View
The Tree View provides a mechanism for determining what splines are visible in the Graph View. The name of each spline in the project is shown beneath the tool that contains the animated control. The checkboxes beside each name are used to show whether that spline is currently shown in the Graph View, and whether the spline is enabled for editing.
Toolbars
The Toolbar represents the most common operations applied to a spline in the Graph View. The various operations represented by the Toolbar are all accessible from the graph views context menu. These buttons provide a faster shortcut. Their operation is described later in this chapter.
Current Time Indicator

The thin, yellow bar running vertically through the Spline Editor represents the Current Time of a flow. The Current Time Indicator can be used to change the current time by clicking and dragging on it.
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Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Interface
Status Bar
The Status Bar at the bottom left of the screen constantly displays information about the position of the mouse pointer along the Time and Value axis, whenever the pointer is over the Graph View.
VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE INTERFACE

Opening The Spline Editor
Using The Tab
Click the Spline Tab located at the top of the Flow area to switch the view to the Spline Editor.
Using The Keyboard

Press F8 to switch to the Spline Editor.
Using The Context Menus

Right-click on a spline or tile within the Flow or Timeline views and select Edit Splines from the context menu.
Scaling The Spline Editor

Often times, it is necessary to adjust and scale the display area within the Spline Editor to make sure that your splines are visible. There are a number of different ways that this can be accomplished.
Using The Toolbars

The Scale buttons are located at the top left corner of the graph view. The Fit button attempts to re-scale the view so that all of the currently active splines fit within the Graph View. DFX+ 4 185
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Viewing, Scaling And Panning The Interface
The buttons with the magnifying glass icons will scale the Graph View horizontally or vertically.
Using The Axis Labels

Place the mouse pointer over the darker labels for the horizontal or vertical axis and click-drag to resize the Graph View on that axis only. The view is scaled with the position of the mouse pointer as center.
Using The Mouse

Place the mouse pointer over the Graph View. With the middle mouse button held down, click once on the left mouse button to zoom in, and once on the right button to zoom out.
Using The Keyboard

Keyboard shortcuts can be used while the Spline Editor is active to scale the display of the Graph View. + And - Keys CTRL R Scale To Fit These keys on the numeric keypad will scale in and out of the view. Enables scale to rectangle mode, which allows you to click-drag a rectangle around the area of the graph view. Fits the entire spline within the Graph View.
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Displaying Splines For Editing
DISPLAYING SPLINES FOR EDITING

The menu to the left of the Spline Editor is a Tree Menu, just like the file browser in Windows. The top level of the menu shows the name of any tool in the Flow which has an animated control. The next level, which is revealed by clicking on the plus symbol next to the tools name, shows all of the names of the animated controls in that tool.
Checkbox
Beside the name for each spline there is a Checkbox that indicates the status of that spline. Changing the selection mode of the Checkbox changes the status of that spline. There are three selection modes for each Checkbox.
Enabled
When the Checkbox is Enabled, that spline is displayed in the Graph View, and the spline is Enabled for editing.
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Viewed
When the Checkbox is Enabled and the check is grey, the spline is dimly visible in the Spline Editor, but it is read-only, and cannot be edited.
Disabled
When the Checkbox is cleared, the spline is not visible in the Graph View and cannot be edited.
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Clicking directly on the Checkbox will toggle it between these three states. You will also notice that a Checkbox is found beside the name for each tool. Changing the state of the Checkbox at this level will set the mode for all splines attached to that tool.
Labels
Clicking directly on the name Label for a spline in the spline tree will enable that spline for display and editing. If One mode is enabled, it will also disable any other splines that are currently enabled for display.
Changing Spline Colors

Each spline in the Graph View is assigned a different color, to make it easier to identify when many splines are visible at once. When the spline is active, the checkbox in the Tree View will also be drawn in the same color as the spline. Occasionally, you may want to change the color of the spline. Right-click on the name of the spline in the tree menu and select Change Color from the context menu.
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Working With Keyframes
Renaming Splines
The default name for a spline is the name of the control it animates. It is often useful to assign more descriptive names to a spline, especially if a flow will be used for a long time, or by many people. Right-click on the name of the spline in the tree menu and select Rename Spline from the context menu that appears.
WORKING WITH KEYFRAMES

Once a spline is displayed in the Graph View and enabled for editing, you can manipulate the splines Keyframes (and thus the animation) in a variety of ways.
Selecting Keyframes
Select Keyframes
To select Keyframes on a visible spline, click directly on the Keyframe, or click-drag a small rectangle around the Keyframe. To select multiple keyframes, click-draw a rectangle that encloses all desired keyframes.
Add Or Remove
To add or remove a Keyframe from the current selection, hold CTRL down while selecting the points. This will remove currently selected keyframes and add unselected points to the selection.
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Select All Keyframes

Use the CTRL A keyboard shortcut or choose Select All from the graph views context menu to select all of the keyframes currently enabled for editing.
Moving Keyframes
Keyframes can be moved with the mouse, keyboard, or using the edit point controls. A keyframe cannot be made to overlap an existing point. If a key exists at frame 2 and also at frame 5, the key at frame 5 cannot be moved to frame 1.
With The Mouse

Click and drag the selected keyframe to its new position in the spline. If more than one point is selected, all selected points will be moved with the one clicked. Hold the ALT key down before dragging the point to constrain its motion to a single axis.
With The Keyboard

Use the cursor keys to move selected keyframes by small fixed amounts. The left and right cursor keys will move the keyframes by a single frame, and the up/down cursors will adjust the value of the keyframe by a small amount. The degree of vertical movement applied to the value with each keypress is determined by the current scale of the Graph View. The closer the zoom in the spline, the finer the adjustment will be. Hold the SHIFT key down while making keyboard adjustments to a keyframe to increase the amount of adjustment.
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With The Edit Points Controls

The Edit Points Controls are found in the toolbars, and they are wide buttons with text labels that usually say Value and Time. These allow explicit values to be entered for selected keyframes. These controls are explained in more depth later in this chapter.
Adding New Keyframes

New keyframes are automatically added to a spline whenever you change the value of the control that the spline is animating. For example, if you change the strength of an animated Glow at frame 15, a keyframe with the new value will be set at frame 15. You can also add points to a spline by clicking directly on the spline in the position where the new keyframe is to be added. A new keyframe can be added at the current time by pressing K on the keyboard. Selecting Set Key from the context menu adds a new keyframe along the active spline wherever the mouse pointer was positioned.
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Deleting Keyframes
To delete a keyframe or keyframes, simply select the keyframe and press the DEL key on the keyboard. This will only remove the keyframes. It will not remove the spline. Note that the last keyframe cannot be deleted.
Copying And Pasting Keyframes

DFX+ allows you to copy the values from one spline key point to another. These values can even be copied from one spline to another. To quickly copy points from one segment of a spline to another, hold CTRL down and drag the selected points to where they will be pasted.
Copying Keyframes
To copy a value, or values, select the desired keyframes and press CTRL C, or select Copy from the context menu.
Pasting Keyframes
Place the mouse cursor at the time where the points are to be pasted and select Paste from the context menu. The points will be pasted into the current spline.
Linear And Smooth Splines

Although a keyframe defines the value of an animated control at a specified time exactly, there is some flexibility in the way the segment between two keyframes is treated.
Linear
A Linear Segment will effectively take the shortest route, which is a straight line, between two keyframes. To make the selected keyframe(s) linear, press the L key or click the Linear button in the toolbar.
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Smooth
A Smooth Segment curves to provide a gentle transition in and out of a keyframe. To make the selected keyframe(s) smooth, press the S key or click the Smooth button in the toolbar.
Step In And Out

It is not always desirable to have any interpolation between two keyframes. Instead, you may need to have the value of one keyframe held until another keyframe is set. For these cases, use the Step In or Step Out mode. Setting Step In on a keyframe will cause the value of the previous keyframe to be held, then jump straight to the value of the next keyframe. Step Out will cause the value of the selected keyframe to be held right up to the next keyframe.
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You can set Step In and Step Out modes for selected keyframes by clicking on the toolbar buttons for each mode, or by right-clicking and choosing the appropriate option from the context menu. The keyboard shortcuts I and O can also be used to enable Step In and Step Out selected keyframes.
Bezier Handles
All Bezier spline keyframes have a pair of Control Handles used to shape the spline as it passes through the key point. These handles can only be seen when the keyframe is selected. Clicking and dragging on a keyframes handles will adjust the slope of the segments passing through the spline.
By default, the two control Handles on a key point are locked together so that if one moves, the one on the other side moves with it. This maintains a constant tension through the keyframe. There are situations, however, when it is desirable to modify these control handles separately for a more pronounced curve or effect.
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Advanced Spline Manipulation
To temporarily break the lock between the control handles, select the key point that you want to modify. While holding down the CTRL key, click on the control handle. They will now move independently, as long as the CTRL key is held down. To make the Spline Editor treat all Bezier Handles as independent, rightclick and select Options/Independent Handles.
Showing Key Markers

A region immediately below the labels of the horizontal time axis has been set aside to show markers indicating the position of each keyframe. The display of these markers can be enabled by right-clicking on the graph view and selecting Show/Key Markers from the context menu, or by clicking on the button labelled Show Key Markers in the toolbar.
When the Key Markers are visible, they can be used to adjust the position of the keyframes in time by clicking and dragging on the markers.
ADVANCED SPLINE MANIPULATION

Time And Value Editors
The Time and Value buttons are each accompanied by two edit boxes, which can be used to enter precise values for the selected keyframes. Clicking on the buttons will switch between three modes, each described below. DFX+ 4 196
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Time
When a keyframe is selected, the frame of that key will be shown in the edit box to the right. Entering a new frame into the edit box will move that key to the specified frame. If no keyframes are selected, or if multiple keyframes are selected, the edit box will be empty and nothing can be entered into it.
Time Offset
Clicking once on this button will enable Time Offset mode, and the edit box to the right can now be used to offset the frame where the selected keyframes exist. An offset of either positive or negative values can be entered. It is possible to offset multiple keyframes. Entering an offset of 2 will move a selected keyframe from frame 10 to 12.
Time Scale
Clicking a second time on this button will enable the Scale mode. The selected keyframes will be scaled around the current time by whatever value is entered here. It is possible to scale multiple keyframes. Entering a scale of 2 will move a selected keyframe from frame 10 to 20.
Value
When a keyframe is selected, the Value of that keyframe will be shown in the edit box to the left of the button. Entering a new number into the edit box will change the Value of the keyframe. If more than one keyframe is selected, the values of the keyframes are averaged. Entering a new value will cause all keyframes to adopt that value.
Value Offset
Clicking once on the button will enable the Offset mode. Entering a new number in the edit box will then cause the selected keyframes values to be moved by the amount specified. Entering a value of -2 will change the keyframes value from 10 to 8. DFX+ 4 197
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Value Scale
Clicking a second time on the button will enable the Scale mode. Entering a new value will cause the selected keyframes values to be scaled or multiplied by the specified amount. Entering a value of 0.5 will change the keyframes value from 10 to 5.
Reverse
Reverse inverts the coordinates of a selection of points. To apply reverse, choose a group of points in a spline and select Reverse from the context menu or use the V hotkey. The group of points is then mirrored in the Graph View. Points surrounding the reversed selection will be also affected.
Looping Splines
It is often useful to repeat a given section of an animation, either infinitely or for a specified number of times, to create effects like a strobing light or spinning wheel. DFX+ offers a variety of ways to repeat a selected segment.
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Loop
To repeat, or Loop, a selected spline segment, select the keyframes to be looped. Select Set Loop from the context menu, or click on the Set Loop button in the toolbar. The selected section of the spline will be repeated forward in time until the end of the Global Range, or until another keyframe ends the repeating segment.
DFX+ also allows you to modify the looped segment by modifying one, or any, of the key points that were originally used to create the Loop. Simply select one of these originating key points, make any modifications to it as necessary, and you will see the looped segment update.
Ping Pong
The Ping Pong Loop mode repeats the selected segment, with each successive loop reversed so that the segment plays through, reverses itself, then repeats. Relative Looping can be enabled on the selected segments from the context menu or the toolbar.
Pre Loop
The Pre Loop option is exactly like the Loop option, except that the segment is repeated backward in time, rather than forward. The Pre Loop option can only be enabled from the context menu. There is no toolbar button.
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Relative Loop
The Relative Loop mode repeats the segment as with Loop, but each repetition adds upon the last point of the previous loop, so that the values increase or decrease steadily over time.
Repeating Splines
Repeated Splines are like looped splines, except that the selected segment is only repeated a specified number of times, and each repetition is a copy, so adjustments to the original segment do not alter the shape of its repetitions. The repeat modes can only be accessed from the Repeat context menu, which reveals a sub-menu with all of the looping modes described above. Selecting any of these modes will open a dialog where the number of times the segment is to be copied can be entered.
Time Stretching
Time Stretching allows you to proportionally stretch or squash a selected spline, or segment on that spline. To enable spline stretching, select this option from the mode sub-menu in the context menu, or click on the Time Stretching button in the toolbar.
If more than one keyframe is selected on the spline, the outer keyframes will be surrounded by two vertical purple bars. If no keyframes are selected, click-drag a rectangle to set the boundaries of the bars. Click and drag on the purple vertical bars to stretch or shrink the timing of the spline segments within the bars. DFX+ 4 200
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Drag these bars back and forth to stretch or squash the spline segment in time.
To disable the Time Stretching mode, click on the toolbar button again, or reselect Modes/Time Stretching from the context menu.
Shape Box
The Shape Box Spline Transformation mode is similar to the Time Stretcher mode, however, it adjusts the scaling of keyframe values as well as time. To enable the Shape Box, select Mode/Shape Box from the context menu, or click on the Shape Box button in the toolbar. A purple rectangle will be drawn around points selected when the mode is enabled. If no points are selected, click and drag a new region with the mouse. To redraw the rectangle, click and drag a new region with the mouse as well. You can scale the segments enclosed within the box by click-dragging on the edges of the box. You can also distort the corner points to affect the key points inside. Hold the CTRL key down while moving a point to scale its complementary (opposite) point equally. Use the SHIFT B keyboard shortcut to enable and disable the shape box mode.
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Spline Taper
The Spline Taper controls provide a more precise way to adjust the length of the Bezier shape handles attached to selected keyframes. Select Edit/Taper, or press T on the keyboard, to get Spline Taper controls in the toolbar.
Reduce Points
The Reduce Points dialog can be used to decrease the number of points in a spline.
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Managing The Spline Interface
DFX+ will attempt to maintain the overall shape of the spline, while eliminating redundant points from the path. Select Reduce Points from the context menu to display the Reduce Points dialog. The dialog that appears contains a slider, with a range from 0 to 100 to represent the accuracy of the spline.
When the value is 100, no points will be removed from the spline. Use smaller values to eliminate more points. This mode is most useful when used on splines with a so many points that it becomes difficult to edit.
MANAGING THE SPLINE INTERFACE

Guides
Guides are markers created by you to help identify important frames in your project. For example, they may indicate a frame where a footfall occurs in the scene, the moment that someone passes through a portal in the image, or any other important event in your composite. Guides are created in the small area between the Time Axis Labels and the Graph View. They have the appearance of a small blue triangle, with a blue line that extends from them vertically through the Graph View. Holding the mouse pointer over a Guide will cause a tooltip to appear with the frame to which that guide is set. The name is assigned to that guide.
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Creating Guides
To Create a Guide, click in the space immediately above the Graph View below the Time Axis Labels.
Deleting Guides
To Delete a Guide, click and drag it up beyond the axis labels, then release the mouse. Alternately, right-click directly on the guide and select Delete Guide from the context menu.
Moving Guides
Click and drag a Guide to reposition it along the time axis.
Jumping To Guides
Right-clicking in the guides area and selecting Jump To Guide will cause a small dialog box to appear with the names of the guides in the Flow. Double-clicking on the name for a guide will cause the current time of the Flow to jump to that frame.
A faster way to make this dialog appear is to press CTRL G on the keyboard.
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Autosnapping And Guides

By default, a newly created guide will snap to the closest frame. Guides that are moved with the mouse will also snap to the current frame. This behavior can be changed by selecting Options/Autosnap Guides/None or Options/ Autosnap Guides/Field from the context menu. One of the many advantages to guides is that keyframes which are moved close to a guide will snap to the guide, allowing for precise timing. This behavior is on by default, but it can be disabled by selecting Options/ Autosnap Points/Guides in the spline context menu.
Autosnap
To assist you in precisely positioning spline keyframes and control points, DFX+ has an Autosnap function. Autosnap controls can be accessed through the Spline Editors context menu. Autosnap only affects horizontal (time) snap. Control points are always free to move in vertical (value) range.
Autosnap Options
Press the right mouse button, select Options/Autosnap, then select an option from the context menu.
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Importing And Exporting Splines
None Frame Fields Guides
Allows full free-floating position of control points. Forces control points to snap to the nearest Frame marker. Forces control points to snap to the nearest Field marker. Forces control points to snap to the nearest Guide.
IMPORTING AND EXPORTING SPLINES

Spline shapes can be imported and exported from ASCII text. This makes it easier to save complex spline curves for later re-use, or to transfer tracking, path and animation data from one application to another. Exported splines are assigned the file extension .spl to make them easier to identify. A detailed description of the format used when exporting a spline can be found at the end of this manual in the Appendix on ASCII Export.
Exporting A Spline
To export a spline, make sure it is active in the Spline Editor. Right-click on the spline to display the context menu. Select Export from the context menu and select from the three format options in the sub-menu. A file browser dialog will appear to select the name and location for the output file.
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Additional Spline Options
Importing A Spline
It is also possible to import ASCII splines from disk to an animated control. To import a spline, first animate the control. Then, in the Spline Editor, rightclick on the animation spline and select Import Spline from the context menu. Select the .spl file that contains the new spline curve from the file browser that appears. This will replace any existing animation on the spline.
ADDITIONAL SPLINE OPTIONS

Context Menu
There are a few options in the context menus that have not been covered above. They are mostly options governing the operation or display of the spline editor.
Scale/Scale Time And Value

When both of these options are enabled, scaling with plus and minus keys or mouse mutually affects the Time axis and Value axis of the spline. For example, enabling Scale Time and not Scale Value will increase or decrease the horizontal axis of the spline only while scaling. DFX+ 4 207
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Additional Spline Options
Options/Autoscale
When enabled, the Graph View automatically scales to fit when you select a spline. All visible splines are taken into account, not just the newly selected spline. With this option off, activating a new spline will not change the vertical scale.
Options/Follow Active
This option causes all splines connected to the currently active tool to be made visible and ready for editing whenever a tool is selected.
Options/Independent Handles
Enabling this option causes all Bezier handles in a keyframe to be independent from their twin on the same keyframe, which is exactly the same as if the CTRL key were held down while moving the handle.
Show/Tips
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12
BINS
INTRODUCTION
As you work with DFX+, you will discover that there are elements that can be used over and over again. It is useful to be able to keep these files close at hand. The Bins in DFX+ were created for this purpose. The Bins can store footage, clips, flows, tool settings and tool groups for easy access. The Bins are laid out with a number of tabs. Each tab represents an individual bin. You can add, delete, and rename bins by right-clicking the top of the tab and selecting either New, Delete or Rename from the context menu.
OPENING AND CLOSING THE BINS

The Bins are a separate window that floats over the main DFX+ interface. To open and close the bins window, select the Bins button in the toolbar, go to File/Bins, or use the keyboard shortcut CRTL B.
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Opening And Closing The Bins
Creating A New Bin

If the Bins are empty, right-click anywhere in the Bins and select New Bin from the context menu. If the Bins window contains one or more Bins, rightclick on the tabs at the top of the Bins to call up the correct context menu. Assign the Bin a name using the pop up dialog, and click on OK.
Creating A Tool Bin

The Create Bin option in the context menu can be used to quickly create a bin containing all of the tools accessible from DFX+. The sub-menu shows options for DFX+ standard tools, as well as third-party plug-ins that may be installed. Select one of the sub-menu options to create a new bin containing all of the tools from that category.
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Deleting A Bin
To remove a Bin, and all of its contents, right-click on the Bins name in the tabs and select Delete from the context menu. You cannot undo this option.
Renaming A Bin
To rename a Bin, right-click on the name of the Bin in the tabs, and select Rename Bin from the context menu.
Adding Items To The Bin

There are three kinds of items that can be placed in a Bin; footage, tools and tool settings, and saved flows.
Flows And Footage

To add items to the Bins, right-click inside the Bin and select Add Item from the context menu. A file browser will appear. Select the footage, files or flows you wish to add. You can also add flows, footage and settings to a bin by dragging and dropping them into the Bin from the Windows file browser.
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Tools
To add a tool with default settings to the Bins, drag and drop the Toolbar button for that tool into the Bin. You can drag and drop some DFX+ tools and all third-party plug-ins, or load the .dfp file for that tool from the Plugins directory. For example, to add the Particle tools to a bin, locate the file particles .dfp in the DFXPlus/Plugins directory, then drag and drop the file into a bin.
Tool Settings
To save the Settings of a tool and add them into the Bin, select the tool in the Flow and drag it into the desired Bin. A dialog will appear so that you can choose where on disk the new settings file will be saved. That setting will be stored in the Bin.
Stills Vs. Sequences

DFX+ attempts to identify file sequences on disk and automatically loads them as sequences rather than stills. It is not necessary to select more than one file from a file sequence. DFX+ will automatically identify the sequence as a single clip when it loads it into the Bins.
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Occasionally, you will want to ignore the sequence and just add the clip into the Bins as a single file or still. If you hold the SHIFT key down while adding the clips to the Bin, each file will be seen as a still. This technique applies to dragging and dropping as well as using the file browser.
Deleting Items From The Bin

To remove an item from the Bin, select the item and press DELETE, or right click on the item and select Delete from the context menu.
Using The Bins

To use the items in a bin, drag and drop them into the main DFX+ interface. Each type of item behaves a little differently when dropped into a flow.
Footage
Dragging a clip or footage into the Flow creates a new Loader pointing to that footage on disk. Still files or single images will be set to loop automatically. DFX+ 4 213
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Stamp Files
Flows
To load a flow, drag a flow item from the Bin and onto the Time Area, Toolbars or Status Bar. Dragging a Flow from the Bins to the Display Views, Control Areas or Work Area will do nothing.
Tools
Dragging a tool from the Bin to the Flow will add that tool into the Flow with the default settings. Dragging a tool from the Bin into a Display View will insert that tool after the currently viewed tool.
Tool Settings
Dragging tool settings from the Bin to the Flow will add the tool(s) into the Flow with the saved settings applied. Dragging from the Bin into a Display View will insert the tools after the currently viewed tool.
STAMP FILES
Stamp Files are proprietary files that DFX+ uses to reference the frames that make up a clip. These allow DFX+ to quickly play back the individual frames in an image sequence. Although there have been vast improvements in the preview playback, stamps remain the only way to preview a 4K Cineon sequence in anything close to real time. To create a Stamp File for a clip, right-click on the clip and select Create Stamp from the menu. The Status Bar at the top of the Bins window shows DFX+s progress.
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Stamp Files
Stamp creation occurs in the background, making it possible to continue to work with the Flow. Be aware that creating stamps can be time consuming, and is dependent on the power of your computer and the size of the image sequence.
Clip Playback
To play back a Clip, right-click and select Play from the context menu. DFX+ plays the clip back in its image icon (see Icon Size under Menu later in this chapter).
Scrub
In addition to being able to play back the clip, DFX+ also offers you the ability to Scrub through the clip. To Scrub a clip, select the clip and rightclick and drag in a horizontal direction. This displays the clip on the Large View.
Jog And Shuttle

To select Jog or Shuttle, right-click and select Scrub Mode/Jog or Scrub Mode/Shuttle from the context menu.
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Stamp Files
Jog
Jog works the same as the jog shuttle on VTRs, with the clip icon as the pause position. Right-click and drag to the right for forward jog and to the left for reverse jog.
Shuttle
Shuttle works the same way as a dial shuttle. Move the mouse to the right to scrub forward and to the left to scrub back frame by frame.
Menu Settings
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Sharing Bins
Add Item
This option opens a file browser to allow items to be added to the Bin.
Auto Arrange
When the Bins window is resized, Auto Arrange attempts to keep all icons within view.
Arrange
Arrange forces DFX+ to rearrange icons.
View
The View menu setting allows you to select the format in which icons will be presented. The choices are Large View, Small View, List and Details.
Icon Size
This menu setting selects the size of the icons in the Bins window.
Sort By
Specify the order in which the icons are sorted. Choose from Name, Category, Format, Width, Height, Depth, Clip Path, Current Frame and Frames.
Scrub Mode
This allows you to select how the interactive scrubbing will operate.
SHARING BINS
The settings for each bin is saved in the DFXPlus/Bins directory in a file called binname.dfb. For example, a bin named Footage will be saved as DFXPlus/Bins/footage.dfb. These files can be saved, restored and copied to other systems running DFX+.
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Sharing Bins
The path to the Bins directory can be configured in the Path Preferences. One technique which can be applied is to change the Bins directory on all workstations to the same network accessible directory. All workstations can then share the same set of Bins. Changes made to the Bins by one person will be dynamically picked up by the Bins on all other workstations using that directory.
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13
POLYLINES
INTRODUCTION
Bezier Polylines appear whenever a control is animated with a path or when a tools effect is masked with a polygon mask. They also appear in the Paint and Grid Warp tools. In a more basic form, Polylines are used to control the animation of every single animation in DFX+ via the Spline Editor.
The simple shapes above are used constantly in DFX+ for just about everything. As a result, you will find them to be extremely flexible, with a tremendous amount of controls, modes and options controlling their use. This chapter offers an overview of Polylines and their operation. It will not discuss how to create Paths or Effect Masks. The Masks and the Paths chapters later in this manual will cover those topics in depth. DFX+ 4 219
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What Is A Bezier Polyline?
WHAT IS A BEZIER POLYLINE?

Bezier Polylines are shapes composed of key points and Bezier handles. Several points together are used to describe the overall shape of a Polyline.
Each key point has associated with it a pair of Bezier handles. They are used to define the exact shape of the polyline segments passing through each key. Adjusting the angle or length of these Bezier handles will affect whether that segment of the Polyline is smooth or linear. If you use a 3D Software package, you may already be familiar with many of the basic concepts relating to the use of Bezier Polylines.
Polyline Toolbars
Whenever a tool containing one or more polylines is selected, the Polyline is shown on all Display Views, and the its toolbar will appear. The Polyline Toolbar contains several buttons that make switching polyline modes and options easy to access. To identify each of the buttons, place the mouse pointer over the button until a tooltip describing the buttons function appears. Clicking on a button will affect the currently active polyline (see Polyline Focus below), or the selected polyline points, depending on the button.
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What Is A Bezier Polyline?
To change the size of the toolbar icons, add labels to the buttons or perform other adjustments to the toolbars appearance, right-click on the toolbar and select from the options displayed in the toolbars context menu.
Polyline Focus
Keyboard shortcuts and toolbar selections will only affect the currently active polyline. That is to say, the changes will only affect the polyline that has the focus at the moment. Polyline Focus allows you to have several polylines on one tool, and still affect each polyline individually. The polyline with the focus is called the Active Polyline. Focus can be changed from one polyline to another by pressing the Tab key while one of the display views is selected. Focus will change automatically if you select one of the points making up a polyline. To affect changes to a polyline other than the active polyline, use the context menu, as described below.
Context Menus
Each Polyline will have its own sub-menu in the Display View context menu. This context menu can be accessed by right-clicking anywhere within the display. The menu will provide access to many of the options available from the toolbar, as well as additional options for exporting, recording, and displaying the polyline (to name just a few).
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Polyline Creation Modes
POLYLINE CREATION MODES

Several different modes are available for creating and modifying polylines. The specific mode used when a polyline is first added will depend on whether the polyline is part of a Path or a Mask. To change modes, select from the Polyline toolbar. Use the associated keyboard shortcut or select the desired mode from the context menu.
Each of the modes is described in more detail below, together with the keyboard shortcut used to set the Active Polyline into that mode. Take the time to explore each of the polyline creation modes offered by DFX+ and become comfortable with their operation.
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Polyline Creation Modes
Click Append (SHIFT C)

This mode is the default mode for mask creation. Simply click the mouse in the position where the new point is to be added. Each new point is automatically connected to the last created point. Use Click Append mode to quickly define the rough shape of the mask, then switch to Insert and Modify mode to refine the mask further. It is also useful when the overall shape of a motion path is known, but the timing is not yet available. To close a Polyline created in this mode, place the mouse over the first point created and click when the cursor changes shape. This will automatically switch to a closed polyline mask.
Insert And Modify Mode (SHIFT I)

New points are added to the Polyline between existing points on the Polyline. These existing points are modified by dragging the keys or handles with the mouse. Points can only be added along the existing Polyline. This is the default creation mode for motion paths. Anytime a control animated with a motion path is moved, a new key is created at the current time and added to the end of the Polyline, extending or refining the path. Masks, which are created in Click Append mode, automatically switch to Insert and Modify when the mask shape is closed. This makes it easier to add additional points and refine the shape of the mask.
Draw Append (SHIFT D)

The Draw Append mode creates a polyline shape directly on the view, as if you were drawing with a pencil or paintbrush. Click and drag to draw the desired shape for the path using the mouse, or a pen and tablet. This mode is ideal for use in conjunction with a tablet, and for the creation of Garbage Mattes and Effect Masks around complex shapes.
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Protection Modes
PROTECTION MODES
In addition to the modes used to create a polyline, two other modes protect the points from further changes after they have been created.
Modify Only (SHIFT M)

This allows existing points on a polyline to be modified but new points may not be added. Be aware that it is still possible to delete points from a polyline in this mode.
Done (SHIFT N)
This mode prohibits the creation of any new points, as well as further modification of any existing points on the Polyline.
Closing Masks (SHIFT O)

There are two ways to close a polyline to connect the last point to the first. When creating the Polyline, place the cursor over the first point created. The cursor will change to indicate that clicking on the points will close the Polyline.
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Protection Modes
You can also right-click on the path and select Closed from the paths context menu or select the Closed button from the polyline toolbar. If the Polyline is already closed when this is selected, it will re-open the Polyline. Closed Polyline Masks will normally generate a solid mask, even though the mask controls can also be used to create outline shapes. Although they are used more often for masks, Motion Paths are also closed from time to time to create seamless looping motions. Closing a mask that is in Click Append mode will automatically change the Polylines mode to Insert and Modify.
Selecting Polyline Points

To select one or more points on a polyline, click directly on the point or boxselect the points by click-dragging a rectangle around them. To add or remove points from the current selection, hold the SHIFT or CTRL keys down while making the selection. Use CTRL A to select all of the points on the active Polyline.
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Protection Modes
Smooth Segments
Smoothing a spline segment reveals the Bezier control handles, making it possible to apply shaping to a polyline curve. There are three ways to smooth the selected points of an active polyline. Keyboard shortcut SHIFT S. Smooth button on the polyline toolbar. Select Smooth from the polylines context menu.
Linear Segments
To make certain that a Polyline Segment is perfectly straight, that segment must be linear. A Linear Segment has no Bezier handles, and is always drawn in a straight line between two points on the Polyline. There are three ways to make the selected points of an active polyline linear. Keyboard Shortcut SHIFT L. Linear button on the polyline toolbar. Select Linear from the polylines context menu.
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Protection Modes
Deleting Points
Delete a selected point, or group of points, by pressing the DEL key, choosing Delete from the context menu or pressing the Delete button in the toolbar. The shape of the Polyline will change to reflect the removal of these points. Deleting all of the points in a polyline does not necessarily delete the polyline itself. The polyline controls still exist and are simply waiting for points to be created. To delete a polyline, access its controls in the Masks or Modifiers tab, right-click on the Control Header and select Delete from the context menu.
Moving Polyline Points

There are several ways to move a selected polyline point or Bezier handle. You can use the mouse, the keyboard, or the edit points dialog box.
Mouse
Select the point(s) to be moved and drag them to the new location. To constrain the motion to a single axis, hold down the SHIFT key while moving the point(s).
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Protection Modes
Keyboard
Select the points to be moved and use the cursor keys to move them in the direction chosen. The up arrow will move the point(s) toward the top of the screen and the left arrow toward the left, and so on. Hold down the SHIFT key while using the keyboard to increase the scale of the points motion of the point for each key press. Hold down the CTRL key to make small refined adjustments to the position of a point on a polyline.
Edit Points
To display the Edit Points dialog, press E on the keyboard or select Edit Points from the context menu.
The Edit Points dialog provides numeric controls for precise control over the position of polyline points in DFX+. When a single point in the polyline is selected, it will bring up a dialog box that contains the X and Y axis values for that point. This dialog box can be used to edit the location of that point manually by entering the desired value. When multiple points are selected, all points will be moved to the same position. This is useful for aligning all points to the same plane on a specific axis. Changes made to the dialog will affect all selected points. This is useful for lining several points up along a given axis.
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Protection Modes
In addition to absolute values for the X and Y axis of each point, it is possible to adjust points using an offset from their current position. To change the mode of the Edit points dialog, click once on the label for the axis. The label will change from X to X-Offset, or from Y to Y-Offset. It is possible to perform minor mathematical equations in this dialog box. For example, typing 1.0-5 will move the point to 0.5 along the given axis. If more than one point is selected, a pair of radio buttons at the top of the dialog box will determine whether adjustments are made to all selected points, or just to one. If the Individual option is selected, the point to be affected is drawn on the Display View surrounded by a larger box. You can change which point in the selection is affected using the Next and Previous buttons that appear at the bottom of the dialog.
Moving Bezier Handles

To adjust the angle or shape of the Polyline Segment, adjust the Bezier handles coming from either side of the points that make up the segment. Select the points you want to adjust and handles will appear radiating out from each point.
Click and drag on a handle to make adjustments to the curve of the segment coming from that point. The handle on the opposing side will also move to maintain the relationship between these two handles. To break the relationship between handles and adjust one handle independently, hold down CTRL while dragging the point. Subsequent changes will maintain the relationship, unless the CTRL key is held during each adjustment. DFX+ 4 229
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Protection Modes
To constrain the motion of the handle to a single Axis, hold the ALT key down while dragging the handle.
Shape Box (CTRL B)

The Shape Box permits free scaling and transformation of the polyline shapes. Selecting this option from the context menu or toolbar will draw a rectangle with control points that can be used to modify the scale of the polyline.
If points are selected on the polyline when the Shape Box mode is enabled, the Shape Box is drawn around those points. You can also draw the Shape Box by clicking and dragging a rectangle around the area. A four-sided box will be drawn. Select a handle in the middle of a side to resize the polyline along a specific axis, or select a corner handle to shape the polyline along both axis. Holding down CTRL while dragging a control point will apply adjustments from the center of the Shape Box. This will constrain the transformation to the existing proportions of the shape box. Holding down SHIFT while dragging a corner handle isolates the handle, allowing for the creation of rhomboid shapes. This will only affect the transformation of corner control points. Turn the Shape Box mode off again the same way you turned it on, by toggling the toolbar button or by re-selecting the Shape Box option from the Polyline context menu. DFX+ 4 230
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Protection Modes
Stop Rendering
DFX+ will attempt to render the tools result while you are moving points on a polyline, providing interactive feedback of the affect your changes will have. This can be distracting in some situations and can slow performance on a truly complex effect.
To restrict this behavior so that DFX+ only renders when the points stop moving, toggle the Stop Rendering button in the toolbar or select this option from the Polyline context menu.
Show Menu
It is often difficult to identify individual points when they are packed closely together. DFX+ offers the ability to display points and their Bezier handles, just points or just handles. Select which display mode is used with the Show Key Points and Show Handles buttons, or from the Polylines context menu. Use these options to simplify the screen display when adjusting points packed closely together. Space in the display can avoid accidentally modifying controls and handles adjacent to the intended target.
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Saving And Loading Path Shapes
Reduce Points
Selecting Reduce Points from the polylines context menu or toolbar will bring up a dialog box to decrease the number of points used to describe the polyline. DFX+ will attempt to maintain the overall shape of the spline, while eliminating redundant points from the path. To reduce the amount of points in the path, move the slider to the left. When the value is 100, no points will be removed from the spline. Use smaller values to eliminate more points. This mode is extremely useful when used in conjunction with the Draw Points spline creation mode, or to simplify an editable paint stroke.
SAVING AND LOADING PATH SHAPES

DFX+ provides methods for importing and exporting polyline shapes in both its native format and to a common editable ASCII text file. These methods are used to save a particularly useful or generic mask or path for future use, or for use in another application, such as 3D programs.
Native Format
To save a polyline shape in DFX+s native format, right-click on the header of the tool in the mask or path controls and select Settings/Save As from the context menu. DFX+ 4 232
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Saving And Loading Path Shapes
Provide a name and path for the saved file and select OK. This will write a file with a *.dfs extension (DFX+ Settings). This file will save the exact shape of a mask or path, as well as any animation splines applied to its points or controls. To load the saved setting back into DFX+, create a new polyline of the same type, then select Settings / Load from the masks context menu.
ASCII Format
To save a polyline to an external ASCII file, right-click on the view and select Export from the context menu. A sub-menu will appear containing several options on exactly how the shape will be described in the text file.
Point
Selecting Point as an option will cause DFX+ to divide the mask into equally spaced points, while attempting to preserve the exact shape.
Bezier
Select Bezier to cause the output file to contain the precise coordinates of each point in the shape, as well as the position of its associated Bezier handles.
Key
Select Key to cause only the position of the existing key points to be exported, ignoring the position of Bezier handles. DFX+ 4 233
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Advanced Spline Shaping Modes
You may select one of these options, either Point, Bezier or Key. It is not possible to select more than one. Additionally, you must select the coordinate system to be used by DFX+ when exporting the points.
Relative
The Relative option will describe the X and Y coordinates as offsets relative to the center of the mask.
Absolute
The Absolute option will describe the coordinates of the points and or handles as values between 0 and 1, using DFX+s native coordinate system. Once you have selected the desired options, select Export Shape from the context menu and provide a name and path for the output file. To save the timing of a motion path with the file, select Export Path instead. To import a saved ASCII file, create a polyline and then select Import from the Polylines context menu. A full description of the ASCII File Format used is available in the appendix of this manual.
LightWave MOT Format

DFX+ also supports the MOT file format used natively by LightWave, and can export and import these files directly.
ADVANCED SPLINE SHAPING MODES

Selected points can be transformed by dragging the pointer. Select the points to be transformed then: Hold down the T key and click-drag to twist about the selected points. Hold down the S key and click-drag to scale about the selected points. Hold down the X key and click-drag to horizontally scale the selected points. Hold down the Y key and click-drag vertically scale the selected points. The position of the mouse pointer when the transformation begins becomes the center used for the transformation.
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MASKS
INTRODUCTION
Under normal circumstances, a tool applies its effect to every pixel in an image. Masks are animatable shapes that allow you to restrict an effect to specific regions of an image only. Any number of Effect Masks, of any type, can be combined in a single tool. Two masks can combine to create a more complex shape, or one mask can subtract from another to cut holes into the mask channel. The order in which masks are applied can easily be changed.
EFFECT MASKS, PRE-MASKS, AND GARBAGE MATTES

Effect Masks
Effect Masks are applied post-effect; the tools result is calculated over the entire image first, and then the mask is used to filter the result. Complex mask shapes are created and animated using a combination of primitive shape masks, or with more complex polyline shapes.
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Effect Masks, Pre-Masks, And Garbage Mattes
Effect masks are by far the most common type of mask applied to tools in DFX+. Though just about every tool in DFX+ supports masking, there are a few where effect masks make little to no sense, notably Savers, Time tools, Resize, Scale and Crop.
Garbage Mattes
Garbage Mattes are a special type of effect mask unique to the Keying tools (Difference, Ultra Keyer, Chroma Keyer, Matte and Luma Keyer). Garbage matting is used to isolate portions of the image and explicitly discard or include the area defined by the mask. This is accomplished by setting the Alpha channel within the region of the mask to either transparent or solid. Use Garbage Mattes to remove rigging from blue and green screen shots, and to isolate a section from an image not suited to chroma or color keying. The option of creating a Garbage Matte is only available from the context menu when one of the Keying tools is active. The various garbage mask types and shapes are identical to Effect Masks described earlier in this section.
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Any number of garbage mattes can be created on a single tool, but they must all perform the same function. So if a Garbage Matte is added to an Chroma Keyer to exclude a rigging element from the key by setting the Alpha channel to transparent, then all other Garbage Mattes added to that Chroma Keyer must also be set to make the Alpha transparent.
To choose whether garbage mattes applied to a keyer tool will set the alpha channel to opaque or transparent, locate the Garbage Matte drop down menu in the tools controls and select the Transparent or Opaque from the menu.
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To mix garbage mattes set to different modes, use a separate Matte tool immediately after the Keyer in the flow.
Pre-Masking (DVE, Glow And Highlight Tools)

An additional type of masking, known as pre-masking, is available to the DVE, Glow and Highlight tools. Unlike effect masks, a Pre-Mask is applied to the tool before the effect. This usually causes the tool to render more quickly, and to produce a more realistic result. In the case of the Highlight and the Glow tools, a Pre-Mask allows you to restrict the effect to certain areas of the image, but allows the result of that effect to extend beyond the limits of the mask.
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The advantage of pre-masking is that it allows you to more closely mimic the behavior of glows and highlights in the real world. For example, if you film an actor in front of a bright light, the light will cause a glow in the camera lens. Because the glow happens in the lens, the luminance of the actor will be affected, even though the source of the glow is only from the light. In the case of the DVE tool, a Pre-Mask is used to apply a transformation to a selected portion of the image, without affecting portions of the image outside of the mask. For more information on each type of Pre-Mask, consult the documentation for the related tool.
Determining The Type Of Mask

To determine if the mask that is applied to a tool is an Effect Mask, Garbage Matte or Pre-Mask, hold the mouse pointer over the masks tool controls. A tooltip will appear displaying the masks name, and the type of mask applied.
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Mask Shapes
MASK SHAPES
There are five general types of Effect Masks that can be applied to an image.
Polygon Masks
These masks are made up of user-defined shapes drawn using Bezier splines. Each Bezier point can be animated over time. Polygon Masks are ideal for rotoscoping objects in a scene and for creating travelling masks.
Bitmap Masks
Use the image from a specified tool to create the mask channel. Any tool on the Flow can be used to provide the image for a Bitmap mask. Color channels, Luminance channels or Alpha channels are used to create the greyscale map.
Paint Masks
Use DFX+ Module 6s integrated Paint tools to create a mask based on parametric brush strokes. They are perfectly suited to rotoscoping organic mask shapes and for spot removal of grain, hair and other transient noise.
Wand Masks
Wand Masks provide a crosshair that can be positioned in the image. The color of the pixel under the crosshair is used to create a mask, where every pixel of a similar color is also included in the mask. This type of mask is ideal for secondary color correction.
Shape Masks
Shape masks are made up of basic primitive shapes and generally consist of a fixed number of points. Available shapes include Ellipses, Rectangles and Triangles. DFX+ 4 240
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Working With Effect Masks
WORKING WITH EFFECT MASKS

Adding An Effect Mask
To add an Effect Mask to any tool, select the tool and make sure it is displayed in one of the views. There are two ways to add a mask to the selected tool.
Display Toolbar
Click on the button associated with the mask in the toolbar at the bottom of the Display View. The center of the applied mask will be placed at 0.5, 0.5, at the exact center of the image.

Right-click on the image in the Display View. Select the type of mask you wish to apply from the Effect Mask sub-menu in the context menu. The mask center will be placed at the position of the mouse pointer when you called the context menu.
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Locating A Masks Controls

Each mask applied to a tool has its own set of controls. These controls appear in the Masks tab of the tool controls. The masks controls are only visible when the tool containing the masks is active. When an active tool has masks, the tab in the tool controls labelled Masks will display a small yellow light to indicate that additional controls are available. Click on the tab to reveal these controls.
Deleting An Effect Mask

To Delete an Effect Mask that has been applied to a tool, right-click on that masks tool control header (in the Masks tab) and select Delete from the context menu, or select the masks control header and press the DEL key.
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Renaming An Effect Mask

By default, masks are assigned names by DFX+ based on the number of masks of that type present. For example, the second Polygon Mask added to the Flow will be called Polygon 2.
It is easier to keep track of a complex project when you rename masks to something that makes sense in the context of your task. To rename a mask, right-click on a masks control header and select Rename from the context menu. Type the new name in dialog box.
Reordering Masks
Masks are rendered by DFX+ in the order in which they are applied. If you add an Ellipse mask to a tool and then add a Rectangle, DFX+ will process the Ellipse mask first, then process the Rectangle mask and place it over the ellipse. If an additional mask is added to the tools, it will be applied to the result of the Ellipse and Rectangle masks. By default, these masks are added together, however, that behavior can be changed by selecting the Paint mode of the foreground mask, as explained in Mask Common Controls below.
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Common Mask Controls
The order of the masks on a tool can be seen in the Modifier tab, indicated with the background mask at the top of the stack, and each successive mask below it in order of rendering. To change the order of the masks, simply drag the control header of a mask to its new position in the stack.
COMMON MASK CONTROLS

Although each mask has its own set of controls unique to that mask type, several of the controls shown are common for all types of mask. The controls listed here are generally found on all masks.
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Show View Controls

When this checkbox option is toggled on, the on-screen controls for the mask will be visible and editable in the display views. Polylines will be editable. Center and angle controls can be seen on-screen and adjusted, and so on. Turning off this checkbox disables the display of the on-screen controls for the mask in all display views. They can still be edited manually. This is useful when a view has several masks, or modifiers, applied and the screen is getting cluttered. You cannot animate this control, and it has no impact on how the mask is rendered.
Level
The Level control designates the Transparency level of the pixels in the mask channel. When the value is 1.0, the Effect Mask is completely opaque (unless it has a soft edge). Lower values will cause the mask to be partially transparent. The result is identical to lowering the Blend control of an effect.
Note
Lowering the level of a mask lowers the values of all pixels that the mask covers in the Mask Channel. For example, if a circle mask is placed over a rectangle mask, lowering the level of the circle mask lowers the values of all the pixels in the mask channel, regardless of the fact that the rectangle mask beneath it is still opaque.
Soft Edge
Use this slider to blur (feather) the edges of the Mask with a Gaussian Blur. Higher values will cause the edge to fade off well beyond the boundaries of the mask A value of 0.0 will create a crisp, well-defined edge.
Border Width
The Border Width control adjusts the thickness of the masks edge. When the Solid checkbox is toggled on, the border adds or subtracts to the size of the mask. When the mask is not solid, an outline of the mask shape is drawn and the thickness of the outline is set with this control.
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Paint Mode
The different Paint modes available from this menu determine how the shape is added to the masks channel. This affects what happens to the intersecting area when one effect masks shape overlaps another.
Merge
Merge is the default for all masks. The new mask is merged together with the existing mask channel.
Add
The masks values are added to any existing mask channel.
Subtract
In the intersecting areas, the foreground mask is subtracted from the background mask.
Minimum
The existing mask value is compared with the new mask, and the lowest (minimum) value is taken.
Maximum
The existing mask value is compared with the new mask, and the highest (maximum) value is taken.
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Average
This calculates the average between the new mask and the existing mask channel, and applies the average values to the mask channel.
Multiply
This multiplies the alpha values of the existing mask channel by the new mask channel.
Replace
The new mask completely replaces the existing mask channel wherever they intersect.
Invert
This apply mode inverts the masks values in the existing mask channel wherever the shape of the new mask intersects.
Solid
When this checkbox is enabled, the mask shape is considered to be solid. The entire region encompassed by a closed mask is affected. Clearing the checkbox will treat the mask as an outline, with the width of the outline determined by the border width control.
Invert
Selecting this checkbox inverts the entire mask.
Center
All masks have a center, with the exception of the triangle mask. The center control allows the center coordinates for the effects mask to be entered manually. Click in the value boxes and type in a new position. The center position of a mask can also be manipulated using the crosshair control displayed in the views.
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Bitmap Masks
BITMAP MASKS
The Bitmap mask allows images from the Flow to act as masks for tools and effects. Bitmap Masks can be based on values from any of the color, alpha, hue, saturation, luminance and auxiliary channels of the image. You can also mask tools based on the Object or Material ID of a 3D rendered image (provided that those channels were included when the file was rendered). The mask controls common to all masks are described above. A Bitmap Mask also provides the following controls.
Drop Tools Here (Image Input Field)

When a Bitmap Mask is initially added to a tool, the tool immediately upstream of the Bitmap Mask is used as the mask input. The result of any upstream tool in the flow can be used to create the mask. To change the image used to create the mask, right-click on the text label of the Drop Tools Here control. Select the desired tool as an input from the Connect To menu. You can also drag a tool from the Flow or Timeline into the text box or type the name of the tool.
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Bitmap Masks
Channel
Use this control to select the channel of the input image used to create the mask. Choices include the red, green, blue, alpha channel, together with the hue, luminance or saturation values, or the auxiliary channel of the input image (if one is provided).
Use Object / Use Material

This control has no effect unless the input image contains a Material or Object ID Channel. When toggled on, the selected Object ID and/or Material ID is used to create a mask based on the selected object or material. When toggled off, the regular color channels will generate the mask. Module 4 (3D Tools) must be enabled for the Use Object / Use Material options to appear.
Bitmap Mask Example

Using the A_Ship images, create a simple flow with a Loader and a Brightness/Contrast tool. Adjusting the Brightness control will also affect the brightness of the black background. By adding a Bitmap Effect Mask and setting the channel to Alpha, the Brightness/Contrast tool is masked to the images Alpha channel. This prevents the black backgrounds brightness from being affected.
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Ellipse Mask
ELLIPSE MASK
This mask is most useful for masking round objects. It is a circle by default but independent control is offered over the width, height and angle, providing a wide variety of ellipsoidal shapes. The controls common to all masks are described above. An Ellipse Mask also provides these controls.
Width
This control allows for independent control of the Ellipse masks width. In addition to the slider in the mask controls, interactively drag the width (left or right edge) of the mask on the view using the pointer. Any changes will be reflected on the Width control.
Height
This control allows for independent control of the Ellipse masks height. In addition to the slider in the mask controls, interactively drag the height (top or bottom edge) of the mask on the view using the pointer. Any changes will be reflected on the Height control. To change the masks size without affecting the aspect ratio, drag the on-screen control between the edges (diagonal). This will modify both the Width and Height proportionately.
Angle
Change the rotational angle of the Effects Mask by moving this control left or right. Values can be entered in the input box, or click and drag the circle at the end of the dashed angle line to adjust rotation of the Ellipse interactively.
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Rectangle Mask
RECTANGLE MASK
The Rectangle Mask creates a square or rectangular mask. The mask controls common to all masks are described above. A Rectangle Mask also provides the following controls.
Width And Height

Use these controls to change the X or Y scale of the rectangular mask independently of each other. Alternatively, drag the edges of the rectangle in the Display View to adjust its size interactively.
Corner Radius
Corner Radius enables the corners of the Rectangle Mask to be rounded. A value of 0.0 is not rounded at all, while a value of 1.0 will apply the maximum amount of rounding to the corners.
Angle
Change the rotation angle of your effects mask by moving this control left or right. Values can also be entered in the provided input box. Alternatively, click and drag the little circle at the end of the dashed angle line to adjust rotation of the rectangle interactively.
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Triangle Mask
TRIANGLE MASK
The Triangle Mask is unique in that it has no center, size or angle control. Unlike most other types of masks, all three points of the triangle may be attached to a Tracker or Motion Path. Complex effect masking is possible using Trackers (Module 1), and the paths of other tools, to manipulate the triangle shape.
The Mask Controls common to all masks are described above. A Triangle Mask also provides the following controls.
Point 1, Point 2, Point 3

These controls indicate the position of the three corners of the triangle. Each point can be published, connected to other controls, animated with a path, or attached to Trackers. To perform any of these tasks, right-click on the control in the mask controls or display view, and select the appropriate option from the context menu.
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Polygon Mask
POLYGON MASK
The Polygon Mask is most useful for masking objects that do not have a regular shape. When first added to a tool, the Polygon Mask consists of only Center and Angle controls, which are visible on screen. By adding several points, a Polyline Segment is created and, when completed, will mask the tools effect as desired.
All points can be independently animated over time and/or published, and connected to expressions or other controls. This feature allows for the creation of Morphing and Travelling Masks. Polyline Masks are one of the most commonly used components of DFX+.
Note
The shape of a Polygon Mask is automatically animated over time when added. This animation can be removed, if necessary, as described below. For details on using Polylines in DFX+, be sure to read the Polylines chapter of this manual. The mask controls common to all masks are described above. A Polygon mask also provides the following controls.
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Polygon Mask
Size
Use the Size control to adjust the scale of the Polygon Effect Mask without affecting the relative behavior of the points composing the mask, or setting a keyframe in the mask animation.
Angle
Change the rotation angle of your effects mask by moving this control left or right. Values can also be entered in the provided input box. Alternatively, click and drag the little circle at the end of the dashed angle line to adjust rotation of the rectangle interactively.
Right-Click Here For Shape Animation

By default, all Polyline Masks are animated when they are created. The initial keyframe is set at the current time and any changes to the shape at different times will create new keys. Right-clicking on this label will display a context menu that offers options for removing or re-adding animation to your mask, or options to publish or connect masks together (provided Module 1 is installed).
Fill Method
This drop-down menu offers two different techniques for dealing with overlapping regions of a polyline. If overlapping polyline segments in your mask are causing undesirable holes in the mask, try switching the setting of this control from Alternate to Non Zero Winding.
Adding Points
Adding Points to a polygonal effect mask is relatively simple. Immediately after creating the mask, there will be no points, but the mask will be in Click Append mode. Click once in the display to create a point for the mask. Continue clicking to draw the shape of the mask. When you have the desired shape, click on the initial point again to close the mask.
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Polygon Mask
Upon closing the shape, the Polyline mode will change to Insert and Modify. This allows you to adjust and add additional points to the mask by clicking on segments of the polyline. To lock down the masks shape and prevent accidental changes, switch the polyline mode to Done using the Polyline toolbar or context menu.
Polygon Toolbars
When a Polygon Mask is added to a tool, a toolbar will appear in the view with buttons that offer easy access to the modes and tools described below. Hold your mouse over any button in the toolbar to display a tooltip describing that buttons function.
You can change the way the toolbar is displayed by right-clicking on the toolbar. Select from the options displayed in the toolbars context menu.
Animating Polygon Mask Points

Each Polygon Mask is automatically attached to an animation spline (called a Polygon Change Spline) when it is added to a flow. The first key point is placed at the current frame when the mask is created.
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Polygon Mask
To morph the shape of a mask over time, simply change the current frame to a new time and make the required changes to the mask. A new point will be added to the Polygon Change Spline. This one spline controls the position of all of the points in the mask. DFX+ will automatically morph the shape and position of the mask between the two keyframes. Additional points can be added to the mask at any point, to refine the shape as areas of the image become more detailed. The Polygon Change Spline controls the timing of the mask animation. To adjust the overall timing of the mask animation, edit the Polygon Change Spline using the Spline Editor. The polygon mask can remain static. Open the masks controls and rightclick on Right Click Here For Shape Animation and select Remove Bezier Spline from the context menu.
Should you later decide to animate the Polygon Mask again, select Animate from the context menu of this label.
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Polygon Mask
Adding points to an animated mask is permitted. This new point exists at all keyframes, and DFX+ will fit the new point into the shape at all keyframes. We recommend that you confirm your composite at each keyframe to make sure the result is as desired. Deleting a point removes that point from all keyframes in the animated mask.
Published Points
Although the Polygon Change Spline offers easy rapid animation of the entire shape, it does not allow for a specific points animation to be controlled explicitly. A complex mask often requires more precise timing for key points on the polyline. For this reason, it is possible to isolate individual points on a polyline for more precise control. Publishing a point on a polyline removes the point from the polychange animation spline, and it can be connected to Paths, Modifiers, Expressions and Trackers (with Module 1). To publish a selected point, click on the Publish Points button in the Polyline toolbar. You can also select Publish Points from the Polyline context menu. A new coordinate control will be added to the Polyline Mask controls for each published point, named Point 0000, Point 0001, and so on. The Display View indicates Published Points on the Polyline by drawing the point as two boxes, one inside the other, with a crosshair marking the position of the point.
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Polygon Mask
Once you have created a Published Point, you can connect it to a Tracker, Path, Expression or Modifier by right-clicking on the point and selecting the desired option from the points context menu.
Publish Point To Path

When you publish a point, any existing animation applied to the mask or point is normally lost. This can be less than desirable, especially if some effort has been invested into rotoscoping the shape already. To avoid this, DFX+ also offers the Publish Point To Path option. There is no toolbar button for this option. To publish the selected points and convert their existing animation to a path, right-click on the Polyline and select Publish Points To Path from the polylines context menu.
Follow Published Points

It is often necessary to have points in a Polyline Mask that are between two published points follow the motion of the published points, but still maintain their relative offset and shape. For this reason, key points in a Polyline Mask can be set to Follow Published Points using the Polylines context menu. When a key point of an effect mask is set to follow points, the point will be drawn as a diamond shape rather than a small box.
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Paint Mask
When this mode is enabled, the new Following Points will maintain their position relative to the motion of any Published Points in the mask, maintaining the shape of that segment of the mask. Unlike published points, the position of the following points can still be animated to allow for morphing of that segments shape over time.
PAINT MASK
The Paint Effect Mask is only available if Module 6 (Paint Tools) is enabled for DFX+. The Paint Mask allows you to paint directly into the mask channel, using the mouse pointer as if it were a paint brush. In addition to regular paint strokes, apply basic primitive shapes and polyline style strokes. All strokes are vector-based. For maximum flexibility, they can be edited after they have been applied.
Each stroke can have a duration that lasts for the entire valid region of the tool, a single frame or field. The strokes have independent durations in the timeline for easy manipulation of time. When a Paint Mask is added to a tool, generic controls for the paint tool are added to the masks tab. Individual controls for each stroke are added to the Modifiers tab.
Note
A Paint Mask only affects the mask channel. There is no affect whatsoever on any other channel of the image. For details on using the many options and capabilities of the Paint tool as a mask, consult the documentation for Paint in the Paint And Rotoscoping chapter of this manual. DFX+ 4 259
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Wand Mask
WAND MASK
The Wand Mask provides the ability to mask an image based on a magic wand style selection, similar to the magic wand- type tools found in traditional 2D paint applications. As with a Bitmap Mask, any image in the Flow can be used as a source for the mask. Generally, the default is most useful where the source image is the input of the tool to which the mask is applied.
When you add a Wand Mask to a tool, a crosshair will appear in the Display View. This is a selection point that can be positioned in the image to choose the color used to create the Wand Mask. The color of the pixel beneath the selection is sampled, and that color is used to create the mask. If the surrounding pixels are a similar color, they are added to the mask. The mask controls common to all masks are described above. A Wand Mask also provides the following controls.
Source
This text box allows you to select the tool in the Flow which will provide the image sampled for masking. This is normally the source input for the tool with the applied Wand Mask.
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Wand Mask
For example, if you have a Loader feeding into a Glow tool, and you add a Wand Mask to the Glow tool, the Loader will be the source input for the Wand Mask. This default can be changed by dragging and dropping a tool from the Flow into this control, or by right-clicking on the control and selecting the new source from the context menu.
Selection Point
The Selection Point is a pair of X and Y coordinates that determine from where in the source image the Wand Mask derives its initial color sample. This control is also seen as a crosshair in the display views. The selection point can be positioned manually, connected to a Tracker, a Path or other Expression.
Color Space
This button group sets the Color Space used to determine the source color for the mask. The Wand Mask can operate in RGB, YUV, HLS or LAB color spaces.
Channel
The Channel button group allows you to select whether the color masked comes from all three color channels of the image, the alpha channel, or from one individual channel only. The exact labels of the buttons will depend on the color space selected for the wand mask operation. If the color space is RGB, the options will be R, G, or B, if you use YUV color space the options will be Y, U, V.
Range
This slider controls the range of colors around the source color that will be included in the mask. If the value is left at 0.0, only pixels of exactly the same color as the source will be considered part of the mask. The higher the value, the more colors from the source will be considered to be wholly part of the mask.
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Copying And Pasting Masks
Range Soft Edge

The Range Soft Edge determines the falloff range of the colors selected. Any pixel within the Range defined above will be treated as 100% within the mask. If the soft range is set to 0.0, no other pixels will be considered for the mask. Increasing the soft range increases the number of colors close to, but not quite within, the range that will be included in the mask. These pixels will be semi-transparent in the mask.
COPYING AND PASTING MASKS

It is possible to copy a mask to the clipboard, and then paste its settings onto another mask of a similar type. To copy a mask, right-click on the masks control header and select Copy from the context menu. To cut a mask out of a tool, right-click on the masks control header and select Cut from the context menu. To paste the cut or copied mask into another mask, create a mask of the same type as the one you copied, then right-click on the masks control header. Select Paste from the context menu. The settings of the mask will be overwritten with the settings of the one in the clipboard.
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MOTION PATHS
INTRODUCTION
Motion Paths are Bezier splines that are used to apply movement to the positional controls of layers, effects and masks over time.
Points can be inserted into any part of the Motion Path to create any shape imaginable. The paths can be linear or they can be shaped with the Bezier handles coming from each point on the path. Motion Paths can only be added to coordinate controls, like a Merge tools center, and to Published Polyline Points on a Mask. Coordinate controls are represented on-screen with a crosshair or an X. It is not possible to add a Motion Path to a single value control, like a Blur Strength or Merge Angle.
ANIMATING A CONTROL WITH A MOTION PATH

To add a Motion Path to a control, change the current time to the frame where the motion is to begin, and position the control in its starting position.
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Animating A Control With A Motion Path
Right-click on the control in the Display View and select Animate from the context menu.
The controls text boxes will turn blue to indicate that the parameter is now animated, and to remind you that any changes made to the control will cause a new keyframe to be created.
The first point of the path will be created and displayed in the view. To continue adding points, change the time and move the control to the location desired for this frame. DFX+ will automatically create a keyframe on the Motion Path at the current time. DFX+ 4 264
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Displacement, Splines And Path Timing
A Polyline will be drawn from the original keyframe to the new one. The position of the control at frames between the two keyframes is automatically calculated for you. Continue adding points in this manner until you have described the entire Motion Path desired. Next, set the Polyline to insert and modify mode by pressing SHIFT I on the keyboard or pressing the Insert And Modify button on the toolbar. Do not worry about the overall shape of the Motion Path at this point. The shape can be refined further by adding additional points to the Polyline.
Path Control Header

When a path is added to a control, the Modifiers tab for that tool will contain a header with the controls for that path.
All of the controls represented can be accessed directly from the view or they can be modified manually using the controls in the Paths tool header.
DISPLACEMENT, SPLINES AND PATH TIMING

Every Motion Path has an associated Displacement Spline in the Spline Editor. The Displacement Spline represents the position of the animated control along its path, as a value between 0.0 and 1.0. Displacement Splines are used to control the speed of a controls movement along its path. To slow down, speed up, stop or even reverse the motion of the control along the path, adjust the values of the points for the paths displacement in the Spline Editor. DFX+ 4 265
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A displacement value of 0.0 in the Spline Editor indicates that the control is at the very beginning of a path. A value of 1.0 indicates that the control is positioned at the end of the path. Each locked point on the Motion Path will have an associated point on the Displacement Spline. Unlocked points will not have a corresponding point on the Displacement Spline. Locked and unlocked points are described in more detail below.
Locked Vs. Unlocked Points

Motion Paths in DFX+ are composed of Locked and Unlocked Points. Whether a point is locked or not is determined by how it was added to the Polyline. Each has a distinct behavior, as described below.
Locked Points
Locked Points are created when the keypoint is created by changing the current time and moving the animated control. As described in Creating Motion Paths, these points indicate that the animated control must be in the specified position at the specified frame. The Locked Points are displayed as a larger-sized hollow square in the view. Each locked key has an associated point on the paths displacement in the Spline Editor. Deleting a Locked Point from the Motion Path will change the overall timing of the motion. DFX+ 4 266
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Unlocked Points
Unlocked Points are created when additional points are added to the Motion Path while in Insert And Modify Mode. These points are used to adjust the overall shape of the Motion Path, without directly affecting the timing of the motion. Unlocked Points do not have corresponding points on the paths Displacement Spline. They are represented in the views as smaller, solid square points. To demonstrate the difference between Locked and Unlocked Points, add a text tool to the Flow. Type Paths in the text tool (or anything else), and position the texts center in the upper left corner of the image. Make certain that the current time is frame 0. Select Animate using the Text centers context menu.
This will create the first Locked Point of the path. Advance to frame 45 and move the Text center to the center of the screen. This sets our second point. Display the Spline Editor and have a look at the Path 1: Displacement Spline. At a value of 0.0, the control will be located at the beginning of the path. When the value of the Displacement Spline is 1.0, the control is located at the end of the path.
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Select the point at frame 45 in the Displacement Spline and move it to frame 50. The Motion Path is now 50 frames long. Try to change this points value from 1.0 to 0.75. It cannot be done because the point is the last in the animation. The value must be 1.0 in the Displacement Spline.
Advance to frame 100 and move the Text center to the bottom right corner of the screen. This will create an additional Locked Point and set a new ending for the path.
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Click on the path and create two new points, one part of the way between the first and second points, another between the second and third. Adjust these points so that they are positioned like the ones in the image below.
Have another look at the Spline Editor. The two points just added are not present in the Motion Paths Displacement Spline. These Unlocked Points are used to shape the motion but are unrelated to the timing of the path (because the current time was not changed before the points were added). Make the text stop briefly in the center of the screen. Select the point at frame 50, hold down the CTRL key while dragging it to frame 65. This will create a copy of the point at frame 65.
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Select the point at frame 0 and at frame 50. Press S while in the Spline Editor to smooth the displacement curve. This will cause the motion to accelerate slightly at the beginning, then slow to a stop at the center.
Render a preview of frames 0 to 100 to see the results so far. Switch back to working in the Left View. Delete the Unlocked Point you added between the first point and the middle point. The spline segment of the Motion Path should become linear. Deleting this point did not change the amount of time it takes the spline to reach the center of the screen, only the path that it takes to get there. Step through a few of the frames in the scene to confirm this for yourself. Now delete the Locked Point in the center of the screen. Removing this point changes the timing of the animation because the key point in the Displacement Spline is also removed. It is possible to change unlocked points into a locked points, and vice versa, by selecting the point(s) and choosing the Lock Point option from the context menu. Knowing the difference between Locked and Unlocked Points allows you to harness the full power of DFX+s motion paths.
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Path Centers
PATH CENTERS
Every Motion Path has a defined center represented by a crosshair. This allows paths to be connected to other controls and behave in a hierarchical manner.
A useful example of this technique would be to animate the path of a bee in flight. A bee often flies in a constant figure eight pattern while simultaneously moving forward. This would require two paths. The bee would be connected to a first path, which would be a figure eight. This first paths center could be connected to another path defining the forward motion of the bee through the scene.
WORKING WITH MOTION PATHS

Copying And Pasting Motion Paths
It is possible to Copy an entire Motion Path to the clipboard, and then paste it onto another tool or path. To Copy a Motion Path, right-click on the paths control header and select Copy from the context menu.
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Working With Motion Paths
To cut a Motion Path out of a tool, right-click on the paths control header and select Cut from the marking menu. To paste the copied path over another path, right-click on the paths control header and select Paste from the context menu. The settings of the old Motion Path will be overwritten with the settings of the one in the clipboard.
Removing Motion Paths

To remove a control from a Motion Path, right-click on the motion paths control header and select Delete from the context menu. You can also rightclick on the animated control and select Remove from Path X: Value.
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Working With Motion Paths
Recording
Using this mode allows both controls of spatial and temporal information to be animated at the same time. This is useful when both position and speed are crucial to achieve the desired result. Right-click on the desired path to display its context menu and select Record. This displays a sub-menu of available data that may be recorded.
Using the Record Time option in conjunction with the Draw Append mode, create complex Motion Paths that will recreate the motion precisely as the path is drawn. The time used to record the animation may not suite the needs of the project precisely. Adjust the paths Displacement Spline in the Spline Editor to more correctly match the required motion.
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16
KEYING
INTRODUCTION
Most footage captured with a camera does not contain an Alpha channel. This information is required, however, if an element of a scene is to be isolated for further use in a composite. Previous to the digital age of special effects, transparency information for video and film was created using a process known as matting. The cutout of the section of an image to be isolated was laboriously created by hand, and then used to create a negative containing only the required elements for the effect. Eventually, techniques for isolating elements of a scene were developed based on a process of shooting the element against a color-saturated screen. That color was then used to create the matte channel with the assistance of customized hardware designed to isolate that color and remove it from the scene. Matte channels produced in this fashion were called keys, and the matte created was often called the key channel. These terms are still used in the digital era (often interchangeably) to refer to any process that results in the creation of transparency information from video or film images. Keying is one of the most common tasks performed by a visual effects artist. A variety of methods for creating mattes and keys are included with DFX+. For specific details on each keyer, see the Matte and Keying Tools chapter. This chapter discusses the various methods of creating a matte in DFX+ and is intended to help you to decide which is the correct tool, or combination of tools, for the job.
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Different Types Of Keyers
DIFFERENT TYPES OF KEYERS

Ultra Keyer
The Ultra Keyer is specifically optimized for the creation of an Alpha channel from an image shot against a highly-saturated blue or green background. The key color (green or blue) is used to identify regions of the image intended to be transparent. The Ultra Keyer tool is only available if Module 2 (Keying) is enabled for DFX+.
Chroma Keyer
The Chroma Keyer functions in much the same way as the Ultra Keyer, but is more generalized and is capable of creating an Alpha channel from any color. This tool is most often used to create mattes from computer-generated images lacking an Alpha channel, but containing a very pure background color.
Luma Keyer
The Luma Keyer is used to create an Alpha channel from an image based on the luminance, or brightness, of the image. Dark pixels in the image are made transparent in the Alpha channel and bright regions are made solid, with values becoming transparent to a greater or lesser degree based on the brightness of the pixel. The Luma Keyer is most often used to generate mattes from video, film and computer-generated images containing a black background.
Difference Keyer
The Difference Keyer generates an Alpha channel based on the differences between two images. Normally, one image is a clean plate, with the subject missing from the frame. The second image contains the exact same shot but with the subject present. This keyer is excellent for generating an Alpha channel from images where mounting a bluescreen is too inconvenient or expensive. Use of the Difference Keyer requires that the camera position, angle and scenic lighting remain exactly consistent between the two images in order to create reasonable results. For this reason, its use is usually restricted to static camera shots or scenes shot with complex and expensive motion tracking devices.
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Using The Ultra Keyer And Chroma Keyer
Matte Tool
Additionally, the Matte tool is provided in DFX+ to assist with the further modification of the images matte (Alpha) channel. This tool is also used to create Garbage Mattes for the manual creation of travelling mattes (a process known as Rotoscoping) and to remove rigging and other undesirable elements that cannot be isolated via keying.
USING THE ULTRA KEYER AND CHROMA KEYER

Ultra Keyer
To use an Ultra Keyer to create a matte, add the Ultra Keyer to the Flow and connect the image to be keyed to the Ultra Keyers input. Use the drop-down list labeled Color Background to identify the color of the background, either green or blue. If the image background is not green or blue, use the Chroma Keyer instead.
A rudimentary matte will be created based on the pure color values of the key color present in the scene. To see the Alpha channel in the display views, press the A key or click the Alpha Channel button (the white A in the displays toolbar).
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Make sure that the Ultra Keyer tool is still selected in the Flow and clickdraw a rectangle around a portion of the blue or green colors to be removed from the scene. Continue to select from the background colors until a reasonably large amount of the image has been keyed.
It is often useful to keep an eye on the key further downstream by displaying the tool which combines the keyed image to the intended background (almost always a Merge tool). Locate or create this tool and view it in the second view or video monitor. Once the image background contains a mostly black Alpha channel, select the Lock Color Picking checkbox to prevent the accidental selection of additional colors from the scene. Do not be surprised if the key is not perfect yet. A fair amount of tweaking will likely be required. The Matte and Image tabs contain additional controls for further modifications.
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Chroma Keyer
Functionally, the Chroma Keyer is virtually identical to the Ultra Keyer. You select colors for removal from the matte using the same technique described above. Where the Ultra Keyer is optimized for Blue or Green backgrounds, the Chroma Keyer tool allows you to create a key from any color (or chroma) range. The Chroma Keyer also provides the ability to increase the amount of colors included in the key via the Soft Range slider. Use this control with the Chroma Keyer to grow the Matte to include color variations difficult to isolate with a region selection. Otherwise, it behaves in exactly the same fashion as the Ultra Keyer.
Expanding Or Contracting The Matte

Use the Matte Blur control in small amounts to soften the hard edges on the matte, and contract or expand the matte to better fit the subject. Often, significantly contracting the matte and blurring it will work well in combination. Also, blend the edges of the subject into the new background. Contracting or expanding a matte only affects the semi-transparent fringe areas of the matte channel - completely opaque or completely transparent pixels will be unaffected.
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Closing Holes And Removing Grain From The Matte

Portions of an image with semi-transparent areas will occasionally have large holes introduced during the keying process. Decrease the High value of the Matte Threshold control to close holes in semi-transparent regions. Also, try increasing the Matte Gamma value. You may find upon examination that the keyer has not completely removed the background, that it is peppered with slight grain which keeps it from being completely transparent. Increasing the Low value of the Matte Threshold control slightly will help to reject these stray pixels.
Spill Suppression
Spill Suppression can be applied to remove unwanted reflections of the background color on the subject. Generally, the Spill Suppression slider should be set to Maximum, and then a mode selected from the available options. Once an appropriate mode has been found, adjust the slider down to fine tune the effect further.
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Blue screens most often require use of the Medium or Well Done modes, while Green screens rarely require much more than Medium to accomplish their task. If the shot is truly difficult, an additional mode, Burnt, is available. Due to the affect of this control on the colors of the image, color correction of the subject is almost always required after the application of stronger methods of Spill Suppression.
Fringe Color Correction

Adjust the various Fringe controls to brighten, darken and apply color correction to the extreme edges of the matte, and to reintroduce fine detail that has been removed from the matte, such as hair.
Confirming The Key

Once a satisfactory result has been obtained, advance through the project to confirm that the Matte works for all of the frames in the shot. If conditions such as lighting change during the shot, it may be necessary to tweak the Matte further. Remember that any of the controls can be animated to adapt to changes over time. These controls are described in greater detail in the tools reference chapter, and also later in this chapter.
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Using The Luma Keyer
USING THE LUMA KEYER

Use a Luma Keyer to create a Matte, add the Luma Keyer to the Flow and connect the image to be keyed to its input. Although the name of the tool implies that only the Luminance channel of the image can be used to create the matte, any of the available color channels can be used. Select the desired channel from the drop-down list.
Adjust the Low control to force more dark colors transparent and the High control to increase the opacity range of the image. Matte Blur, Contrast and Gamma controls provide further adjustments to improve the result.
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Using The Difference Keyer
USING THE DIFFERENCE KEYER

To use a Difference Keyer to create a matte, add the Difference Keyer to the Flow, and connect the clean plate (without the subject) to its background input. Connect the image containing the subject to the foreground. Often the clean plate consists of a single image, while the subject plate can be many frames long. Use the Extend Last Frame feature of the Loader to increase the length of the clean plate to match the subject plates length. The Range control of the Difference Keyer is used to adjust the amount of variation permitted by the Difference Keyer before a pixel is marked as opaque in the Alpha channel. Increase this control to include more of the image in the matte, and decrease it to eliminate noise from the background.
Adjust the matte via Matte Blur, Matte Contrast and Matte Gamma controls.
POST MULTIPLICATION
The Alpha channel generated by the keyers is subtractive by default. To create an additive image instead, select the Post Multiplication checkbox in the keying tools control header. Post Multiplication refers to the process of multiplying the color values of a pixel by its Alpha values to generate a legally additive image. The Matte tool is also capable of taking a subtractive image and making it additive using this feature. DFX+ 4 283
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Garbage Mattes
When using the Matte tool, Post Multiplication should not be applied to an image that has already been post-multiplied. Some 3D software packages offer the ability to render images already post-multiplied, but the vast majority of 3D images are not post-multiplied. If you are not certain what kind of images with which you are working, consult the documentation of the software that created the image.
Note
DFX+ 4 post multiplies its result by default. This is the reverse of how it operated in previous versions. Make sure that you always merge the result of a keyer in Additive mode, or disable this checkbox to work the way you did in previous versions.
GARBAGE MATTES
Garbage Mattes are used to include or exclude an area of the image in the Alpha channel. These mattes can be created on any one of the keying tools and can be made up of any shapes and masks built into DFX+.
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Garbage Mattes
The most common use for Garbage Mattes is to remove rigging and set pieces that cannot be keyed from the image using traditional methods. The specific function of a Garbage Matte is set using the drop-down list control called Garbage Matte, available in all keying tools.
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Rotoscoping
Transparent Garbage Mattes

Make Transparent will cause the region enclosed by the Garbage Matte to become black in the Alpha channel (transparent). Setting this option to Make Solid will cause the pixels enclosed by the matte to become white in the Alpha channel, therefore solid. Although an unlimited number of Garbage Mattes can be applied to any keying tool, they must all use the same mode. To mix Transparent Garbage Mattes with solid ones, use a Matte tool after the keyer in the Flow. To add a Garbage Matte to a tool in the Flow, select the keyer and right-click on the view to display the context menu. Choose the type of matte from the Garbage Matte sub-menu. A control header for the new mask will be added to the Mask tab of that tool. All of the options available to an Effect Mask (rectangle, ellipse, triangle, bitmap and polygon mask) are also available for the creation of Garbage Mattes. Aside from their behavior, Garbage Mattes are identical to Effect Masks in all respects. For more information, see the Masks chapter.
ROTOSCOPING
Occasionally, footage will require a matte. In such cases, it becomes necessary to manually create a matte using animated Garbage Mattes. The process is commonly referred to as Rotoscoping, and is likely to be the most time-consuming portion of any compositors job. Almost all Rotoscoping in DFX+ is performed using a Matte tool with animated Polygonal Garbage Mattes. To create the mask, examine the footage and break the subject of the matte down into several simpler shapes. Use multiple masks in combination to perform the Rotoscoping. This will allow you to correct and change the matte more rapidly, and helps you to understand the matte more clearly at a glance.
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Rotoscoping
For example, when Rotoscoping an actor from a scene, the task is easier to understand if you use separate masks for the arms, legs, torso and head. If sections of the matte need to be transparent, use an additional matte for these areas as well. It is often useful to use an overlapping mask set to Subtract mode to cut holes in the image, rather than creating one overlycomplicated matte. Make several passes on the image sequence. At first, create and animate only the roughest shape of the subject, using the minimum number of points possible. Use additional passes through the footage to refine the movement and shape of the mask. Try to avoid setting keys at every single frame.
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Combining Alpha Channels
COMBINING ALPHA CHANNELS

It will occasionally happen that all of the hard work of keying and rotoscoping has been done in advance, that the Alpha channel is provided with the footage. Often, this information is contained in a separate file, or image, and is referred to as a Downstream Key in linear edit suites.
To use these files with DFX+, it is necessary to combine the Alpha channel files with the associated image. The Matte tool contains a second input intended specifically for this task. Use the Matte Combine and Combine Op menus to select how the Matte tool will deal with the image connected to the second input. For more information on the Matte tool, see the Matte and Keying Tools chapter.
AUTO SAVE
Use DFX+s Auto Save features to ensure that you do not lose your work accidentally. Saving your work regularly is always a good idea, but never more so than when you are rotoscoping or keying footage. These tasks are the most time consuming and the least simple to quickly reproduce. Absolutely nothing is more disheartening than watching several hours of hard work disappear in a power failure or worse. Go to Preferences immediately and toggle on the Auto Save option from the General tab. You will be glad you did one day. DFX+ 4 288
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TRACKING (MODULE 1)
INTRODUCTION
The Tracking tools and modifiers are only available if Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled for DFX+. One of the more advanced features of DFX+ is its ability to follow a pattern of pixels in an image over time. A path is created based on the position of those pixels from frame to frame. This process, known as Tracking, is used to perform a variety of tasks in image processing and compositing, from animating the position of an Effect Mask to image stabilization and destabilization.
There were separate Tracker, Corner Positioner and Stabilizer tools in previous versions of DFX+. Each performed different operations or tasks. In DFX+ 4, these three tools have been combined into one Tracker tool capable of functions found in the previous tools, and much more. Detailed reference for each of the controls found in the Tracker is in the Tracker Tool reference chapter later in this manual. This chapter is intended to provide a general description of the trackers operation and usage.
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Uses Of Tracking
USES OF TRACKING
Tracking is one of the more versatile and flexible capabilities of DFX+.
Connecting Controls To A Tracker

The position of a Tracker is often used to drive the position of a center or axis control. For example, you could track the face of a suspect in a surveillance tape and connect the center of a mask on a Blur tool to the result. This technique is used to obscure the features for broadcast.
Stabilization
One or more Trackers can be used to stabilize an image, removing all of the motion from the sequence or smoothing out vibration and shakiness. A single tracker pattern is used to stabilize position only, multiple patterns can be used together to stabilize rotation and scaling as well.
Match Moving
The reverse of Stabilizing, Match Moving also detects position, rotation and scaling in an image sequence, using one or more patterns. Instead of removing that motion, however, the motion is duplicated on another layer. This matches the movement from one shot to another.
Corner Positioning
Corner Positioning tracks four patterns in an image sequence. The result is used to map the four corners of a new image into the sequence. This technique is generally used for sign replacement.
Perspective Positioning
Perspective Positioning tracks four patterns in an image sequence. The four patterns describe the four corners of a rectangle. Each corner is then mapped to a corner of the image, re-scaling and warping the image to remove all apparent perspective.
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PATTERN OVERVIEW
What Is A Pattern?
A Pattern is the region of pixels selected for tracking in an image. The pattern is represented in the display views as a solid rectangle when the Tracker tool is active. A single Tracker tool can have many patterns defined, and each pattern will produce its own path. To select a Pattern, click on the small box at the top left of the Pattern Control in the Display View. Drag the pattern rectangle to cover the region of pixels you wish to track. The pattern rectangle is re-sizable. Adjust the pattern size by click-dragging on the edges of the rectangle.
While dragging the pattern rectangle, a pop-up window appears with an enlarged version of the pixels in the rectangle. This window assists with precise positioning of the pattern.
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Pattern Overview
Search Areas
When the mouse pointer is over the on-screen control for a pattern, a second rectangle with a dashed border will appear surrounding the pattern. This outer rectangle represents the Search Area. While processing the pattern for tracking, DFX+ will search the region surrounding the last known Tracker position in an attempt to re-locate the pattern. The larger the Search Area, the longer it will take DFX+ to perform the track.
When the Tracker is creating a Path, or during the final render, the Search Area is used to define the size of the area to be searched for the pattern, from frame to frame. The center of the Search Area is always located at the last known tracker position.
Note
The size of the Search Area can be animated over time. This is useful when the track pattern accelerates or decelerates rapidly part of the way through the scene.
Adding New Patterns

Each Tracker is capable of tracking multiple patterns. The Tracker tool starts with only a single pattern. Additional patterns can be added by clicking on the Add button immediately above the Tracker List control.
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Pattern Overview
Multiple patterns are useful with Stabilization, and Corner or Perspective Positioning. They also help to keep a flow from becoming cluttered by collecting what would otherwise require several tools.
Enabling/Suspending/Disabling Patterns
Beside the name for each pattern in the Tracker List you will find a checkbox to set the pattern into one of three states.
Enabled (Black Checkbox)

An Enabled Tracker will re-track its pattern every time the track is initiated. Its path data is available for use by other tools, and for Stabilization and Corner Positioning.
Suspended (Grey Checkbox)

A Suspended Tracker does not re-track its pattern when the track is initiated. The data is locked to prevent additional changes. Its path data is available for use by other tools, and for Stabilization and Corner Positioning.
Disabled (Clear)
A disabled tracker does not create a path when tracking is initialized. Its data is not available to other tools.
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Choosing A Pattern
CHOOSING A PATTERN
DFX+s Tracker works by searching each frame for a pattern of pixels defined by the user. In order for a track to be successful, a fairly high contrast (unique region) of the image must be located in the footage. This process is known as Pattern Selection. The first step in Pattern Selection is to review the footage to be tracked several times. Watch for candidate patterns that are visible through the entire range of frames, where the contrast is high and the shape of the pattern does not change over time. The more unique the pattern, the more likely the track is to be successful. Often, no single candidate point will fulfil all of the above requirements. Select the best possible ones. Have a look at the footage and watch the selected patterns to identify the frames where the pattern moves the most. Identifying the maximum range of a patterns motion will help determine the correct size for the pattern search area. It is not uncommon to have a scene that requires the use of several different patterns to achieve the desired effect. This most often occurs because the pattern moves out of frame or is obscured by another scene element for a period of time.
Image Channels
When you select a pattern of pixels, DFX+ automatically selects the color channel used for tracking that pattern, based on an analysis of each channel for contrast, clarity and reliability. The channels selected are highlighted in the bars to the right of the Pattern Display window in the Tool Controls.
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Choosing A Pattern
You may override this automatic channel selection if it does not suit your purposes. Click on the small button with the ? label beneath the channel selector bars. Select the buttons beneath the bars for each channel to determine the channel used for tracking. DFX+ is capable of using any one of the color channels, the luminance channels or the alpha channel to track a pattern. Tracking a single channel is usually faster than tracking all channels, or the luminance. If you are selecting the channel used for tracking the pattern yourself, try to choose the cleanest, highest contrast channel. Channels containing large amounts of grain should be avoided. Bright objects against dark backgrounds often track best using the luminance channel.
Defining The Pattern For The Tracker

Once you have identified the pattern(s) you wish to track, choose the pattern. Select the Tracker tool and locate the on-screen controls for the trackers in the display views. Make sure that you are viewing the Tracker in the Display View. Click and drag on the handle at the top left of the pattern rectangle to position it over your chosen pattern. Adjust the size of the pattern rectangle by dragging on its edges with the mouse.
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Pattern Selection For Stabilization

When using the trackers Steady Position connection to stabilize an image, the location of the pattern when it is selected is used to determine precisely how the image will be stabilized. Selecting patterns for stabilization is a tricky business. You want to select as many patterns as possible. At least two are required to correct for rotation and scaling. Three patterns are better, and more will usually improve the quality of the solution. You cannot just select any potentially valid pattern in the sequence. Some patterns will make the solution worse rather than better. The following guidelines will help when selecting patterns for stabilization.
Relative Depth
Locate patterns at the same Relative Depth in the image. Objects further in the background will move in greater amounts compared to objects in the foreground, due to perspective distortion. This confuses the stabilization calculations, which do not compensate for depth.
Fixed Position
Locate patterns that are Fixed in position relative to each other. Patterns should not be capable of moving with reference to each other. The four corners of a sign would be excellent candidates, while the faces of two different people in the scene would be extremely poor choices for patterns. For more about Stabilization and Pattern Selection for Stabilization, see the section on Stabilization later in this chapter.
TRACKING A PATTERN
Once you have selected your patterns, you need to tell DFX+ to track the patterns and create paths representing their position for each frame. Each pattern will produce its own path. Before you can initiate tracking, set a Render Range. This is usually a range of frames during which the pattern is visible in the frame, or the entire range of the clip.
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Tracking A Pattern
Note
Dragging and dropping a Trackers tool tile from the Flow into the Time Area will not set the render range correctly for the input clip. You can still drag and drop the tool immediately before the Tracker into the Time Area to set the render range to the valid region for that clip. Once the Render Range is set, initiate tracking by clicking on one of the Tracking Transport buttons in the tracking tools controls. Clicking on any of these buttons will cause DFX+ to enter rendering mode. You cannot work with the Flow interactively until tracking is complete.
The five buttons in this array allow you to Track backward from the end of the render range. Track backward from the current frame. Stop tracking. Track forward from the current frame. Track forward from the start of the render range. You can halt a render at any time by clicking on the Stop Tracking button in the Tracker Transports, by clicking Stop Render at the bottom of the screen, or by pressing the ESC key. Pattern tracking will stop automatically when it reaches the end of the render range (or the start when tracking backward). If the Tracker is selected and when it is viewed in the Display View, you will be able to observe the progress of the Tracker. If a problem arises with any of the patterns, stop the render to re-evaluate the pattern or select a new pattern and try again. Turning on one of the adaptive modes or changing the image channel used to track that pattern often helps.
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Tracking A Pattern
As tracking progresses, you will be able to see the current pattern for that frame as found by the Tracker in the Pattern Display windows. This is especially handy since each frame is collected into a thumbnail Flipbook. When tracking is complete, this Flipbook can be played back from the Trackers tool controls, so you can evaluate the stability of the pattern over time. Upon completion, the Tracker will create a path from the motion of the pattern. The path from that pattern can now be connected to another tool, or used for more advanced operations like stabilization and corner positioning.
Adaptive Pattern Tracking

Even an ideal pattern will usually undergo shifts in profile, lighting conditions and other variables. These can adversely affect pattern recognition to the point that a pattern becomes unusable. The Tracker offers three modes of pattern acquisition during tracking that can help you to correct for these conditions. The modes can be set using the Adaptive Mode button array in the Trackers tool controls.
None
This pattern within the rectangle is acquired when you start tracking. It becomes the only pattern sought during the track.
Every Frame
Adaptive Tracking will re-acquire the pattern at each frame, providing a method for adapting a Tracker to changing conditions in the shot. This type of tracking is slower and slightly more resource-intensive, so its use is not recommended unless other methods fail.
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Tracking A Pattern
Best Match Tracking

Best Match Tracking works in much the same way as adaptive tracking, however, it will not re-acquire the pattern if there is a great difference between the original pattern and the new one. This helps to prevent cases where the transient changes cause the Tracker to become confused. For example, if a shadow passes over the Tracker point, the Adaptive Tracking mode may start tracking the shadow instead of the pattern. The Best Match mode would detect that the change from the previous frames pattern was too extreme and would not grab a new pattern from that frame. The Adaptive mode is applied to all active patterns while tracking. If you only want to track some patterns with a specific adaptive mode, disable all other patterns in the list before proceeding.
Dealing With Obscured Patterns

Often you will encounter an otherwise ideal pattern that is obscured or blocked from tracking for a portion of the sequence (for example, when tracking a light that passes behind a pillar). In these situations, avoid tracking in the frames where the pattern is obscured. You can accomplish this by setting the render range to stop immediately before the frame where the pattern is obscured, and tracking to that point. You then set the Render Range to the frame immediately after the pattern becomes visible again, and re-select the pattern with the on-screen controls. Begin tracking again. The Tracker will append to the existing path, automatically interpolating between the existing keyframes. You may then need to insert additional points in the non-tracked path to compensate for any non-linear motion in the tracked pattern. Set the tracker path to Insert and Modify mode so that new points can be added. Change Current Time to each frame in the missing region and re-position the Tracked Center control to match the expected position of the tracker.
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Tracking A Pattern
Dealing With Patterns That Leave The Frame

You have two options when a Tracker leaves the frame. If the pattern reenters the frame, you can deal with it as you would an obscured pattern (above). If the pattern does not re-enter the frame, or it is undesirable to hand track portions of the movement, you can use the Track Center (append) mode to select a new pattern. Track Center (append) mode allows you to select a new pattern that will continue adding keyframes to the existing path. The offset between the old pattern and the new pattern is automatically calculated. When you detect that your pattern has left the frame (or has become untrackable for some reason), change Current Time to the last frame that tracked successfully and click on the Track Center (append) button in the Trackers tool controls. Next, reposition the pattern selector to the new pattern and restart tracking from the current frame.
When selecting a new pattern to use for appending to an existing path, selecting a pattern that is as close as possible to the old pattern, and at the same apparent depth in the frame, will generate the best results. The further away the new pattern, the more likely it is that perspective and axial rotation will disturb the accuracy of the tracked result.
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Tracking A Pattern
When tracking to stabilize an image using multiple points, it is not necessary that all patterns in the Tracker exist for all frames in the sequence. Patterns are blended out of the solution and can fade out as they become invalid. New patterns are blended into the solution as they become available to avoid radical shifts in the Tracker average used for stabilization. See the section on Stabilization below for details.
Tracker Offsets
Often, the pattern selected for tracking is not exactly the same as the pattern you wish to track. For example, the pattern to be tracked is a button on an actors sleeve, and the effect requires that the persons hand appear to be glowing. To cause the Glows effect mask to be centered on the actors hand, it would be necessary to make use of the Trackers Offset control. The Tracker Offset allows for constant, or animated positional, offsets to be created relative to the actual trackers Pattern Center. You can position an offset from the patterns tracked position using the X Offset and Y Offset controls in the trackers controls. The position of the offset in the Display View will be shown by a dashed line running from the pattern center to the offset position. This control cannot be adjusted within the Display View. The offset must be set with the tool controls.
Once you have set a pattern offset, you can connect other positional controls to the trackers offset menu using the Connect To/Tracker : Offset Position option in the controls context menu. The tracked path will remain centered on the pattern.
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(Un)stabilize Operations
(UN)STABILIZE OPERATIONS
There are several ways to stabilize footage with DFX+, with an almost dizzying array of options. DFX+ is capable of stabilizing footage to completely remove motion from the scene, or to smooth existing motion. It can also apply the motion from one plate to another, basically matching the movement and stabilizing one shot with reference to another. Here are some common scenarios for stabilization. A sequence that should be rock solid has vibrations or undesirable movement in it. A sequence that requires a smooth camera movement suffers from a jarring or irregular camera movement. A static CG element must be believably added to a moving sequence. Two sequences with different motions must be composited together.
Stabilizing Motion
Stabilizing Motion completely removes the appearance of motion from the image. The motion from frame to frame is calculated and the contents of the frame are transformed to return the image to a reference position. This can be either the start or end of the sequence, or a manually selected frame from the sequence. Stabilization can correct for position with as little as one pattern, but two or more patterns are required to correct for rotation or scaling within the image. See Pattern Selection for Stabilization above for more details on selecting useful patterns for stabilization. When you select the (Un)Stabilize button in the trackers Operations tab, the Tracker will use the data from its patterns for stabilization. Certain controls which only make sense for stabilization operations will appear in the Operations tab.
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Several of the stabilization controls are always available under the Stabilize Settings reveal button. These controls are available at all times because the steady and unsteady positions of a Tracker are available for connection by other controls, even when the Trackers operation is not set to (Un)Stabilize.
Merge
is applied to the image inputs. When stabilizing an image to remove all motion, or smooth the motion, this should be set to BG Only.
Position/Rotation/Scaling
Use the Position, Rotation and Scaling checkboxes to select what aspects of the motion are corrected.
Reference
The Reference controls allow you to decide whether the image is stabilized to the first frame in the sequence, the last frame, or a manually selected frame. Any deviation from this reference by the tracked patterns is transformed back to this ideal frame. The start and end reference option is described in further detail below.
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Axis
The Axis for the stabilization is used for calculating the center of rotation and for scaling calculations. This is usually the average of the combined pattern centers, but may be changed to the position of a single Tracker or to a manually selected position, as needed.
Edges
This button array determines whether the edges of the image which leave the visible frame are cropped, duplicated, or wrapped when the stabilization is applied. Wrapping edges is occasionally desirable for some methods of match moving, but almost never when stabilizing the image for any other purpose. These controls are described in greater detail in the reference chapter for the Tracker later in this manual. When tracking to remove all motion from a sequence, set the Merge mode to BG Only, the reference control to Start, End or Select Time, and the Axis to Tracker Average or Selected Tracker.
Smoothing Motion
You will often find yourself confronted with an image sequence containing erratic or jerky camera motion. You will need to preserve the overall camera motion without losing the essence of the original camera motion.
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The Start and End reference option is designed for this technique. Instead of Stabilizing to a reference frame, the tracked path is simplified. The position of each pattern is evaluated from the start of the path and the end of the path. Intervening points are ignored entirely, and smooth linear motion replaces the existing motion.
To preserve some of the curvature in the original motion, increase the value of the Reference Intermediate Points slider which appears when the Start and End Reference Mode is selected. When tracking to smooth existing camera motion, ensure that the Start and End Reference Mode is enabled. Set the Merge mode to BG only. Generally, you will also want to leave the Axis control set to Tracker Average.
Matching Movement In Footage

You will encounter situations where footage needs to be stabilized so that an element from another source can be added to the shot. After the element or effect has been applied, the stabilization should be removed in order to make the shot look natural again. Match Moving essentially applies the movement from the tracked sequence to another image sequence. There are two ways to perform Match Moving, or Unstabilization. One method involves connecting the controls of a transform, merge or DVE to a Trackers outputs. This method is described in greater detail below. The other method is to stabilize an image as if you were trying to remove all of the motion, as described above. Instead of setting the Merge button array to BG Only, set it to FG Over BG, FG Only, or in rare occasions BG over FG.
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Corner Positioning Operations
With this method, you will need to provide a foreground image to the Tracker using the second (green) input on the Tracker tools tile. When you enable the FG Over BG or BG Over FG Merge option, additional controls will appear. These controls are fully detailed in the documentation for the Merge tool in the reference chapter. Enabling the FG Only mode will apply the motion from the background to the foreground, and the Tracker will only output the modified FG image. This result can later be merged over the original, allowing further modifications of the foreground to be applied by standard DFX+ tools before merging the result over the background plate.
CORNER POSITIONING OPERATIONS

The Corner Positioning Operation maps the four corners of a foreground image to four patterns within the Tracker. This operation, or technique, is most commonly used for sign replacements. The Corner Positioning Operation of the Tracker requires the presence of a minimum of four patterns. If you switch to this operation mode and you do not have four patterns set up in the Tracker already, additional patterns will automatically be added to bring the total up to four. When this operation mode is active, a set of drop-down boxes will appear to allow you to select which Tracker relates to each corner of the rectangle.
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Perspective Positioning Operations
This operation has no effect if the Merge Control buttons are set to BG Only.
PERSPECTIVE POSITIONING OPERATIONS

The Perspective Positioning Operation is used to remove perspective from a foreground image, or to apply the perspective from an existing sequence to another. The Perspective Positioning Operation of the Tracker requires the presence of a minimum of four patterns. If you switch to this operation mode and you do not have four patterns set up already, additional patterns will automatically be added to bring the total up to four. When this operation mode is active, a set of drop-down boxes will appear to allow you to select which Tracker relates to each corner of the rectangle. This operation has no effect if the Merge Control buttons are set to BG Only.
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Tracker Outputs
TRACKER OUTPUTS
One of the most common applications for a tracked pattern is using the tracked position or path to drive the position of another tools control. For example, you may wish to track an eye and then color correct the eye to blue using an Effect Mask. You would select and track the eye, then create a Color Corrector with the desired settings. You could then create a Mask in the shape of the eye and connect the center of the Mask to the Trackers position. In addition to the path, each Tracker pattern outputs five control types to which other controls can be connected. To connect a position control to a Tracker, select the connection type from the controls context menu (for example, Transform 1: Center/Connect To/ Tracker 1: Position).
Connections Types
Offset Position
This refers to the position of the tracked patterns center in the image. If an offset has been set for the Tracker position, the Offset is taken into account.
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Tracker Outputs
Steady Position
This refers to the position of the Tracker on the frame of the pattern that was selected. This connection will output the inverse of the tracked patterns motion. Use this connection to Steady the tracked image according to the patterns movement.
Unsteady Position
This refers to the opposite position of the Tracker relative to the Tracker Steady Position. Connect to this option to re-introduce the original movement on an image, after an effect or new layer has been added to the scene.
Steady Size
The Steady Size connection outputs the inverse of the tracked patterns scale.
Steady Angle
The Steady Angle connection outputs the inverse of the tracked patterns angle. The connections above are output by each individual pattern. The Tracker tool itself also outputs a Steady Position, Angle and Size output. The values of these outputs are calculated using all of the patterns in that Tracker, as configured by the Stabilize Settings controls in the trackers Operations tab.
Example
To use the connections to perform a Match Move, connect a Transform Center (not a Merge or a DVE) to the trackers Steady Position, as described under Stabilizing Footage With A Tracker in this chapter. Add the effect or layer that is required to the shot. Add another Transform tool to the Flow after the result, and connect this Transform center to the trackers Unsteady Position. The image will be restored to its original state, with the additional effect included.
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Tracker Outputs
Tracker Modifier
Another technique for adding a Tracker directly to a control is to apply the Tracker as a modifier. To re-use an example from earlier in the chapter, imagine that you needed to track an actors eyes so that you could apply an unearthly, alien glow to the eyes. You would add a Glow tool, and then create an Ellipse Mask in the shape of the eye. Right-click on the center of the Mask and select Ellipse X Center/Modify With/Tracker Position, Steady Position, or Unsteady Position. This would add a modifier with a set of controls almost identical to those found in the Tracker tool itself.
The differences between a Tracker Modifier and a Tracker tool are : The Tracker Modifier can only track a single pattern. You must set a source image for the Tracker Modifier. The Tracker Modifier can only output a single value, and cannot be used for complex stabilization procedures. The default source image for the modifier is the tool immediately upstream from the tool containing the modifier (i.e. if you add a Tracker Modifier to a Glow tool with a Loader as its input, the Tracker sources input will default to the output of the Loader). You can set a different source image by typing in the name of the tool, or by dragging and dropping the source tool from the Flow into the textbox control. DFX+ 4 310
18
GRID WARPING (MODULE 4)
INTRODUCTION
The Grid Warp tool is only available if Module 4 (3D Tools) is enabled for DFX+. The Grid Warp tool is a 2D mesh warper. It provides a grid of points to deform the image according to a source and destination grid. This tool is useful for advanced deformation, set extension, and basic morphing operations, among other things.
Grid Deformation
The default grid covers the entire image, with eight horizontal and vertical separations for a mesh with 64 vertices. The grid size can be adjusted to include as few as four control vertices, or as many as 10,000, with independent control for the number of points along each axis.
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GRID WARPING (MODULE 4) | 18

Introduction
Grid Deformations are based on a linked pair of source and destination grids. The source grid is used to set up the initial mapping coordinates of the mesh, assigning each of the vertices to a position within the source image. Adjustments to the source do not affect the image. They only define the initial state of the grid. The destination grid then maps the vertices in the source to the equivalent vertices in the destination. Adjustments made to the destination vertices do affect the image, applying a warp to connect the source and destination vertices together. Both grids can be animated over time, allowing the deformation to follow a moving or changing object within the scene. The animation of each grid is independent, so adjustments to the animation of the source grid do not affect the animation of the destination, and vice versa. Often, the target of a deformation does not cover the entire frame of the image, so a grid that covers the entire image is undesirable, requiring far too many control vertices to achieve proper resolution in the areas that need it. For example, you may need to warp the lips of a character who is frowning into a smile, changing the performance.
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Introduction
The grids can be sized within the image to cover only the required region, without affecting the remainder of the image. You choose whether to black out the areas outside of the grid, or leave them visible, for reference. Additionally, many of the objects that need to be morphed are organic, containing curves and sweeps in shape that do not lend themselves to square-type deformation. Each of the grids can be created by drawing a spline around the object to be deformed. The grid will be created by creating vertices at each important point along the spline. Nearby grid points will snap into position, shaping the grid more accurately to the organic object.
Magnet Cursor
The Magnet Cursor is a selection mode used to assist with creating smooth, organic meshes. When the magnet is enabled, the mouse pointer is surrounded by a small circle whenever it is over the display area. It is not necessary to click directly on a vertex when the magnet is enabled. You can click anywhere in the mesh and any vertices which fall into the region of the circle will be moved as you drag.
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Controls Tab
There are two different magnet modes, Region and Magnetic. The Region Mode only affects the vertices within the range of the magnet when you first click. The Magnetic Mode affects all vertices that come within the domain of the magnet, even if they only enter the region after you start moving. The distance of the magnets affect can be changed by changing the Magnet Distance slider in the Grid Warp tools Controls Tab, or by holding down the D key while click-dragging the mouse to the left and right.
More details on the operation and setting of the Magnet Cursor can be found in the description of each control found below.
CONTROLS TAB
Source And Destination
This pair of buttons determines whether you are working on the source or destination grid. Only one grid can be displayed or manipulated at a time. To edit the source grid, select the Source button. To edit the destination grid select the Destination button. The selected button will be highlighted in yellow to indicate that it is the active grid at the moment.
All of the other controls in this tab affect the grid selected by this control.
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Controls Tab
Magnet Distance
The default tool for selecting and manipulating the grid is a magnet tool. The magnet is represented in the Display View by a circle around the mouse pointer. This slider controls how large the region of affect for the magnet is, or the size of the circle. When you click and drag on the grid, any vertex within the range of the slider will move.
To increase the size of the magnet, increase the value of this slider. You can also adjust the size of the magnet by holding down the D while clickdragging the mouse.
Magnet Strength
This slider will increase or decrease the falloff of the Magnet Cursors affect. At a setting of 0.0, the Magnetic Cursor has no affect, and vertices will not move at all. As the values increase, the magnet causes a greater range of motion in the selected vertices. Use smaller values for a more sensitive adjustment and larger values for broad changes to the grid.
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Controls Tab
Magnet Type
There are three magnet types available, Selected, Region and Magnetic. These modes determine how the cursor is used to select and manipulate vertices in the Grid. In Selected mode, you are able to box select a vertice or vertices and click drag to adjust the points. The Region magnet type will select and move all vertices within the range of the magnets affect. Other points that enter the region while dragging the control will be unaffected
The Magnetic mode causes additional vertices encountered as the magnet cursor is dragged to be added into the region of affect, moving along with the cursor
X And Y Grid Size

The X and Y Grid Size slider controls the number of divisions in the grid. Where the X and Y divisions intersect, a control vertex is created.
Be aware that changing either of these controls after applying changes in the grid will reset the entire grid. Set the X and Y Grid Size to the appropriate resolution before making serious detailed adjustments to the grid.
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Controls Tab
Subdivision Level
The Subdivision Level determines how many subdivisions are between each set of divisions. Subdivisions do not generate vertices at intersections. The more subdivisions there are, the smoother the deformation is likely to be (and the slower it will be to render the deformation).
Center
The Center coordinates determine the exact center of the grid. The on-screen center control is invisible while editing the grid, but if you switch to Edit Rectangle mode, the grid center becomes visible and available for editing. Use the Center control to move the grid through a scene without affecting the animation applied to the individual vertices. For example, while deforming lips on a face, track the motion of the face with a Tracker and connect the grid center to the Tracker. This will match the grid with slight movements of the head while you focus on the deformation of the lips.
Angle
This Angle control rotates the entire grid.
Size
This option increases or decreases the scale of the grid.
View Destination Checkbox

This control is only visible when the Source button is enabled. When on, the Destination Grid is rendered/displayed. This allows you to adjust the source grid mesh controls and see the resulting destination. The default is off.
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Controls Tab
Edit Buttons
There are four edit modes available, each of which can be selected by clicking on the appropriate button.
Edit None
Set the grid to Edit None mode to disable the display of all on-screen controls.
Edit Rectangle
When the grid is in Edit Rectangle mode, the on-screen controls display a rectangle to determine the dimensions of the grid. The sides of the rectangle can be adjusted to increase or decrease the grids dimension. This mode also reveals the on-screen center control for the grid.
Edit Grid
The Edit Grid mode is the default mode. While this mode is enabled, the grid is drawn in the Display View and the control vertices of the grid can be manipulated directly.
Edit Line
The Edit Line mode is extremely useful for creating grids around organic shapes. When this mode is enabled, all on-screen controls will disappear and you will be able to draw lines around the shape or object to be deformed. These lines will create a spline mesh. As you draw the lines, a grid will automatically be created that best represents the object. Additional controls for Tolerance, Over Size and Snap Distance appear when this mode is enabled. These are documented below.
Set Mesh To Entire Image

Clicking on this button automatically resets the size of the grid to the exact dimensions of the image. Adjustments to vertices within the grid will be reset. DFX+ 4 318

Controls Tab
Copy Buttons
These two buttons provide a technique for copying the exact shape and dimensions of the source grid to the destination, or the destination grid to the source. This is particularly useful after setting the source grid, to ensure that the destination grids initial state matches the source grid before beginning a deformation.
Point Tolerance
This control is only visible when the Edit Line mode is enabled. The Point Tolerance slider determines how much tesselation the grid will apply to closely match the density of points in the spline. The higher the value, the less vertices there will be in the resulting grid, and the more uniform the grid will appear. Lower values will start applying denser grids with variation to account for regions in the spline that require more detail.
Oversize Amount
This control is only visible when the Edit Line mode is enabled. The Oversize slider is used to set how large an area around the spline should be included in the grid. Higher values create a larger border, which can be useful when blending a deformation back into the source image.
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Controls Tab
Snap Distance
This control is only visible when the Edit Line mode is enabled. The Snap Distance slider dictates how strongly the drawn spline will attract vertices. If a vertice is close enough to a spline edge, the vertice will move to line up with the spline. The higher the value, the further the reach of the spline.
Right-Click Here For Shape Animation
Right-clicking on this label will reveal a context menu that can be used to animate the shape spline or to connect the spline to other splines in the Flow.
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Render Tab
Right-Click Here For Mesh Animation

By default, the grid is already animated. Any adjustments to any of the vertices will add an additional keyframe to the animation spline, or modify the existing one at that keyframe. To remove the animation and ensure that the grid remains static, right-click on this label and select Remove Bezier Spline. You can also use the menu in this label to connect one mesh to another animated or published mesh.
RENDER TAB
Render Method
This drop-down menu is used to select the rendering technique and quality applied to the mesh. The three settings are arranged in order of quality, with the first (Wire Frame) as the fastest and lowest of quality. The default mode is Render, which produces final resolution, full-quality results.
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Toolbar Buttons
Anti-Aliasing
This control is a checkbox in Wire Frame render mode, and is otherwise a drop-down menu with three levels of quality. Higher degrees of anti-aliasing improve image quality dramatically, but vastly increase render times. The Low setting may be an appropriate option while setting up a large dense grid, or previewing a flow, but almost never for a final render.
Area Sample
This control is only visible when the render mode is set to Render. Checked by default, disabling this checkbox prevents the grid from calculating Area Samples for each vertex in the grid. Area Sampling vastly improves render quality, at the cost of speed.
Black Background
This checkbox determines whether pixels outside of the grid in the source image will be set to black, or if they will be preserved.
Object ID And Material ID

Enable these checkboxes to have the grid output a Material and/or Object ID channel in the final render.
TOOLBAR BUTTONS
Whenever the Grid Warp tool is selected, and a mesh is visible, the Grid Warp toolbar is displayed in the views. This toolbar provides a variety of options for manipulating and adjusting the grid. The buttons in this toolbar are described below. DFX+ 4 322

Toolbar Buttons
Modify Only/Done
These two toolbar buttons set the mesh to Modify Only and Done modes, respectively. The Modify Only mode is used to edit the mesh, while the Done mode is used to prevent any further changes to a mesh.
Smooth/Linear
Use the Smooth and Linear buttons to apply or remove smoothing from selected vertices.
Auto Smooth Points

When this mode is enabled, the vertices in the grid will be automatically smoothed whenever they are moved.
Z Under/Z Same/Z Over

When two vertices in a grid overlap, one ends up getting clipped by the other. These buttons are used to select which vertices are rendered on top, and which are rendered behind.
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Advanced Spline Shaping Modes
Select All
Clicking on this button will select all of the points in the mesh.
Show Key Points, Handles, Grid And Subdivisions

Use these four buttons to enable or disable the display of the grid, key points (vertices) Bezier handles and subdivisions in the display views.
Reset Selected Points

This button resets all of the selected points (vertices) to their default positions.
Reset All Points

This button resets all of the points (vertices) in the mesh to their default positions.
Stop Rendering
This button can be used to enable the Stop Rendering mode. This disables all rendering of the Grid Warp tool until the mode is turned off. It is frequently useful when making a series of fine adjustments to a complex grid.
ADVANCED SPLINE SHAPING MODES

The same advanced shaping modes that are available for splines can also be applied to vertices on the mesh. Select the points to be transformed then: Hold down the T key, click-drag to twist about the selected points. Hold down the S key, click-drag to scale about the selected points. Hold down the X key, click-drag to horizontally scale the selected points. Hold down the Y key and click-drag to horizontally scale the selected points. The position of the mouse pointer when the transformation begins becomes the center used for that transformation.
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19
PAINT AND ROTOSCOPING (MODULE 6)
WHAT IS PAINT?
The Paint tools and masks are only available if Module 6 (Paint Tools) is enabled for DFX+.
Paint is an extremely flexible stroke-based system for making changes directly to a series of images. You can use the Paint tool to perform wire and rig removal, image cloning, as well as to rapidly create custom masks and mattes. DFX+ Paint can even be used to create new images or artistic elements from scratch. Each paint tool is made up of a series of brush strokes. Strokes are vector shapes created directly on a view. The type of brush used, the size of the stroke and the affect of the stroke on the image are all user controllable. A wide range of apply modes and brush types are available. Brush strokes can be made into editable polylines for fine control by the user, and can be animated to change shape, length and size over time. The opacity and size of a stroke can be affected by velocity and pressure (when used with a supported tablet). Unlimited undo and redo of Paint provides you with the ability to experiment before committing changes to an image sequence, and paint strokes can be re-ordered, deleted and modified with virtually infinite flexibility. DFX+ Paint is an essential part of any compositors toolkit. DFX+ 4 325
PAINT AND ROTOSCOPING (MODULE 6) | 19

Working With Paint Tools
WORKING WITH PAINT TOOLS

Adding Paint
The Paint Tool
Select the Paint tool from the Tools/Paint menu at the top of your screen, or drag the Paint icon from the toolbar or Bins onto the Flow or Display Views. The controls for the Paint tool will be automatically displayed in the Tools Tab to the right of the interface, and DFX+ will be ready to start painting. You can also add a Paint Mask to any tool by selecting the tool to be masked, viewing it in the Display View and selecting Paint Mask from the Display View context menu. In this case, the paint controls will appear in the Masks Tab. See Mask Painting later in this chapter.
The Paint Toolbar
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Select Mode
Pressing this button will set the Paint tool into Select Mode, which allows you to select and modify strokes. Selected strokes will be affected by changes to the controls displayed in the Tools Tab.
Stroke Mode
Pressing this button will set the selected Paint tool into Stroke Mode, permitting the addition of new paint strokes to the image using the chosen brush and apply mode.
Clone Stroke
Clicking on this button has a similar effect to Stroke Mode, except that the stroke is automatically set to the Clone Apply mode. This is essentially a shortcut for image cloning.
Polyline Mode
Clicking on this button will allow for the creation of Polyline strokes using Click Append mode (see the Polyline chapter for details). Strokes will be applied using the user-selected brush and apply mode.
Circle Shape
Clicking on this button will allow the creation of circular shapes that affect the image using the chosen apply mode.
Rectangle Shape
Clicking on this button will allow the creation of rectangular shapes that affect the image using the chosen apply mode.
Copy Polyline
Copy Polyline is used to copy one portion of an image to another. Think of this as a Copy/Paste for images in which the copy source, destination, and shape of the copied region can be animated over time. It can also be used to fill a polyline region with a color or apply mode, instead of copying.
Copy Ellipse
This is like Copy Polyline, except the shape is an ellipse.
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Copy Rectangle
This is like Copy Polyline, except the shape is a rectangle.
Fill
The Fill Mode implements a bucket-style fill. Clicking on a region of the image fills that area of the image with the color selected in the paint controls. Pixels of the same color, or a similar color, are considered to be part of the region according to the range and softness settings.
Paint Group
Selecting this button causes all selected paint strokes to be collected into a single group, which can then be moved, scaled and rotated together.
Controls Tab
Not all controls described here appear in all modes. Certain controls are only useful in a specific paint mode, and they are hidden when they are not applicable. Additionally, several of the controls are considered to be self explanatory. The purpose of a center control, angle or size control should be relatively straightforward to determine. For further details on the functionality of the Controls Tab, please see below the Working With Paint Strokes - Animating Strokes section in this chapter.
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Color Space
This array of buttons is only visible if the current mode is set to Fill. They select the Color Space used when sampling colors around the fill center for inclusion in the fill range.
R, G, B And Alpha
When selected, these checkboxes reflect which color channel is being painted. With R, G and B off and Alpha on, painting will occur on the Alpha channel.
Stroke (Subsection)
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Spacing
The Spacing slider determines the distance between splats, or samples used to draw a straight line along the underlying vector shape that composes a stroke or polyline stroke. Increasing the value of this slider increases the density of the stroke, while decreasing the value is likely to cause the stroke to assume the appearance of a dotted line.
Stroke Animation
The Stroke Animation menu control provides several pre-built animation effects that can be applied to a paint stroke. All Frames This default displays the stroke for all frames of the project where a valid target image is available to the Paint tool.
Limited Duration Exists on a number of frames specified by Duration slider. Write On When selected, an animation spline will be added to the Paint stroke that precisely duplicates the timing of the paint strokes creation. The stroke will be written on the image, exactly as it was drawn. To adjust the timing of the Write On effect, switch to the Spline Editor and use the Time Stretcher mode to adjust the overall length of the Paint: Write On animation spline. To smooth or manually adjust the motion, reduce the points in the animation spline. Write Off will perform the reverse of Write On, by drawing the stroke starting from the end and working backward to the start of the stroke.
Write Off
Write On Then Off This mode will first apply both Write On, then Write Off animation modes to the stroke. Trail Selecting this mode will cause both the start and end points of the stroke to be animated simultaneously, offset from each other by the amount specified in the duration control. This has the effect of creating a segment of the stroke that follows the stroke as if it were a path. As with the Write On and Off effects, this will start at the frame which is current when the animation mode is selected, but the timing of the animation can be adjusted manually using the Spine Editor and/or Timeline Editor.
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Duration
This sets the duration of each stroke in frames. This control is only used when the Stroke Animation mode is set to Limited Duration, and it is most commonly employed when frame-by-frame rotoscoping through a scene. Note that each stroke applied to a scene will have a Duration in the Timeline, which can be trimmed independently from one stroke to the next. The Duration can be set to 0.5, which will allow each stroke to last for a single field only if the Flow is processing in Fields mode.
Write On And Write Off

This range slider represents the beginning and end points of the stroke. Drag the low value upward to provide the impression that the stroke is being erased, or drag the High value from 0.0 to 1.0 to give the impression that the stroke is being drawn on the screen. This control can be animated to good effect, but it works most effectively when automatically animated through the use of the Write On, Write Off modes of the Stroke Animation menu.
Make Editable
This option turns the current stroke into a Polyline spline to be edited and animated as a spline.
Brush (Subsection)
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Brush Shape
Soft Brush The Soft Brush type is a circular brush with soft edges. You can modify the size of the brush in the Display View by holding CTRL down while dragging the mouse. A Circular Brush has hard edges. You can also resize this brush interactively. Allows images from any tool in the Flow, or from your file system, to be used as a brush. See Creating Custom Brushes later in this chapter. Single Pixel Brush The Single Pixel Brush is perfect for fine detail work, creating a brush exactly one pixel in size. No anti-aliasing is applied to the Single Pixel Brush. Square Brush A square brush with hard edges.
Circular Brush Image Brush
Vary Size
Constant With Pressure With Velocity
The brush will be a constant size over the entire stroke. Stroke size will vary with actual applied pressure. Stroke size will vary with speed of painting. The faster the stroke, the thinner it is.
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Vary Opacity
Constant With Pressure With Velocity
The brush will be a constant transparency over the entire stroke. Stroke transparency will vary with applied pressure. Stroke transparency will vary with speed of painting. The faster the stroke, the more transparent it is.
Size
This adjusts the Size of the brush when the brush type is set to either Soft brush or Circle. The diameter of the brush is drawn in the Display View as a small circle surrounding the mouse pointer. The size can also be adjusted interactively in the Display View by holding the CTRL key down while click-dragging the mouse pointer.
Softness
Use this control to increase or decrease the softness of a Soft brush.
Image Source
When using the Image brush type, you can select between three possible sources brush image.
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Tool
The image source is derived from the output of a tool on the Flow. Drag the tool into the Source Tool input to set the source. The image source is derived from an image or sequence on disk. Any file supported by DFX+s Loader can be used. Locate the file using the Filename clip browser that appears to set the clip used as a source. Images stored in the DFXPlus/Brushes directory are used as a brush for the Paint tool. Select the brush from the menu that appears below.
Clip
Brush
Apply (Subsection)
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Apply Mode
Color
Paints simple colored strokes on the screen. When used in conjunction with an image brush, it can also be used to tint the brush. Copies portions of the one image into another image, or to clones from the same image using adjustable position and time offsets. Any image from the Flow can be used as the source image. Embosses the portions of the image covered by the brush stroke. Reveals the underlying image through all other strokes, effectively erasing portions of the strokes beneath it without actually destroying the strokes. Merges the brush onto the image. This mode behaves in much the same way as the Color Apply mode, but has no color controls. It is best-suited for use with the Image Brush type. Smears the image using the direction and strength of the brush stroke as a guide. This mode will stamp the brush onto the image, completely ignoring any alpha channel or transparency information. This mode is best-suited for applying decals to the target image. A wire removal mode used to remove wires, rigging and other small elements in the frame by sampling adjacent pixels and drawing them in toward the stroke. DFX+ 4 335
Clone
Emboss Erase
Merge
Smear Stamp
Wire

Working With Paint Strokes
WORKING WITH PAINT STROKES

Creating Paint Strokes
Brush Strokes
When Paint is first added to the Flow, the brush type is set to a mediumsized soft circular brush with a white color apply mode. To add a paint stroke to your image, simply place your mouse or pen over the image, clickhold the left mouse button and start drawing.
Release the mouse button to end the creation of the stroke. To draw another stroke, simply click again and continue. A new stroke will be added to the image with the same settings as the last stroke. When you are finished painting, choose the Select button in the paint toolbar to avoid accidentally adding new strokes. While in Stroke or Polyline modes, the controls displayed in the Tool Tab affect the next stroke created, not the strokes already created. To adjust the settings of an existing stroke, switch to Select mode using the Paint toolbar, and select the stroke with your mouse. See Selecting Strokes and Modifying Strokes later in this chapter. You may also adjust a stroke by adjusting the Modifier controls for that stroke in the Modifiers Tab of the Paint tool.
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Polyline Strokes
Paint provides a Polyline Stroke mode, which has the ability to create and manipulate a stroke in the same way that you might create a path or mask. To add a Polyline Stroke to a flow, select the Polyline button from the Paint toolbar, and click in the view to add the first point. Continue clicking to add additional points to the Polyline. You will notice that the usual Polyline toolbar buttons will appear in the display toolbar. Polyline Strokes are created in Click Append mode by default, but they can also be created in Draw Append mode. For more information on Polyline creation and manipulation, consult the Polylines chapter in this manual.
Selecting Strokes
Selecting A Stroke
To adjust any parameter of a brush stroke after it has been added to a flow, it is necessary to first select the stroke. The Select Toolbar button will stop paint stroke creation and allow you to select any stroke by left-clicking on it with the mouse. Once the stroke is selected, you will see a thin green line outlining the strokes shape.
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The Paint tools controls will display the settings for the selected stroke. Any changes made to these controls will affect the stroke directly. Each stroke also has its own set of controls in the Modifier tab. You can locate the strokes controls in the Modifiers, and click on the strokes control header to select that stroke.
Modifying Strokes
Modifying The Stroke

Once the stroke is selected, change the strokes settings by adjusting the Paint tool controls. Any control can be changed, including the brush size, color, type, and duration. Most of these controls can be animated over time.
Modifying The Shape Of A Stroke (Polyline Strokes)

To modify the actual shape of an existing stroke, you must first convert the stroke into an Editable Polyline. Make certain that the stroke you want to modify is selected and then click on the Make Editable button in the Controls tab of the Paint tool. The stroke will change into a standard DFX+ Polyline. Due to the resolution of paint strokes, you may find that there are too many points for efficient editing of the converted Polyline Stroke. You can use the polyline Reduce Points feature to decrease the number of points to a more manageable amount. DFX+ 4 338

Using The Paint Stroke Modifier Tab

Each time a stroke is added in a Paint tool, a new modifier appears in the Modifier tab for that tool. These Paint Modifiers contain all of the controls that you see in the Paint tool controls. Use these modifiers to adjust a paint stroke regardless of whether the stroke is currently selected. To learn the name of a Paint Stroke (so it can be found in the Modifiers tab), hold your mouse over the stroke and a pop-up tooltip will appear with the strokes name. You can rename a stroke by right-clicking on the strokes control header and selecting Rename from the context menu.
Deleting Strokes
To Delete a stroke from the Paint tool, locate the strokes modifier in the Paint tools Modifier tab, and right-click on the tool header. Select Delete from the context menu that appears.
Reordering Strokes
Strokes are applied to the target image one after another, with each succeeding stroke drawn over the previous ones. Occasionally, you may find yourself wanting to change the stroke order. The order of strokes can be viewed and changed in the Modifiers tab of the Paint tool. The stroke displayed at the top is the first stroke applied to the image.
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To change the order in which the strokes are applied to the image, switch to the Modifiers tab and place your mouse pointer over the header for the desired stroke. Left-click and drag the stroke modifier until it is in the new position in the modifier stroke list.
Animating Strokes
As detailed above in the Controls Tab section, there are a variety of ways to animate paint strokes, each with its own unique settings and qualities. You can animate the color, spacing, size and even the brush type or apply mode over time. This is done using the same method as animating any other control in DFX+, by right-clicking on the control and selecting Animate from the context menu.
Additionally, it is also possible to animate the shape of the stroke and the duration, and have the stroke write on and off, or even trail.
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Stroke Duration
Duration animation is perhaps one of the most important parts of animating a paint stroke, particularly when rotoscoping. Use this control to affect the length of time over which a stroke is applied to the image and the frame range used by the Trails animation mode.
A value of 0.5 will cause the stroke to be visible for only 1 field, where a value of 10 would cause the stroke to be visible for 10 full frames. The control will have no effect when the stroke animation mode is set to All Frames or any of the Write On and Off modes. Stroke Duration can be further modified in the Timeline.
Animating The Shape Of The Stroke

By default, the shape of a brush or polyline stroke cannot be animated over time. To animate the strokes shape, select the stroke and press the Make Editable button. Right-click on the Right-Click Here For Shape Animation text that appears beneath the Make Editable button. Select Animate from the context menu that appears. A Stroke #: PolylineChange spline will be added to the Spline Editor, and the first keyframe will be created at the current time.
Animate the stroke as you would a mask or path, by changing to a new frame and adjusting the shape of the strokes polyline. Each change will create a new keyframe on the Polyline Change spline, and the shape of the polyline will morph from one keyframe shape to the next.
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Cloning
CLONING
As detailed above in Working With Paint Tools - Apply Tab, Cloning is a process where a portion of one image (source) is copied to another (target). The source image for this apply mode can be taken from the same image as the Target, or from another tool in the Flow. It can even be taken from a file off of the disks. Cloning is most often used to either remove an unwanted element from a scene, such as wiring, rigging and ex-spouses, or to copy and clone elements in the source for the appearance of greater numbers, such as crowds and vehicles. To enable Cloning, select it from the Apply Mode menu in the Paint tool. Any of DFX+s Paint Brush types can be used in conjunction with the Cloning mode, although brush and polyline strokes are most common.
Setting The Source Image

By default, the Cloning apply mode will use the current image as its source. To clone from another image, type the tools name in the source tool control. You can also drag the tool from the Flow into the control, or right-click on the Source tool control label. Select Connect To: Toolname from the context menu.
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Cloning
You may use an image with a different size from your target image as your source. Unlike bitmap masks, DFX+ will not rescale the source image to match the size of the target.
Source Offset
DFX+ provides the ability to define an offset position for the source image. There are two ways to set an offset; by using the mouse or with the overlay mode crosshair.
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Cloning
Changing Offset With The Mouse

To use the mouse to set your Offset, place the mouse over the portion of the source image you wish to use as a source when you first start painting. Hold down the ALT key and click once. A small X will be placed in that position. Now place the mouse over where you wish to start painting and draw a stroke. The X that marks the offset position will start to move as you draw. This is useful when the same image is the source as well as the target. If you are using a different image as source, view it as well and you will see that X on that view as well.
Changing Offset With Overlay

Selecting the Enable Overlay checkbox in the tool controls will cause a transparent overlay of the source image to be displayed on the target image.
A crosshair control will appear in the Display View to control the exact position of the offset. This provides a simultaneous view of both the source and target image while painting. This mode is most useful when the source image and the target are drawn from different images. You can turn off the Overlay before painting, or leave it on to clone the image.
Changing The Source Offset While Painting

The offset used by the cloning apply mode is stored with each stroke, making it possible to change the position of the offset from stroke to stroke. Simply set the new offset using the overlay crosshairs or by ALT-clicking (depending on the mode) and continue painting. DFX+ 4 344

Cloning
Offsetting The Clone Source In Time

A commonly used technique in cloning for the removal of unwanted transient elements like dirt and scratches is to clone from the same image as a source, but offset in time instead of space. To offset the clone source in time, adjust the Time Offset slider under the Apply mode section of the Paint controls. Negative values offset the source backward in time, while positive values offset the source forward in time. To clone from a still image or a single frame of a clip, enable the Still Source checkbox. The source time slider can then be used to select the frame to clone. You cannot use a blank clone source for your input when performing a time offset. You must set the source to another tool. If you plan to clone from the same image, set the source input to the tool that is feeding into the Paint tool.
Copy Polylines, Ellipses And Rectangles

As a powerful way to quickly clone large portions of the image, the Copy Polyline mode can be both simple to use and extremely powerful at the same time. The Copy Rectangle and Copy Ellipse modes work in a similar fashion so this documentation focuses on the Copy Polyline mode. Clicking on the Copy Polyline button in the toolbar initially behaves exactly as if you had selected a regular polyline stroke. Click in the large display view to add the points for the polyline, clicking on the last created point to close the shape. Once the shape is complete, click anywhere else in the image except on the Polyline. The shape you just added will be automatically selected. Now click and drag the center control to set the position of the copy. The source and destination shapes are always identical. Adjusting one immediately adjusts the other to keep them synchronized. The size and angle of the copy can easily be modified to suit your needs, as well as flipping the sample horizontally or vertically for rapid mirroring. It is often useful to see the Source and the Destination Polylines simultaneously. To do so, enable the Show Source checkbox in the controls. You will now be able to see and modify the source and destination samples at the same time.
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Cloning
The apply mode of the Copy Polyline is Stamp, so the alpha channel of the source will be ignored. To take the alpha channel of the image into account when making your copy, change the Apply mode from Stamp to Merge.
To help blend your copy back into the scene, apply softness to the edge of the copy. You may also find that reducing the opacity a small amount will help blend the copy with the background.
Fill Mode
Another option is to switch to Fill Mode. This allows for the creation of solid shapes. The default Stamp mode can be used to select different colors.
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Wire Removal
WIRE REMOVAL
The Wire Removal apply mode is specifically designed to rapidly remove small wires, posts, scratches and dust from an image. Wire Removal works by sampling the pixels on the outside of the stroke and pulling or pinching them in toward the center of the stroke. Wire Removal is most effectively applied using brush and polyline strokes. Note that you are not limited to straight lines and any shape that can be drawn with either of these brushes can be used.
Blend Type
Two methods of removal are provided; Edge Blend and Cross Fade. Each method is similar in that it samples the edges of the image along the length of the stroke and pulls surrounding pixels in. The techniques used are slightly different, and one may provide better results where the other fails.
Angle
The Angle slider in the controls determines the vector from which the samples are taken relative to the spline edge. A value of 90 degrees here causes the samples to be drawn from pixels immediately perpendicular to the heading of the stroke. DFX+ 4 347

Rotoscoping With Paint
A value of 0 degrees would sample pixels along the line, which would be rather useless. Adjust the angle to match patterns in the surroundings which are not horizontal.
Distance
The Distance slider determines how far away from the edge of the stroke to sample the image for clean pixels, so larger distances are good for removing wider objects in the scene.
Bias
The Bias slider controls the weight of the samples from each side of the stroke. A Bias of 0.5 samples evenly from both sides of the image. A lower Bias favors the sample from the left side and a higher value favors the right hand sample (assuming a vertical stroke).
Noise
Since the sampling process tends to destroy grain in the region removed by the stroke, two controls are available to help introduce Noise into the image. Use the Noise slider to increase the strength of the noise, and the Noise Threshold to limit the noise effect to high luminance areas with plenty of detail.
ROTOSCOPING WITH PAINT

What Is Rotoscoping?
Rotoscoping is a common industry term for the process of manipulating an image sequence one frame at a time. This painstaking task is often necessary to obtain the fine level of control required to properly remove undesirable image elements from a scene, or to paint a complicated Garbage Matte. DFX+ offers several methods for improving the Rotoscoping workflow, including additional Saver modes and Duration controls.
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Rotoscoping With Paint
Stroke Duration
Use the Paints Duration control to limit the length of your strokes to one or more frames, or even just one field. Use the Timeline Editor to change the position in time of each stroke, or to change the Stroke Duration.
High Quality Interactive Saver Mode

The Saver tool offers the ability to save a final, rendered version of your paint strokes as you work. To enable this mode, add a Saver tool to your flow. Set a filename, path and file type, and then select High Quality Interactive from the Save Frames menu. Whenever you have the High Quality checkbox selected while working, DFX+ will save each frame to disk as it is processed interactively. When used correctly, this feature can completely eliminate the need to perform a final render for simple and even some complex painting tasks.
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Mask Painting
Warning
The High Quality Interactive mode is perfect for Rotoscoping, but it can cause tremendous confusion. If settings are modified in such a way that frames already saved interactively by the Saver are changed, those already on the disk will not automatically be re-rendered. You would then need to either step through each frame again, or perform a final render to make certain that the result is correct. For example, imagine a Loader containing a 10 frame sequence, followed by a Blur tool. The Blur tools Strength control is animated from 0 to 10 over the 10 frames. This is followed by a Paint tool and then a Saver set to High Quality Interactive. If you then paint out a wire in the sequence by Rotoscoping, each frame will be saved as you step through, and the render will be complete by the time you finish frame 10. If when you reach frame 10, you realize that the blur strength needs to be stronger, and you change the value of the keyframe to 20, frames 1 through 9 as stored on the disk will no longer be correct.
MASK PAINTING
Adding A Paint Mask
In addition to using the Paint tool for manipulating images, the paint engine can also be used to create Effect Masks for virtually any tool in DFX+, and to create Garbage Mattes for any keyer. To add a Paint mask to a selected tool, right-click in the Display View and select Effect Mask/Paint Mask or Garbage Matte/Paint Mask from the context menu that appears.
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Interactive Flipbook
A set of paint controls will appear in the Modifiers tab of that tool, and a Paint toolbar will appear in the Display View whenever the tool is selected. For more information on Effect Masks and Garbage Mattes, see the chapters dedicated to their use in this manual.
INTERACTIVE FLIPBOOK
An interesting capability of DFX+ is the ability to update a Flipbook that has already been created - even as it plays. This feature is extremely useful for maintaining a running preview of your work when painting and rotoscoping.
Creating An Interactive Flipbook

First create a new Flipbook in any one of the available display views. Once it has been created, use the context menu or keyboard shortcuts to view the tool used to create the Flipbook on the SAME display view as the Flipbook. If you make changes to tools upstream of the previewed tool within the Flipbooks range of frames, the Flipbook will be automatically updated, creating a real-time interactive preview of that portion of your flow.
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Creating Custom Brushes
Warning
As with the High Quality Interactive Saver mode (described in the Rotoscoping section of this chapter), this method is best-suited to Rotoscoping, and will not automatically reflect changes made to spline animations that affect a range of frames.
CREATING CUSTOM BRUSHES

Creating New Image Brushes
It is simple to create your own brush shapes using nothing more complex than a Background tool and an Effect Mask. To create your own brush, add a Background tool to a flow of any size (smaller images will render faster). Set the Background Color mode to Solid and change the color to white if it is not already. Select and display the Background tool. Create a Polyline Effect Mask on the Background tool in the shape you require. Make the mask as large as the background image will allow. Now, add a Paint tool to the Flow after the image onto which you wish to paint, and set the Brush Shape to Image Brush. Set the source of the Image Brush to the Background tool and set the Apply mode to Color. Set the size of your brush and start painting.
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Any changes you make to the color controls in the Apply tab will tint the brush to the selected color. Your new brush shape can be used with any apply mode. You can save the brush image to DFX+s brushes sub-directory. The brush will then be available by setting the Image Brush mode to Brush, and selecting the brush from the drop-down list.
Paint Groups
Often a group of paint strokes and objects considered together form a single object or element in a scene. For example, a series of Shape and Polyline Strokes can collectively form a logo, or 25-30 brush strokes used to remove a wire from a scene. If you need to adjust or move all of these strokes, it can be tedious to locate each stroke and move them one by one. The solution is to select all of the strokes that compose that object, and collapse them into a Paint Group. To create a group, first enter Select Mode. Select all of the strokes that are to be part of that group using box selection and CTRL clicking to add and remove members. Once all of the required strokes are selected, locate and click on the bottom button in the paint toolbar, the Paint Group button. The strokes will be added into a group and their individual controls will be replaced with a set of common controls.
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The common controls provide a single center, size and angle control for all of the strokes. The individual stroke controls in the Modifier tab are hidden to help keep the strokes organized, although they can be exposed again by clicking on the Show SubGroups Controls checkbox.
Initially, the center of the group is set to the average center of all strokes in the group. You can manually reposition the center of the group relative to the strokes by CTRL dragging the center control to its new location. Click on the Reset Center button to return the center to the average position again. When you no longer need the group, click on the UnGroup button to return the strokes to individual control again. Any transformations applied to the group directly are lost, the strokes return to their original positions when the group was created.
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20
AUXILIARY CHANNELS (MODULE 4)
INTRODUCTION
The Auxiliary Channel tools are only available if Module 4 (3D Tools) is enabled for DFX+. In addition to the alpha channel, several 3D applications are capable of outputting more detailed data on the 3D objects in their scene. This extra information, known as the Auxiliary Channels, can contain depth information, mapping coordinates, normals orientation and a variety of other data for each pixel in the 3D-rendered scene. DFX+ is capable of using the Auxiliary Channels to perform depth-based compositing, create masks and mattes based on object or material IDs, and for texture replacements. Tools to work with Auxiliary Channel information have been specifically developed to work with this data. Consult your 3D applications documentation to determine which Auxiliary Channels it supports, if any. Below is a short description of the channels supported by DFX+.
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AUXILIARY CHANNELS (MODULE 4) | 20

DFX+ Auxiliary Channels
DFX+ AUXILIARY CHANNELS

Z-Buffer
Each pixel in the Z-Buffer channel contains a floating point value that represents the relative depth of that pixel in the scene. When two objects are present in the same pixel or an edge on the object is anti-aliased, that information will be reflected in the Z-Coverage channel. Most 3D applications will provide the depth value for the object closest to the camera when two objects are present in the pixel.
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Z-Coverage
The Z-Coverage channel is used to indicate pixels in the Z-Buffer that contains two or more objects, or had been anti-aliased by the renderer. The value is used to indicate, as a percentage, how much of the pixel is covered by the object that produced the Z-Buffer value. Depth composites in DFX+ based on images lacking a Z-Coverage channel, as well as Background RGBA channels may not be properly anti-aliased.
Background RGBA
This channel contains the color values from the objects behind the pixels described in the Z-Coverage.
Object ID
Several 3D applications are capable of assigning ID values to objects in a scene. Each pixel in the Object ID channel will be identified by that ID number, allowing for the creation of masks and mattes.
Material ID
Several 3D applications are capable of assigning ID values to materials in a scene. Each pixel in the Material ID channel will be identified by that ID number, allowing for the creation of masks and mattes based on textures.
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Unlike the Object ID channel, most of the 3D applications that support Material IDs will allow segments, or portions of an object, to receive differing Material ID values.
U Texture And V Texture Coordinates

These two channels contain information about mapping co-ordinates for each pixel in the scene. This is used to properly apply warping to images and textures wrapped around the object.
X Normal, Y Normal And Z Normal

These three channels contain information about the objects surface orientation (direction) in 3D space. X Normals represent the horizontal component of the direction, Y Normals contain the vertical component and Z contains the perpendicular component.
Unclamped R, Unclamped G, Unclamped B And Unclamped A

Each of these four channels can contain information about pixels in the image where color values extend beyond the maximum for that channel.
Pixel Velocity
The Pixel Velocity channel indicates the vector of a pixels motion from frame to frame. It can be used to apply a fairly realistic motion blur to an image as a post process without having to resort to slow optical motion analysis (plug-in from www.komkomdoorn uses this data).
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Image Formats That Support Auxiliary Channels
IMAGE FORMATS THAT SUPPORT AUXILIARY CHANNELS

DFX+ supports Auxiliary Channel information contained in a variety of image formats. The number of channels and methods used is different for each format. Images containing Auxiliary Channels can become rather large. For example, a RPF file containing every single channel would take approximately 13 MB for a single NTSC-sized image.
Wavefront RLA (*.rla), 3D Studio Max RLA (*.rla) And RPF (*.rpf)
This image format is capable of containing any of the image channels mentioned above. All channels are contained within one file, including RGBA, as well as the Auxiliary Channels. These files are identified by the RLA or RPF file extension. Not all RLA or RPF files contain Auxiliary Channel information, but most do.
Maya IFF (*.iff)

The IFF image format used by Alias|Wavefronts Maya is capable of containing Z-Buffer data, in addition to the RGBA channels. Not all IFF files contain Auxiliary Channel information.
Softimage Pic (*.pic, *.zpic And *.z)

The PIC image format (used by SoftImage) can contain Z-Buffer data in a separate file, marked by the ZPIC file extension. These files must be located in the same directory as the RGBA PIC files, and must use the same names. DFX+ will automatically detect the presence of the additional information and load the ZPIC images together with the PIC images.
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Performing A Depth Merge
PERFORMING A DEPTH MERGE

DFX+ is capable of merging two or more images together using the Z-Buffer data, as well as the Alpha Channel. This is accomplished using the Merge tool and selecting the Perform Depth Merge checkbox from the Channels tab.
Channels Tab
Perform Depth Merge

This checkbox is selected by default when a Merge tool is added to the Flow. If Z-Buffer data is not available for the foreground or background images, this setting is ignored. The minimum requirement for performing a Depth Merge is the presence of a valid Z-Buffer in either image. If the Z-Coverage and/or Background RGBA channels are present, they will be used to improve the overall quality of the Depth Merge.
Foreground Z-Offset
The Foreground Z-Offset control of the merge is used to align the Z-Values of the foreground image to the Z-Buffer values of the background in situations where these two channels are not of the same scale or position. When pixels from the foreground are merged over the pixels from the background, they will be composited according to the settings of the Subtractive - Additive slider in the Merge tab. When background image pixels are composited over pixels from the foreground, the settings from the Subtractive - Additive slider in the Channels tab are used instead. This allows additive images to be depthmerged correctly with subtractive images.
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Using Object And Material IDs To Perform Masking
USING OBJECT AND MATERIAL IDS TO PERFORM MASKING

The Object ID and Material ID Auxiliary Channels can be used by any tool in DFX+ to generate a matte or mask. The settings used to accomplish this are found in the Common Controls tab of each tool.
Common Controls Tab
Use Object And Use Material

To create the mask, select the checkbox for the channel to be used. Select the ID value from the image with the Pick control, or manually adjust sliders.
Correct Edges
To apply the information from the Z-Coverage channel to the mask, select the Correct Edges checkbox. This will produce finer, anti-aliased edges for the mask shape.
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Viewing Auxiliary Channels
VIEWING AUXILIARY CHANNELS

Occasionally, you will want to view the Auxiliary Channels. The Display View can show an images Z-Buffer image, other channels may require the use of a Channel Boolean tool. Keep in mind that the scale of values contained by the Auxiliary Channels is not intended for viewing, and that the results may be unexpected. For example, the Object ID channel may represent a pixel with an ID of 1 as 0.0001 and an ID of 2 as 0.0002. The difference between these two values will be impossible to see in the RGB channels and it would be necessary to enable the display views Show Full Color Range option to exaggerate the differences enough for visual comparison.
DFX+S FOUR DEPTH TOOLS

DFX+ Module 4 adds four tools that are specifically intended to work with images containing auxiliary channels. These tools are collected into the Depth Tools category (some of them have nothing to do with pixel depth).
Depth Blur
The Depth Blur tool is used to blur an image based on the information present in the Z-Buffer channel. A focal point is selected from the Z-Buffer values of the image, and the width of the focused region is selected using the Depth Of Field control.
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Additional Tools
Depth Fog
The Depth Fog tool makes use of the Z-Buffer channel to create a fog effect that is thin closer to the camera, and thickens in regions farther away from the camera. Use the Pick tool to select the Z-Buffer values from the image used to define the Near and Far planes of the fogs effect. Try applying a Bitmap Mask to this tool with a Fast Noise tool as its source for a more realistic effect.
Texture
The Texture tool uses the UV Coordinate and XYZ Normal channels to apply an image from the second input to the scene. This is useful for replacing textures on a specific object when used in conjunction with the Object ID or Material ID masks.
Shader
The Shader tool applies data from the RGBA channels and the XYZ normal channels to modify the lighting applied to objects in the image. Control is provided over specular highlights, ambient and diffuse lighting, and the angle or height of the light source. Additionally, a second image can be applied as a reflection or refraction map. This control is extremely useful for adapting 3D images to the lighting conditions and directions of a live action scene for superior integration, most especially when used to apply the background as a reflection on the object before the composite takes place.
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
DFX+ has several other tools that are capable of performing operations on Auxiliary Channels.
Channel Boolean
The Channel Boolean tool can be used to combine or copy the values from one channel to another in a variety of ways. All Auxiliary Channels are accessible to this tool.
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Auto Gain
In addition to the Auto Gains normal effect on the RGBA channels, this tool can be used to re-scale the values of the Z-Buffer channel by selecting the Do Z checkbox. All values in the Z-Buffer of the image will be re-scaled to encompass a range between 0.0 and 1.0. This is useful before using a Channel Boolean to view the Z-Buffer channel, or when adapting two images from different scenes or programs to the same scale.
Shadow
The Shadow tool can use the Z-depth channel for a Z-map. The image connected to the depth input provides the Z-depth information to create the z-map.
Luma Keyer
The Luma Keyer tool can be used to perform a key on the Z-depth channel by selecting the Z-Depth in the channels drop-down list.
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21
TRANSFORMATIONS
INTRODUCTION
A Transformation is any operation that translates, rotates or scales an image. The image is transformed, but the resolution of the image is not affected. For example, if you scale a 720x486 pixel image to twice its size (200%) the image is still 720 x 486 pixels, but the content of that image has been scaled up. Portions of the image which no longer fit within the frame will be cropped beyond the edges of the frame. If you reduce the scale of the image by 50%, the image will sit in the middle of the frame surrounded by a black border. The Transform, Merge, Tracker (when stabilizing or match moving), DVE, and Camera Shake tools are all transformation tools.
CONCATENATED TRANSFORMATIONS
Transform concatenation is a method of combining multiple transformations, and applying them as a single transformation rather than several separate ones. This can improve render times, reduce the effects of blurriness arising from sub-pixel precision, and preserve image resolution through successive scaling quality. To see how this works, add a Loader tool and load footage. Connect the Loader to a Transform, and set the Transform size control to 0.10. Click on the Flatten Transform checkbox. Now add a second Transform and connect it to the first, as shown below. Set the second Transform size to 10 to scale the image back up by 1000%.
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TRANSFORMATIONS | 21
Concatenated Transformations
View the result of the second Transform. The image has lost much of its original resolution. Now open the controls for Transform 1 and remove the check from the Flatten Transform checkbox. There should be a dramatic improvement in resolution and image quality. In fact, the output of Transform 2 should be identical to the image in the Loader. What happened? DFX+ looks for chains of transformation tools like our two transformations, and collects them together to be applied as one pass. Instead of reducing the scale of the image by 1/10, then scaling the result up by a factor of 10, DFX+ adds the two transformations together, comes up with a result of 1.0, and applies the transformation once. The end result of our example is that the image does not change at all. When we flatten the Transform 1, we break the transformation chain, and concatenation is no longer possible. Both tools end up applying their transformation to the image, and quality is lost as a result.
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Concatenated Transformations
Concatenation also affects what happens when part of an image is transformed off the edge of the screen. Set the size of both Transform tools from our previous example back to 1.0. Select Transform 1, re-enable the Flatten Transform checkbox and drag the center to the left until half of the image is off of the side of the frame. Select Transform 2, and drag its center to the right. Notice how the portion of the image which went off the left edge of the screen is gone, cropped away by the first transformation? Now de-select the Flatten Transform checkbox in Transform 1 and drag the center of Transform 2 to the right. Because these transforms end up being concatenated, we do not lose any part of the image off the side of the frame. Inserting a non-transformation tool, such as a Glow, Color Corrector or Warp between the two transformations, will break the chain and no concatenation will occur. The DVE tool does not concatenate its transformations with other tools, since it is also capable of applying perspective warping and z-moves.
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22
FILM AND SCSI TAPE DEVICES (MODULE 3)
INTRODUCTION
The topics and features discussed in this chapter are only available if Module 3 (Input/Output) for DFX+ is enabled. Module 3 adds several features to DFX+ relating to the loading and transfer of large film frames. The larger file sizes and bandwidth of film frames require additional tools for transfer, color conversion and color correction. The technical complexities of transferring film to digital formats and back again are outside of the scope of this book. For more information than is provided in this brief summary, check the techniques section of the eyeon web site. (www.eyeonline.com).
THE CINEON AND DPX FORMATS

DFX+ contains native support for the Cineon and Digital Picture Exchange (DPX) formats. DPX is an extended version of Cineon. In this document, any time the term Cineon is used, it is safe to assume that the statement includes the DPX format as well. Cineon files are motion picture film frames that are scanned individually, with lines of resolution ranging from 1,000 (1K) to 4,000 (4K) lines. Traditionally, Cineon is the format of choice when working with film images because the formats color bandwidth is large enough to sufficiently capture films wide dynamic range.
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Setting Up To Use Cineon Files
DFX+ does not support color depths beyond 8 bit per channel, however, the Log to Lin conversion options enabled by Module 3 (Input / Output) allow for a finer degree of control over the conversion of Cineon frames from Log color to Linear color. (More on this topic below.) Kodak originally developed and promoted the Cineon file format as a response to the demands of film editors just starting to explore digital means of manipulating their images. The format was intended to embrace the color ranges of all film stocks, at almost any resolution. Cineon files can easily encompass tens of megabytes in hard disk space per frame.
SETTING UP TO USE CINEON FILES

When a Cineon file is loaded into DFX+ and Module 3 is enabled, the Format tab of the Loader will contain additional setup parameters that are necessary to convert the image from logarithmic data to linear data. If Module 3 is not available, the Cineon file will be loaded with default conversion settings only. These settings are not visible and cannot be changed. The correct setup of these parameters is absolutely critical to produce accurate composites while using Cineon files.
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When saving Cineon files, the same settings are found in the Savers Format tab, and are used to configure the conversion of images back to Logarithmic data. Consult with your film scanning facility to determine how these parameters should be configured to match the scan. The remainder of this chapter assumes that Module 3 is enabled for DFX+.
Loader Format Tab

Bypass Log > Lin
Selecting this control will cause DFX+ to completely bypass the conversion of the Cineon file from logarithmic to linear data. Use this control with caution, as the results of operations on Logarithmic data are almost never what they appear on the computer screen. The only tool in DFX+ designed to deal accurately with logarithmic data is the Light Trim tool. To use the Light Trim tool on your image and then convert the image for additional processing in linear space, use the Cineon Log tool rather than the Loaders Format tab controls to convert the image to a linear data space. If you do decide to process Cineon frames without converting them to Linear space, you will find that the images will look washed out in the Display Views. You can work around this behavior by viewing the images through a Cineon Log tool.
Lock RGB
When selected, the settings in this tab will affect all of the color channels equally. De-select this control to convert the Red, Green and Blue channels of the image using separate settings for each channel.
Black Level And White Level

Use this control to set the range of the data in the image after conversion. Pixels with values in Log space below the Black level will become completely black, while pixels with values above the White level will become completely white in the conversion.
Soft Clip (Knee)

This control rounds off the hard, upper clipping of highlights, drawing values above the white point down into the Cineon curve. It is critical to match the Soft Clip values in the Loader and Saver when using this technique. DFX+ 4 371

Film Stock Gamma And Conversion Gamma

The Film Stock Gamma control is used to adjust the midrange of the curve applied during the Log to Linear conversion. Gamma adjustments do not affect the position of the black and white points of the conversion, they only affect the mid-range values. You should leave this value at the default 1.0. Conversion Gamma is used to tweak the image so that it will display properly on a destination format. A computer monitor will typically have a gamma of 1.7, although the values will vary from monitor to monitor. Compositing algorithms used to combine images rely on a gamma value of 1.0 to perform correct compositing. The behavior of many tools will be slightly off if you adjust this control. Only change the conversion gamma setting under the instructions of your scanning facility, or if your flow does not apply any additional layers or perform any additional color correction to the image.
Note - ASCII Files

In addition to the settings above, a custom ASCII file Look Up Table can be created with specific conversion values. The format and layout of the ASCII files are described below.
Browse File Tab

Pressing the Browse button under the Format tab in the Loader tool displays a file browser. This offers the ability to select ASCII LUT files to be used for color correction. Valid files should be called filename.RGB (one curve for all color channels) or filename.R, filename.G, filename.B (one curve per color channel) and conform to the following format: Specifies the value to correspond to white (typically either 1.0, 255 or 65535). WHITE_LEVEL <n>
Must be the first non-blank line of a file. List of number pairs, one pair per line, where the first number is a 10-bit integer index of a log value in the file within the range of 0 to 1,023 and the second number <n> is a conversion value within the range of 0 to the specified WHITE_LEVEL.
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Working With Tape Functions
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 . . . 1023
<n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n> <n>
Once successfully loaded, the Black, White, Gamma and Knee sliders will be disabled, indicating that the loaded files values are being used. Use of an ASCII LUT will force processing of the loader to 16 bit per channel.
WORKING WITH TAPE FUNCTIONS

The Tape Functions Utility is only available if Module 3 (Input / Output) is enabled for DFX+. When working with digitally scanned film images, file sizes typically exceed 10 megabytes per frame. Due to this, SCSI tape devices, such as the Exabyte series or DLTs, are typically used to archive the scanned image sequences and transport them from the film scanning facility to the post production facility. DFX+ offers a Tape Functions utility which can be used to archive and retrieve images on these SCSI tape devices. Selecting Tape Functions from the main File menu displays the Tape Functions interface. The utility will support any currently available devices on your Windows workstation.
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DFX+ supports the TAR format for reading and writing archived files. This is the most commonly used format in the computer graphics industry. Each of the various tape devices available on the market support differing media types and sizes. As a result, different combinations of block size and padding may be encountered. When reading an archive, DFX+ automatically detects the format and data structure being read. It then reads the data off of the archive and stores it in the desired disk location. When writing an archive, DFX+ attempts to set the default options based on the hardware detected. These options may not be optimal for the facility that will be reading the archive. Consult with the recipient of the archive and arrange for a test to determine the best settings. For further details, see the Advanced Options section in this chapter.
Tape Functions
The entire Tape Functions dialog may be resized to display longer file names or more status information if necessary. To do this, place the pointer on any corner or edge of the dialog and drag it to the desired size.
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Tape
Select Device Info Skip Filemarks Allows the selection of one SCSI device from the currently available devices. Displays information about the currently selected SCSI device. Enter, increase, or decrease the number of files to Skip forward or back on the tape media.
Forward / Back Use these to initiate the Skip process. Left for back and right for forward skip.
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Transport Buttons
Rewind Eject Retension Go To End Format Rewinds the current tape media (if supported by hardware). Ejects the current tape media (if supported by hardware). Resets the tension of the tape media (if supported by hardware). Fast forwards tape to end of media (if supported by hardware). Displays information about the frames being archived or restored.
Disk
Clip Clicking this displays the file browser. Select a file name to copy to tape or save to disk. The regular DFX+ file name conventions apply. You may also drag and drop files from Windows Explorer for convenience and multiple file selection. File Info Displays information about the currently selected file(s) on disk.
Copy Files
Copy Disk To Tape Click this to start the process of copying files from disk on to the currently selected SCSI tape device. Copy Tape to Disk Click this to start the process of copying files from the currently selected SCSI tape device on to disk. Progress Bar Abort This bar illustrates the estimated progression of the current task. This aborts the requested process as gracefully as possible. The actual abort message may take a few seconds depending on the current task being performed. Messages regarding device selection, file names, current frame being copied, number of files copied, etc., and any errors that may occur are displayed in this scrollable window. Displays the Advanced Options dialog box.
Status
Options DFX+ 4 376

Advanced Options
Tape To Disk
Use the following to select the options when restoring images from tape to disk. Keep Original Filenames When selected, DFX+ will restore the images using their original file names as found on the archive. Keep Original Sequence Numbers When selected DFX+ will restore the images using their original sequence numbers as found on the archive. Preserve Directories When selected, DFX+ will attempt to restore the images within their original folders, as found in the archive.
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Disk To Tape
Separate Images By Filemarks When selected, this option will insert a filemark between each archived frame (hardware permitting). This is useful for restoring individual files from the archive, without having to restore its entire contents. Consult the facility receiving the archive to determine compatibility. Block Size Determines the size of blocks to be used when archiving. Consult the facility receiving the archive to determine the optimum setting desired. Arrange for a test read to determine compatibility. If in doubt, try the setting 512K. Determines the padding size to be used when archiving. Consult the facility receiving the archive to determine the optimum setting desired. Arrange for a test read to determine compatibility. If in doubt, try the setting 200K.
Pad Size
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23
CONNECTIONS AND MODIFIERS (MODULE 1)
INTRODUCTION
The ability to connect controls together and add modifiers to drive a controls value is only available when Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled for DFX+. Module 1 adds the ability to connect the values of one control to any other control in DFX+, either directly or indirectly. Any existing Animated Control, Path or Tracker is available as a possible source for connecting controls, and most non-animated controls can have their values published for connection. There is no limit to the number of controls that can be connected together. By using additional modifiers, such as Expressions, Calculations and Vectors, controls of entirely different types can be connected together with unprecedented flexibility.
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CONNECTIONS AND MODIFIERS (MODULE 1) | 23

Connections
CONNECTIONS
Connecting Animated Controls
To connect a control to the value of an Animated Control, select Connect To from the controls context menu. All of the logically possible connections are displayed. If the control is already animated, the Connect To option will remain visible in the menu, but will be empty of choices.
To connect an Animated Control to another, remove the animation from one control before performing the connection.
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Connections
Connecting Controls Without Animation (Static)

Only controls that are animated can be available from the Connect To menu option. You must manually publish a non-animated control (static) before it can be connected. Animated Controls are automatically published.
Publishing A Control
To Publish a Control, select Publish from that controls context menu.
When a control is published, a tool header with that controls values will appear in the Modifiers tab for that tool to show that it has been published. The Text Value box will turn blue, as if the control had been animated.
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Connections
Connecting Related Controls

Most controls in DFX+ are defined as either positional, or value-based. Value-based controls output a single value, like the size of a Blur tool or the strength of a Drip tool. Positional controls generally contain X and Y coordinates, like the center of the Merge tool or the axis of a Transform tool.
Controls of the same type can be directly connected together using the Connect To menu. When two controls are connected, one control adopts the value of the control to which it is connected. From that point on, both controls are locked together and their values are kept the same, whether or not the original or the connected control(s) are modified. Some controls, like Text or Gradient controls, can only be connected to each other. These controls use custom data separate from the usual position or value-based controls.
Connecting Paths
In addition to the X and Y coordinates, all path animations have two associated value controls that are automatically available for connection.
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Connections
Displacement
The Path Displacement value is a number between 0.0 and 1.0 that represents the location of the control along the extent of the path. A value of 0.0 indicates that the Animated Control is currently at the beginning of the Path, and a value of 1.0 indicates that it has reached the end.
Heading
A paths Heading is a value between -180 and 180, which represents the angle of the paths direction. This can be used to align one layer to the direction of a paths motion.
Example
Consider a situation where text moving along a path should also bank as it travels along that path. Click the BG icon in the toolbar to place a Background tool into the Flow. Click the Txt+ icon to place a Text tool into the Flow and have it Auto-Merge with the Background. Leave the Background as the default black. Select the Text 1 tool and type something in the tools Text tab. Right-click on the Merge and display it on the Left Display Area. The text will be against a black background. Set the Render End on the Time Controls at the bottom of the screen to 100 frames and make sure that the current frame is at 0. Also make sure that the Merge tool is selected in the Flow.
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Connections
Right-click on the crosshair and Add Path to Merge Center. Move the small crosshair on the display close to the bottom left corner of the display. The text will follow. You will see a small square appear at the center of the crosshair. Now set the Current frame to 100. Move the crosshair to the bottom right hand corner of the display. The text will follow, and a path will be created between the first position and the current position of the crosshair. Select a point to display its Bezier control handles. Adjust the handles to form an arc in the path. View several frames between 0 and 100 to confirm that the text moves along the arc. To make the text bank properly as it travels along the Path, select the Merge tool in the Flow to display its controls in the tool control area to the right side of the screen. Right-click on the Angle control and select Connect To: Path on Merge 1 Center Heading from the context menu. You should now see the text banking as it follows the path. Using the same method, it is possible to connect the Merges Size parameter to the Paths Displacement and the text will appear to come forward from a distance as it moves.
Copy Paths
When two paths are connected together, it becomes impossible to adjust one paths values with out affecting the other. If you need to maintain explicit control over the settings of a path, try copying the path to the new tool instead. To copy a path, right-click on the control header for that path in the Modifiers Tab, and select Copy. This places the path in DFX+s internal clipboard. Now create a path on the control to which you wish to copy the path in the clipboard. Display the new Paths controls in the Modifiers tab and right-click on the control header. Now you can paste the path in the clipboard to the new path. Dont forget that you can also save a paths settings for future re-use.
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Connections
Connecting Masks
When a Polyline Mask is first added to a tool, it is automatically connected to a Polygon Change Spline that records changes in the masks shape over time. To connect two masks together, you must first disconnect the mask you wish to connect from its own Polygon Change Spline. This is done by opening the Polygon Masks controls in the Masks tab, and right-clicking on the control labelled Right-Click Here For Shape Animation. Select Remove Bezier Spline to disconnect the spline from the Mask.
Now right-click on the Polyline label again, and select Connect To and then the mask to which you wish to connect this mask.
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Connections
The two masks will now behave as one mask (in fact, they are one). Take note that the center of the masks are not connected together by this method, only the shapes. If you want the center and angle of the masks to be locked together, you will have to publish and connect these controls separately.
Connecting Unrelated Controls

DFX+ will not allow you to connect a Positional Control and a Value Control directly together without first using a Modifier as an intermediary. There are several modifiers available to assist with connecting unrelated tools. For example, it is not possible to directly connect the strength of a Blur to the X-axis position of a Merge center. It is possible to modify the Blur strength control with an expression based on the position of the Merge center.
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Modifiers
MODIFIERS
In addition to using animations or connections to drive the values of a given control, it is also possible to use a Modifier to create values for a control. DFX+ offers several Modifiers that are used to fulfill a variety of different functions. A control is connected to a Modifier by right-clicking on the control and selecting Modify With: Name of Modifier from the context.
Calculation Modifier
Calculations are used to create indirect connections between value controls. A calculation can perform a mathematical expression based on two operands, where each operand can be connected to another control, or set manually by the user. Additionally, the calculation control can access the values of a connected control at times other than the Current Time, using Time Offsets and Time Scale Controls built into the Calculation Modifier. The most common use for a calculation is when two controls need to be connected to each other, but the range or scale of the values output by one control is inappropriate for the other control.
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Modifiers
Example
Add a Text tool to a flow and type a small amount of text in the Text tab. Set the Size parameter of the text tool to a value of 0.06 at frame zero, and set a key on the control to animate it. Advance to frame 100 and set the value of the Size control to 50.0. Now add a Blur tool immediately after the Text tool and display it on the large view. We want the blur to decrease in strength as the text gets bigger. We cant connect the controls directly together, because the values of the Text Size control are getting bigger instead of smaller. Instead, add a Calculation to the Blur Size control by right-clicking on it and selecting Modify With/Calculation from the context menu. A new set of controls will appear in the Modifiers tab of the Blur tool. Switch to the Modifier tab and right-click on the control for the First Operand. Connect this control to Text 1: Size: Value. Switch to the Time tab and set the First Operand Time Scale to -1.0. Set the First Operand Time Offset to 100. Return to the Calc tab of the calculation, and move through the frames between 0 and 100 while watching the First Operand control. Notice how it is reporting the values for Text 1: Size backwards, starting with the value for frame 100, and moving backwards? Now we need to increase the scale of the value so that the resulting blur is noticeable. Set the value of the Second Operand to 20, and change the Operator control to Multiply. Now our blur decreases in strength as the size of the Text increases. The Calculation Modifier has the following controls.
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Modifiers
Calc Tab
1st/2nd Operand One of the two Operands which are available for the calculation. Operator Select from the mathematical operations listed in this menu to determine how the two Operands are combined. A variety of common mathematical operations are provided
Time Tab
First Operand And Second Operand Time Scale Returns the value of the 1st Operand at the Time Scale specified (for example, 0.5 is the value at half the current frame time).
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Offset Modifiers
First Operand And Second Operand Time Offset Returns the value of the 1st Operand at the Time Offset specified A value of 10 would return the value of the Operand 10 frames forward in time. -10 would return the value of the Operand 10 frames back in time.
OFFSET MODIFIERS
Offsets are useful for creating constant or animated variances between values, relating to various controls, paths and points. There are three types of Offsets available in DFX+; Offset Distance, Offset Angle and Offset Position.
Offset Angle
The Offset Angle Modifier outputs a value between 0 and 360 based on the angle between two positional controls. The Position and Offset parameters may be static, connected to other positional parameters or connected to paths of their own. All of the Offsets use the same set of controls, which behave differently depending on the offset type used. These controls are described below.
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Offset Modifiers
Offset Distance
The Offset Distance Modifier outputs a value based on the distance between two positional controls.
Offset Position
The Offset Position Modifier outputs a position (X and Y coordinate) based on the relationship between positional controls. This modifier is the equivalent of a Calculation control except that it outputs X and Y coordinates rather than a value.
Offset Controls
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Offset Modifiers
Position X And Y The first position value used by the Position to generate the calculation. Offset X And Y The first position value used by the Offset to generate the calculation.
Flip Position Horizontal And Vertical When these controls are selected, the Position position will be mirrored along the Vertical or Horizontal axis of the image. Flip Offset Horizontal And Vertical When these controls are selected, the Offset position will be mirrored along the Vertical or Horizontal axis of the image. Mode Select an option from this menu to choose the mathematical operation performed by the Offset control.
Image Aspect
Adjust the modifiers output to compensate for the Image Aspect (not pixel aspect) of the project. A square image of 500 by 500 would use an Image Aspect value of 1, while a rectangular image of 500 by 1000 would use an aspect value of 2. The default value is always based on the current frame format selected in the preferences. To calculate Image Aspect, divide the width by the height. This control can also be used to create the illusion of aspect.
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Offset Modifiers
Time Tab
Position Time Scale Returns the value of the Position at the Time Scale specified (for example, 0.5 is the value at half the current frame time). Position Time Offset Returns the value of Position at the Time Offset specified (for example, 10 is 10 frames back). Offset Time Scale Returns the value of the Offset at the Time Scale specified. Offset Time Offset Returns the value of Offset at the Time Offset specified.
Example
We will continue the text banking example used at the beginning of this chapter to illustrate one potential use of Offsets. Select and view the Merge tool in this flow. Right-click on the Merge Size control and select Modify With/Offset Distance from the context menu. This will add two new crosshairs and Offset controls in the Modifier tab. The Size of the text will now be determined by the distance or offset between the two new crosshairs. These points are animatable and can be connected to other controls. Connect the Position value of the Offset to the existing Path by right-clicking on the Position control and selecting Connect To/Path On Merge 1: Center Value. Now, manually place the Offset crosshair at the bottom of the screen between the two path points. The text will shrink near the ends of the Path (when the distance between the Offset and the Path is at its minimum) and grows at its ends (where the distance between the Offset and the Path is at its maximum).
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Shake Modifier
SHAKE MODIFIER
The Shake Modifiers are used to randomize a Position or Value control to create semi-random numeric inputs. The resulting shake can be entirely random, or the motion can be smoothed for a more gentle, organic feel. To add the Shake Modifier to a control, select Modify With/Shake from the controls context menu. The Shake Modifier uses the following controls to achieve its effect.
Shake Tab
Random Seed
The Random Seed control contains the value used to seed the random number generator. Given the same seed, a random number generator will always produce the same results. Change the seed if the results of the randomizer are not satisfying.
Smoothness
This control is used to smooth the overall randomness of the shake. The higher the value is set, the smoother the motion will appear. A value of zero will generate completely random results, with no smoothing applied.
Unlock X And Y
This checkbox is used to unlock the X and Y axis, revealing independent slider controls for each axis.
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Vector Modifier
Min And Max

This control is used to determine the overall strength of the shake. The Low values represent the lowest value that can be generated by the randomizer and the High values represent the highest values. To create a shake that moves a center crosshair anywhere within the image, set the low to 0.0 and the high to 1.0. To restrict the motion to a smaller shake in the bottom right corner of the image, set the Min to 0.70 and the Max to 0.90.
Example
Create a new flow, and add a Text tool. Type something in the Text tool and view it in the Large Display View. Add a Shake Modifier by selecting Modify With/Shake Position from the context menu for the Text Center control. Switch to the Modifier Tab and set the Smoothing to 5.0. Set the Low to 0.1 and the High to 0.9. Double check that you are at frame 0 and add a Bezier spline to both the Low and the High controls. Advance to frame 90 and set the Low to 0.45, and the High to 0.55. Render out a preview and view the results. The text will start out by flying all over the screen and then tighten in toward the center of the screen.
VECTOR MODIFIER
The Vector Modifier is used to offset positional controls, like crosshairs, by Distance and Angle. These can be static or animated values.
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Vector Modifier
Controls
Origin X And Y
This control is used to represent the position from which the Vectors Distance and Angle values originate.
Distance Slider Control

This control is used to determine the Distance of the Vector from the Origin.
Angle Thumbwheel Control

This control is used to determine the Angle of the Vector relative to the Origin.
Image Aspect Slider Control

This control is used primarily to compensate for Image Aspect differences. A square image of 500 by 500 would use an Image Aspect value of 1, whereas a rectangular image of 500 by 1,000 would use an aspect value of 2. The default for this value is taken from the current Frame Format Preferences using width/height. You may need to modify this control to match your current image.
Example
To illustrate, create a simple flow consisting of a black background, a Text tool and a Merge. Right-click on the center of the Merge and select Modify With, then Vector. This will add a Vector Control Header to the Mask tab. Expand it by clicking on the black triangle. Drag the Distance control to distance the text from the Vector Origin. Drag the Angle thumbwheel to rotate the text around the Vector Origin. Next, add a path to the Vector Origin by right-clicking on the Origin control and selecting the Path option from the context menu. Verify that the current frame is set to frame 0 (zero) and drag the Vector Origin crosshair to the bottom left corner of the screen. Right-click on the Vector Angle thumbwheel and select Animate to animate this control. Set the Angle Thumbwheel to a value of 10. Advance to frame 100 and click at the top left corner of the screen to move the Vector Origin crosshair. Set the Vector Angle thumbwheel to a value of 1,000. This will cause the text to orbit around the Path you have just created. DFX+ 4 396

Expression Modifier
EXPRESSION MODIFIER
Adding an Expression to a flow adds the ability to control and manipulate either Position or Value Controls based on a large number of controls, either positional or value-based. This modifier offers exceptional flexibility compared to the more limited Calculation or Offset modifiers, but is unable to access values from frames other than the current time. An Expression will accept up to nine value inputs and as many as nine position inputs that are then used as part of a user-defined mathematical expression to output a value. To add an Expression to a control, right-click on the control and choose Modify With/Expression from the context menu. The type of value that will be returned by the Expression entirely depends on the type of control it is modifying.
When used with a Value Control (like a slider), the Expression in the Number Out tab will be evaluated to create the result. When used to modify a Positional Control (like a tools center), then the Point Out tab will control the result. The Modifier Tab contains the controls for the Expression Modifier. Its controls are described below.
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Expression Modifier
Controls Tab
Values
This tab provides nine undefined Value controls. The values of these controls can be referred to in an expression as n1 through n9. These values can be set manually by the user, connected to other parameters, animated and even connected to other Expressions or Calculations.
Points
This tab provides four undefined position controls as X and Y coordinate pairs. The X-axis coordinate of each pair can be referred to in an expression as p1x, p2x, p3x, etc. The Y-axis coordinate for each pair is referred to as p1y, p2y, p3y, etc. These Points can be set manually by the user, connected to other parameters, animated and even connected to other Expressions or Modifiers. DFX+ 4 398

Expression Modifier
Number Out Tab
This tab enables a mathematical formula to be entered, which can access the values from both the Number In and the Point In tabs. This outputs a value used to modify the control to which the Expression was applied.
Point Out Tab
Each one of the text boxes in this tab can contain a mathematical formula, which can access the values from both the Number In and the Point In tabs. This outputs a value used to modify the control to which the Expression was applied. The Expression in the top text box control is used to calculate the Xaxis value, and the bottom text box is used to calculate the Y-axis control.
Config Tab
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Expression Modifier
A good Expression can be re-used over and over again. As a result, it can be useful to provide more descriptive names for each input, and to hide the ones which are unused. The Config Tab of the Expressions Modifier is used to customize visibility and name for each of the nine Point and nine Number inputs.
Random Seed
The Random Seed control is used to seed the Rand() function. The Rand(x, y) function produces a random value between X and Y, producing a new value for every frame. As long as the setting of this Random Seed slider remains the same, the values produced at frame X will always be the same. Adjust the seed slider to a new value, and you will get a different value for that frame.
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Expression Modifier
Show Number Or Point X

There are eighteen of these checkbox controls, one for each of the nine number and nine point inputs. Enable this checkbox to display the control for Number X or Point X in the Controls tab.
Name For Number Or Point X

There are eighteen of these checkbox controls, one for each of the nine number and nine point inputs. Type a new name for the input into this edit control to assign a new name for the inputs label in the Controls tab.
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Expression Modifier
Formulas
Formulas are entered into the Number Out or Point Out tabs as part of Expressions. They can be made up of the following functions : n1..n9 p1x..p9x p1y..p9y time pi e log(x) ln(x) sin(x) cos(x) tan(x) asin(x) acos(x) atan(x) atan2(x,y) abs(x) int(x) frac(x) sqrt(x) rand(x,y) rands(x,y,s) min(x,y) max(x,y) The value of Number Input 1..9. The X of Positional Control 1..9. The Y of Positional Control 1..9. The current time (frame number). The value of pi The value of e The base-10 log of x The natural (base-e) log of x The sine of x (x is degrees) The cosine of x (x is degrees) The tangent of x (x is degrees) The arcsine of x, in degrees The arccosine of x, in degrees The arctangent of x, in degrees The arctangent of x,y, in degrees The absolute (positive) value of x The integer (whole) value of x The fractional value of x The Square Root of x A random value between x and y A random value between x and y, based on seed s The minimum (lowest) of x and y The maximum (highest) of x and y
dist(x1,y1,x2,y2) The distance between point x1,y2 and x2,y2 if(c, x, y) DFX+ 4 402 returns x if c <> 0, otherwise y.

Expression Modifier
Operators
Operators are used to evaluate statements. They are combined with functions to perform logical and arithmetic calculations in the Number Out and Point Out tabs. x+y x-y x<y x>y !x1.0 -x +x x^y x*y x/y x%y x<=y x>=y x=y x==y x<>y x!=y x&y x && y x|y x || y x plus y x minus y 1.0 if x is less than y, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if x is greater than y, otherwise 0.0 if x = 0, otherwise 0.0 (0.0 - x) (0.0 + x) (effectively does nothing) x raised to the power of y x multiplied by y x divided by y x modulo y, (remainder of (x divided by y)) 1.0 if x is less than or equal to y, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if x is greater than or equal to y, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if x is exactly equal to y, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if x is exactly equal to y, otherwise 0.0 (identical to above) 1.0 if x is not equal to y, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if x is not equal to y, otherwise 0.0 (identical to above) 1.0 if both x and y are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if both x and y are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0 (identical to above) 1.0 if either x or y (or both) are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0 1.0 if either x or y (or both) are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0
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MIDI Extractor Modifier
Examples
Example 1
To make a numeric control equal to the Y value of a Motion Path, add an Expression to the desired target control, and connect the Path to Point In 1. Then enter the formula p1y into the Number Out field.
Example 2
To make the result of the Expressions Number Out the largest of Number In 1 and Number In 2, multiplied by the cosine of Number In 3, plus the X coordinate of Point In 1, enter the formula: max(n1, n2) * cos(n3) + p1x into the Number Out field.
Example 3
Add a Background tool set to solid black, and a Hotspot tool set to size 0.08 with Strength set to maximum. Modify the Hotspot center with an Expression. Change current frame to 0. Set n1 to 0.0 and animate it. At frame 29, set the value of n1 to 1.0. Select both points and loop the spline using the Spline Editor. Enter the following equations into the Point Out tab of the expression. X-Axis Expression n1 Y-Axis Expression 0.5 + sin(time*50) / 4 Render out a preview and have a look at the results.
MIDI EXTRACTOR MODIFIER
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This modifier provides the ability to modify the value of a control using the values stored in a MIDI file. Using the modifier relies on some knowledge of MIDI, which is outside of the scope of this manual to describe in detail. The Value produced by the Modifier is extracted from the MIDI event selected in the Mode menu. Each mode can be trimmed so that only specific messages for that event are processed. For example, only some notes are processed, while others are ignored. The value of the event can be further scaled or modified by additional factors, such as Scale, Velocity, Attack and Decay. Note that the Beat mode does not actually use any specific messages. It bases its event timing on the tempo map contained in the MIDI file.
MIDI File
This browser control is used to specify the MIDI file that will be used as the input for the Modifier. DFX+ 4 405

Time Scale
This is used to specify the relationship between time as the MIDI file defines it, and time as DFX+ defines it. A value of 1.0 will play back the MIDI events at normal speed, 2.0 at double speed, etc.
Time Offset
This adjusts the sync between the MIDI files timing and DFX+s timing. If you find that there is an unexpected delay, or you would prefer it if the MIDI file were to start part way into or before some animation in DFX+, this control can be used to offset the MIDI data as required.
Result Offset, Result Scale

These sliders adjust the range of values produced by the modifier. By default, values between 0 and 1 (or -1 and 1 for PitchBend mode) are generated. This will not always suit the tool/parameter you are driving, so Scale can be used to make this range larger (e.g. * 0.0 - 2.0). Offset is used to provide some constant value as a base.
Result Curve
The Result Curve can also be used to adjust the output, however, this adjusts the Curve of the result. By default, for any input MIDI data, the result will fall linearly between 0..1 (for example, a velocity 127 note will generate 1.0, where 63 will generate approximately 0.5).
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The Result Curve applies a gamma-like curve so that middle values can produce higher or lower results, while still maintaining the full scale.
Mode
This menu provides Beat, Note, Control Change, Poly AfterTouch, Channel AfterTouch or Pitch Bend, indicating from which MIDI event the values are being read. Beat mode is slightly different in that it produces regular pulses based on the tempo of the MIDI file (including any Tempo Maps).
Combine Events
This menu selects what will happen when multiple events occur at the same time. In Notes mode, this can happen easily. For other events, this can happen if Multiple Channels are selected. Use this to take the result from the most recent event to occur, the oldest event still happening, the highest or lowest valued event, the average, sum or the median of all events currently occurring.
Beat (Quarters) : Beat Mode Only

This defines how often a beat will occur when in Beat mode. This is in Quarter notes, so a value of 1.0 will give you a beat every quarter.
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Note Range : Note And Poly Aftertouch Modes Only

This defines what range of notes will cause a value to be generated. For example, you could use this to pick out the kick drum from a GM drum track by setting the note range between 35-36.
Pitch Scale : Note Mode Only

Pitch Scale defines how much the result changes with Pitch. A value of 1.0 will cause the result to vary from 0.0 to 1.0 over the entire range.
Velocity Scale : Note Mode Only

This defines how much the result changes with Velocity. A value of 1.0 will cause the result to vary from 0.0 to 1.0 over the entire range. This is added to the result from Pitch Scale for the final result.
Control Number : Control Change Mode Only

This specifies the MIDI controller number from which to extract events.
Envelope Controls : Note And Beat Modes Only

These define an Envelope to follow for values before, during and after the Note or Beat. Pre-Attack Time defines how long before the event it will start ramping up to the pre-attack level. Attack is the Time/Level to ramp to once the event has occurred, followed by the Decay ramp and Sustain, until the event stops. This stage is for Notes only. Beats have an instantaneous duration, so it goes straight to Release. Release is the ramp down time after the event finishes. If you are trying to do a Beat, you will want to set Release to some value, or you likely wont see much on the beats. These values can be used to follow actual sounds in the MIDI sequence, or just to create interesting effects. All time values used in the MIDI Extractor are in seconds.
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Channels
Channels checkboxes select which of the 16 channels in the MIDI file are actually considered for events. This is a good way to single out a specific instrument from an arrangement.
More About MIDI

A single MIDI interface allows 16 Channels. Typically, these will be assigned to different instruments within a device, or different devices. Usually, MIDI data is 7 bits, ranging from 0..127. This is represented as a value between 0..1 to be more consistent with the way data is handled throughout the rest of DFX+. There are quite a number of different MIDI messages and events, but the ones that are particularly useful with this modifier are :
MIDI Messages
Note On This indicates that a note (on a specific channel) is being turned on, has a pitch (0..127, with middle C being 60) and a Velocity (0..127, how fast the key was or whatever was hit). This indicates that a note (on a specific channel) is being turned off, has a pitch (0..127, with middle C being 60) and a Velocity (0..127, how fast the key was or whatever was released).
Note Off
Control Change This message indicates that some controller has changed. There are 128 controllers (0..127), each of which has data from 0..127. Controllers are used to set things such as Volume, Pan, amount of Reverb or Chorus, and generic things like foot controllers or breath controllers.
MIDI Events
Channel Aftertouch This event defines that Pressure is being applied to the keys (or whatever) during a note. It is general, overall pressure for this channel, so it simply uses a pressure value (0..127). Poly Aftertouch This event defines that pressure is being applied to the keys (or strings, or whatever) during a note. It is specific to each particular note, and therefore contains a note number as well as a pressure value (0..127) DFX+ 4 409

Text Modifiers
General
Pitch Bend
The Pitch Bend controller generally specifies the degree of Pitch Bending or variation applied to the note. Because Pitch Bend values are transmitted as a 14 bit value, this control has a range between -1 and 1, and a correspondingly finer degree of resolution. For some other resources on how MIDI works, have a look at:
http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/doc.html.
TEXT MODIFIERS
In addition to the above Modifiers, one other type of modifier exists in DFX+. Text Modifiers are used to create additional effects with the Text tool. Several modifiers are available, and the documentation for them can be found in the Loader And Creator Tools chapter. The Text modifiers are available in DFX+ even when Module 3 is not enabled.
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IMPORTING
INTRODUCTION
Footage and images are normally introduced into DFX+s flow using Loader tools. Certain file formats contain additional information that can be used to not only load footage, but to assist in the creation of a flow as well. Three such formats are supported in DFX+ : Photoshop PSD Files Avid OMF Files Edit Decision List EDLs (with Module 3)
LOADING ADOBE PHOTOSHOP FILES (PSD)

Using A Loader
A PSD file can be loaded into the Flow with the same methods used to load any other file format, by placing the PSD file into a Loader tool. Use the Layer menu in the Formats tab to access individual layers of the file, or work with the collapsed result. Each layer will retain the name saved with the Photoshop file and can be accessed from the Format tab of the Loader, or you can choose to work with the final merged result.
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Loading Adobe Photoshop Files (PSD)
Using PSD Import

It is also possible to load each layer of a Photoshop file into a separate Loader tool and automatically merge the layers together, effectively turning the PSD file into a flow. Select File/Import PSD from the menu at the top of the screen to select this option. A file browser will appear. Locate the PSD file that you would like to import and select Open.
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Loading AVID OMF Files
The import process may take a few seconds, depending on the size and complexity of the file. DFX+ will automatically create a new Flow containing all of the required Loader and Merge tools. Each Loader will be named using the name of the layer it contains and all Merge tools will be renamed to the apply mode used in the Photoshop file. DFX+ supports virtually all of the apply modes used in Photoshop (screen, dissolve, darken, etc.) and all transparency or opacity settings will be preserved. Transformation layers and adjustment layers are not currently supported.
Saving Photoshop Files

DFX+ does not support the saving of Photoshop files.
LOADING AVID OMF FILES

OMF files are used to store the images, audio, timeline and auxiliary data associated with an Avid project. DFX+ supports the Avid OMF file format directly, allowing for both the loading and saving of OMF in any of the codecs developed by Avid over the years. This can dramatically speed up the transfer of footage to and from the compositing environment to the editing station. Two types of OMF files exist; basic OMF files, which do not contain media, and OMFI files, which contain video and audio data in addition to editing and effects information. DFX+ supports both the OMF 1.0 and OMF 2.0 standards. Like PSD files, OMF files can be loaded into DFX+ using one of two methods.
Using A Loader
An OMF file can be loaded into the Flow with the same methods used to load any other file format, by placing the OMF file into a Loader tool. If the OMF file contains multiple clips, each clip can be accessed using the menu option found in the Formats tab of the Loader tool. You may also choose to have the Loader display the entire composition. DFX+ will not load any audio contained within the OMF file.
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Loading EDL Files (Module 3)
LOADING EDL FILES (MODULE 3)

EDLs (or Edit Decision Lists) are traditionally used in the offline/online editing process for the acquisition of low resolution footage, and then subsequent re-acquisition of the same footage at high-resolution. These files usually contain the timecode of the footage from its original media source for use in the re-capture of the material at higher resolutions. EDL files do not contain media, only pointers to the media on the tape. DFX+ can use EDL files in two different ways. The Capture/Output utility (found in the File menu) can import a standard EDL file and use it to perform a capture from tape using supported DDR hardware. Additionally, you may also import an EDL and use it to create a flow, much as you would with an OMF or PSD file. This option can be selected from the File/Import EDL menu at the top of the screen. DFX+ will examine the EDL and create a flow based on the information contained in the EDL.
EDL Import Preferences

By default, DFX+ will import EDL files using a single Loader for each clip. This behavior can be changed using the EDL Import page of the Preferences.
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Loading EDL Files (Module 3)
Flow Format Menu

Loader Per Clip Each clip described in the EDL will be assigned its own Loader in DFX+s Flow. A-B Roll DFX+ will attempt to fit the clips described in the EDL file into two Loaders, using cliplists to load footage that does not overlap in time to the same loader. See the Loader tool reference for more information on cliplists.
Loader Per Transition DFX+ will place all clips found in the EDL into a single Loader, until two clips overlap in time. When an overlap is detected, a new Loader will be created and a merge or dissolve will be used to create a transition between the clips.
Use Shot Names

Certain EDL formats output by non-linear editors can contain additional information in the comment section of the EDL. This information may contain a path to the captured media file on the disk. If DFX+ recognizes the filename in the comments, the Loader will use this path to attempt to locate the media on the disk. Otherwise, you will need to locate the media manually.
Note
At the time of this manuals printing, DFX+ supported EDL clip names from the dpsReality editing application. Support for EDL Clip names from the dpsVelocity and other NLE software are planned for the future.
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PREFERENCES
DFX+ PREFERENCES
Most users will want to customize DFX+ to suit their own methodology. A wide variety of optional settings are available to configure DFX+s behavior. These settings are accessed via the Preferences dialog. The Preferences dialog can be opened from the File menu at the top of the interface. Select File/Preferences. The dialog box is divided into a Tree (on the left) and the Settings (on the right). There are two levels of preferences, Global and Flow. The Global Preferences are used to set options specific to DFX+s overall behavior, as well as the default options used when creating a new flow. Each flow has its own copy of the preferences as well, containing settings inherited from the Global Preferences. The Flow Preferences can be further modified without affecting the Globals, or any other flow currently open.
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DFX+ Preferences
Preference Settings
The Preference Settings are organized into a tree, with the first entry assigned to the Global Preferences branch. Opening the Global Preferences branch reveals the following sections. Appearance Bins Defaults Flow Frame Format General Layout Memory Network Paths Preview Script Transport Tweaks View Controls the appearance of the interface and assigns lookpacks. Used to select the compression ratio and file format for stamp images in the Bins. Used to select behavior like auto-smoothing of splines, and automatic tool merging. Contains options for viewing and controlling the Flow Editor. Used to select the default frame format for new creator tools and the default pixel aspect ratio applied to Loaders. General interface behavior and Auto Save options. Used to save the layout of DFX+s interface. Used to control memory management both interactively and at render time. Set up for Network Rendering. Sets the default folders used by DFX+ to locate flows and settings, save previews and create temporary files. Set up for preview creation and playback options. Configures passwords used to execute scripts from the command line, and programs for use when editing scripts. To configure devices for use with the Capture/Output utility. Module 3 is required. Miscellaneous settings that modify the way DFX+ performs in different environments. To define defaults for standard and additional view settings.
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Appearance Preferences
I/O
The I/O branch contains sub-entries for configuring display playback and default settings of AVI and QuickTime* format files. Also used to configure video hardware like the dpsReality, etc. The Import branch contains options for EDL Import that affect how flows are built using the data from an EDL. * The QuickTime preferences only appear on workstations with QuickTime 3 or higher installed.
Import
APPEARANCE PREFERENCES
The Appearance Preferences allow modification to the overall look of DFX+ based on the selection of available lookpacks. The Categories tree is hierarchical in nature, and each category can be assigned lookpack Priorities. For example, to set the entire interface to use the Bland Lookpack, select Root from the Categories menu, and Bland from the Available menu. Click on the button labeled with the arrow pointing toward the Priorities list.
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Appearance Preferences
To override the Bland setting in the Root to set the Spline Editor to use the Classic Lookpack, select the Spline Editor category and place the Classic Lookpack in the Priorities list. The only complete Lookpacks available for this version of DFX+ are the default for Digital Fusion 4 and Digital Fusion 3, but elements of other Lookpacks can be blended into the interface using the menu in this tab. The % white entries are intended for use with the View appearance branch. They control the relative luminosity or greyscale level of the display view background. Changing the background from default mid-grey is useful when working with images that are also mid-grey at the edges.
Lookpacks
Lookpacks are a collection of bitmap images and color definitions used to display parts of the DFX+ interface (e.g. sliders).
Categories
Use this to select a branch or single Category to modify. Changing settings for any one Category will affect the entire branch of sub-categories to which that Category is connected, unless specific settings are defined for the subbranches as well.
Available
This menu will display the Available Lookpacks for DFX+. If the Lookpack is already used by the selected Category, it will be displayed in the Priorities list instead. Use the arrow buttons to move a Lookpack from the Available to the Priorities list, and vice versa. You can also double-click an item to move it to the other list.
Priorities
This control lists the Lookpacks assigned to a Category of the interface. If the list is empty, DFX+ will search through each parent category until it finds a Lookpack to use. If multiple Lookpacks are placed in the Priorities list, the Lookpack at the bottom of the list has first priority. If the Lookpack does not contain the required interface element, the next choice will be used.
Arrows
Use the arrow buttons to transfer a Lookpack from the Available list to the Priorities list, and back again. DFX+ 4 420
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Bins Preferences
BINS PREFERENCES
The settings contained here are used to configure DFX+s Bins. Use these controls to adjust the compression of thumbnail images and Stamp previews of footage loaded in the Bins.
Stamp Quality
Percentage Slider
This slider determines the compression ratio used for Stamp file creation. Higher values offer better quality but take up more space. The default is 75%.
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Default Preferences
Stamp Format
Compression Drop-Down List
This determines whether the Image Stamp files will be saved as compressed or uncompressed.
Options
Open Bins On Startup
When checked, the Bins will open automatically when DFX+ is launched.
DEFAULT PREFERENCES
The choices made here are used to determine DFX+s behavior when new tools are added to the Flow, and when controls are animated.
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Flow Preferences
Default Animate
The Default Animate preferences can be used to change the type of modifier attached to a control when you select the Animate option from its context menu. The default option is Nothing, which tells DFX+ to animate controls using the internal defaults. For numeric value controls a Bezier Spline is applied, and for positional or coordinate controls a Path modifier is applied. The Number With and Point With drop-down lists allow you to select a different modifier as the default. For example, to change the default type of an animation spline from Bezier to Cubic, change the selection in the Number With menu from Nothing to Cubic Spline. Choices shown in this menu come from installed modifiers, which are valid for that type of control. These include third party plug-in modifiers like those in the KroKroDove plug-ins, as well as native modifiers installed with DFX+.
Global Range
This defines a standard frame range for the Flow.
FLOW PREFERENCES
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Flow Preferences
Force
Active Tile Pictures
This will force the active tool in the Flow to display thumbnail images of their rendered output in the tool tile.
All Tile Pictures

This will force all of the tools in the Flow to display thumbnail images of their rendered output in the tool tile.
All Tile Names

This will make all of the tools in the Flow display their names.
Source Tile Pictures

Source or creator tools like the Loader will display thumbnail images of their rendered output in the tool tile.
Show Modes/Options
This will display icons depicting the various modes, options and states enabled on a tool in the tile in the Flow.
Options
Arrange To Grid
Enables the Flows snap to grid option to force tool layout to align with invisible markers.
Auto Arrange
This option enables the Flow to shift the position of tools as needed to make space when inserting new tools or auto-merging layers.
Pipes Always Visible

When enabled, the connecting pipes between tools will overlay over the top of the tool tiles.
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Frame Format Preferences
Keep Tile Picture Aspect

Enabling this option forces tool tile thumbnail pictures to preserve the aspect of the original image in the thumbnail.
Build Direction
When auto-building or laying out a flow, this controls whether layers are organized horizontally or vertically.
Scale
This determines the default scale of the Flow Editor when a new flow is created.
Pipe Grab Distance

This determines how close the mouse cursor must be (in pixels) to the pipes in the Flow, when selecting them.
Group Overlap
These three options are used to select how tools underneath an expanded group will be drawn. Setting the mode to Solid or Clear may help speed up the interface if the Translucent option is causing slowdowns. (Usually caused by weak support for alpha blending modes in the video card.)
FRAME FORMAT PREFERENCES

Frame Format Preferences allow you to select the format settings throughout DFX+s interface. The settings in this preferences dialog are described in greater detail in the Frame Formats chapter of the manual.
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Default Format
Use this drop-down list to select the default resolution for tools and media from a list of presets. This is only a default setting; Loaders and Creators may be adjusted to any resolution. The edit boxes allow you to change any of the default settings. When creating a new setting, press the New button and enter a name for the setting in the dialog box that appears, and then enter the parameters.
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Settings
Width
This specifies the width in pixels of the current format.
Height
This specifies the height in pixels of the current format.
Frame Rate
Enter or view the frames per second played by this format. This sets the default frame rates for Previews and the Saver tool.
Has Fields?
Creator/Loader tools added to the Flow will be in Fields process mode.
Aspect Ratio
This controls the pixel Aspect Ratio of the chosen frame format.
New Button
This button creates a new default setting in the drop-down menu. Type a name for the setting in the dialog box that appears.
Copy Button
This copies the current setting to create a new one for customization.
Delete Button
This button will remove the current setting from the default drop-down list.
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General Preferences
GENERAL PREFERENCES
These presets allow you to affect the behavior of DFX+s interface to suit your personal preferences.
Usability
Auto Control Advance
When selected, the TAB key and ENTER key will cause the keyboard focus to advance to the next edit box within a tools control. When cleared, ENTER will cause the value entered to be accepted, but the keyboard focus will remain in the same edit box of the control. The TAB key can still be used to advance the keyboard focus.
Auto Control Close

When selected, multiple tool control headers will be visible but only one tool control header will be opened at any given time. Otherwise, any number of tool controls may be opened at the same time. This setting has no affect unless the Auto Control Hide checkbox is cleared. DFX+ 4 428
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General Preferences
Auto Control Hide

When selected, only one of the tool controls for the currently selected tool will be made visible. Otherwise, all tool control headers will be visible.
Auto Smooth Splines

When checked, all new Bezier splines will be smooth by default. This setting affects the creation of Polyline Masks, Motion Paths and Animation Splines.
Auto Clip Browse

When this control is selected, DFX+ automatically displays the file browser whenever a new Loader or Saver is added to the Flow.
New Flow On Startup

When checked, DFX+ will create a new, blank flow each time the program is started.
Save Compressed Flows

This option enables the saving of compressed flows. Compressed flows take up less space on disk, although they may take a moment longer to load. Flows containing complex spline animation and many paint strokes can grow into tens of megabytes when this option is disabled.
Show Video I/O Splash

This toggles whether the DFX+ Splash image will be displayed onto the video DDR board in your system.
Show Render Settings

When this checkbox is selected, the Render Settings dialog will be displayed every time a render is started. Holding SHIFT down while starting a render will prevent the display of the dialog for that session, using whatever settings were applied during the last render. Disabling this option reverses this behavior.
Frames Start From

This designates the starting frame number for clip times in the Loader and its clip list.
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General Preferences
Show Color As
Determines the numeric scale DFX+ uses to represent colors. The available options are: Normalized (0 to 1), 8 bit (0 to 255), 16 bit (0 to 65,535). This does not affect the actual processing or quality of the image.
Auto Save
Auto Save
When enabled, DFX+ will automatically save a flow to a back up file at regular intervals. If a backup file is detected when you attempt to open a file, DFX+ will offer the choice of loading either the backup or the original. During a crash or power failure, select the backup. If you save the backup file, it will overwrite the original file and start the auto-saving process again. If you close the backup file without saving, DFX+ will delete it, but does not touch the original file. When checked, an Auto Save is performed at intervals defined by the user.
Save Before Render

When selected, DFX+ will automatically save your Flow before it performs a render.
Delay
Use this control to set the interval between Auto Saves. Take care to set the interval in full time notation(i.e. 10:00). Just typing 10 causes an Auto Save to occur every 10 seconds.
Control Grab Distance

This slider ranges from 1 to 10 and defaults to 3. It designates the active area around your pointer and should be modified only if you are having difficulty selecting points for modification in paths and spline curves. Smaller values represent more accurate selection.
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Layout Preferences
Proxy
Auto Proxy
When selected, Auto Proxy is turned on by default when a new flow is created. This setting does not affect the quality of final renders.
Standard And Auto

These sliders designate the default ratio used to create proxies when the Proxy and Auto Proxy modes are turned on. These settings do not affect the final render quality. When the images are being processed at a fraction of their original size, the Display View areas will use the original image size for display purposes. In other words, even though smaller images are being used for processing, the image viewing scales refer to original resolutions. Additionally, image processing performed in Proxy Scale mode may differ slightly from full resolution rendering. The Proxy and Auto Proxy size ratios may be changed from within the interface itself by right-clicking on the Prx and APrx buttons beside the Render Button and selecting the desired value from the context menu.
LAYOUT PREFERENCES
These controls are used to control the Layout, Size and Position of various elements of DFX+s interface, at startup or when a flow is created.
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Layout Preferences
Program Layout
Grab Program Layout
Pressing this button causes DFX+ to store the programs overall current position and size.
Run Mode
This menu is used to select the programs default mode at startup. Use Default/Shortcut This selection will cause DFX+ to use the Operating Systems default, or the setting of the shortcut that started the program. Maximized Minimized DFX+ will start maximized. DFX+ will start minimized (rarely useful).
Normal Window DFX+ will start with a resizable window that only takes up a portion of the screen.
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Layout Preferences
Use The Following Position And Size

When checked, the values stored when Grab Program Layout was selected will be used when starting DFX+.
Create Floating Views

When checked, the values of the floating display views will be recorded when the Grab Program Layout button is used.
Document Layout
Recall Layout Saved In Flow
When checked, all layout settings in the controls below will be recalled when a saved flow is loaded.
Grab Document Layout

Pressing this button causes DFX+ to store the entire interface setup, including all of the internal positions and sizes of working areas.
Window
When multiple Windows on the same flow are used, this menu is used to select the Window to which the Window Settings will apply.
Window Settings
Automatically Open This Window When checked, the selected Window will automatically be opened for new flows. Grab Window Layout Pressing this button causes DFX+ to store the size and position of the selected Window. Run Mode Select the default run mode for the selected Window.
Use Grabbed Position And Size When checked, the selected Window will be created using the stored position and size.
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Memory Preferences
MEMORY PREFERENCES
Occasionally, it will be necessary to adjust the Memory Preferences in order to make the best use of available memory on the computer. Consult the Caching And Memory Use chapter of this manual for more details on the process.
Caching Limits
Limit Caching Slider
This slider is used to set the percentage of available memory DFX+ will use for the interactive tool cache. Available memory refers to the amount of memory installed on the system, not the amount currently available. When DFX+s interactive cache reaches the limit defined in this setting, it starts to destroy lower priority frames in the cache to clear space for new frames. See the Caching And Memory Use chapter for more details.
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Network Preferences
Leave At Least X MBytes Free

This setting is used to set the hard limit for memory usage. No matter what the setting of the Cache Limit, DFX+ will always make certain this amount of physical memory is available for use by other applications. Normally, this value should not be smaller than 25 MBytes.
Interactive Render
When checked, more than one tool will be processed at the same time. Disable this checkbox if you are running out of memory frequently.
Final Render
These settings apply to DFX+s memory usage during a rendering session, either preview or final, with no effect during an interactive session.
Render Slider
Adjust this control to set the number of frames that DFX+ will render at the same time.
When checked, more than one branch of a flow will be rendered at the same time. When running low on memory, turn this off to increase rendering performance.
NETWORK PREFERENCES
These Preferences are used to set up and control DFX+s network rendering. The majority of settings are found in the Render Manager dialog.
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Network Preferences
Submit Network Render Flows To

Enter the Master Name and IP address of the computer that will manage all network renders sent from this machine into the text control in this section.
Make This Machine A Render Master

When selected, this copy of DFX+ will accept network render flows from other machines, and manage the render. It does not necessarily mean that this copy will be directly involved in the render, but it will submit the job to the Slaves listed in the render manager dialog.
Allows This Machine To Be Used As A Network Slave

When selected, this computer will accept flows for network rendering. Deselect it to prevent other people from submitting flows to this computer.
Render On All Available Machines

Enable this checkbox to force DFX+ to ignore groups and priorities configured in the render manager. Flows submitted for network rendering will always be assigned to every available slave.
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Paths Preferences
PATHS PREFERENCES
Default Directories
Use the Browse Controls here to change the locations used by DFX+ to save and load files. The following variables can be used in place of a drive and path DFXPlus Temp The path to the DFX+ executable, e.g. C:\Program Files\DFXPlus. The path to the Windows temporary files folder.
Flows
Sets the Default Directory path that appears in the File dialog when the Flow is saved.
Bins
This is the directory where Bins files are maintained. Note that several people can share the same Bins folder without conflict.
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Paths Preferences
Stamp Files
This is the directory where Stamp files for the Bins are saved.
Render Queues
This sets the directory where the Render Queues used by the Render Manager are saved when the machine acts as a render master, or for locally rendered queues.
Preview Renders
This sets the directory path where temporary interim Preview Renders will be saved. If you are using network rendering to create Preview Renders, this directory must be visible to the network as a common share. For more information see, Network Rendering.
Settings
This sets the default directory for Settings files and ASCII exported polylines.
Custom Filters
This sets the directory path where Custom Filter files will be saved.
Brushes
This is the directory for images used as custom Brushes and Bitmaps by Particle and Paint tools.
Macros
This is the directory DFX+ scans for Macro tools that will be added to the tools menu.
Library
The Library Path is the location where settings for the Text+ tools library tab are stored.
Scripts
This is the directory where Flow and Tool Scripts are stored. Module 3 only.
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Preview Preferences
PREVIEW PREFERENCES
Use these controls to set the default size of previews and the type of preview created by DFX+.
Options
Render Previews Using Proxy Scaling
When checked, DFX+ will scale the images down to the preview size at the Loader and Creator tools. This causes much faster rendering. If this control is de-selected, frames will be rendered at full size, then scaled down.
Skip Frames To Maintain Apparent Framerate

When checked, DFX+ will skip frames during playback of flipbooks and file sequences to maintain the framerate setting.
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Preview Preferences
Display Files Sequences On

This designates which view is used for the interactive and file sequence playbacks are displayed.
Type
Avi/Flipbook
This setting enables you to select whether previews are created using RAMbased Flipbook, or using the Microsoft Video For Windows codec selected in the AVI Preferences. When the Flipbook option is selected, the rendered frames are spooled into RAM. No image compression is used. The color depth of the Flipbook images is defined by selection of the provided options. In almost all cases, use Match Screen Depth to use the configured color depth of your video card. Select from the other options if there are problems displaying or playing the Flipbook preview. When the Flipbook option is selected, a conservative estimate of the number of frames that can comfortably fit within available memory is displayed beside each of the Preview Size options.
Use Image Cache

This forces all previews to be played from the interactive Image Cache in memory, custom Flipbooks are never created that displace existing caches.
Notes
For the best Flipbook display speed, your video card should be capable of double buffering in its current resolution and color depth mode.
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Script Preferences
SCRIPT PREFERENCES
The Script preferences have no meaning unless Module 3 (Input/Output) is installed.
Login
Login Required To Execute Script
If you assign a username and password, DFX+ will refuse to process incoming external script commands (from DFScript, for example) unless the Script first logs on to the workstation. This only affects scripts that are executed from the command line, or scripts that attempt to control remote copies of DFX+. Scripts executed from within the interface do not need to login regardless of this setting. Unless Module 3 (Input/Output) is enabled, this preference setting is unnecessary, since DFX+ will not allow external script connections.
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Timeline Preferences
Options
Script Editor
Use this preference to select an external editor for your scripts (used when selecting Scripts/Edit from the menu).
TIMELINE PREFERENCES
This preferences dialog is used to configure Timeline filters.
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Timeline Preferences
Filter
This drop-down list shows all filters currently available. Select a Filter to enable it for editing in the Settings dialog below. The Show All filter is read only and cannot be edited.
Settings
Set/Reset All
Click this button to toggle on or off all checkboxes in the tool tree below. This button has no affect when the selected filter is Show All.
Invert All
This button Inverts the current checkbox selections in the tool tree menu. Selected checkboxes will be cleared, and cleared checkboxes selected.
Tool List
The Tool List is a tree menu that displays every tool DFX+ has loaded, organized according to category. A checkbox beside each tool indicates if that tool is visible in the Timeline when the current filter is applied.
New Button
Click on this button to create a New Timeline filter.
Copy Button
Click on this button to make a Copy of the current Timeline filter.
Delete Button
Click on this button to permanently remove the current Timeline filter.
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Transports Preferences
TRANSPORTS PREFERENCES
These options allow you to setup and configure external and internal devices used with the Capture/Output facility of DFX+. This panel is only available if Module 3 is enabled for DFX+.
External And Internal Devices

Although several devices are listed, only one has configuration options of note. Select Remote Deck and press Configure to set up an external video device connected to the RS-232 port of the computer (usually via a RS-232 to RS-422 converter).
Device 1
Allows the selection and configuration of the first device. This will be the Source Transport by default. The devices capabilities will be reported.
Device 2
Allows the selection and configuration of the second device. This will be the Record Transport by default. The devices capabilities will be reported.
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Tweaks Preferences
TWEAKS PREFERENCES
This section contains more advanced settings that should be left alone unless specific problems are encountered.
There are three categories of tweaks - Network, File I/O and Area Sampling.
Network
Maximum Missed Heartbeats
Heartbeats are the signals or pings that the Render Master sends to the render slaves to check that they are still functioning. If no response is received, the render slave is either not available (power off, crashed, DFX+ closed), or too busy to respond (usually because of excessive swap file usage). This control determines how many heartbeats in a row can be missed by a slave before the Render Master assumes that the slave will no longer be available for additional rendering. If a slave becomes unavailable, it will be removed from the list for the current render and any frames assigned to it will be reassigned to the other machines in the Slave List. DFX+ 4 445
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Tweaks Preferences
Heartbeat Interval
The Heartbeat Interval refers to the amount of time in milliseconds that passes between each heartbeat sent by the Render Master.
Load Flow (Packet 3) Timeout

The value of this control determines how many seconds the Render Master should wait before assuming that a remote slave failed to successfully load a flow. If the render log indicates that slaves are being dropped from a render because of a packet 3 timeout, try increasing this value on the render slave to give the flow more time to load.
Last Slave Restart Timeout

This control determines the amount of time a Render Master will wait after all of the slaves listed have become unavailable before aborting the render. This gives the slaves time to restart and rejoin the render.
File I/O
Enable I/O Cancelling
This checkbox enables I/O Cancelling, an experimental feature in DFX+. When a file-read operation is aborted, such as will occur when changing frames before an interactive render is complete, there may still be data queued up for transfer from disk. This occurs because DFX+ reads ahead on disk, anticipating the data load for the next operation. I/O Cancelling enables a feature of the operating system that allows these queued operations to be cancelled when the function that requested them is aborted. This can improve the responsiveness of the software, particularly when loading large images over a network. Enabling this option will specifically affect the performance of DFX+ while loading and accessing TIFF, VideoPump and other formats that perform a large amount of seeking. This option should only be enabled with the understanding that it has not been completely tested with all hardware and OS configurations. Never enable it without thorough testing of drive loads from both local disks and network shares. If the system behaves normally, by all means enable the checkbox.
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Tweaks Preferences
Enable Direct Reads

This checkbox enables Direct Reads of data from the drives into memory, using a method that is more efficient when loading a large chunk of contiguous data. The advantage is that the CPU load is reduced somewhat for I/O operations. The disadvantage is that this feature employs an undocumented ability of the operating system. As such, it may have other effects that are unknown.
Read Ahead Buffers

This slider determines the number of 64K buffers DFX+ will use to read ahead in a file I/O operation. The more buffers, the more efficient DFX+ is likely to be at loading frames from disk, but the less responsive it will be to changes that require disk access interactively.
Area Sampling
Automatic Memory Usage
This checkbox determines how Area Sampling uses available memory. Area Sampling is used for Merges and Transforms. When the checkbox is enabled (default), DFX+ will detect available RAM when processing the tool and determine the appropriate trade off between speed and memory. If less RAM is available, DFX+ will use a higher proxy level internally and take longer to render. The quality of the image is not compromised in any way, just the amount of time it takes to render. In flows that deal with very large images, 4K+, it may be desirable to override the automatic scaling and fix the proxy scale manually. This can preserve RAM for future operations.
Pre-Calc Proxy Level

De-selecting the Automatic Memory will enable the Pre Calc Proxy Scale slider. Higher values will use less RAM, but take much longer to render.
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View Preferences
VIEW PREFERENCES
Settings for
Each Display View has its own preferences. This drop-down list is used to select the Display View affected by changes to all other settings in this tab.
Scale
Image
Sets the default scaling factor for viewed images.
Animation
Sets the default scaling factor for animations previewed in the view.
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View Preferences
Options and guides

Alpha Overlay
When checked, the view will display the image overlaid with the Alpha channel by default.
Smooth Resize
When checked, the view will default to Smooth Resize mode, which is a slower but higher quality method of scaling the display views.
Always On Top
When checked, Floating views will remain in front of other windows in the interface.
Monitor Safety
When checked, the selected view will display the Monitor Safety Guide by default.
Safe Title
When checked, the selected view will display the Safe Title Guide by default.
Follow Active
When checked, the active tool will be automatically displayed in the view.
Show Controls
When checked, the selected view will display on-screen controls like crosshairs, angles and polylines for the selected tool in the Flow.
View As Square Pixel

When checked, the selected view will be displayed with a Square Pixel Aspect Ratio, overriding the aspect saved in the Frame Format Preferences.
Center
When checked, the selected view will display the Center Guide by default.
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I/O And AVI Preferences
Color
Active Control
Determines the color of the Active on-screen control.
Inactive Control
Determines the color of the Inactive on-screen control.
Alpha Overlay
Determines the color of the Alpha Overlay.
I/O AND AVI PREFERENCES
The controls in this tab allow you to configure the default settings of previews and savers using Microsoft Video For Windows.
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I/O And AVI Preferences
Settings For
Select either Saver or Preview from this drop-down list to display and modify AVI defaults. When Saver is selected, the settings are used as the defaults for the format tab of the Saver tool when the Saver is set to save out AVIs. When Preview is selected, the settings are used to determine what AVI software codec is used to compress a preview AVI.
AVI Video Compression Options

Compressor
This menu displays the AVI codecs available from your system. DFX+ tests each codec when the program is started. Some codecs may not be available if the tests indicate that they are unsuitable for use within DFX+.
Quality
This control is used to determine the amount of compression to be used by the codec. Higher values produce clearer images but larger files.
Key Frame Every

When checked, the codec will create Key Frames at specified intervals. Key Frames are not compressed in conjunction with previous frames and are, therefore, quicker to seek within the resulting AVI.
Frames
Use this control to set the interval between key frames. This has no effect if Key Frame Every is not selected.
Limit Data Rate To

When checked, the Data Rates of the resulting AVI file will be limited to the amount specified. Not all codecs support this option.
KB/Sec
Enter the Data Rate used to limit the AVI in kilobytes (KB) per second, if applicable. This control will have no affect if the Limit Data Rate To option is not selected.
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I/O And QuickTime Preferences
Sample Image
DFX+ will send a Sample Image to the compressor using the settings specified. The image displayed is a sample of the result. The file size of the compressed image will be displayed as a percentage of the original in text above the logo.
Configure
Many AVI codecs offer built-in options that can be configured, in addition to the standard Video For Windows settings.
About
The About button displays a dialogue box usually containing information about the selected AVI codec.
I/O AND QUICKTIME PREFERENCES

The controls here are used to configure the default settings of savers using Apples QuickTime multimedia interface.
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I/O And QuickTime Preferences
QuickTime Video Compression Options

Compressor
This drop-down list displays the QuickTime codecs available from your system. DFX+ tests each codec when the program is started. Some codecs may not be available if the tests indicate that they are unsuitable for use within DFX+.
Quality
This slider is used to determine the amount of compression to be used by the codec. Higher values produce clearer images but larger files.
Key Frame Every

When checked, the codec will create Key Frames at specified intervals. Key frames are not compressed in conjunction with previous frames and are, therefore, quicker to seek within the resulting movie.
Frames
Use this control to set the interval between key frames. This has no affect if Key Frame Every is not selected.
Limit Data Rate To

When checked, the Data Rates of the rendered file will be limited to the amount specified. Not all codecs support this option.
KB/Second
Enter the data rate used to limit the AVI in kilobytes (Kb) per second, if applicable. This will have no effect if Limit Data Rate To is not selected.
Sample Image
DFX+ will send a Sample Image to the compressor using the settings specified. The image displayed is a sample of the result. The file size of the compressed image will be displayed as a percentage of the original in text above the logo.
Configure Button
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EDL Import Preferences
EDL IMPORT PREFERENCES

These options determine how DFX+ creates flows from imported EDL files.
Import Properties
Flow Format
This drop-down list selects the process mode for the imported EDL file. Loader Per Clip A Loader will be created for each clip in the EDL file. A-B Roll A Dissolve tool will be created with the settings imported from the EDL file.
Loader Per Transition A Loader will be created with the settings representing the settings imported from the EDL file (Loader with a clip list created).
Use Shot Name

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SCRIPTING (MODULE 3)
WHAT IS SCRIPTING?
Scripting for DFX+ is only available if Module 3 (Input / Output) is enabled. DFX+ offers an integrated scripting system, DFScript, for automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks. Scripts can be written to help solve the problems unique to your own projects and workflow. Properly used, scripting can dramatically change the way you work. Scripts can be used to automate simple tasks, like enabling or disabling motion blur in every tool in a flow, or flattening all transformations in Merge tools. Scripting can also be used for far more complex tasks, such as assembling a clip list into a final sequence complete with automated plates for each shot, cadence correction for pullup and pulldown, and auto-generation of heads and tails. Creating and writing scripts is not for everyone. An artist using DFX+ does not need to become proficient in our scripting language. Indeed, it is hardly necessary to know that DFX+ even has scripting capabilities to use the software to its full extent. Nevertheless, scripts provided with the software, obtained from eyeons web site, written by internal programmers or other DFX+ operators, can be run from within the interface without ever becoming aware of the detailed logic behind the script. An artist or programmer who embraces scripting, however, can quickly and easily create solutions to complex issues that arise in the post production world with a minimum of set up time or fuss.
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Examples Of Scripting Use
EXAMPLES OF SCRIPTING USE

The following are examples drawn from real-world usage of DFScript in production environments. A script that is used to globally disable or enable motion blur across an entire flow. Based on an Edit Decision List, split a single large DPS or AVI file into component shots, then automatically detect and remove 30fps pullup, and save each shot as TGA sequences to disk. A script that locates Cineon files in a selected remote directory and its subdirectories, and automatically creates half resolution or NTSC proxies. A script that collects all of the footage, materials and renders from a single flow into a specified directory for backup. A script that processes each clip or file in a directory using a specified flow (i.e. convert all footage in directory X to PAL, using ConvertToPAL.flw)
ABOUT DFSCRIPT
DFX+s internal scripting language is an extension of an existing scripting language called Lua, which has been used in the game and automation industries for several years now. Lua was chosen because it is powerful but small, because it was designed from the ground up to extend existing applications in a simple and straightforward manner, and because it is completely platform independent. Structurally and syntactically, DFScript is similar to Visual Basic, C++ and other object-oriented languages, without much of the additional complexity that languages like these impose. The similarities between Lua and other commonly-used languages make it easy for anyone who knows the basics of another modern programming language to quickly pick up on the basic syntax, and to read existing sample scripts with little to no training.
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Types Of Scripts
DFScript Filenames
Any text file containing DFScript commands can be executed from the command line with dfscript.exe. Files with scripting commands for use with DFX+ are typically identified by the use of the DFScript extension in the filename, for example scriptname.dfscript. Scripts without the .dfscript extension can still be run from the command line dfscript.exe, but they will not be available from within the DFX+ interface.
TYPES OF SCRIPTS
Dfscript.exe Command
A script file can be executed from the command prompt using the standalone dfscript.exe application. Scripts run in this fashion can be executed independently of the main DFX+ application. Command Line Scripts communicate with DFX+ via the TCP/IP networking protocol, which allows scripts to control the operation of DFX+ either locally or remotely over the network. Command Line Scripts can perform basic logic and file system operations, but they cannot process or affect images without the additional commands that become available once a script has connected to a running copy of DFX+. The dfscript.exe file is installed into your Windows/System32 folder on installation, and a copy is kept in your DFXPlus/Utils directory.
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Types Of Scripts
Console
The Console window in DFX+ provides a means of entering DFScript commands directly into the interface, one command at a time. For the most part, this ability is used to troubleshoot and test ideas used while creating and designing your own scripts, although it can also be used to perform simple tasks on the current flow.
Integrated Scripting
Integrated Scripting allows a script to be run from directly within the interface. Scripts can be run against the current flow by selecting the scripts name from the Scripts menu at the top of the screen. Scripts can also be executed by selecting a scripts name from the tools context menu. Scripts that run from the Scripts menu at the top of the screen are called Flow Scripts, and are found in the DFXPlus/Scripts/Flow folder. These scripts are started with variables already initialized to control the current flow.
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Types Of Scripts
Scripts run by right-clicking on a tool and selecting a script from the context menu are called Tool Scripts, and these scripts are stored in the Scripts/ Tools menu. These scripts are started with variables already initialized to control the current flow, and the active tool.
Integrated scripts can display dialog boxes capable of displaying many of DFX+s built-in tool controls, such as sliders, thumbwheels, checkboxes and drop-down lists.
InTool Scripts
Each tool in DFX+ has a scripting tab in its tool controls that allow short scripts to be entered. These scripts are run when the flow first starts rendering, as each frame renders, and again at the end of the render. For example, you might use an InTool script in a Saver to send you an email when rendering begins, add each frame to a zip file as rendering progresses, and ftp the final zip file to a remote location when rendering is complete.
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Scripting Directories
SCRIPTING DIRECTORIES
Scripts saved in the DFX+ scripting folders become available for use from within the DFX+ interface, either from the script menu or the tools context menu. The default directory for such scripts is the DFXPlus/Scripts folder, but the path can be changed using the Paths Preferences. The scripts folder is organized into two sub-directories; a Flow directory and a Tool directory. Scripts saved in the Flow Directory will automatically appear in the Scripts menu at the top of the interface. Scripts saved in the Tool Directory will appear in the tools scripts context menu. The name of the file (without the DFScript extension) is used as the name of the script as displayed in the menus. Spaces are allowed in the filename.
DFLib
The file DFLib.dfscript is found in the DFXPlus/Script folder. This file is executed every time DFX+ is started. It can be used to initialize variables or commands you will use frequently. For example, if you wrote a function that disabled motion blur on all tools in a flow, you could store the function in this file to ensure it was available for use whenever you ran DFX+.
Associating Scripts With A Flow

Whenever you load a flow, DFX+ will look to see if a DFScript file with the same name as the Flow also exists in that directory. If such a file exists, it will be opened and launched with the Flow. For example, if you are loading c:\flows\bigflow.flw, DFX+ will also load and execute c:\flows\bigflow.dfscript if that file exists.
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Scripting Directories
Editing And Creating Scripts

The Scripts menu at the top of the interface has an edit option which can be used to create new scripts, or to edit existing ones. When you select this option, DFX+ will launch whatever editor you have configured in your Script Preferences.
Scripts are nothing more than text files. They can be created using any text editor, even the Notepad application bundled with Windows. If you create and edit scripts frequently, you will likely want a more powerful application. For this reason, we have bundled a modified version of the SciTe Script Editor with DFX+. SciTe supports DFScript syntax coloring and command completion, which make it far easier to understand and assemble scripts. Unless you chose a custom install and disabled this option, SciTe will have been installed with DFX+. The executable and documentation can be found in the DFXPlus/Utils folder. Additional information on SciTe can be found at www.scintilla.org.
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Learning Scripting
LEARNING SCRIPTING
The Scripting Reference documentation is a collection of HTML files installed into the DFXPlus/Help/DFScript folder. This document can also be found on your install CDROM. You can launch the documentation in your web browser from the DFXPlus/ DFScript folder, or you can open the index.html file from the help directory by double-clicking on the file. Each of the commands available to DFScript are described in the Scripting chapter, as well as tutorials to get you started creating and editing scripts of your own. The sample scripts are also listed here, with descriptions of what they do, and how they work. This documentation is constantly evolving and improving, so a new version of the scripting reference may be available by the time you read this manual. Check in your account at www.eyeonline.com to see if an update is available. New examples and mini-tutorials for scripting will be created at least every month and posted at www.eyeonline.com. The best way to learn scripting is to study the examples that come with the software. Read through these scripts and learn what each command does by comparing the commands to the information in the scripting reference. When you are comfortable, try modifying the example scripts, or creating simple scripts of your own.
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NETWORK RENDERING
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ is capable of distributing a variety of rendering tasks to other machines on a network, allowing multiple licensed computers to assist with creating network rendered previews, disk caches, clusters and final renders. DFX+ can submit flows to be rendered by other copies of DFX+, as well as to the DF Render Node. DFRN is a non-interactive license of DFX+ available at a reduced cost from eyeon Software. DFX+ cannot directly participate in a network render. It can submit flows to a render master for network distribution.
TCP/IP AND DFX+

DFX+ relies on the presence of the TCP/IP network protocol to control network rendering across multiple machines. The TCP/IP protocol must be installed correctly and set up on all of the systems that will be a part of the rendering group. TCP/IP is a common component of the regular Windows networking setup. Refer to your Windows reference documentation or your network administrator if you are uncertain whether TCP/IP is installed on your network.
Ensuring That The Network Functions Correctly

Launch a command prompt of your choice for the render Master station and use the Ping command to test the connection to each Slave.
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NETWORK RENDERING | 27
Setting Up Network Rendering
Ping <slave IP address>

The response should look like this. Pinging 192.168.0.10 with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128 Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128 Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128 Reply from 192.168.0.10: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128 When you get a response from a Slave, the network link to that machine is functioning correctly and DFX+ will use it to network render.
SETTING UP NETWORK RENDERING

What Is The Render Master?
At least one computer in your render farm must be configured to act as the Render Master. The Render Master manages the list of flows to be rendered and allocates frames to Slaves for rendering. The Render Master must be a computer running either a full copy of DFX+, Digital Fusion, or a DF Render Node. Acting as a render master has no significant impact on render performance. There is no issue with having a machine act as both render slave and render master.
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Setting Up The Render Master

Select the computer to be used as a Render Master. Ensure that Digital Fusion, DFX+, or the DF Render Node, is installed properly, and launch the software.
For DFX+
Select File/Preferences and open the Global Network Preferences window.
Locate and enable the checkbox marked Make This Machine A Render Master. If you also want this machine to participate in rendering flows, enable the Allow This Machine To Be Used As A Network Slave checkbox as well. Both of these settings are enabled by default.
For DF Render Node

Right-click on the icon for the Render Node in the system tray and select Preferences from the context menu. Open the Global Network Preference dialog and enable the checkbox marked Make This Machine A Render Master. If you also want this machine to participate in rendering flows, enable the Allow This Machine To Be Used As A Network Slave checkbox as well. Both of these settings are enabled by default.
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Once you have enabled a computer to act as the Master, you will need to add the slaves it will manage in the Render Manager dialog. The Render Manager dialog is described in detail later in this chapter.
Preparing Render Slaves

Digital Fusion and the DF Render Node can be used to render flows as directed by a Render Master. When used in this fashion, they are called Render Slaves. Before the software can be used to network render, ensure that the slave will accept commands from the master.
Note
DFX+ will not accept commands from a remote render master, so it will not act a slave for a network rendering farm. DFX+ can act as a Render Master, directing other slaves and itself in a network render. If you want the workstation with DFX+ installed to act as a slave for a remote render master, you can add a render node to the workstation to receive commands from remote masters. Module 5 is essentially a Render Node installation.
For Digital Fusion
Select Allow Network Renders from the File menu or enable the Allow This Machine To Be Used As A Network Slave in the Global Network Preferences. This is the default setting.
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The Render Manager
For DF Render Node

Right-click on the icon for the Render Node in the system tray and select Allow Network Renders from the context menu, or enable the Allow This Machine To Be Used As A Network Slave in the Global Network Preferences. This is the default setting.
Choosing The Render Master Used By Slaves

To submit a flow to a Render Master from a workstation or node, you need to first tell DFX+ which master will manage the render queue.
Open the Global Preferences page and locate the Network tab. Type the name of the master in the Master Name field, or enter the masters IP Address. DFX+ will automatically try to fill in the missing field by performing a lookup on your local network. Workstations which are not configured as slaves can only set the render master with this preference option.
THE RENDER MANAGER

The Render Manager dialog is used to monitor the progress of rendering, to re-order, add or remove flows from a queue and to manager the list of slaves used for rendering. Before a Render Master can be useful, you need to add the slaves it will manage to the slave list, as described below.
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The Render Manager
Opening The Render Manager Dialog

For DFX+
Select Render Manager from the File menu, or CTRL M on your keyboard to open the Render Manager dialog.
For DF Render Node

Right-click on the icon for the render node in the system tray and select Render Manager from the context menu.
Adding Computers To The Slavelist

The Render Manager always starts with one slave in the slave list - itself. This allows the Render Manager to render local queues without using the network. You can add slaves into the slave list by entering the slaves name or IP manually, or you can scan for slaves on the local network.
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The Render Manager
Scanning For Slaves

Select Scan For Slaves from the Slave menu at the top of the dialog. You can also right-click in the slavelist and select this option from the context menu. Scanning looks through all IP addresses in your subnet to determine if any other computers in the local network are actively responding on the port DF uses for network rendering. A copy of DF or the DF Render Node must be running on the remote machine in order to be detected by the scanning.
Manually Adding Slaves

To manually add a slave to the slavelist, select Add Slave from the Slave menu, or from the Slavelist context menu. Enter the name or the IP address of the remote slave in the dialog box that appears. The Manager will attempt to resolve names into IP addresses, and IP addresses into names, automatically. You may use this method to add slaves to the list which are not currently running or available on the network.
Removing Computers From The Slavelist

To remove a computer from the Slavelist, select the slave and choose Remove Slave(s) from the Slave menu. Use CTRL and SHIFT selecting to choose multiple slaves for deletion.
Loading And Saving Slavelists

The list of slaves is automatically saved in the file Slaves.slv in the DFXPlus/ Queue folder when you exit DFX+ You can also save and load other, alternate slavelists by selecting Save Slave List and Load Slave List from the Slave menu at the top of the dialog.
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The Render Queue
THE RENDER QUEUE

This queue is a list of flows to be rendered, in the order they are to be rendered. The top entry in a queuelist will be rendered first, followed by the next down, and so on. Multiple flows in a queue may render at once, depending on which groups are set with a flow.
Adding Flows To The Queue
From The Render Manager

To add a flow to the queue from within the Render Manager dialog, click on the Add Flow button near the top left of the dialog, or right-click in the queuelist and select Add Flow from the menu.
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The Render Queue
From The Flow

When starting a preview or final render, select the Use Network checkbox from the render settings dialog to add the Flow to the end of the current queue in the render masters queue manager. The Render Master used is the one configured in the Network Preferences of the DFX+ submitting the flow.
From The File Explorer

You can add one or more flows to the queue by dragging and dropping them into the render managers queue list from the file explorer.
From The Command Line

You may also add flows to the queue using the DFRender.exe utility, which can be found in DFXPlus\Utils folder. A sample Command Line is DFRender localhost c:\flowname.flw queue, which would submit the flow flowname.flw to the render manager on the local machine.
Removing Flows From The Queue

To remove a flow from the queuelist, select the Flow and press the DEL key, or right-click on the entry in the queuelist and select Remove Flow from the context menu. If the Flow is currently rendering, the render will be automatically halted and the next flow in the list will immediately begin rendering.
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Groups
Saving And Loading Queues

It may be useful to save a queuelist for later re-use. The current queuelist is normally auto-saved as autosave.dfg in the DFXPlus/Queue directory. To save the current Queue with a new name, select Save Queue from the File menu. To load a queue from disk, select Load Queue from the File menu.
Re-Ordering The Queue

As you build or render a queue, you will often find that priorities for a flow will change. Shifting deadlines may require that a flow further down the queuelist be rendered sooner. You can click and drag an entry to a new position in the list to re-arrange the order of flows within the queue. If you re-order a flow that is already complete (status is done) so that it is below the currently rendering flows, that flow will not re-render. You must reset the status by right-clicking on the Flow in the list and selecting Clear Completed Frames from the context menu.
GROUPS
Slaves can be configured into Groups, which are then used when submitting flows. For example, imagine you have five render slaves. All of the slaves are members of the group, All, but two of them have more memory then the others, so these two slaves are added to a group called Hi-Mem as well. When you submit a render to the network, you choose to submit it to the All group, or the Hi-Mem group. If you submit it to the Hi-Mem group, by default only the two machines that are part of that group will be used to render the Flow. If you then submit a flow to the All group, the remaining three machines would start rendering the new flow. When the two slaves in the Hi-Mem Group stop rendering the first flow, they join the render in progress on the All group. Groups are optional, you do not have to use them. If you do, you will find that managing large render farms across your installation will become easier. By default, new slaves and flows in the queue are automatically assigned to All.
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Groups
Assigning Slaves To Groups
To assign a slave to a specific group, right-click on the Slave and select Assign Group from the context menu. Type the name of the group in the dialog that appears. If the Slave is to be a part of multiple groups, separate the name of each group with a comma (i.e. all, local, hi-mem).
Assigning Flows To Groups

When you add a flow to the render queue, you can assign it to a group using one of the following methods.
From Render Settings Dialog

When you select the Use Network checkbox in the Render Settings dialog, a section of the dialog will become available that allows you to select a group, or groups, from a list. The list is filled with whatever groups are currently configured for the render master. If the render master is not the local machine, the list will be filled by querying the remote machine.
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Groups
Use CTRL and SHIFT to select multiple groups for the submitted flow.
From The Render Manager

When you add a flow to the queue from the render manager, it is automatically submitted to the group All. To change the group used, rightclick on the flows entry in the queuelist and select Assign Group from the context menu.
Using Multiple Groups

A single slave can be a member of multiple groups, and a single flow can also be submitted to multiple groups. Submitting a flow to multiple groups has a relatively straightforward effect, the flow will render on all slaves in the listed groups. When a slave is a member of multiple groups, the ordering of the groups becomes important, since the order defines the priority of the group for that slave. For example, imagine that a slave is a member of two groups, All and HiMem. If the groups are assigned to the slave as All, Hi-Mem, renders submitted to the All group will take priority, overriding any renders in progress which were submitted to the Hi-Mem group. If the order were changed to Hi-Mem, All, the priority reverses. The render Slave will participate in rendering flows submitted as long as no Hi-Mem renders are in the queue. When no Hi-Mem renders are incomplete within the queue, that slave will render any flows submitted to the All group.
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The Render Log
THE RENDER LOG

The Render Log is displayed beneath the queuelist in the Render Manager. The text shown in this window displays the render managers activities, including which frame is assigned to what slave, which slaves have loaded the flows in the queue, and statistics for each render after completion.
There are two modes for the Render Log; Verbose mode and Normal mode. Verbose Logging logs all events from the Render Manager, while Normal mode logs only the frames that are assigned to each slave and when they are completed. You can enable or disable Verbose and Normal Logging in the Misc menu of the Render Manager.
PREPARING A FLOW FOR NETWORK RENDERING

Paths
The Paths used to load a flow, its footage, and to save the flows results, are critical to the operation of Network Rendering. The following items must all be loaded and saved using commonly accessible file names. For example, imagine that you have loaded the Flow c:\flows\nettest1.flw. You click on Network Render in the File menu to add the Flow to the queue. The Render Manager detects the new entry in the queue and sends a message to each slave to load the Flow and render it.
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Preparing A Flow For Network Rendering
The problem in the above scenario is that each computer is likely to have its own C:\ drive already. It is extremely unlikely that the Flow will be present on each node and, if by some strange chance it is, it is unlikely to be up to date. In most cases, the nodes will report that they are unable to load the flow, and quickly fail to join the render. The same problem affects the paths used by loaders and savers, as well as the default paths configured in the preferences for network rendered previews and disk caches. The solution is to use UNC or mapped paths when loading and saving footage and flows to disk. These two methods are described below.
Using UNC Names

\\file_server\shared_drive\Project6\clipC\ clipC_0001.tga Use UNC (Universal Naming Convention) names when loading or saving flows, and when adding flows to the Render Managers queue. UNC names always start with a double backslash (\\), rather than the usual drive letter (for example, c:\). For more information, see UNC Names in your Windows documentation.
Using Mapped Drives

Mapped drives allow you to assign a shared network resource to a letter of the alphabet. For example, the file servers drives could appear as the letter Z on each of the Slaves. This requires more setup effort but may allow flexibility in changing the machine or shared directory to which the drive letters are mapped, without requiring the flows themselves to be changed.
Fonts
All fonts used by Text tools must be available to all nodes participating in the render, or the render will fail on the slaves that do not have the font installed. If this happens, an error message will be recorded in the render log.
Plug-Ins
All third-party plug-ins and tools used by a flow must be installed in the plug-ins directory of the slaves. A slave that attempts to render a flow containing a plug-in that is not installed will fail to render, unless that plugin is passed-through in the flow.
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Submitting A Flow
SUBMITTING A FLOW
Once you have set up the Render Master and have configured some render slaves, you will be ready to start using the network to render your flows, previews and disk caches. There are several ways to submit a flow to the Render Master from within your flows.
Use Network Checkbox

The Cache To Disk and the Start Render dialogs both display a Use Network checkbox. When this checkbox is enabled, the render task will be submitted to the Render Manager instead of rendered locally.
File Menu
To submit the current flow to the Render Manager, select File/Network Render from the menu at the top of the screen. The Flow will be submitted to the All group of slaves. Make sure that your flow is saved in a directory visible to all machines involved with the render, either to a mapped drive common to all slaves or a UNC path.
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Remote Administration
REMOTE ADMINISTRATION
Managing a large farm of render slaves can become a time-consuming task. Several capabilities are available from the render master to assist with Remote Administration of render slaves.
Installing Updates Remotely
It is possible to update one or more slaves from the Render Manager. To update remote slaves with a new version of DFX+, select the slaves to be updated and display the Slave context menu. Choose Update Software from the menu that appears and select a network directory containing the files to be used for the update. The directory chosen must be accessible by the slave (i.e. a common mapped drive or a UNC path).
Before applying a remote update, create a directory containing the update files. The update directory should be an uncompressed copy of a standard installation of either DFX+ or the Render Node. Often, the easiest way to accomplish this is to run the Update Installer from eyeon Softwares web site and install it into an empty directory.
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Remote Administration
The update directory must be created in a directory accessible to all slaves via UNC, or Mapped drives paths, or the update will fail. The Master will instruct the Remote Slave to run Overseer.exe, which must be installed in the DFX+ directory of the remote machine. Overseer will shutdown the Slave to prevent any errors with files in use. Once the Slave has shutdown, Overseer will copy the files from the update directory. The directory structure of the update directory will be duplicated on the Slave. New files will be copied over and existing files will be overwritten. Only files ending in .exe, .dll, .dfp, .dfl, .aex and .cfg will be copied. When the copy is complete, Overseer will restart the Slave, allowing it to participate in network renders once more and complete the update.
Update Log
If the update fails for any of the slaves, you can view an Update Log by right-clicking on a slave and selecting View Update Log from the context menu. The Update Log describes the history of updates for that node, with the most recent update appended to the end of the log file. Any errors that may have occurred will be detailed in the log.
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When Renders Fail
Updates do not have to be complete updates. You can use an update directory to copy new plug-ins to other systems on the network.
Notes
DFX+ will not allow itself to be updated by update directories containing DFRNode.exe, and Nodes will not allow themselves to be updated with DFXPlus.exe. Only the executable fort Read only files in the update directory may not allow themselves to be copied over the network using this technique. Ensure that all files in the update directory are set with the read only flag disabled. The user logged into the render master workstation must have permission to write to each of the directories it is updating.
Setting The Render Master Remotely

You can set the Render Master used by one or more slaves remotely, which can assist with remote administration. Open the Render Manager on the Master and select the Slave(s) that you want to configure in the slavelist. Right-click and select Set Render Master from the context menu. Each selected slave will be set to use the current machine as its render master.
WHEN RENDERS FAIL

Its a fact of life that render queues occasionally fail, software crashes, the power goes out, a computer is accidentally disconnected from the network, to name a few. The more complex the topology of the network and the larger the flows, the more likely some failure or another will interrupt the render in progress. If someone were to monitor the render as it progressed, it may not end up being catastrophic. If no one were available to monitor the render, the risk that an entire queue may sit inactive for several hours may become a serious problem. DFX+ employs a variety of measures to protect your queue and to ensure that your render continues even under some of the worst conditions.
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When Renders Fail
Automatic Rejoining Of The Queue

A slave can become unavailable to the render master for several reasons. For example, the Allow Network Rendering option may be disabled. If this occurs, the Slave will no longer respond to the regular queries sent by the Master and frames assigned to that slave will be reassigned among the remaining slaves in the list. When a slave is restarted, reconnected to the network or becomes available for rendering again, it will signal the Render Master that it is ready to render again, and new frames will be assigned to that slave. The Last Slave Restart Timeout option in the Network Preferences dictates how long DFX+ will wait after the last slave goes offline before aborting that queue and waiting for direct intervention. When using this technique to protect against power failures during long unattended or casually attended queue renders, ensure that each slave is capable of logging in directly whenever the system is restarted without requiring the entry of a username and password. Consult your operating systems help files for details on accomplishing this task.
Overseer
Overseer is a small utility installed with DFX+ and the DF Render Node. If Overseer is present in the same directory as the slaves main executable (dfusion.exe or dfrnode.exe), the application is silently launched by each slave whenever a render is started. Overseer monitors the Slave to ensure that it is still running during a render. It consumes almost no CPU cycles and very little RAM. If the executable disappears from the systems process list without issuing a proper shutdown signal, as can happen after a crash, the Overseer will relaunch the Slave after a short delay, allowing it to rejoin the render. Overseer will only detect situations where a slave has exited abnormally. If a slave is still in the process list, but has become unresponsive for some reason, Overseer will not detect the problem. Hung processes like this are detected and handled by frame timeouts, as described below.
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When Renders Fail
Frame Timeout
Frame Timeouts are a failsafe method of canceling a slaves render if a frame takes longer than the specified time (default 60 minutes or one hour). The Frame Timeout ensures that an overnight render will continue if a flow hangs or begins swapping excessively and fails to complete its assigned frame. The timeout is set per flow in the Queue. To change the timeout value for a flow from the default of 60 minutes, right-click on the Flow in the render managers queuelist and select Set Frame Timeout from the context menu. If you expect never to have a single frame take longer than 10 minutes (for example, if you never render film or HD-sized footage), you may want to reduce the timeout to 10 minutes instead. To change the Frame Timeout value, select Set Frame Timeout from the Render Managers Misc menu.
Heartbeats
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Managing Memory Use
The Render Master regularly sends out heartbeat signals to each node and awaits the nodes reply. A Heartbeat is basically a message from the manager to the node to see if the node is still present and operating correctly. If a slave fails to respond to several consecutive Heartbeats, DFX+ will assume that the slave is no longer available. The frames assigned to that slave will be reassigned to other slaves in the list. The number of Heartbeats in a row that must be missed before a slave is removed from the list by the manager, as well as the interval of time between Heartbeats, can be configured in the Network Preferences panel of the Master. The default settings for these options is fine for nearly all cases. If you tend to render flows that use more memory than physically installed, this will cause swapping of memory to disk. You may want to increase these two settings to compensate for the sluggish response time until more RAM can be added to the slave.
MANAGING MEMORY USE

Often, the network environment is made up of computers with a variety of CPU and memory configurations. The memory settings used on the workstation that created a flow may not be appropriate for all of the Render Slaves in your network. DFX+ offers the ability to override the memory settings stored in the Flow and to use custom settings more suited to the system configuration of a specific Slave. To access preferences for a Render Node, right-click on the icon in the taskbar and select Show Network And Memory Preferences.
Override Flow Settings
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Things You Need To Know
Enable this option to use the Slaves local settings to render any incoming flows. Disable it to use the default settings that are saved into the Flow.
Render Several Frames At Once

DFX+ has the ability to render multiple frames at once for increased render throughput. This slider controls how many frames are rendered simultaneously. The value displayed multiplies the memory usage (a setting of 3 requires three times as much memory as a setting of 1). Normal values are 2 or 3, although machines with a lot of memory may benefit from higher values, while machines with less memory may require the value to be 1.
Enable this option to render every layer in parallel. This can offer gains in throughput, but may also use considerably more memory, especially if many layers are used in the flow. Machines with limited memory may need to have this disabled when rendering flows with many layers.
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

There are a few important issues to remember while setting up flows and rendering over a network.
Disk Caches
When you render a disk cache, you are presented with options for prerendering the Disk Cache using the network. By default, disk caches are created in the directory configured in the Cache to Disk option of the Paths Preferences. This path must be valid for all slaves configured in the render master.
Previews
When you net render a Preview, you may choose to use the network to produce the preview. Frames rendered by remote slaves are stored in the preview render directory configured in the Paths Preference. Since the frames can easily arrive out of order, the files are stored as a file sequence on disk, and then spooled into memory for Flipbooks or assembled into a temporary AVI file for playback. DFX+ 4 484
Things You Need To Know
This behavior also allows network render previews to most hardware devices, like the dpsReality, dpsQuattrus, and NewTek Video Toaster. In order for the preview to work, the preview renders path in the Paths Preferences panel must be valid for all slaves used by the Render Master.
Time Stretching
Flows with the Time Stretcher and Time Speed tools may encounter difficulties when rendered over the network. Speeding up or slowing down flows and clips requires fetching multiple frames before and after the current frame that is being rendered, resulting in increased I/O to the file server. This may worsen bottlenecks over the network and lead to inefficient rendering. If your flow uses a Time Stretcher or Time Speed tool, make certain that the network is up to the load.
Linear Tools
Certain tools cannot be network rendered properly. Particle systems like 5D Ltds Smoke and Rain, and eyeons Trails tool are the only ones of which we are currently aware. There may also be AE Plugin adapter tools with this limitation. These store the last frames data and update this information every frame, making every frame dependent on the previous one. This data is local to the plug-in and is not shared over the network. These plug-ins, therefore, do not render correctly over multiple machines.
Saving To Multiframe Formats

Multiple machines cannot render a single AVI or QuickTime file due to the limitations of the file format itself. AVI and QuickTime movies are formats that are a single stream containing multiple frames. These frames must be written one after the other, not in the out-of-order sequence typically produced by network rendering. Always render to separate sequential file formats like Targa, Cineon, JPEG and so on. Once the render is complete, a single workstation can load the image sequence in order and save to the desired compiled format. Note that the above does not apply to network rendered previews. Previews created over the network employ spooling to allow Multiframe Formats to render successfully. Only final renders are affected by this limitation.
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Optimizing The Network
Video Hardware
Like AVI and QuickTime video, some hardware boards do not normally have the ability to directly accept rendered frames from a rendering network. These boards usually require frames to arrive in order. Always render to separate sequential file formats like Targa, Cineon, JPEG, and so on, and spool the images to the desired hardware format afterwards.
OPTIMIZING THE NETWORK

A common network configuration consists of a server and several clients connected together via a hub or switch. The problem with this scenario is that all of the client workstations share a single network line. The single line from the server to the hub may become a bottleneck. When multiple client machines load source image, the data I/O bottleneck hinders rendering performance. For example, four Slave machines may each get a quarter or less of the overall networks bandwidth. Consider a network configuration that offers the most performance from a DFX+ rendering network. Installing multiple Ethernet cards in the server allows for dedicated connections between the server Render Master and client workstations Render Slaves (no sharing of the same Ethernet line). This allows the networks full bandwidth to be used by each machine. Alternately, a higher bandwidth link (such as Gigabit Ethernet) may be used between the switch and the server. There are other bottlenecks when configuring a network, such as the servers disk drive system. This should be able to perform quickly and offer fast transfer rates. Striped SCSI disks, disk arrays and RAID arrays typically offer maximum performance.
TROUBLESHOOTING
There are some common pitfalls of which you should be aware when rendering across a network. If you encounter difficulties, try these steps. If you fail to resolve the problem, contract eyeon Technical support. Ideally, if you can email a copy of the render.log file to tech@eyeonline.com, it will help us to resolve the problem.
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Troubleshooting
Virtually all problems with Network Rendering have to do with path names or plug-ins. Verify that all slaves can load the flows and the footage, and that all slaves have the plug-ins used in the flow installed.
Check The Render Log

The log file shown in the Render Manager dialog displays messages that can assist with diagnosing why a render or slave has failed. The log shows a step-by-step account of what happened (or didnt happen) during a render. If a slave cannot be found, fails to load a flow or render a frame, or simply stops responding, it will be recorded here. This should always be the first step in diagnosing a network problem.
Check The Flow

The Render Managers Status field in the Render Log indicates if a flow fails to render. Some possible causes of this are as follows.
No Slaves Could Be Found

On the Preferences Network tab, make sure that there is at least one slave available, running and enabled. If all Slaves are listed as Offline when they are not, check the network.
The Flow Could Not Be Loaded

Some slaves may not be able to load a flow, while others can. This could be because the Slave could not find the Flow (check that the path name of the flow is valid for that slave) or because the flow uses plug-ins that the Slave does not recognize. This will also be recorded in the render log.
The Slave(s) Stop Responding

If a network link fails, or a slave goes down for some reason, the Slave will be removed from the active list and its frames will be reassigned. If no more slaves are available, the Flow will fail after a short delay (configurable in the network preferences). If this happens, check the Render Log for clues as to which slaves failed, and why.
The Slave(s) Failed To Render A Frame

Sometimes the Slave simply cannot render a particular frame. This could be because the Slave could not find all of the source frames it needed, or because the disk to which it was saving became full. In this case, the Render DFX+ 4 487
Troubleshooting
Manager will attempt to reassign that failed frame to a different slave. If no slave can render the frame, the render will fail. Try manually rendering that frame on a single machine to observe what happens.
Check The Slaves

DFX+s Render Manager incorporates a number of methods for ensuring the reliability of network renders. Heartbeat messages are used to detect network or machine failures. In this event, a failed slaves outstanding frames are reassigned to other slaves, wherever possible. In rare cases, the Slave may fail in such a way that the Heartbeat continues, even though the Slave is no longer processing. If you believe that a slave has failed (although the Render Master may not have detected it) and you do not want to wait for the Frame Timeout, simply restart the DFX+ workstation or DFX+ Render Node that has hung. This triggers the Heartbeat check and reassigns the frames on which that Slave was working. The render should continue. Heartbeats may fail if the system that is performing the render is making extremely heavy use of the swap file, or is spending an extraordinary amount of time waiting for images to become available over a badly-lagged network. The solution is to provide the render node with more RAM, adjust memory settings for that node, or to upgrade the network bandwidth.
Check The Network

In the Render Manager, check the status of the slaves. If a slave is listed as offline, right-click on it and choose Retry Slave. The status will briefly change to Scanning, then usually to Idle or Offline. Alternately, bring up a command prompt and ping the Slaves manually. If the remote systems do not respond when you know they are up and running, the network is not functioning and should be examined further.
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28
CACHING AND MEMORY USE
INTRODUCTION
Several memory options in DFX+ affect how memory is used, while working with the software to assemble a composite, as well as during preview and final renders. The amount of RAM installed on your workstation, the complexity of your composite and the resolution of your images all affect the amount of RAM used by DFX+. It is normal for DFX+ to use as much RAM as possible, limited only by a setting in the Preferences. Wherever possible, DFX+ acts to maximize its use of RAM, using as much RAM as possible to enhance performance and speed. An advanced memory caching system stores the rendered images produced by all of the tools in the Flow, eliminating the need to re-render tools that have not changed, and providing immediate playback of your composite at any stage. DFX+s use of Memory Caches means that there is no such thing as too much RAM for your computer, at least up to the limits of the operating system. The more memory installed on your workstation, the more images DFX+ will store in the Cache to speed up performance. If you mostly work with video or multimedia sized images, we recommend a minimum of 512Mb of RAM. More RAM will increase the number of frames that can be placed in the cache, but 512MB can be considered a practical working minimum for DFX+. Artists who work with high definition HD frames, or scanned film frames, should consider getting as much memory as possible for their workstation. The increased size of film can place enormous demands on system memory. See the notes below for details on working with installed memory greater than 2GB.
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CACHING AND MEMORY USE | 28

Introduction
Using More Than 2GB Of Memory

Under normal circumstances, a single application running under Windows can access a maximum of 2GB of memory. This memory space is shared with the operating system, and other limits to addressing can restrict the amount of memory actually available to an application so that the true amount available is just over 1GB. Applications like DFX+ benefit enormously from large amounts of installed memory, and the limits described above can be restrictive. Costs of memory and new motherboard designs have made installing 3GB or more of memory on your workstation both cost effective and accessible to the average budget. Fortunately, it is possible to modify the following Microsoft operating systems to support greater than 2GB of memory per application. Windows XP Professional Windows .NET Server Windows .NET Advanced Server Windows .NET Datacenter Server Windows 2000 Advanced Server Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Windows NT Server 4.0, Enterprise Edition For details on how to enable expanded memory support for DFX+ to address greater than 2GB of RAM, visit the following Microsoft web page. http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.asp
Monitoring Memory Use

A real time indicator of the amount of RAM used by DFX+ can be found in the bottom right corner of the Status Bar. This indicates the amount of RAM used as a percentage of physically installed RAM, as well as in megabytes.
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RAM Cache
Note
The indicator shows how much physical RAM has been allocated for use by DFX+, not the total amount of RAM in use by the computer. The indicator may show that DFX+ is using 60% of the systems available memory, and another application may be using as much memory again, forcing one or more applications into the swapfile.
RAM CACHE
As you work interactively with DFX+ to assemble a flow, DFX+ renders tools and images for display in the views. Rather than discarding the rendered result when you move on to a different frame or tool, DFX+ stores these images in a RAM Cache, an area of memory reserved for this purpose. Images are stored in the Cache automatically, without the need for any user intervention. When the size of the Cache reaches the limits of available memory, DFX+ examines the Cache and eliminates lower priority entries to make space for new images. Each tool maintains a cache priority to determine how important it is for that tools images to be preserved in the Cache when memory becomes scarce. The lower a tools priority, the more likely it is that the images from that tool will be discarded in favor of images from higher priority tools. Static tools have a high priority, which increases the longer that tool remains static. Viewed tools, and the tools that are the source for the actively selected tool, will also have a high priority to remain in the Cache. Tools that provide images to more than one other tool (branched outputs) will also receive an increased cache priority. The priorities are adjusted to match the current task, so rendering will emphasize different portions of your flow than will the playback or tweaking controls. If changes are made to the Flow that require the tool to re-render its result, the Cache for the frames affected is automatically removed to prevent out-ofdate images from being stored in the Cache.
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RAM Cache
Cache Extents Indicator

The frames cached for a tool are indicated by a green line under that frame in the Time Ruler in the Time Area, as shown in the image below. The indicator only displays the Cache Extents for the active tool in the Flow.
Limiting The Cache

The amount of memory used by DFX+ for the RAM Cache is restricted by a setting in the Memory panel of the Global Preferences. Double-clicking on the Memory Usage Indicator in the Status Bar will open preferences with the Memory Settings panel already displayed.
The Caching Limits slider found on this page is used to determine what percentage of the memory physically installed on the computer can be used for the RAM Cache. Note that the swapfile (virtual memory) is ignored by caching, and will never be used to store cached frames. When the RAM Cache grows beyond this maximum size, DFX+ will start removing lower priority elements from the Cache to make space for new entries.
Leaving Memory For Other Applications

The second setting in Memory Preferences allows you to set an additional limit for DFX+s RAM Cache. Enter a value in the Leave At Least X MBytes Free edit box to have DFX+ attempt to leave a set amount of physical memory available for use by other applications, regardless of the Cache Limit defined above.
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RAM Cache
Purging The RAM Cache

To dump all images from the RAM Cache and clear memory for re-use by DFX+ or another application, right-click on the Memory Indicator in the Status Bar and select Purge Cache from the context menu.
This will remove ALL entries from the Cache.
Note
The Cache itself has less priority than any other use of RAM, and is automatically purged when other aspects of DFX+ request memory. There is no need to purge the Cache in normal usage. This happens automatically as needed.
Refreshing The Current Frame

Under normal circumstances, you should never need to force the re-render of a cached frame. If, however, you replace one frame of an image sequence used by a Loader, DFX+ may not recognize that the actual source media for that frame has changed. In this case, the cache may become out of date. When this occurs, you may need to manually Refresh the Cache for that frame. To re-render the current frame for the active tool, right-click on the Cache Memory Indicator in the Status Bar and select Re-Render Current Frame from the menu.
Forcing RAM Caching

DFX+s automatic priority system will ensure that the tools in your flow are cached in the most efficient way possible. There may be times, however, when you want to force a specific tool to maintain its RAM cache, regardless of its priority.
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RAM Cache
To force a tools result into the RAM Cache, right-click on the tool and select Modes/Force Cache from the context menu. If you have the Show Modes option enabled, the tool tile will be marked with a small image of a computer memory chip to indicate that the Cache has been forced.
Note
This option will ensure that the current frame for that tool is always in the Cache, but it does not prevent the cache from recycling the cache entries for frames other than the current time.
Final Renders And High Quality Settings

Each of the images stored in the Cache is indexed with additional information or metadata indicating the quality and resolution. This metadata records whether the frame was rendered while DFX+ was in HiQ (high quality) mode, and whether any proxy settings were enabled at that time.
When performing a final render, DFX+ will ignore all of the frames in the Cache that are not flagged as HiQ. Preview renders will use cached frames only if the quality settings for that frame were identical to the preview, or better.
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RAM Cache
When you interactively enable the HiQ mode, frames that have been cached at lower quality settings are not automatically removed from memory. This avoids wiping out the entire cache when all you want to do is confirm that a specific frame looks correct in HiQ mode. The Cache Indicator in the Time Ruler will still show the lower quality frames as cached, but if you attempt to play through those frames, they will be forced to re-render to produce the correct high quality result. A HiQ frame in the cache will never be replaced by the equivalent lower quality version.
Background Rendering
The usual way of filling the cache for a tool is to play through the render range using the interactive playback controls, or by advancing through the frames manually. The cache also fills naturally as you adjust tool settings and assemble your flow. The above methods only fill the cache for the viewed tool at the current time. An additional technique can be used to help fill the cache. DFX+ can detect and use idle CPU cycles to fill the memory cache by invisibly rendering frames other than the current time in the background. This causes the cache to automatically fill while you answer a phone call, consider the result of an effect, or wander off to consult a co-worker.
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Other Memory Preferences
Enabling the Background Rendering mode for a flow can vastly improve the efficiency of both the Cache and interactive playback. To enable background rendering select File/Background Render from the menu at the top of the screen.
OTHER MEMORY PREFERENCES

The two options found in Memory Preferences help to tune overall memory usage and to ensure maximum usage of system resources like RAM and CPUs while rendering. These controls can be adjusted while rendering takes place, allowing you to tune performance interactively during a render.
The Simultaneous Branching option in the Memory Preferences allows you to determine how DFX+ will separate rendering tasks. When Simultaneous Branching is enabled, DFX+ will render multiple branches of the Flow at the same time. This helps to make the most efficient use of multiprocessor workstations, maximizing CPU usage to the utmost.
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Other Memory Preferences
The down side of Simultaneous Branching is that it can consume an extraordinary amount of memory, doubling, tripling or even quadrupling the amount of memory used to render each frame. Although hardly ever an issue when working with video resolutions, if you discover that you are running out of memory for film or HD projects, try disabling this checkbox to preserve memory. This option appears twice, once for the interactive work session and once again for final renders. If you are running out of memory and hitting the swap file regularly on a flow, try disabling this option.
Frames At Once
The Frames At Once memory option allows you to select how many frames DFX+ will attempt to render at once during a final render. If set to a value of 1, DFX+ will only load and process a single frame at a time. Higher values increase the number of frames DFX+ will allow to render on a single workstation at any given time. This setting is particularly useful when loading frames over a slow network, or for loading very large frames. Increasing the value effectively eliminates idle CPU time, which can arise if DFX+ must wait for the next frame to load before processing continues. On the other hand, the higher the Frames At Once setting, the more memory required to render a flow, although the affect on memory is not as severe as that of enabling Simultaneous Branching. Try reducing this value if you are running out of memory while rendering, and clearing the Simultaneous Branching checkbox does not solve the problem.
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29
LOADER AND CREATOR TOOLS
COMMON CONTROLS
Images in DFX+ are either created internally by Creator tools or loaded from Disk using a Loader tool. Loader and Creator tools share certain controls in common. All of the tools in this category make use of the following controls to set the image field mode, width, height and aspect.
Process Mode
This menu control allows you to select the Fields processing mode used by DFX+ to render changes to the image. The default option is determined by the Has Fields checkbox control in the Frame Format Preferences. For more information on fields processing, consult the Frame Formats chapter.
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LOADER AND CREATOR TOOLS | 29

Common Controls
Global In And Out

This control allows you to specify the position of the tool within the projects Timeline. Use Global In to specify the frame on which the clip starts and Global Out to specify the frame on which this clip ends within your projects Global Range. The tool will not produce an image on frames outside of this range.
Use Frame Format Settings (Creator Tools Only)

The Width, Height and Aspect are locked to the settings defined in the Frame Format Preferences for this flow. If the Frame Format Preferences change, the resolution of the image produced by the tool will change to match. Use this option when you are building a flow that will change resolutions, for example, when building a flow with proxy resolution versions of film resolution footage.
Width And Height (Creator Tools Only)

This pair of controls is used to set the Width and Height dimensions of the image to be created by the tool.
X And Y Pixel Aspect (Creator Tools Only)

These controls are used to specify the Pixel Aspect Ratio of the created images. An aspect ratio of 1:1 would generate a pixel with the same dimensions on either side (like a computer display monitor) and aspect of 1:1.111 would create a rectangular pixel (like an NTSC monitor).
Note
Right-click on the Width, Height or Aspect controls to display a menu containing the most commonly used file formats as defined in the Frame Format tab of your Preferences.
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Loader Tool
LOADER TOOL
Loaders are used to bring footage into DFX+. These may be still images, sequential files from hard disks, image streams from video I/O boards (like the dpsReality or the NewTek Video Toaster) or from tape. For a complete listing of the formats that are accessible to DFX+, consult Appendix A.
File Tab
Global In And Out

This control allows you to specify the position of this tool within the project. Use Global In to specify the frame on which the clip starts and Global Out to specify the frame on which this clip ends within your projects Global Range. The tool will not produce an image on frames outside of this range.
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Loader Tool
If the Global In/Out values are decreased to the point where the range between the In and Out values is smaller than the amount of available frames in the clip, DFX+ will automatically trim the clip by adjusting the Clip Time range control. If the Global In/Out values are increased to the point where the range between the In and Out values is larger than the amount of available frames in the clip, DFX+ will automatically lengthen the clip by adjusting the Extend First/Last Frame controls. Extended Frames are visually represented in the range control by changing the color of the held frames to purple in the control. To slip the clip in time, or move it through the project without changing its length, place your mouse in the middle of the range control and drag it to the new location, or enter the value manually in the Global In value control.
Filename
Click the yellow Folder button to select the footage to be loaded using a standard file browser, or type the path to your files using the text box provided. DFX+ will automatically detect if the selected file is part of a sequence, and will load all frames, regardless of what number the frame is in the sequence. The Loader supports both UNC network names, as well as regular file paths. When a Loader is added to the Flow, a File dialog allowing you to select a clip from your hard drives will appear. If you prefer to load footage later, select Cancel. The Loader will still be added to the Flow. You can disable the automatic display of the file browser by disabling Auto Clip Browse in the Global/General preferences.
Proxy Filename
The Proxy Filename control only appears when the Filename control points to a valid clip. It allows you to specify an alternate clip that will be loaded when the Proxy mode is enabled. This allows you to load smaller versions of the image to speed up file I/O and processing. For example, you could create a quarter scale version of a Cineon film sequence to use as your file proxy. Whenever the Proxy mode of the Flow is enabled, the smaller resolution proxy clip will be loaded from disk and all processing would be performed at the lower resolution, significantly improving render times. DFX+ 4 502

Loader Tool
This is particularly useful when working with large film plates stored on a remote fileserver. Lower resolution versions of the plates can be stored locally, reducing network bandwidth, interactive render times and memory usage. The Proxy Clip must have the same number of frames as the Source Clip, and the sequence numbers for the clip must start and end on the same frame numbers.
Clip Length
This control allows you to specify which frames from a sequence on disk will be loaded by DFX+. Use the Clip Time Start to specify what frame is used as the first frame of the clip and Clip Time End to specify the last frame of the clip. A context menu will appear if you right-click on the range control. There are two options available, as described below. Autodetect Clip Length Rescans the clip to see if frames have been added or removed since the last time the clip was scanned (when it was loaded). Set Clip Length Allows you to set the actual Clip Length, overriding the scanned length. This is useful if the entire clip has not yet been rendered or captured.
Extend First And Last Frame

These controls are used to hold the First or Last Frame for a specified amount of frames.
Reverse
Select this checkbox to Reverse the footage so that the last frame is played first, and the first frame played last.
Loop
Select this checkbox to Loop the footage until the end of your Global Range. Extend First/Last Frame settings are applied before the Loop is applied.
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Loader Tool
Missing Frames
This control allows you to configure how the Loader will behave when a frame is missing from the footage or is unable to load. Fail Hold Previous Output Black Wait The Loader will not output any image unless a frame becomes available. The Loader will output the last valid frame until a frame becomes available again. The Loader will output a black frame until a frame becomes available again. DFX+ will wait for the frame to become available. Useful for rendering a flow simultaneously with a 3D render.
Import Tab
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Loader Tool
Use Aspect From

This list is used to determine the images pixel aspect ratio. Image Format The Loader will conform to the image aspect detected in the saved file. Very few file formats contain aspect ratio information. TIFF is the only format in common use which supports this information. When no aspect ratio information is stored in the file, the Default Frame Format method is used.
Default Frame Format The pixel aspect ratio is defined by the currently selected Frame Format in the User Preferences. Custom Allows a specific aspect to be entered and displays the following controls. When mixing frames from different sources (CG and NTSC video), it is a good idea to use the Custom Pixel Aspect method to specify the exact pixel aspect for each image. NTSC, PAL and certain film formats use a non-square pixel and images will appear slightly distorted. Right-click on this control for a list of common aspect ratios.
For a more complete discussion of Pixel Aspect and how it affects your composites, consult the Frame Formats chapter of this manual.
X/Y Pixel Aspect

This control is only visible when the Custom Pixel Aspect method is used. Enter the desired aspect, or right-click on the control, to display a list of common frame formats and their aspects.
Import Mode
This menu provides options for removing Pulldown from an image sequence. Pulldown is a reversible frame combination method used to convert 24fps film into 30fps for playback on NTSC. DFX+ 4 505

Loader Tool
Normal Pullup Pulldown
Passes the image without applying Pullup or Pulldown. Will remove existing 3:2 Pulldown applied to the image sequence, converting from 30fps to 24fps. The footage will have Pulldown applied, converting 24fps footage to 30fps by creating five frames out of every four.
First Frame
This control is used to determine which frame of the 3:2 sequence is used as the First Frame of the loaded clip. It only appears if the Pullup or Pulldown options are selected from the Import Mode menu.
Detect Sequence
Pressing this button will cause DFX+ to attempt to automatically Detect and set the Pullup sequence of the footage. It only appears if Pullup or Pulldown are selected from the Import Mode menu. If it succeeds in detecting the order, the First Frame control will automatically be set to the correct value.
Make Alpha Solid

When checked, the Alpha Channel of the loaded image will be set to solid white (completely opaque).
Invert Alpha
When checked, the loaded images Alpha Channel will be inverted.
Post-Multiply By Alpha
When selected, the images pixel color values are multiplied by the images Alpha values. Used to convert subtractive images to additive images.
Swap Field Dominance

When this control is selected, the Field Order or Dominance of the image will be swapped.
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Loader Tool
Clip List Tab
A single loader can contain multiple files of any format. View, select and delete clips with Clip List. The new clip will be inserted in the first frame adjacent to the clip closest to the Current Frame number. To replace, set the current time to a frame of the outgoing clip and select the new clip desired.
Load
Adds a new clip to the clip list. If there is a valid clip present at the current time, that clip will be replaced.
Replace
Replaces the currently selected clip in the cliplist.
Insert
Adds the incoming clip after the selected clip. If no clip is selected, it adds the new clip to the clip list at the current time. Clips will ripple to the right.
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Background Tool
Import
Adds incoming clip at the time specified by the selected filename (e.g. test0005.TGA would be inserted at frame 5). Import is not dependent on the current time or selected clip. It simply places the incoming clip at its specified time. Non-linear editors will recognize a 3-point replace.
Format Tab
The Format Tab contains information, options and settings for formats with additional settings. Notably the Cineon, DPX, PSD, OMF, and QuickTime formats may provide options for loading. See Appendix A : File Formats for a description of all supported formats.
BACKGROUND TOOL
The Background tool is used to generate solid color and gradient images for use in your flow.
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Background Tool
Image Tab
See the Creator tools common controls section at the beginning of this chapter for a description of the controls under this tab.
Color Tab
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Text+
Mode
This control is used to select the Mode used by the Background tool when the image is generated. Five selections are available. Solid Color Horizontal Vertical Four Corner Gradient Creates a single color image. Creates a two-color Horizontal gradation. Creates a two-color Vertical gradation. Creates a four-color Corner gradation. Creates a background from a custom Gradient.
Color
These controls are used to select the Color of the Background tool. Depending on the mode selected, one to four color controls will be displayed to create linear color ramp backdrops. Select one and pick a color from the preset menu or create your own. Alternatively, you can enter values in RGB via the keyboard by clicking in the values box and typing in the value. Each color has its own alpha value slider to adjust the transparency of each color.
Custom Gradient Controls

The Custom Gradient Controls that appear are described in-depth in the Tool Controls chapter of this manual. Consult this chapter for details on setting up a Custom Gradient for use in the Background tool.
TEXT+
DFX+s Text tool is an advanced character generator capable of 3D transformations, multiple styles and several layers of shading. Text can be laid out to a user-defined frame or circle, or along a path. DFX+ 4 510

Text+
Any TrueType, Postscript Type 1 or Open type font installed on the computer can be used to create Text. Support for multi-byte and unicode characters allows text generation in any language, including right to left and vertically-oriented text. DFX+ cannot use Postscript Type 1 or Open type fonts under Windows NT 4.0, only in Windows 2000 and XP.
Image Tab
See the Creator Tools Common Controls section at the beginning of this chapter for a description of the controls under this tab.
Text Tab
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Text+
Size
This control is used to increase or decrease the scale of the font relative to the Size of the image.
Font
The Font controls are used to select the TrueType, Postscript Type 1 or Open Type font (under Win2K/XP) used by DFX+ to create the Text.
Styled Text Input

The edit box in this tab is where the Text to be created is entered. Any common character can be typed into this box, and the common windows clipboard shortcuts (CTRL C to copy, CTRL X to cut, CTRL V to paste) will also work. The edit box also has a context menu, which has the following options.
Animate
Use this command to set to a keyframe on the entered text and Animate the content over time.
Character Level Styling This command enables character level styling, which will place a set of controls in the Modifiers tab. Use these controls to affect changes in the font, color, size and transformations applied to individual characters. Flowname DFX+ 4 512 Outputs the Flowname.

Text+
Follower
A Text Modifier which is used to ripple animation applied to the text across each character in the text. See Text Modifiers at the end of this section. Publish the text for connection to other text tools. A Text Modifier used to randomize the characters in the text. See Text Modifiers at the end of this section. A Text Modifier used to countdown from a specified time, or to output the current date and time. See Text Modifiers at the end of this section. A Text Modifier used to output Timecode for the current frame. See Text Modifiers at the end of this section. Use this sub-menu to connect the text generated by this Text tool to the published output of another tool.
Publish Text Scramble Text Timer
Time Code Connect To
Write On
This range control is used to quickly apply simple Write On and Write Off effects to the text. To create a Write On effect, animate the End portion of the control from 1 to 0 over the length of time required. To create a Write Off effect, animate the Start portion of the range control from 0 to 1.
Bold, Italic, Underline And Strikeout

These checkboxes enable the addition of emphasis styles to the font used.
Subset
This control can be used to select a language-specific Subset of a font. DFX+ 4 513

Text+
Direction
Determines the Direction in which the text is to be written.
Line Direction
Determine the text flow, from top-bottom, bottom-top, left-right or right-left.
Force Monospaced
This slider control can be used to override the kerning (spacing between characters) that is defined in the font. Setting this slider to zero will cause DFX+ to rely entirely on the kerning defined with each character, and a value of one will cause the spacing between characters to be completely even, or Monospaced.
Do Font Defined Kerning

This enables kerning as specified in the TrueType font.
Layout Tab
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Text+
Once the text has been entered, you will want to position it within your frame. The controls used to position the Text are located in the Layout Tab.
Type
One of four layout types can be selected using the Type button array. Point Frame Point Layout is the simplest of the layout modes. Text is arranged around an adjustable center point. Frame Layout allows you to define a rectangular Frame used to align the text. The alignment controls are used to justify the text vertically and horizontally within the boundaries of the frame. Circle Layout places the text around the curve of a Circle or oval. Control is offered over the diameter and width of the circular shape. When the layout is set to this mode, the alignment controls determine whether the text is positioned along the inside or outside of the Circles edge, and how multiple lines of text are justified. Path Layout allows you to shape your text along the edges of a Path. The Path can be used simply to add style to the text, or it can be animated using the Position On Path control that appears when this mode is selected.
Circle
Path
Center X, Y And Z
These controls are used to position the Center of the layout element in space. X and Y are on-screen controls and Center Z is a slider in the tool controls.
Size
This slider is used to control the scale of the layout element.
Rotation Order
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Text+
Select the order in which 3D rotations are applied to the text.
Angle X, Y And Z
These angle controls adjust the Angle of the Layout element along any axis.
Width And Height
The Width control is visible when the Layout mode is set to Circle or Frame. The Height control is only visible when the Layout mode is set to Frame. They are used to adjust the dimensions and aspect of the Layout element.
Perspective
This slider control is used to add or remove Perspective from the rotations applied by the Angle X, Y and Z controls.
Fit Characters
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Text+
This control is only visible when the Layout Type is set to Circle, and is used to select how the Characters are spaced to fit along the circumference.
Position On Path
The Position On Path control is used to control the position of the text along the Path. Values less than zero or greater than one will cause the text to move beyond the path in the same direction as the vector of the path between the last two keyframes. Background Color The text generated by this tool is normally rendered against black. This color picker control can be used to set a new Background Color.
Right Click Here For Shape Animation
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Text+
This label only appears when the Layout type is set to Path. It is used to provide access to a context menu that provides options for connecting the Path to other paths in the Flow, and animating the shape of the path over time. Consult the Motion Paths chapter of this manual for details.
Horizontal And Vertical Alignment
Two identical sets of controls are used to control Vertical and Horizontal Alignment of the text. The first array of buttons allows you to choose the Alignment of the text, and the slider beneath controls the Justification.
Transform Tab
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Text+
Transform Type
These buttons determine the portion of the text affected by the Transformations applied in this tab. Transformations can be applied to Line, Word and Character levels simultaneously. This menu is only used to keep the number of visible controls to a reasonable number. Line Word Character Each Line of the text is transformed separately on that lines center axis. Each Word is transformed separately on the words center axis. Each Character of text is transformed along its own center axis.
Spacing
The Spacing slider is used to adjust the amount of space between each Line, Word or Character. Values less than one will usually cause the characters to begin overlapping.
Axis X, Y And Z
This position control provides control over the exact position of the axis. By default, the axis is positioned at the calculated center of the Line, Word or Character. The axis control works as an offset, such as a value of 0.1, 0.1 in this control would cause the axis to be shifted downward and to the right for each of the text elements. Positive values in the Z axis slider will move the axis further along the axis (away from the viewer) while negative values will bring the axis of rotation closer.
Rotation Order
These buttons are used to determine the order in which transforms are applied. X, Y, Z would mean that the rotation is applied to X, then Y, then Z.
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Text+
Angle X, Y And Z
Adjust the Angle of the text elements in any of the three dimensions.
Shear X And Y
Adjust these sliders to modify the slanting of the text elements along the X and Y axis.
Size X And Y
Adjust these sliders to modify the Size of text elements along X and Y axis.
Shading Tab
The Shading Tab provides controls to adjust the shading, texture and softness of your text. You can also control transformations from this tab, applying them to as many as eight separate text shading elements independently. DFX+ 4 520

Text+
Shader Selection
Select the element affected by adjustments to the controls in this tab.
Name
This text label can be used to assign a more descriptive name to each shading element
Enabled
Select this checkbox to enable or disable each layer of shading elements. Element 1 is enabled by default. The controls for a shading element will not be displayed unless this checkbox is selected.
Opacity
The Opacity slider controls the overall transparency of the shading element. It is usually better to assign Opacity to a shading element than to adjust the alpha of the color applied to that element.
Priority Back
This slider determines the order of layering for the shading elements, also known as the Z-order. Slide the control to the right to bring an element closer to the front. Move it to the left to tuck one shading element behind another.
Composite
This list is used to select how the renderer deals with an overlap between two characters in the text. DFX+ 4 521

Text+
The Composite option will merge the shading over top of itself. The Solid and Transparent options set the pixels in the overlap region to pure opaque or transparent.
Element Type
There are four options available from this list, providing control over how the shading element is applied to the text, as described below. Text Fill Text Outline Border Fill The shading element is applied to the entire text. This is the default mode. The shading element is drawn as an Outline around the edges of the text. The shading element Fills a Border surrounding the text. Five additional controls are provided with this shading mode. The Border Outline mode draws an outline around the border surrounding the text. It offers several additional controls.
Border Outline
Thickness
This option is for outlines only. Use this slider control to adjust the thickness of the outline. Higher values equal thicker outlines.
Adapt Thickness To Perspective

This option is for outlines only. Selecting this checkbox will cause the outline to become thinner where the text is further away from the camera, and thicker where it is closer. This will create a much more realistic outline for text transformed in 3D, but takes significantly longer to render (this option only works under NT 4.0).
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Text+
Outside Only
This option is for outlines only. Selecting this checkbox will cause the outline to be drawn only on the Outside edge of the text. By default, the outline is centered on the edge and partially overlaps the text.
Join Style
This option is for outlines only. The drop-down list provides options for how the corners of the outline are drawn. Options include Sharp, Rounded and Beveled.
Line Style
This option is for outlines only. The drop-down list offers additional control over the Style of the Line. In addition to the default solid line, a variety of dash and dot patterns are available.
Shape (Border Fill)

Creates a solid rectangular image around the character.
Overlap
Overlap is used to determine how the shading is handled when portions of the same shading element Overlap. Setting this drop-down list to transparent will cause the pixels color and alpha channel to be set to 0.
Level
For Border fill only, Level controls the portion of the text border filled. Text Line Word Character Draws a border around the entire text. Draws a border around each line of text. Draws a border around each word. Draws a border around each character. DFX+ 4 523

Text+
Extend Horizontal And Extend Vertical
This is for borders only. Use this slider to change the dimensions of each border.
Round
This is for borders only. This slider is used to Round off the edges.
Shape (Border Outline)

This creates a rectangular Outline around each character.
Thickness
This is for outlines only. Use this slider control to adjust the Thickness of the outline. Higher values equal thicker outlines.
Outside Only
This is for outlines only. Selecting this checkbox will cause the outline to be drawn only on the outside edge.
Join Style
This is for outlines only. The drop-down list provides options for how the corners of the outline are drawn. Options include Sharp, Rounded and Beveled.
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Text+
Line Style
This is for outlines only. The drop-down list offers additional control over the style of the line. In addition to the default solid line, a variety of dash and dot patterns are available.
Level
This is used to control the portion of the text border filled. Text Line Word Character Draws a border around the entire text. Draws a border around each line of text. Draws a border around each word. Draws a border around each character.
Extend Horizontal And Extend Vertical

This is for borders only. Use this slider to change the dimensions of each border.
Round
This is for borders only. This slider is used to round off the edges.
Color Button Control (Shading)

In addition to solid shading, you can map an external image onto the text.
Type
This drop-down list is used to determine if the color of the shading element is derived from a user-selected color or if it comes from an external image source. Different controls will be made available for each of the two modes. Solid Mode Image Mode When the Type menu is set to Color Mode, color selector controls are provided to select the color of the text. The output of a tool in the Flow will be used to texture the Text. The tool used is chosen using the Color Image control revealed when this option is selected.
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Text+
Color Image (Image Mode Only)

This Color Image text box is used to enter the name of the tool in the flow that will provide the image. You can type the name in with the keyboard, drag the tool from the flow into the text box or right-click and select Connect To from the context menu to select the image to be used.
Image Size (Image Mode Only)

The Image Size drop-down list is used to select how the image is mapped to the text.
Full Image Text Line Word Character
Applies the entire image to the text. Applies the image to fit the entire set of text. Applies the image per line of text. Applies the image per each word of text. Applies the image per individual character.
Softness X And Y
These sliders control the softness of the text outline used to create the shading element. Control is provided for the X and Y axis independently.
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Text+
Softness On Fill Color Too

Selecting this checkbox will cause blur (Softness) to be applied to the shading element as well. The effect is best seen when applied to a shading element colored by an external image.
Softness Glow
This slider will apply a Glow to the softened portion of the shading element.
Softness Blend
This slider controls the amount that the result of the Softness control is blended back with the original. It can be used to tone down the result of the soften operation.
Opacity
This control adjusts the overall transparency of the shading element.
Transform Controls
Selecting the Transform button in the Shading tab will display controls for performing transformations to the shading elements. These controls work in exactly the same way as their equivalents in the Alignment and Layout tabs, with the addition of a center offset control.
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Text+
Offset X, Y And Z
These controls are used to apply offset from the texts global center (as set in the Layout tab) for the shading elements. A value of X0.0, Y0.1 in the co-ordinate controls would place the shading element center 10 percent of the image further down the screen along the Yaxis. Positive values in the Z-Offset slider control will push the center farther away from the camera, while positive values will bring it closer to the camera.
Tabs Tab
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Text+
The controls in the Tabs area allow you to configure the horizontal screen positions of eight separate tab stops. Any tab characters in the text will conform to these positions. Because the Tab key is used by DFX+ to advance to the next control, it is not possible to enter a tab directly into the Styled Text input. You must enter a tab using one of the following methods Copy And Paste Copy a Tab from another document, such as Notepad, and Paste it into the text box. ASCII Character Hold down the ALT key and type 009 on the numeric keypad. On-Screen Select and view the Text tool. Locate the top button in the Display View toolbar, and click on it to allow typing directly in the Display View. Click in the frame where the tab is to go. Once the cursor is correctly positioned, press the Tab key.
Position
This control is used to set the horizontal Position of the Tab in the frame. The values range from 0.0 to 1.0, where 0 is the far left side and 1 is the far right side of the frame. The Position of the Tab will be indicated in the Display View by a thin vertical white line when the Text tool is selected and the Tabs tab is open.
Alignment
Each Tab can be set to either left-aligned, right-aligned or centered. This slider ranges from -1.0 to 1.0, where -1.0 is a left-aligned tab, 0.0 is a centered tab, and 1.0 is a right-aligned tab. You will also see small white boxes at the top of the tab lines if there are tabs present in the Flow. Clicking within these boxes will toggle the alignment of the tab between the three states.
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Text+
Rendering Tab
Image Shading Sampling

This button array allows you to select the Sampling type used for Shading rendering and transformations. The default of Pixel Shading is sufficient for 90% of tasks. If you notice detectable aliasing in your text, you can set the Sampling Type to Area, which is slower but may produce better quality results. A setting of None will render faster, but with no additional sampling applied, so quality will be lower.
Sort Shading Elements

This button selection determines the ordering of the shading elements. The default is By Priority, which organizes the shading elements back to front according to the Priority Back/Front slider in each shading elements control. Selecting the By Depth (Z-position) option will re-organize these according to each elements Z position, as set by the elements transformations.
Clip Characters Behind Camera

This checkbox determines whether characters that go beyond the plane of the camera will be clipped, or if they will reflect back toward the center of the image. Normally, you want this to enabled for clipping, but some interesting effects can be had when clipping is disabled.
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Text+
Render To Flash File

Click this button to render the output of the Text tool to a Macromedia Flash file.
Render To DPS DPT File

Click this button to render the output of the Text tool at the current frame to a dpsReality style DPT file for use with the dpsVelocity editing software.
DPS DPT Type

There are three types of DPT files; Still, Roll and Crawl. Select the type you want to save from these buttons before clicking on the Render To Reality DPT button above.
Library Tab
The Shading Library allows you to store and retrieve the settings of a Text tool for easy re-use. To add a new text element to the library, click on the Put button. All of the current settings for the tool will be saved according to the name you assign. A thumbnail will appear in the Shading Library showing how that style looks on the letter A. Click on a Shading element in the Library, then click on the Get button to apply those settings to the current tool. Get will replace all of the Text, as well as the style. Clicking on Shading will replace the shading elements only, without affecting the text entered. Right-click in the Shading Library window for a list of display options.
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Toolbar
TOOLBAR
When the Text tool is selected, a Toolbar will appear in the display views. The toolbar has the following options.
Toolbar Options
Allow Typing In Preview Window
Enable this button to type and edit text directly in the display view. Click on the text to produce a cursor that can be positioned within the text. The cursor can be moved using the arrow keys, and you will be able to type normally using the keyboard.
Allow Manual Kerning

This button enables Manual Kerning, which overrides the automatic kerning normally applied to text. A small red dot will appear beneath each character of text in the Display View. Click and drag on the dot to reposition a character. You can also select multiple characters and move them together. Hold the ALT key down while dragging to constrain motion to a single axis.
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Toolbar
Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to make manual adjustments to the position of the selected characters. Hold the CTRL key down while pressing arrow keys to cause the character to move in smaller increments. SHIFT will move the characters in larger increments. To animate the position of each character, right-click on the control label Manual Font Kerning/Placement beneath the Text tabs Advanced Font Controls and select Animate from the context menu. A new key will be set on the animation spline each time a character is moved. All characters are animated with the same spline, as with polyline mask animation.
No Text Outline
This button disables the drawing of any outline around the edges of the text. The outline is not a part of the rendered text, it is only an on-screen control used to help identify the position of the text.
Text Outline Outside Frame Only

This button draws an outline around the edges of text which is outside of the visible frame. This is useful for locating text which has moved off screen and is no longer rendering a visible result.
Show Always Text Outline

This button draws an outline around the edges of text at all times, whether the text is visible within the frame or not.
Additional Text Notes

Adding Character Level Styles
To turn on Character Styling, select Character Level Styling from the Text box context menu.
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Toolbar
Once this has been done, a modifier will appear in the Modifier tab. Select the character you wish to modify from the image displayed in one of the views. A bracket will be drawn around each selected character. Any changes made to the controls visible in the Modifier will now apply to that character or group of characters only. Characters with individual styling applied will no longer be affected by any changes made to the controls in the Tools tab, unless the Character Level Styling is first removed.
Removing Character Level Styling

Right-click in the text box and select Remove From Character Level Styling from the context menu.
Manual Kerning - Positioning Characters Manually

It is possible to position each character of text independently. This is achieved by clicking on the Allow Manual Kerning button in the Text View toolbar. Once this mode has been enabled, text can be placed anywhere in the image simply by dragging the marker at the bottom of each character into the desired position.
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Toolbar
Merging Text With Other Elements

The images generated by the Text tool are additive in nature. This means that when they are merged over other images using a Merge tool, the Subtractive-Additive slider of the Merge controls must be set to Additive. If the slider is set to Subtractive, text may appear to be improperly anti-aliased.
Text Modifiers
Text Modifiers are additional tools that are used to modify the entered text values, or to automatically create text. Five text modifiers are available in DFX+. Controls for all of these modifiers are found in the Modifier tab found at the top of the controls area in the main interface.
Animate Modifier
This modifier allows the animation of Type On and Type Off text.
Flow Name Modifier

This modifier places the name of the current flow to the text control. This is useful for creating sample plates. There are no controls for this modifier.
Publish Modifier
This modifier allows the text to be published for use on other text tools.
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Toolbar
Text Scramble Modifier
This modifier is used to randomize the text value on a per-character basis. The randomness can be animated over time so that the value of the text resolves itself gradually, one character at a time. Randomness This controls the overall Randomness of the text. Values above 1.0 will contain no original characters from the text. Values below 1.0 will gradually re-introduce the original text on a character by character basis. A value of 0.0 will output the original text. Type the text to be randomized in this control. By default, this multi-line control is filled with whatever value was present in the Text tool when the TextScramble modifier was added. The value can be changed, animated over time or have yet another modifier applied to it. Animate On Time When selected, the characters will be re-randomized on every frame. Animate On Randomness When selected, the characters will only change when the Randomness control value is different from the value of the previous frame. The Randomness control will then act as a repeatable seed. Don't Change Spaces When selected, the spaces in the original text will be preserved. If this is not selected, the spaces will randomize with the rest of the text. DFX+ 4 536
Input Text

Toolbar
Substitute Chars This control allows you to type in the characters used by the randomize function when replacing the original text. Uppercase characters must be entered separately from lowercase characters. To use extended characters not available from the keyboard, type the characters ASCII code in from the number pad while holding down the Alt key, or paste them into the control.
Time Code Modifier

The Timecode Modifier outputs a text value that contains the current frame number.
These controls select the components of the Timecode that are displayed by the modifier. Start Offset Adjust the Start Offset control to offset the output frame value by a specified number of frames. This control can be animated to simulate a VCR rewinding or a clock gone out of control.
Frames Per Second Changes to this control will modify the number of frames counted before the second component is increased. The default value is chosen from the current Frame Format settings in the preferences. Drop Frame When selected, this checkbox control changes the Timecode display to Drop Frame mode.
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Text Tool
TEXT TOOL
The simpler Text tool in DFX+ is included only for the purpose of backward compatibility with flows created in earlier versions. It is also faster at rendering large amounts of simple non-animated text. This tool uses the operating systems built-in font renderer, and can access any of the True Type fonts installed on the system.
FAST NOISE
Image Tab
See the Creator tools common controls section at the beginning of this chapter for a description of the controls under this tab. DFX+ 4 538

Fast Noise
Noise Tab
Discontinuous
Normally, the Noise function interpolates between missing values to create a smooth continuous gradient of results - excellent for clouds and other organic effects. Enable this checkbox to disable interpolation. The result will be a dramatically different noise routine.
Inverted
Select this checkbox to invert the result of the Noise.
Center
Use the Center Coordinate control to move the position of the Noise, modifying the position.
Detail
Increase the value of this slider to produce a higher level of Detail in the Noise result. Higher values take longer to render but produce a more detailed result.
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Fast Noise
Brightness
This control adjusts the Brightness of the colors used to seed the noise map. It also increases the Brightness of the resulting image, but the effect is subtler than simply applying a Brightness/Contrast tool after the Fast Noise and adjusting the Brightness there.
Contrast
This control increases or decreases the Contrast of the gradient used to seed the noise map. As with the Brightness control above, the effect is somewhat different and more subtle than that obtained by simply the adding a Brightness / Contrast tool after the image.
Scale And Scale X/Y

The size of the noise map can be adjusted using the Scale slider. The Scale slider can be separated into independent X and Y axis scale sliders by clicking on the Lock X / Y checkbox immediately above.
Seethe
Adjust this thumbwheel control to modify the phase of the gradient used to generate the noise map. This will cause a slight crawling shift in the noise, like it was drifting or flowing. This control must be animated to affect the gradient over time.
Seethe Rate
As with the Seethe control above, the Seethe Rate also modifies the phase of the source gradient. The Seethe Rate defines a rate by which the seethe advances for each frame, causing an animated drift in the gradient automatically without the need for spline animation.
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Perlin Noise Tool
Color Tab
Two Color
A simple Two-Color gradient is used to seed the noise map. The Noise function will smoothly transition from the first color into the second.
Gradient
The advanced Gradient control in DFX+ is used to provide more control over the Gradient that seeds the Noise. The custom controls that appear do so when this mode is selected. They are described in-depth in the Tool Controls chapter of this manual. Consult this chapter for details on setting up a custom gradient for use in the Fast Noise tool.
PERLIN NOISE TOOL
The Perlin tool is obsolete. The new Fast Noise tool is much faster, of higher quality and more flexible. DFX+ 4 541

Perlin Noise Tool
The Perlin tool is only included to provide backward compatibility with older flows that used this tool.
The Perlin tool is used to create noise patterns similar to clouds or fog, using the Perlin algorithm.
Image Tab
The contents of the Image tab are described in the Creator tools common controls section of this chapter.
Noise Tab
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Perlin Noise Tool
Random Seed
Set this control to change the Seed Value used by the noise generator. The Seed Value is used to duplicate the pattern (the pattern at seed 1000 will always be generated when the Seed Value is set to 1000). Any change to this control will render a completely different pattern.
Detail
Increase this control to add more detail to the generated image. Low detail is fast but fuzzy, high detail is slow but good for zooms.
Brightness
Changes to this control will increase or decrease the overall Brightness of the image generated.
Contrast
Changes made to this control will increase the Contrast between values in the image. Dark values will become darker, and light values will become lighter.
Seethe
This control adjusts the parameters of the fractal pattern generated, making it appear to Seethe. The details will change smoothly as this control changes. Animate this control to create shifting fog and cloud-like effects.
Center
This controls the position of the center of the pattern.
Lock X And Y
This checkbox determines whether scaling will be applied to both axis equally, or independently.
Scale
Increase the Scale control to zoom into the pattern, decrease it to zoom out.
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Plasma Generator
PLASMA GENERATOR
This background generation tool uses four circular patterns to generate images similar to Plasma. It is useful as a deforming pattern for the Shadow and Deform tools and for creating a variety of other useful shapes and patterns.
Image Tab
With only one exception, the contents of the Image tab are described in the Creator Tools Common Controls section of this chapter.
Scale
The Scale control is used to adjust the size of the pattern created.
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Plasma Generator
Circles Tab
Operation
The options in this drop-down list determine the mathematical relationship between the circles whenever they intersect.
Circle Type
Select the type of Circle to be used.
Circle Center
Report and change the position of the Circle Center.
Circle Scale
Determine the size of the Circle to be used for the pattern.
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Mandelbrot Generator
Color Tab
Phase
This option changes the color Phase of the entire image. When animated, this creates psychedelic color cycles.
Red, Green, Blue And Alpha Phases

This option changes the phase of the individual color channels and the Alpha. When animated, this creates color cycling effects.
MANDELBROT GENERATOR
This is a background generation tool that creates an image pattern based on the Mandelbrot fractal theory set.
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Image Tab
This is described in the Creator Tools Common Controls in this chapter.
Generation Tab
Position X And Y
Designate the images horizontal and vertical Position or seed point.
Zoom
This magnifies the pattern in or out. Every magnification is re-calculated, so there is no practical limit to the Zoom.
Iterations
This determines the repetitiveness of the set. When animated, it simulates a growing of the set.
Rotation
This rotates the pattern. New angles require image re-calculation. DFX+ 4 547

Color Tab
Grad Method
Use this to determine the type of Gradation applied to borders of the pattern.
Continuous Potential
Causes the edges of the pattern to blend to the background color. Iterations Causes the edges of the pattern to be solid.
Gradient Curve This affects the width of the gradation from the pattern to the background color.
Red, Green, Blue And Alpha Repetitions

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30
SAVER TOOLS
INTRODUCTION
The Saver is used to save rendered images to a disk, video I/O board or DDR. Its main function is to save your work to a series of sequential files like TGAs or image streams like AVI or DPS files. A flow without this tool will not save an image to disk during a render. The Saver tool is also used to add scratch track audio to your flow, which can be heard during interactive playback. Any number of Savers can be used anywhere within the Flow.
File Tab
Filename
Use the Filename control to select the name and path of your rendered image output. Click on the yellow folder icon to display a file browser and select a folder for output. Sequence numbering is automatically added to your Filename when you render. DFX+ 4 549
SAVER TOOLS | 30
Introduction
For example, if you enter c:\renders\image.tga as your Filename, and then render 30 frames of output, the files will automatically be numbered as image0000.tga, image0001.tga, image0003.tga...and so on. Four digit padding is automatically used for numbers lower than 10000. To force the Saver to use larger padding for its output, specify your own padding in the Filename, e.g. image000000.tga. If you prefer to use a period before your number sequence, use image.0000.tga as your Filename for output. It is possible to save to an IFL file if you require a multi-frame output with different naming conventions than described here.
Output Format
Use this control to select the image format to be saved. Selecting a new format from this menu does not change the extension used in the Filename to match. You must modify the Filename manually to match the expected extension for that format. This will avoid a mismatch between name and image format. For a list of file formats supported for saving by DFX+, see Appendix A.
Process Mode
The Process Mode menu is used to set the method of field processing used by DFX+ to render a flow. The default Auto setting will render the Flow using the field ordering set in the Process Mode of the most background Loader or Creator tool in the Flow. To force a flow to render individual fields or full frames regardless of the settings of other tools in the Flow, change this menus setting to one of the other listed options. For example, if you set the Savers Process Mode to NTSC fields, a Loader set to process Full Frames will still load a full frame from disk. Animation applied to the footage from that loader will be applied with field level accuracy. In all cases, footage will be re-interlaced if necessary, and saved as frames on disk. See the Frame Formats chapter for additional details on frame and fields processing in DFX+.
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SAVER TOOLS | 30
Introduction
Save Frames
This control selects between two modes.
Full Renders
Images are only saved to disk when you start a final render using the Start Render button in the Time Area.
High Quality Interactive This render mode is designed for real-time rendering when painting and rotoscoping. DFX+ will save each frame to disk as it is processed interactively. When used correctly, this feature can completely eliminate the need to perform a final render after rotoscoping but it can cause tremendous confusion when used in conjunction with a flow that contains spline animated parameters. If these splines are modified in such a way that frames already saved interactively are changed, the frames already on the disk will not automatically be rerendered. You would then need to either step through each frame again, or perform a final render to make certain that the result is correct.
Set Sequence Start

Enable this checkbox to reveal the Sequence Start Frame thumbwheel.
Sequence Start Frame

This thumbwheel control can be used to set an explicit start frame for the number sequence applied to your rendered filenames. For example, if your Global Start is set to 1 and you render frames 1 - 30, your files will normally be numbered 0001 - 0030. If you set the Sequence Start Frame to 100, the rendered output will be numbered from 100-131.
Audio Tab
Note that audio functionality is included in DFX+ for scratch track (aligning effects to audio and clip timing) purposes only. Final renders should almost always be performed without audio. The smallest possible audio files should be used. DFX+ 4 551
SAVER TOOLS | 30
Introduction
DFX+ will load the entire audio file into memory for efficient display of the waveform in the Timeline. The audio track will be included in the saved image if an AVI file format is selected. DFX+ currently supports playback of WAV audio, and dpsReality DVA files.
Audio Browse
Select the optional audio scratch track to be used. Select a *.WAV file of your choice, then expand the Saver bar in the Timeline Layout to view the audio waveform. Drag the pointer over the audio wave in the Timeline Layout to hear the track.
Audio Offset
Drag the control left or right to create an offset in time between the audio and images of your flow.
Export Tab
Export Mode
Use the options in this list to convert 24fps footage to 30fps using the 3:2 pulldown conversion process.
First Frame
This determines the sequence for the 3:2 pulldown. The option determines what the First Frame will be. The following frames will continue the order of the sequence. Refer to the Loader tool documentation for further information. DFX+ 4 552
SAVER TOOLS | 30
Introduction
Save Alpha To Color

When selected, this control will cause the Alpha channel to be saved into the color channels as a grayscale image. This will completely overwrite any existing color information.
Legal Tab
Video Type
Select the standard to be used for broadcast legal color correction. NTSC, NHK or PAL/SECAM can be chosen.
Action
Select the type of color correction applied to legalize the image colors.
Adjust To Legal Causes the images to be saved with Legal colors relevant to the Video Type selected. Indicate As Black Causes the illegal colors to be displayed as black. Indicate As White Causes the illegal colors to be displayed as white. No Changes Causes the images to be saved unaffected.
Adjust Based On
Select the type of algorithm applied for the color legalization. There are only one or two small regions of the world where this may need to be changed from the default of 100% Saturation 75% Amplitude. DFX+ 4 553
SAVER TOOLS | 30
Introduction
Format Tab
The Format tab contains information, options and settings specific to the image format you are saving. The controls for a TGA sequence will be entirely different from the ones displayed when you load a Cineon file. There are a tremendous amount of options available for each of the different file formats. See Appendix A for a description of most supported formats and their options.
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31
COLOR TOOLS
AUTO GAIN TOOL (MODULE 2)
The Auto Gain tool is used to stretch the gain of an image to cover the entire bandwidth of the color space. By default, the darkest pixels are pushed down to black, the brightest pixels are pushed to white, and all pixels in between are stretched to cover the color range evenly. This may be useful for compensating for variations in lighting and other conditions. This tool is extremely useful for bringing out the detail in a low contrast image and adjusting for changes in lighting conditions over time.
Controls Tab
Do Z
This applies the Auto Gain effect to the Z-Channels. This is useful for matching the ranges of one Z-Channel to another.
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COLOR TOOLS | 31
Brightness/Contrast Tool
Range
This Range control is used to set the lowest and highest resulting pixel value in the image. All color values in the image are re-scaled to fit within this range.
Example
Create a horizontal gradient with the Background tool. Set one color to dark grey (RGB Values 0.2). Set the other color to light grey (RGB Values 0.8). Add an Auto Gain tool and set the Out Low value to 0.0 and the Out High to 0.5. This will cause the brightest pixels to be pushed down to 0.5, and the darkest pixels will get pushed to black. The remainder of the pixel values will be scaled between those limits.
BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST TOOL
The Brightness/Contrast tool is used to adjust the gain, brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation of an image. Additional control is provided over the channels affected and the range of pixels to be included in the effect. An option is provided to pre-divide the image by the alpha channel before processing and post-multiply it after the processing is completed.
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COLOR TOOLS | 31
Brightness/Contrast Tool
Brightness/Contrast Controls Tab
RGBA
These checkboxes are used to limit the affect of the tool to the selected color channels. All channels are affected by default.
Gain
The pixel values are multiplied by the value of this control. A Gain of 1.2 will make a pixel which is R0.5 G0.5 B0.4 into R0.6 G0.6, B0.48 (i.e. 0.4 * 1.2 = 0.48). Gain affects higher values more than it affects lower values, so the affect will be strongest in the midrange and toprange of your image.
Brightness
The value of the Brightness slider is added to each pixel in your image. This controls effect is linear, so it will be applied identically to all pixels regardless of value.
Gamma
Values higher than 1.0 will raise the Gamma (mid-gray) while lower values will decrease it. The affect of this tool is not linear, and existing black or white levels will not be affected at all. Mid-range values will appear to be affected the most.
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COLOR TOOLS | 31
Channel Booleans Tool
Saturation
This control is used to increase or decrease the amount of Saturation in the image. A Saturation of 0 removes all color so that the image becomes greyscale.
Low And High

This range control is similar to the gain control in some respects. If you leave the Low anchored at 0.0 and reduce the High value from 1.0, the effect is identical to increasing the gain. High values are multiplied by the inverse of the high value. (i.e if high is .75 each pixel will be multiplied by 1/0.75 or 1.3333) If you leave High anchored at 1.0 and increase the low it is exactly the same as inverting the image colors and increasing the gain, then inverting it back again. This pushes more of the image towards black without affecting the whites at all.
Pre-Divide And Post-Multiply

Selecting this check box will cause the image pixel values to be divided by the alpha values prior to the color correction, and then re-multiplied by the alpha value after the correction. This helps to prevent the creation of illegally additive images, particularly around the edges of a blue / green key, or when working with 3D rendered objects.
CHANNEL BOOLEANS TOOL
The Channel Booleans tool encompasses a variety of mathematical and logical channel functions. This tool works by using channels from on image to modify the channels of another image DFX+ 4 558
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Color Channels Tab
Operation Type
This drop-down list is used to select the mathematical method to combine the channels of the two images. Its settings are as follows.
Copy
Copies the value from one color channel to another. For example, copy the foreground red channel into the alpha channel to create a matte. Adds the color values from color channel to channel. Subtracts the color values of one color channel from another color channel. Perform a logical And on the color values from color channel to color channel. The foreground image will generally remove bits from the color channel of the background image. DFX+ 4 559
Add Subtract And
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Or
Perform a logical Or on the color values from color channel to color channel. The foreground image will generally add bits from the color channel of the background image. Perform a logical Xor on the color values from color channel to color channel. The foreground image will generally flip bits from the color channel of the background image. Multiply the values of a color channel. This will give the appearance of darkening the image as the values are scaled from 0 to 1. White has a value of one, so the result would be the same. Grey has a value of 0.5, so the result would be a darker image or, in other words, an image half as bright. Divide the values of a color channel. This will give the appearance of lightening the image as the values are scaled from 0 to 1. Compare the two images and take the Maximum, or brightest, values from each image. Compare the two images and take the Minimum, or darkest, values from each image. Invert the FG input to make a Negative version of the image. Set a channel to full value. This is useful for setting the alpha to be completely solid. Set a channel to a value of zero. This is useful for clearing the alpha. Subtract the greater color values of one color channel from the lesser values of another color channel. Subtract areas that are lower than mid-grey and add areas that are higher than mid-grey. Useful for creating effects with embossed grey images.
Exclusive Or
Multiply
Divide
Maximum Minimum Negative Solid Clear Difference Signed Add
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RGBA
These are the color channels with which this tool can perform operations. They are listed in this menu. If Module 4 is enabled, DFX+ will allow for operations on Auxiliary channels as well.
Example
To copy the Alpha channel of one image to its own color channels, set the Red, Green and Blue channels to Alpha BG. Set the Operation to Copy. To copy the Alpha channel from another image, set operation type to Alpha FG.
Auxiliary Channels Tab (Module 4 Only)

This tab is only available if Module 4 (3D Tools) is enabled for DFX+. There are several Auxiliary channels from which to choose. Use them to dictate which foreground, background or Auxiliary Channels to use when performing a channel operation. See the chapters on Auxiliary Channels and Depth Tools for further details on Auxiliary Channels.
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Enable Extra Channels

This toggles the tools use of Auxiliary Channels. When checked, the resulting image will contain any Auxiliary Channels that are not set to Do Nothing, as well as any Auxiliary Channels that are in the background image. When cleared, only the Auxiliary Channels found in the background image will be present in the result. You can always copy the Auxiliary Channels to the color channels but, to copy anything to the Auxiliary Channels, you must turn on this checkbox first.
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Cineon Log Tool (Module 3)
CINEON LOG TOOL (MODULE 3)
The Cineon Log tool is used to convert image data from a logarithmic to linear form. Use this tool if you have bypassed the log-lin conversion in a Cineon Loader to return processing to Linear. For additional details on the Cineon Log file format, consult the chapter entitled Film and SCSI Tape Devices.
Cineon Log Controls Tab
Mode
This is a drop-down list providing two options for converting the Cineon file data. The data can be converted from logarithmic data to linear data or viceversa.
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Cineon Log Tool (Module 3)
Lock RGB
When selected, the settings in this tab will affect all of the color channels equally. De-select this control to convert the Red, Green, and Blue channels of the image using separate settings for each channel.
Black Level And White Level

Use this control to set the black point and white point in the Cineon image before converting. Pixels with values in Log space below the Black Level will be clipped to 0.0, while pixels with values above the White Level will become clipped to 1.0 after conversion.
Soft Clip
The Soft Clip control is used to draw values that are out of range back into the image. This is done by smoothing the conversion curve at the top of the curve, allowing more values to be represented.
Film Stock Gamma, Conversion Gamma LUT Files

These controls are used to set the response curves of the logarithmic data during conversion. In addition to the settings above, a custom ASCII file Look Up Table can be created with specific conversion values. The ASCII LUT file can be loaded using the file folder icon button.
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Color Corrector (Module 2)
COLOR CORRECTOR (MODULE 2)
The Color Corrector is a comprehensive color tool with histogram matching and equalization, hue shifting, tinting and color suppression. This tool has two inputs, a primary input for the image to be corrected, and a secondary input for a reference image to be used when performing color matching. The Color Corrector controls are described below.
Correction Tab
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Colors Mode
Master/Shadows/Midtones/Highlights
This array of buttons determines the range of colors affected by the controls in this tab. For example, when Shadows is selected, any color adjustments made will affect only the darker pixels of the image. The selected state of this button is maintained throughout the Colors, Levels and Suppress sections of the Color Corrector tool. Note that the controls are independent for each color range. For example, adjusting the Gamma control while in Shadows mode will not change or affect the value of the Gamma control for the Highlights mode. Each control is independent and applied separately. Changes in the Master track are applied to the image after the changes to the Highlight, Midtone and Shadow ranges.
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Color Wheel
The Color Wheel control provides a visual representation of adjustments made to Hue and Saturation, as well as any tinting applied to the image. Adjustments can be made directly on the wheel, or by entering values in the text boxes to the right of the Color Wheel.
Hue
The Hue control provides a method of shifting the Hue of the image (or selected color range) through the color spectrum. The control value has an effective range between 0.0 and 1.0, which represents the angle of rotation in a clockwise direction. A value of 0.25 would be 90 degrees (90/360) and would have the effect of shifting red toward blue, green to red and so on. The degree of Hue shifting can be entered directly into the text control, or by placing the mouse above the outer ring of the color control and dragging the mouse up or down. The outer ring will always show the shifted colors compared to the original colors shown in the center of the control.
Saturation
The Saturation control is used to adjust the intensity of the color values. A Saturation of 0 produces grey pixels without any chroma or color component, whereas a value of 1 produces no change in the chroma component of the input image. Higher values will generate over-saturated values with a high color component. Saturation values can be entered directly into the text control, or by clickdragging the mouse on the outer ring toward the center, or away from the center of the color wheel.
Tint And Strength

The Tint control is used to tint an image or selected color range. The values in this control go from 0 to 1, which indicate the angle of the tint color on the Color Wheel. A value of .25 would indicate 90 degrees, which would be midway between green and yellow on the color wheel. The Strength control determines how much tint is applied to the selected range of colors.
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The tinting is represented in the Color Wheel control by small circles that show the color and strength of the Tint. The Highlight Ranges marker is a black outline of a circle. The Midtones are represented by a grey circle, and the Shadows by a dark grey one. The Master Tint Marker is also black, but it has a white M in the center to distinguish it from the others. The marker for each range can be positioned by the mouse only when the appropriate range is selected. For example, the Highlight marker cannot be moved when the Master range is selected.
Fast/Full/Better
These three buttons are used to select the speed and quality of the algorithm used to apply the Tint, Hue and Saturation adjustments. The default is Better, but for working with larger images, it may be desirable to use a lesser, faster method. The different modes will produce different results. The Full and Better modes will maintain black and white parts of the image.
Red/Green/Blue
These buttons are the same buttons seen in the Histogram, Color and Levels sections of the Color Corrector tool. When the Red channel is selected, the controls in this tab will affect the Red channel only, and so on. The controls are independent, so switching to Blue will not remove or eliminate any changes made to Red, Green or Master. The animation and adjustments made to each channel are separate. These buttons simply determine what controls to display.
Contrast, Gain, Gamma, Brightness

These controls behave as described in the documentation of the Brightness/ Contrast tool.
Reset All Color Changes

Selecting this button will return all color controls in this section to their default values.
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Levels Mode
Histogram Control
The Histogram Control is described earlier in this chapter.
Low/Mid/High
These controls are used to adjust the input images histogram, compressing or shifting the ranges of the selected color channel. The controls can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the triangles beneath the Histogram display to the left and right. Shifting the high value toward the left (decreasing the value) will cause the Histogram to slant toward white, shifting the image distribution toward white. The low value will have a similar effect in the opposite direction, pushing the image distribution toward black.
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Threshold Output Low/High

The Threshold control can apply clipping to the image, compressing the Histogram. Decreasing the level of the High control will reduce the value of pixels in the image, sliding white pixels down toward grey, and grey pixels toward black. Adjusting the Low control toward high will do the opposite, sliding the darkest pixels toward white. If the low value were set to 0.1, pixels with a value of 0.0 would be set to 0.1 instead, and all other values would increase to accommodate the change. The best way to visualize the effect is to observe the change to the output histogram displayed above.
Reset All Levels

Clicking on this button will reset all of the controls in the Levels section to their defaults.
Histogram Mode
This Color Corrector mode produces a Histogram display of the input image. If a reference image is also provided, the Histogram for the reference image is also displayed. The controls in this mode are primarily used to match one image to another, using either the Equalize or Match modes of the Color Corrector.
What Is A Histogram?
A Histogram is a chart that represents the distribution of color values in the scene. The chart reads from left to right, with the left values representing the darkest colors in the scene, and the right values representing the brightest. The more pixels in an image with the same or similar value, the higher that portion of the chart will be. For example, an image like the one below would produce the Histogram shown next to it. Luminance is calculated per channel, therefore, the Red, Green and Blue channels all have their own histogram, and the combined result of these comprise the Master Histogram.
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RGB Buttons
These buttons are used to select and display the Histogram for each color channel or for the master channel.
Display Selectors
The Display Selectors provide a method of enabling and disabling components of the histogram display. Hold the mouse over the button to display a tooltip describing the buttons function. Input Histogram This enables or disables the display of the Input images histogram. Reference Histogram This enables or disables the display of the Reference images histogram. Output Histogram This enables or disables the display of the histogram from the post color corrected image. Corrective CurveThis toggles the display of the Correction Curve Spline, and is used when equalizing luminance between the Input and Reference images.
Snapshot Match
Click this button to take a Snapshot of the current reference histogram. This stores the histogram in memory, and ignores any changes in the reference image to prevent flickering in the match result.
Release Match
Click on this button to release the current snapshot of the histogram and return to using the live reference input.
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Scaling The Histogram

Click-dragging the mouse up and down in the histogram display will cause the display to scale vertically.
Keep/Equalize/Match Buttons
Each of these buttons enables a different type of color correction operation. Keep Equalize This default correction mode applies no change to the histogram. This correction mode adjusts the histogram so that all of the values in the image are equally represented, in essence, flattening the graph so that the distribution of colors in the image becomes more even. The Match mode modifies the input image based on the color values from the reference histogram. It is used to match two shots with different lighting conditions and exposures so that they will appear similar.
Match
When selected, the Equalize and Match modes reveal the following controls.
Match Luminance
This slider affects the degree to which the Color Corrector tool will attempt to affect the image based on its Luminance distribution. When this control is zero (the default), matching and equalization are applied to each color channel independently and the Luminance, or combined value of the three color channels, is not affected.
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When equalizing with a positive value on this control (above 0), the Input images Luminance distribution will be flattened before any color equalization is applied. When the correction mode is set to Match, the luminance values of the input are matched to the Reference before any correction is applied to the R, G, and B channels. The Luminance and RGB controls can have a cumulative effect and, generally, they are not both set to full (1.0) at the same time.
Lock RGB
When this checkbox is de-selected, the degree of matching or equalization applied to the color channels can be modified independently.
Equalize/Match RGB
This control determines the degree to which the Color Corrector will affect each color channel. A value of 1.0 causes the histogram to be completely equalized or matched to its reference.
8 Bit, 10 Bit, 16 Bit Buttons

This array of buttons determines the level of color fidelity used when sampling the image to produce the histogram. 10 bit produces higher fidelity than 8 bit, and 16 bit produces higher fidelity than 10 bit.
Smooth Out Correction Curves

Often, color equalization and matching operations will introduce posterization in an image, which occurs because gradients in the image have been expanded or compressed so that they are no longer even. This control smooths the correction curve, for a more even transition.
Reset All Histogram Changes

Selecting this button will remove all changes made to the histogram, returning the controls to default and setting the mode back to Keep.
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Suppress Mode
Color Suppression provides a mechanism for removing an unwanted color component from the image. The Color Wheel control is similar to that shown in the Colors section of the tool, but this one is surrounded by six controls, each representing a specific color along the wheel. To suppress a color in the selected range, click and drag the control that represents that color toward the center of the color wheel. The closer the control is to the center, the more that color will be suppressed from the image.
Reset All Suppression

Clicking on this control resets the suppression colors to 1.0, the default value.
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Ranges Tab
The Ranges tab contains controls used to adjust and select the pixels that are considered to be part of the Shadow, Midtone and Highlight ranges.
Result/Shadows/Midtones/Highlight
These buttons are used to select the color range displayed in the views. They help to visualize the actual pixels that will be included in the Range. When the Result button is selected, the image displayed by the Color Corrector in the views will be that of the color corrected image. Selecting one of the Range buttons will switch the display to greyscale. White pixels represent pixels that are considered to be part of the range, and black pixels are not included in the range. Mid-grey pixels are only partly in the range, and will not receive the full effect of any color adjustments to that range.
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Spline Display
The extent of the ranges is selected by manipulating the spline handles. There are four spline points, each with one Bezier handle. The two handles at the top represent the start of the Shadow and Highlight ranges, while the two at the bottom represent the end of the range. The Bezier handles are used to control the falloff. Note that the Midtones range has no specific controls, since its range is understood to be the space between the Shadow and the Highlight ranges. The X and Y text controls below the Spline Display can be used to enter precise positions for the selected Bezier point or handle.
Output The Range You See Now As The Final Render

Selecting this checkbox will cause the monochrome display of the range shown in the display views to be output as the final render.
Reset Simple/Smooth Ranges

These two buttons can be used to return the Spline Ranges to either Smooth (default) or Simple (linear) settings.
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Options Tab
Pre-Divide/Post Multiply
Selecting this option will divide the color channels by the value of the alpha before applying the color correction. After the color correction, the color values are re-multiplied by the alpha to produce a properly additive image. This is crucial when performing an additive merge, or working with CG images generated against black.
Histogram Proxy Scale

The Histogram Proxy Scale determines the level of precision used when creating and calculating histograms. Lower values represent higher precision and higher values produce a rougher, generalized histogram.
Process Order
This drop-down list is used to select the order in which corrections are applied.
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Color Curves Tool (Module 2)
COLOR CURVES TOOL (MODULE 2)
The Color Curves tool is an animatable spline-based tool for performing Look Up Table color manipulations. It allows you to adjust a separate spline for each color channel. The effect can be animated or dissolved and can be applied to the image using RGB, YUV, YIQ, CMY or HLS color spaces. The LUT view in the Color Curves can be scaled in and out with the + and keys on the numeric keypad. The Color Curves LUT has full support for out of range values, pixels with color values above 1.0 or below 0.0.
Color Curves Tab
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Mode
The Animated mode will calculate the LUT at every time based on the LUT splines at that time. The Dissolve mode will interpolate between LUT spline.
Color Space
Use this control to select the Color Space you wish to use in the Color Curves tool. For further information on each Color Space option, consult the documentation for the Color Space tool.
Color Channels
The Color Corrector defaults to operating on RGB and A channels. In addition to the usual role of these controls (restricting the effect of the tool to a specific channel), these checkboxes are often used to ensure that added points are only applied to one channels spline curve.
Spline Control
Color Spline Curves are shaped in the Spline control. In almost all respects, this control operates in the same way as the Spline Editor view. Rightclicking will display a context menu containing the following options for adjusting the Spline Curves. DFX+ 4 579
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Scale
Contains options for zooming in or out of the Spline Window. This is useful for obtaining a closer look at a region of a complicated Color Curve.
Modify Only (D) The Modify Only mode will prevent you from adding additional points to the curve, allowing only the editing of existing points on the curve. Independent Handles Enabling this option will cause the Bezier handles for each point to behave independently from their twins. Delete Points Edit Point Select All Smooth Linear Step In Step Out DFX+ 4 580 Deletes selected points from the spline. Displays a pop-up dialog the Edit In/Out values for the selected point. Selects all of the points in all of the active splines. Creates smooth transitions between points. Creates linear segments between points. Holds, then step between selected points. Steps, then hold between selected points.
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Invert Reset Set Key Spline
Inverts the in and out values for all points Recreates the default image spline. Sets a key for the current time. Used to create keys when none of the splines have changed, useful for pausing an animated color correction. Simplifies the spline by reducing the numbers of points. Allows you to select a channel and assign it to scroll continuously up or down should you wish to animate it. This is particularly useful for creating cycling colors by scrolling the Hue channel through its full spectrum of values. Enables/disables display of various components of a keyframe, including keyframes, Bezier handles, tooltips and key markers.
Reduce Points Wrap Spline
Show Menu
Locked Picked Points This menu is used to lock and unlock selected points. Locked points are frozen, and only vertical motion (out value) is permitted. If the selected points are locked, this menu will have a checkmark beside it. See Pick below. Load LUT Save LUT Loads a Look Up Table file (*.lut). For more information, please see Look Up Tables. Saves a LUT file created with the Color Corrector. This information can be loaded into another view, a Loader tools LUT tab, or a Saver tools LUT tab. Imports an ASCII Look Up Table file (*.alut) from another program. Exports an ASCII LUT file. The ALUT file can be exported in 8 or 16 bit RGB or RGBA formats, which can be selected from the context menu. For details on the file format used, please consult the appendix of this manual.
Import LUT Export LUT
Edit Imported LUT Allows the editing of a ASCII LUT file (*.alut) within the Color Corrector tool.
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In And Out
Allows you to manipulate the precise values of a selected point. To change a value, select a point then enter the In and Out values desired.
Pick
Click on the Pick button and select a color from an image in the display to automatically set keypoints on the spline for the selected color. The new points will be drawn with a triangular shape, and can only be moved vertically (if point is locked, only the out value can change). Points are only added to enabled splines, so if you want to add points on a specific channel only, disable the other channels before making your selection. Use the context menu Locked Pick Points options to unlock the selected points.
Pre-Divide And Post Multiply

Selecting this checkbox will cause the image pixel values to be divided by the alpha values prior to the color correction, and then re-multiplied by the alpha value after the correction. This helps to avoid creation of illegally additive images, particularly around the edges of a blue/green key, or when working with 3D rendered objects.
Match Reference
Clicking on the Match Reference button will automatically set points on the curve to match the image provided in the second (reference) input of the Color Curves tool.
Number Of Samples
This slider determines how many points are used to match the curve to the range in the reference image.
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Color Gain Tool
COLOR GAIN TOOL
This general color corrector has controls familiar to virtually anyone who has used an image processing program in the past. The Gain, Gamma, Saturation, Hue and Balance of the RGB and A channels can be separately modified.
Color Gain Tab
Lock RGB
When selected, the Red, Green, and Blue channel controls for each effect are combined into one slider. Alpha channel effects remain separate.
Gain RGBA
Gain control multiplies the values of the image channel in a linear fashion. All pixels are multiplied by the same factor, but the affect will be larger on bright pixels and smaller on dark. Black pixels will not be changed (x * 0=0).
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Color Gain Tool
Gamma RGBA
Gamma controls the brightness of the mid-range in the image. The effect of this tool is non-linear. White and Black pixels in the image are not affected when gamma is modified, while mid greys are affected most by changes to this parameter. Large value changes to this control will tend to push mid-range pixels into black or white, depending on the value used.
Pre-Divide And Post Multiply

Selecting this check box will cause the image pixel values to be divided by the alpha values prior to the color correction, and then re-multiplied by the alpha value after the correction. This helps to avoid creation of illegally additive images, particularly around the edges of a blue/green key, or when working with 3D rendered objects.
Color Gain Saturation Tab
RGBA Saturation
This setting controls the intensity of the colors in the image channels. A value of 0.0 will strip all of the color out of an image channel.
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Color Gain Tool
Color Gain Balance Tab
CMYK High, Mid And Dark

This section of the Color Gain tool offers controls for adjusting the overall balance of a color channel. Independent color and brightness controls are offered for the high, mid and low ranges of the image. Colors are grouped into opposing pairs from the two dominant color spaces. Red values can be pushed toward Cyan, Green values to Magenta, and Blue to Yellow. Brightness can be raised or lowered for each of the channels. By default, the balance sliders can be adjusted by -1 to +1, but values outside of this range can be entered manually to increase the effect. A value of 0.0 for any slider indicates no change to the image channel. Positive and negative values indicate that the balance of the image channel has been pushed toward one color or the other in the pair.
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Color Gain Tool
Color Gain Hue Tab
Hue High, Mid And Dark

The Hue section of the Color Gain tool allows you to shift the overall hue of the image, without affecting the brightness or saturation. Independent control of the high, mid, low and low ranges is offered by three sliders. The following list is the order of the hues in the RGB color space. Red Yellow Green Cyan Blue Magenta Red Values above 0 push the Hue of the image toward the right (Red turns to Yellow). Values below 0 push the Hue toward the left (Red turns to Magenta). At - 1.0 or 1.0 the Hue completes the cycle and returns to its original value. The default range of the Hue sliders is - 1.0 to +1.0. Values outside of this range can be entered manually.
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Color Space Tool
COLOR SPACE TOOL
Color Space Controls Tab
The Color Space tool provides the ability to work on your image in a variety of alternate Color Space formats. By default, DFX+ uses the RGB color space, and all displays interpret color as RGB values. The option to convert RGB images into alternate color spaces and back again is often useful for achieving specific effects, or to convert images from other programs into data useful to DFX+. Changing your Color Space from RGB will cause most images to look odd, as DFX+ attempts to represent pixels from another Color Space in the views. Generally, the Color Space conversion is performed, an effect is applied to the image in that color space, and an additional Color Space tool is used to return the image to an RGB space.
Color Space Conversion

This button array has three options.
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Color Space Tool
None To Color To RGB
The color space tool has no effect on the image. The input image will be converted from the RGB color space to the color space selected. The input image will be converted from the color space selected back to the RGB color space.
Color Type
These buttons are used to select the Color Space conversion applied when the to Color conversion is selected. HSV (Hue, Saturation And Value) Each pixel in the HSV color space is described in terms of it's Hue, Saturation, and Value components. Value is defined as the quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark one, or brightness. Decreasing saturation roughly corresponds to adding white to a paint chip on a palette, while increasing value is roughly similar to adding black. YUV (Luma, Blue Chroma And Red Chroma) The YUV color space is used in the analog broadcast of PAL video. This format is often used to color correct images, due to its familiarity to a large percentage of video engineers. Each pixel is described in terms of its Luminance, Blue Chroma, and Red Chroma components. YIQ (Luma, In Phase And Quadrature) The YIQ color space is used in the analog broadcast of NTSC video. This format is much rarer than YUV, and almost never seen in production. Each pixel is described in terms of its Luminance, Chroma (in-phase or red-cyan channel), and quadrature or magenta-green components. CMY (Cyan, Magenta And Yellow) Although more common in print, the CMY format is often found in computer graphics from other software packages. Each pixel is described in terms of its Cyan, Magenta and Yellow components.
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Color Space Tool
HLS (Hue, Lightness And Saturation) Each pixel in the HLS color space is described in terms of its Hue, Luminance, and Saturation components. The differences between HLS and HSV color spaces are minor. XYZ (CIE Format)This mode is used to convert a CIE XYZ image to and from RGB color spaces. Expressed simply, the CIE color space is a perceptual color system, with weighted values obtained from experiments where subjects were asked to match an existing light source using three primary light sources. This color space is most often used to perform gamut conversion and color space matching between image display formats because it contains the entire gamut of perceivable colors. Negative B&W The color channels are inverted. The color space remains RGBA. The color channels are stripped of saturation, reducing them to greyscale. The color space remains RGBA.
Note
Several elements of the DFX+ interface refer to the RGB channels directly. The checkboxes used to restrict the affect of the tool to a single color channel are one example. When a conversion is applied to an image, the labels of these elements remain R, G and B, but the values they represent are from the current color space. (Red is Hue, Green is Luminance, Blue is Saturation for a RGB to HLS conversion. The Alpha value is never changed by the color space conversion.)
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Pseudo Color Tool
PSEUDO COLOR TOOL
The Pseudo Color tool offers the ability to produce variations of color based on waveforms. Static or animated variances of the original image can be produced. The tools controls are separated into four identical tabs, one for each of the color channels.
Pseudo Color RGBA Tabs
Color Checkbox
When selected, this color channel will be affected by the Pseudo Color tool.
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Pseudo Color Tool
Wrap
When selected, waveform values that exceed allowable parameter values will be wrapped to the opposite extreme.
High And Low

Determines the range to be affected by the tool in a specific color channel.
Waveform
Selects the type of waveform to be created by the generator. Four waveforms are available; Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth and Square.
Frequency
Controls the frequency of the waveform selected. Higher values will increase the number of occurrences of the variances.
Phase
Modifies the phase of the waveform. Animating this control will produce color cycling effects.
Mean
Determines the Level or Mean value of the waveform selected. Higher values will increase the overall brightness of the channel until the allowed maximum is reached.
Amplitude
Increases or decreases the overall power of the waveform.
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Light Trim Tool (Module 3)
LIGHT TRIM TOOL (MODULE 3)
Light Trim Controls Tab
This tool emulates film scanner light trims. By design, this tool works best with logarithmic data, such as the images stored by the Cineon file system. When logarithmic data is provided, the Light Trim tool can be used to increase or decrease the apparent exposure level of the image.
Lock RGBA
When selected, the Lock RGBA control collapses control of all image channels into one slider. This selection is on by default. To manipulate the various color channels independently, de-select this check box.
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COMPOSITE TOOLS
DISSOLVE TOOL
A Dissolve is performed by mixing two image sequences together. The Dissolve tool has three inputs; foreground, background and a map. A Background/Foreground slider is used to mix between the foreground and background images. At 0, the output image is composed completely of the background. At 1, the foreground image is the output. Slider values between 0 - 1 mix the two images using a method determined by the Operation mode.
Dissolve Controls Tab
Operation
A variety of Dissolve types can be selected from the drop-down list at the top of the tool. Each of these modes is described below.
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Dissolve Tool
Dissolve
The standard mode for the Dissolve tool, this method uses a calculated average of the two images to perform the mixture.
Additive Dissolve The Additive Dissolve also calculates an average of the two images, but with a brighter overall look. Erode The Erode method transitions between the two images by growing the darkest areas of the background image to reveal the foreground image. The effect appears similar to a film strip burning out. Random Dissolve A randomly generated dot pattern is used to perform the mix of the images. Random Noise Dissolve A moving random dot pattern is used to perform the mix of the images. Gradient Wipe The dissolve is controlled by the luminance values of the image in the map input. The edges of this dissolve can be softened.
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Dissolve Tool
The density and the color of the border can be adjusted independently. Choosing the Gradient mode reveals several additional controls. Their functions are as follows. Softness - Use to soften the edge of the transition. Border - Select this checkbox to enable coloring of the transitions edge, and to reveal the associated controls. The effect is to create a border around the transition edge. Border Softness - This slider controls the density of the border. Higher values will create a softer-edged border, lower values will create a harder one. Border Color - Use to select the color used in the border. SMPTE Wipe This Wipe is similar to the basic effects wipes found on many video effects switchers. There is a horizontal wipe and a vertical wipe provided. The wipes can have soft edges and borders added. The density and the color of the border can be adjusted independently.
Wipe Style - This drop-down list allows the selection of two wipe styles: Horizontal - Left to Right and Vertical Top To Bottom. The directions of the wipes can be reversed by using the Invert Wipe check box. Invert Wipe - When checked, the direction of the wipe will be reversed. Softness - Soften the edge of the transition.
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Merge Tool
Border - Select this checkbox to enable coloring of the transitions edge, and to reveal the associated controls. The affect is to create a border around the transition edge. Border Width - This slider controls the width and density of the border. Higher values will create a denser border, lower values will create a thinner one. Border Color - Selects the color used in the border.
MERGE TOOL
The Merge tool combines images based on the matte or alpha channel of the foreground. This tool takes two inputs, a background and a foreground. Foreground images can be moved, sized and rotated. Both Additive and Subtractive modes are available in the Merge tool. Additionally, an image can be composited in a partially additive mode by adjusting the appropriate slider to the mid-point between these two modes. When Module 4 is enabled, the Merge tool is capable of compositing images based on information from the Z-Buffer channel of an image, if available. Rather than relying on the foreground and background tracks to determine layer order, Z-Merging allows two 3D images to be composited with each foreground pixel determined by the Z-Buffer. Provided the Z-Buffer data for both scenes is of the same scale, image elements will be properly composited regardless of whether they are present on the foreground or background inputs. Refer to the Auxiliary Channels chapter for more information.
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Merge Tool
Merge Tab
Center X And Y
This control determines the position of the foreground image in the composite. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which centers the foreground image in the exact center of the background image.
Size
Use this control to increase or decrease the size of the foreground image prior to the composite. Animate this parameter to create zooming effects. The sliders range of values are 0.0 to 5.0, but larger values can be entered manually.
Angle
Use this control to rotate the foreground image prior to the composite.
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Apply Mode
This drop-down list provides several options for controlling the way images are combined. Normal The standard Merge mode uses the alpha channel as a mask to determine what pixels are transparent and what pixels are not. Merges the images based on a multiplication of their color values. The resulting color is always a lighter color. Screening with black leaves the color unchanged, while screening with white will always produce white. This effect creates a similar look to projecting several film frames on to the same surface. Dissolve Blends between the foreground and background using a random pixel pattern.
Screen
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Merge Tool
Multiply
Multiplies the values of a color channel. This will give the appearance of darkening the image as the values are scaled from 0 to 1. White has a value of one, so the result would be the same. Grey has a value of 0.5, so the result would be a darker image or, in other words, an image half as bright.
Overlay
Multiplies or screens the color values of the foreground image, depending on the color values of the background image. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the color values of the background image. The background image is not replaced but is mixed with the foreground image to reflect the original lightness or darkness of the background image.
Soft Light
Darkens or lightens the foreground image, depending on the color values of the background image. The effect is similar to shining a diffused spotlight on the image. Multiplies or screens the color values of the foreground image, depending on the color values of the background image. The effect is similar to shining a harsh spotlight on the image. Looks at the color information in each channel and brightens the color values in the foreground image to reflect the color values in the background image. Looks at the color information in each channel and darkens the color values in the foreground image to reflect the color values in the background image. Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the background or foreground images color value, whichever is darker, as the result color. Pixels lighter than the merged colors are replaced, and pixels darker than the merged color do not change.
Hard Light
Color Dodge
Color Burn
Darken
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Merge Tool
Lighten
Looks at the color information in each channel and selects the background images, or foreground images, color values, whichever is lighter, as the result color value. Pixels darker than the merged color are replaced, and pixels lighter than the merged color do not change.
Difference
Looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the foreground color values from the background color values or the background color from the foreground color, depending on which has the greater brightness value. Merging with white inverts the color; merging with black produces no change.
Exclusion
Creates an effect similar to, but lower in contrast than, the Difference mode. Merging with white inverts the base color values. Merging with black produces no change. Creates a result color with the Luminance and Saturation of the background color values and the Hue of the foreground color values. Creates a result color with the Luminance and Hue of the base color and the saturation of the blend color. Creates a result color with the Luminance of the background color value and the Hue and Saturation of the foreground color values. This preserves the grey levels in the image and is useful for coloring monochrome images and for tinting color images.
Hue
Saturation Color
Luminosity
Creates a result color with the Hue and Saturation of the background color values and the Luminance of the foreground color values. This mode creates an inverse effect from that of the Color mode.
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Merge Tool
Subtractive And Additive

This option works only when the image being overlaid has a semitransparent alpha channel. It designates whether the background image is dulled or brightened.
Alpha Gain
Alpha Gain linearly multiplies the values of the foregrounds alpha channel to control the density of the composite. For subtractive merges, this fades out the foreground. For additive merges, it adds to the background rather than replacing it.
Burn In
The Burn In control adjusts the amount of Alpha used to darken the background, without affecting the amount of foreground added in. At 0.0, the Merge behaves as a straight alpha blend, whereas at 1.0, the foreground is effectively added onto the background (after alpha multiplication if in Subtractive mode). This gives the effect of the image brightening the background.
Blend
This is a cloned instance of the Blend slider in the Common Controls tab. Changes made to this control are simultaneously made to the one in the Common Controls. The Blend slider mixes the result of the tool with its input, blending back the effect at any value less than 1.0.
Invert Transform
Select this control to invert any position, rotation or scaling transformation. This option is useful when connecting the Merge to the position of a Tracker for the purpose of match moving.
Flatten Transform
The Flatten Transform option prevents this tool from concatenating its transformation with adjacent tools. The tool may still concatenate transforms from its input but it will not concatenate its transformation with the tool at its output. See the Transformations chapter earlier in this manual for details on concatenated transformation. DFX+ 4 601
Merge Tool
Channels Tab (Module 4)
The controls in this tab are only available if Module 4 is enabled for DFX+.
Perform Depth Merge

When checked, the Z-Buffer channel of both images will be used to determine the composite order. Alpha channels are still used for transparency, but the values of the Z-Buffer channel will determine the ordering of image elements. If a Z-Buffer channel is not available for either image and Z-Offset is 0, the setting of this checkbox will be ignored.
Foreground Z-Offset
This displays and controls the offset applied to the foreground images Zvalue. Click the Pick button to pick a value from a displayed images ZChannel, or enter a value using the slider or input boxes. Raising the value causes the foreground images Z-Buffer to be offset further away along the Z-Axis, while lowering the value causes the foreground to move closer.
Subtractive And Additive

When Z-Compositing, it is possible for image pixels from the background to be composited in the foreground of the output, because the Z-Buffer for that pixel is closer than the Z of the foreground pixel. This slider will allow you to control whether these pixels are merged in an Additive or a Subtractive mode, in exactly the same way as the Comparable slider in the Merge tab. When merged over the background of a different color, the original background will still be visible in the semi-transparent areas. An Additive Merge will maintain the transparencies of the image but will add their values to the background.
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DEPTH TOOLS
DEPTH BLUR TOOL (MODULE 4)
The Depth Blur tool is primarily used to create focal length or blurred depth effects. It blurs 3D rendered images based on included Z-channel values, or optionally based on values from other channels. If a tool is connected to the Blur image input, channels from that input will be used instead.
Depth Blur Controls Tab

Filter
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Depth Blur Tool (Module 4)
These buttons are used to select the filter used for applying the blur. Box Soften Super Soften Applies a depth-based box blur effect to the image. Applies a depth-based general softening filter effect. Applies a depth-based high quality softening filter effect.
Blur Channels
Select one of these options to determine the channel used for the depth map.
Lock X And Y
When toggled on, this control locks the X and Y blur sliders together for symmetrical blurring.
Blur Size
This slider is used to set the strength of the horizontal and vertical blurring applied to the image.
Focal Point
Use this control to select the distance of the simulated point of focus. Lowering the value causes the Focal Point to be closer to the camera. Raising the value causes the Focal Point to be further away. Click and drag the Pick button (the pointer changes to a dropper) over the displayed image and select a Z-Buffer value. If the image does not contain a valid Z-Buffer, no change will occur in the value.
Depth Of Field
This control is used to determine the depth of the area in focus. The focal point is positioned in the middle of the region and all pixels with a Z-value within the region stay in focus.
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Fog Tool (Module 4)
For Example
If the Focal Point is selected from the image and set to a value of 300, and the Depth of Field is set to 200, any pixel with a Z value between 100 and 500 will remain in focus.
Z Scale
This scales the Z-Buffer values by the selected amount. Raising the value causes the distances in the Z-channel to expand, while lowering the value causes it to contract. This is useful for exaggerating the depth effect.
FOG TOOL (MODULE 4)
The Fog tool is used to create simulated fog effects on 3D rendered images that contain a valid Z-Buffer channel. The fog can be placed in front of or behind various elements of a rendered image based on the selected Zchannel planes. For more information, see the Auxiliary Channels chapter.
Fog Controls Tab
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Shader Tool (Module 4)
If an image is connected to the Fog input, it is used instead of the Fog color.
Z-Buffer Near Plane And Far Plane

These controls are used to select the extents of the fog within the scene. To pick a value, click and drag the Pick button to an area on the image being viewed where the plane is to be located. The Near Plane is used to select the depth where the fog thins out to nothing, and the far plane is used to select the depth at which the fog becomes opaque.
Z Depth Scale
This scales the Z-buffer values by the selected amount. Raising the value causes the distances in the Z-channel to expand, whereas, lowering the value causes it to contract. This is useful for exaggerating the fog effect.
Fog Color
Displays and controls the current Fog Color. Alpha adjusts the fogs transparency value. This is ignored if an image is connected to the Fog input.
SHADER TOOL (MODULE 4)
The Shader tool can control the lighting, reflection mapping and 3D shading of elements in a rendered image. The reflection-map image (connected to the green input) can be projected onto all elements in the scene, or to elements selected by the Object and Material ID channels in the common controls.
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Shader Light Tab
The Shader tool relies on the presence of X, Y and Z surface normals in 3D rendered images. If these channels are not present, this tool has no effect. For more information, see the Auxiliary Channels chapter.
Ambient
Ambient controls the amount of Ambient color present in the scene or for the selected object.
Diffuse
This controls the amount of Diffuse color present in the scene or for the selected object.
Specular
This controls the amount of Specular highlighting present in the scene or for the selected object.
Reflection
This controls the amount of Reflection contribution in the scene or for the selected object.
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Reflection Type
Select from these three buttons to determine the type of reflection mapping used to project the image in the second input.
Screen Spherical Refraction
Causes the reflection map to appear as if it were being projected onto a screen behind the point of view. Causes the reflection map to appear as if it were being projected onto a huge sphere around the whole scene. Causes the reflection map to appear as if it were refracting or distorting according to the geometry in the scene.
Equator Angle
This controls the left to right angle of the light generated and mapped by the Shader tool for the scene or the selected object.
Polar Height
This controls the top to bottom angle of the light generated and mapped by the Shader tool for the scene or the selected object.
Shader Tab
This offers comprehensive control of the Shader tools shader curves.
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Edit Diffuse And Specular

Toggle these controls on to enable editing of the shader curves for the individual channels in the Shader Spline window.
In And Out
This displays and edits values on the spline.
Specular Color
Use the Diffuse curve to manipulate the Diffuse Shading and the Specular curve to affect the Specular Shading. Drag a box over a number of points to group select. Right-clicking displays a menu with options for adjusting the spline curves (for a complete description of the options and controls for the spline windows, see Color Corrector Tool section in the Color Tools chapter).
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Texture Tool (Module 4)
TEXTURE TOOL (MODULE 4)
The Texture tool can control the texture mapping of elements in a rendered image. The texture map image (connected to the green input) can be wrapped around objects to replace the current texture. The Texture tool relies on the presence of U and V Map Channels in 3D rendered images. If these channels are not present this tool has no effect. For more information, see the Auxiliary Channels chapter.
Texture Tab
Flip Horizontal And Vertical

The texture map image is flipped horizontally and/or vertically when this control is toggled on.
Rotate 90
The texture map image is rotated 90 degrees when this control is toggled on.
U And V Offset
Adjust these controls to change the U and V coordinates used to map the texture on the selected object. Changing the values causes the texture to appear to move along the geometry of the selected object.
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FILTER TOOLS
BLUR/SHARPEN TOOL
The Blur tool contains dynamic convolution filters that will blur and sharpen images.
Blur/Sharpen Controls Tab
Filter Type
This button array control allows for the selection of the filter to be applied to the image. The options are as follows.
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Blur/Sharpen Tool
Box Blur Soften
Applies a Box Blur effect to the whole image. This method produces the lowest quality result. Applies a general softening filter effect. This filter method is slower than the Gaussian filter, and produces a lower quality result. It is included for compatibility with older flows only. Applies a more subtle blur filter. Applies a subtle, symmetrical blur filter. This mode is the default, and fastest, filter method. Applies a basic sharpening filter to the image.
Bartlett Gaussian Sharpen
Color Channels
The filter defaults to operating on R G B and A channels. Selective channel filtering is possible by clicking the checkboxes beside each channel to make them active or inactive
Lock X And Y
This locks the X and Y blur sliders together for symmetrical blurring. It is checked by default.
Blur Size X And Y

This sets the amount of blur applied to the image. When the Lock X and Y control is de-selected, independent control over each axis is provided.
Blend
This is a cloned instance of the Blend slider in the Common Controls tab. Changes made to this control are simultaneously made to the one in the common controls. The Blend slider mixes the result of the tool with its input, blending away the effect at any value less than 1.0.
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Custom Filter (Module 1)
CUSTOM FILTER (MODULE 1)
The Custom Filter tool allows you to apply custom convolution filters to images. A custom convolution filter can give a wide variety of image effects. For example, emboss, relief, sharpen, blurring and edge detection are all convolution filters. There are many supplied custom filters in the Filters directory which can be loaded by right-clicking on the control header and selecting Settings/Load from the context menu.
Custom Filter Controls Tab
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Color Channels
The Color Corrector defaults to operating on RGB and A channels. Selective channel editing is possible by clicking the checkboxes beside each channel, making selected channels active or inactive.
Matrix
This sets the size of the filter at 3 by 3 pixels, 5 by 5 pixels or 7 by 7 pixels, setting the radius of the pixels sampled. The larger the size, the more time it takes to render.
Update Lock
When this control is selected, DFX+ will not render the filter. This is useful for setting up each value of the filter, then turning Update Lock off and rendering the filter.
Filter Matrix
The Filter Matrix area is where the values for a filter are entered. These values are all integer values and have no fractional part. The Matrix size will show which values can be filled.
Normalize
This controls the amount of filter normalization that is applied to the result. Zero will give a Normalized image, Positive values will brighten or raise the level of the filter result. Negative values will darken or lower the level of the filter effect.
Floor Level
This will add or subtract a minimum, or Floor Level, to the result of the filtered image. Zero will not add anything to the image. Positive values will add to the filtered image and Negative values will subtract from the image. A kernel filter takes values from neighboring pixels and applies it to the center pixel. The center value of a matrix kernel is the result pixel.
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For example, a filter with values... 000 010 000 ...will have zero effect from its neighboring pixels, therefore, the resulting image would be unchanged. A blurring effect would be... 111 111 111 ...where the neighboring pixels are all added to the center which will give a softening effect. -5 0 0 010 005 This filter will subtract five times the value from the top left and add five times the value from the lower right. If parts of the image being processed are very smooth in color, the neighboring values would be very similar; those parts of the image have very little change. In parts of the image where the pixels are different (i.e. an edge), the results will be different and tend to highlight or emboss edges in the image. Using the values... 111 111 111 ...in a filter and sliding Normalization to Positive will make the image brighter or glow, simulating film over-exposure. Using the values... -1 0 0 000 001 ...in a filter and sliding Floor Level to Positive will look like a relief filter.
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Defocus Tool (Module 2)
DEFOCUS TOOL (MODULE 2)
The Defocus tool simulates the effects of an out-of-focus camera lens, including blooming and image flaring.
Defocus Tab (Gaussian Filter)
Filter
Use this menu to select the exact method applied to create the defocus. Gaussian applies a fairly simplistic effect while Lens mode will create a highly realistic defocus. Lens mode will take significantly longer than Gaussian.
Lock X And Y
When selected, this checkbox performs the same amount of defocusing to both the X and Y axis of the image. Deselect to obtain individual control.
Defocus Size
This control sets the size of the Defocus effect.
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Defocus Tool (Module 2)
Bloom Level
This control determines the intensity and size of the blooming applied to pixels that are above the Bloom Threshold.
Bloom Threshold
Pixels with values above the set Bloom Threshold are defocused and have a glow applied (blooming). Pixels below this value are only defocused.
Defocus Tab (Lens Filter)
Lens Type
When Lens mode is selected from Filter mode, additional methods to apply defocus appear. The Lens Type button array is used to change the shape of the lens simulated by this filter.
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Directional Blur Tool
NGon Solid
Multi-sided polygon with a flat lens effect.
NGon Shaded Out Multi-sided polygon with a soft, tapered lens effect. NGon Shaded In Multi-sided polygon with a more ring-like lens effect. Circle Applies a circular lens effect.
Lens Angle, Sides And Shape

When Filter mode in the Defocus Controls tab is set to Lens mode, the Lens Angle, Sides and Shape controls are used to control the look and feel of the lens elements visible in the Defocus result.
DIRECTIONAL BLUR TOOL
Directional Blur Controls Tab
This tool is used for creating Directional and Radial Blurs. It is useful for creating simulated motion blur and light ray-type effects. All channels (RGBA) are affected by Directional Blur.
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Directional Blur Tool
Type
This button array is used to select the type of motion blur to be created.
Linear Radial
Distorts the image in a straight line resembling the scenery that appears in the window of a speeding train. Will create a distortion that originates at some arbitrary center and radiates outward the way the view would appear if one were at the head of the train looking forward.
Centered Linear Produces a similar result to Linear, but the blur effect is equally distributed on both sides of the original. Zoom Creates a distortion in the scale of the image smear to simulate the zoom streaking of a camera filming with a slow shutter speed.
Edges
This setting determines how the Edges of the frame are handled when a Directional Blur smears pixels from outside of the frame in toward the center. Duplicate Black Assumes that the pixels beyond the frame are the same as those that are the edge of the image. Assumes that all of the pixels beyond the edge of the frame are black.
Center X And Y
This coordinate control and crosshair affect the Radial and Zoom motion blur types only. It is used to calculate the position from where the blurring effect starts.
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Erode/Dilate Tool
Length
This adjusts the strength of the effect. Values lower than zero cause blurs to oppose the Angle. Values greater than slider maximum may be typed into the sliders edit box.
Angle
In both Linear modes, this control will modify the direction of the motion blur. In the Radial and Zoom modes, the effect will be similar to that of the camera spinning while looking at the same spot. If the setting of the Length slider is other than 0, the effect will create a whirlpool effect.
Glow
This will add a Glow to the motion blur, which can be used to duplicate the effect of increased camera exposure to light caused by longer shutter speeds.
ERODE/DILATE TOOL
This simple tool erodes or dilates the image, depending on whether the Amount slider is set to a negative or positive value.
Lock X And Y
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Filter Tool
The Lock X and Y checkbox is used to separate the Amount slider into Amount X and Amount Y, allowing a different value for the effect on each axis.
Amount
A negative value for Amount causes the image to erode. Eroding simulates the effect of an underexposed frame, shrinking the image by growing darker areas of the image so that they eat away at brighter regions. A positive value for Amount causes the image to dilate, similar to the effect of over exposing a camera. Regions of high luminance and brightness grow, eating away at the darker regions of the image. Both techniques will eradicate fine detail in the image and tend to posterize fine gradients.
FILTER TOOL
The Filter tool contains several pre-set filters, enabling a variety of effects, from radically changing the look of your image to adding subtle randomlygenerated film grain.
Filter Controls Tab
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Filter Tool
Filter Type
This drop-down control provides a selection of filter types. The options are displayed below.
Relief
Appears to press the image into metal, such as an image on a coin. Your image will appear to be bumped and overlayed on grey. Embosses the image over top of itself, with adjustable highlight and shadow height and direction. Applies a special type of filter that looks for the pixel in a group with the Median value, which will tend to reject the stray pixels or the odd ones out. The Median filter is good for cleaning up pixelated mattes and noise, and degraining images. Large Median values will give the appearance of an oil painting. Uniformly adds noise to images. This is often useful for 3D computer-generated images that need to be composited with live action as it reduces the squeaky clean look that is inherent in rendered images. The frame number acts as the random generator seed. Therefore, the effect is different on each frame and is repeatable. Blurs the image. Sobel is an advanced edge detection filter. Used in conjunction with a Glow filter, it creates amazing neon light effects from live action or 3D rendered images. Laplacian is a very sensitive edge detection filter that produces a finer edge than the Sobel filter.
Emboss Over Median
Noise
Defocus Sobel
Laplacian
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Filter Tool
Grain
Adds noise to images similar to the grain of film (mostly in the mid-range). This is useful for 3D computergenerated images that need to be composited with live action as it reduces the squeaky clean look that is inherent in rendered images. The frame number acts as the random generator seed. Therefore, the effect is different on each frame and is repeatable.
Color Channels
The filter defaults to operating on RGB and A channels. Selective channel filtering is possible by clicking the checkboxes beside each channel to make them active or inactive
Power
Values range from 1 to 10. It proportionately increases the amount by which the selected filter affects the image. This does not apply to Laplacian filter type.
Angle
This control has a range from 0 to 315 degrees and changes the effect in increments of 45 degrees. This only applies to the Relief and Emboss filters.
Median
This control varies the Median filters effect. A value of 0.5 will produce the true median result, as it will find the middle values. A value of 0.0 will find the minimums and 1.0 will find the maximums. Applies to the Median filter only.
Seed
This control is only visible when applying the Grain or Noise filters. The Seed slider can be used to ensure that the random elements of the effect are seeded with a consistent value. The randomizer will always produce the same result given the same seed value.
Animated
This control is only visible when applying the Grain or Noise filters. Select the checkbox to cause the noise or grain to change from frame to frame. To produce static noise, remove the selection from this checkbox. DFX+ 4 623
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Glow Tool
GLOW TOOL
The Glow tool offers several glow-creating options that generate different effects and require different times to calculate. For example, a Bartlett glow is a high quality glow with smoother drop off, however, it is more processor-intensive at larger sizes.
Glow Controls Tab
Filter Type
Use these buttons to select the method of Blur used in the filter. The selections are described below.
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Glow Tool
Glow Soften Glow Bartlett Glow Blend Glow Hilight Glow Solarize
Adds a linear glow, good in most cases. Adds a softer, subtler glow, but may take longer to render than Glow Soften. Adds a non-linear glow that is evenly visible in the whites and blacks. Adds a glow without creating a halo in the surrounding pixels. Adds a glow and solarizes the image.
Glow Gaussian Adds a soft glow, blurred by the gaussian algorithm. This is the default, and fastest, method.
Color Channels
The filter defaults to operating on R G B and A channels. Selective channel filtering is possible by clicking the check boxes beside each channel to make them active or inactive
Lock X And Y
When checked, both the horizontal and vertical glow amounts will be locked. Otherwise, separate amounts of blur may be applied to each axis.
Glow Size
Determines the size of the glow effect. Larger values expand the size of the glowing highlights of the image.
Glow
Determines the intensity of the glow effect. Larger values tend to completely blow the image out to white.
Blend
This is a cloned instance of the blend slider in the common controls tab. Changes made to this control are simultaneously made to the one in the common controls. The blend slider mixes the result of the tool with its input, blending away the effect at any value less than 1.0.
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Glow Tool
Apply Mode
Three methods are available when it comes to applying the glow to the image.
Normal Merge Under Threshold
This mode simply adds the glow directly over the top of the original image. Places the glow beneath the image, based on the alpha channel. This control clips the effect of the glow. A new range slider will appear. Pixels in the glowed areas with values below the Low value will be pushed to black, and pixels with values greater than High will be pushed to white.
Glow Pre Mask

The Glow tool supports pre-masking using the Glow mask. A pre-mask limits the image before applying the glow, then the glow is combined with the original image. This is different from a regular effect mask that limits the rendered result. The glow mask allows the glow to extend beyond the borders of the mask, while restricting the source of the glow to only those pixels within the mask. To apply a glow mask, select Glow Mask instead of Effect Mask from the context menu when a glow tool is active. The manipulation and editing of Glow masks is identical to effect masks in every other respect.
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Soft Glow
SOFT GLOW
The Soft Glow tool is similar to the regular Glow tool but performs additional processing of the image to create a much softer, more natural glow. This tool is perfect for atmospheric haze around planets, skin tones, and simulating dream-like environments.
Color Channels
The filter defaults to operating on R G B and A channels. Selective channel filtering is possible by clicking the check boxes beside each channel to make them active or inactive
Threshold
This control is used to limit the affect of the soft glow. The higher the threshold, the brighter the pixel must be before it is affected by the glow.
Gain
The gain control defines how bright the glow is.
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Soft Glow
Lock X And Y
When checked, both the horizontal and vertical glow amounts will be locked. Otherwise, separate amounts of glow may be applied to each axis of the image.
Glow Size X And Y

Determines the size of the glow effect. Larger values expand the size of the glowing highlights of the image.
Glow Pre Mask

The Glow tool supports pre-masking using the Glow mask. A pre-mask limits the image before applying the glow, then the glow is combined with the original image. This is different from a regular effect mask that limits the rendered result. The glow mask allows the glow to extend beyond the borders of the mask, while restricting the source of the glow to only those pixels within the mask. To apply a glow mask, select Glow Mask instead of Effect Mask from the context menu when a Soft Glow tool is active. Glow masks are identical to effect masks in every other respect.
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Grain Tool
GRAIN TOOL
Grain Tab
The Grain tool offers comprehensive film grain emulation. This is useful for introducing simulated grain into a video or computer generated image and matching existing grain in a given scene.
Power
Determines the strength of the grain. A higher value increases visibility, making the grain more prevalent.
RGB Difference
Separate Red, Green and Blue sliders, which are used to modify the strength of the effect on a per channel basis.
Grain Softness
Controls the blurriness or fuzziness of the grain. Smaller values cause the grain to be more sharp or course.
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Grain Tool
Grain Size
Determines size of the grain particles. Higher values increase the grain size.
Grain Spacing
Determines the density or amount of grain per area. Higher values cause the grain to appear more spaced out.
Grain Spread Tab

Color spline curves are shaped using Spread splines. These curves define the strength of the grain. The curve pictured below would apply virtually no grain to the dark (left side) and bright (right side) of the image. Maximum grain would be applied to the grey areas.
RGB Checkboxes
Separate Red, Green and Blue to enable the custom curves for each channel. More grain would appear in the blue channel than the red, and the green channel would receive the least. This curve mimics usual film responses. Right-clicking in the spline area will display a context menu containing options related to modifying spline curves. A complete description of the LUT editor control and its options can be found in the Tool Controls Chapter of this manual.
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Highlight Tool
HIGHLIGHT TOOL
Highlight Settings Tab

The Highlight filter creates star-shaped highlights in bright regions of the image, similar to a lens star filter effect.
Low And High

This designates what areas of luminance will be affected in the image. Values less than the Low value will not receive highlights. Values above the High value will receive the full highlight effect.
Curve
Changes the drop off over the length of the effect.
Length
Designates the length of the flares from the highlight.
Number Of Points
Determines the number of flares emanating from the highlight, equivalent to the number of points in a lens star filter effect. DFX+ 4 631
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Highlight Tool
Angle
Animating this control over time will rotate the highlights.
Merge Over
When this checkbox is on it will overlay the effect on the original image. With the checkbox off, the output will be the highlights only. This is useful for downstream color correction of the highlights.
Highlight Color Scale Tab
Red, Green, Blue And Scale

These sliders specify the strength of the highlight produced in each channel.
Alpha Scale
This option is used to define the transparency of the highlights.
Highlight Masks
The Highlight tool offers an additional type of effects mask called a Highlight Mask. This provides the ability to create highlights from a masked area of the image but, unlike a regular effects mask, the highlights can extend beyond the boundaries of the mask. To apply a highlight mask, select Highlight Mask instead of Effect Mask from the context menu when a Highlight tool is active. The manipulation and editing of highlight masks is identical to effect masks in every other respect.
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FILTER TOOLS | 34
Hot Spot Tool
HOT SPOT TOOL
The Hot Spot tool is used to create lens flare, spotlight and burn/dodge effects of various types. Lens flares are created by the reflections within the lens of the camera when extremely bright light sources are present in the scene. One might see lens flares in a shot when viewing a strong light source, like the sun or a bright star through a camera lens.
Hot Spot Tab
Primary Center X And Y

Position of the Primary Hot Spot within the scene. Secondary lens elements and reflection are positioned relative to the position of the primary. This control can also be adjusted on-screen by dragging the crosshairs that appear when this view is selected. DFX+ 4 633
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Hot Spot Tool
Primary Strength
This control determines the brightness of the primary spot.
Hot Spot Size

This determines the overall size of the Primary Spot. This control can also be adjusted by dragging the onscreen size control circle present in any view when the tool is selected.
Aspect
This controls the aspect of the spot, higher values will increase the width, and lower values will increase the height.
Secondary Strength
This determines the brightness of the Secondary Hot Spot.
Secondary Size
This determines the size of the Secondary Hot Spot.
Apply Mode
This control allows you to select the method used by the Hot Spot effect on an image. The methods are described below. Spotlight isolates a specific area with light and Burn/Dodge is similar to the effect created when an image is over or under exposed to light. Add (Burn) Causes the spots created to brighten the image.
Subtract (Dodge) Causes the spots created to dim the image. Multiply (Spotlight) Causes the spots created to isolate a portion of the image with light and to darken the remainder of the image.
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Hot Spot Tool
Occlude
The Hot Spot tool allows for a second image to control the occlusion of the lens flare. Occlusion happens when the source of the hotspot is obscured by another object in front of it. Occlusion can be controlled from Alpha or RGB channels of any image connected to the Occlusion Input on the Flow. This control allows for the selection of the channel to use from this image.
Lens Aberration
Change the shape and behavior of the Primary and Secondary hotspots.
In And Out Modes Elongates the shape of the flare. In stretches towards the center of the image, while out stretches the hotspot out towards the corners. Flare In And Flare Out Modes Simulates a lens distortion effect that is controlled by the movement of the lens effect. Flare in will cause the effect to become more severe the closer the Hotspot gets to the center. Flare Out causes the effect to increase as the HotSpot gets closer to the edges of the image. Lens This mode reduces a round, ringed lens effect.
Aberration
The Aberration slider controls the overall strength of the Lens Aberration effect.
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FILTER TOOLS | 34
Hot Spot Tool
Color Tab
This tab controls the disbursement, brightness and radial influence (mix) of the spot colors. The bottom left corner represents the outer edge of the spot, while the top right corner represents the center of the spot. The Red, Green, Blue and Alpha splines are used to comprehensively adjust the contributions of each color channel to the spots appearance.
Color Channel And Mix

When selected, these controls enable the editing of the chosen channels in the Color Spline Window.
Mix
The Mix spline is used to determine the amount of influence the controls in the Radial tab have over the generated hotspot. A point at the bottom of the spline window will be completely unaffected by the radial splines, while values at the top are entirely affected.
Radial Tab
By default, the Hot Spot is a perfect circle or ellipse and the radial controls are disabled. When they are enabled, exact control over the hotspot radial length and density is provided via spline curves that describe the circular profile. DFX+ 4 636
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Hot Spot Tool
Radial On
When selected, this control enables the rendering of all Radial effects.
Radial Density
This enables the editing of the Radial Density spline.
Radial Length
This enables the editing of the Radial Length spline.
Radial Repeat
This control will repeat the effect of the spline X number of times. The example below uses a repeat of 3.0.
Length Angle
This control will allow you to rotate the effect of the Radial Length spline.
Density Angle
This will allow you to rotate the effect of the Radial Density spline. DFX+ 4 637
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Hot Spot Tool
A complete description of LUT editor controls and options can be found in the Tool Controls chapter.
L1, L2 And L3 Tabs

Each tab contains identical settings, and can be used to create additional reflection elements above and beyond the Primary and Secondary Hot Spots.
Lens Reflect 1-3

When selected, the reflection caused by the element is enabled.
Element Strength
This determines the brightness of element reflections.
Element Size
This determines the size of element reflections.
Element Position
This determines the distance of element reflections from the axis. The axis is calculated as a line between the hotspot position and the center of the image. DFX+ 4 638
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Hot Spot Tool
Element Type
Use this array of buttons to choose the shape and density of the element reflections. The presets available are described below. Circular Soft Circular Circle NGon Solid NGon Star Creates slightly soft edged circular shaped reflections. Creates very soft edged circular shaped reflections. Creates a hard edged circle shape. Creates a filled polygon with a variable number of sides. Creates a very soft edged star shape with a variable number of sides.
NGon Shaded Out Creates soft circular shapes with a number of sides. NGon Shaded In Creates a polygon with a variable number of sides, with a very soft reversed (dark center, bright radius) shading.
NGon Angle
This control is used to determine the angle of the NGon shapes.
NGon Sides
This control is used to determine the number of sides used when the Element Type is set to NGon Star, NGon Shaded Out, and NGon Shaded In.
NGon Starriness
This control is used to bend polygons into star shapes. The higher the value the more star-like the shape.
Lens Color Controls

These controls determine the base color of the lens reflections. To choose a color, pick one from a displayed image, or enter RGBA values using the sliders or input boxes. DFX+ 4 639
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Unsharp Mask Tool
UNSHARP MASK TOOL
Unsharp masking is a technique used to sharpen the edges in an image. This filter is used to correct for blurring and loss of detail in low contrast images (e.g., to extract useful detail from long exposure shots of far-away galaxies).
Unsharp Mask Controls Tab
This filter operation is performed by subtracting a blurred, low frequency version of the image from the original. Only the high frequency detail remains, which can be boosted. The boosted high frequencies are then combined back with the low frequencies to produce the final result.
Size X And Y
This control adjusts the strength of blur applied to the image.
Gain
This control adjusts how much gain is applied to pixels identified as high frequency detail.
Threshold Low And High

This range defines the value range to which the gained high frequency detail will be mapped before it is combined back with the low frequencies. The low value cannot be greater than 0.5, and the high value cannot be lower than 0.5. DFX+ 4 640
35
MATTE AND KEYING TOOLS
CHROMA KEYER
The Chroma Keyer is a matte creation tool. It is used for automatically creating mattes on a series of images. The Chroma Keyer builds an alpha channel (transparency layer) from an image by selecting and removing certain colors. The resulting image can then be merged over other images using the new transparency information in the alpha channel.
Chroma Keyer Key Tab
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Chroma Keyer
RGB And Luminance Threshold

These range controls update automatically to represent the current color selection. Colors are selected by clicking on the keyer tools tile in the Flow, then dragging a box around the undesirable colors in the Display View. These sliders can be used to tweak the selection slightly, although in practice selecting colors in the displays is all that is required.
Lock Color Picking

When toggled on, the color picking and threshold adjustments are prevented. All other controls remain editable.
Soft Range
This control softens the selected color range to include additional colors into the Matte.
Reset Color Ranges

This discards all changes to the Chroma Keyers ranges, but maintains all other slider and control values.
Key Type
This determines the type of selection to be used for the matte creation.
Chroma Color
Causes a matte to be created based on the UVW and Luminance values of the selected color range. Causes a matte to be created based on the RGB and Luminance of the selected color range.
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Chroma Keyer
Chroma Keyer Matte Tab
Matte Blur
Matte Blur literally blurs the edge of the matte channel. A value of zero results in a sharp, cutout-like hard edge. The higher the value, the more the blur, to the point where your matte becomes so blurred that the foreground image literally disappears.
Matte Contract /Expand

This slider shrinks or grows the semi-transparent areas of the matte to exclude some of the keyed image or include some of its surrounding area. Values above 0.0 expand the Matte while values below 0.0 contract it. This control is often used in conjunction with the Matte Blur to take the hard edge of a matte to reduce fringing.
Matte Gamma
This slider raises or lowers the values of the Matte in the semi-transparent areas. Higher values cause the grey areas to become more opaque, while lower values cause the grey areas to become more transparent. Completely black or white regions of a matte remain unaffected.
Matte Threshold
Any value below the Low Threshold becomes black or transparent in a matte. Any value above the High Threshold becomes white or opaque. All values within the range maintain their relative transparency values.
Invert Matte
When toggled on, the matte is inverted, causing all transparent areas to be opaque and all opaque areas to be transparent. DFX+ 4 643

Chroma Keyer
Chroma Keyer Image Tab
Spill Color
Select the color used for Spill Suppression purposes.
Spill Suppression
This removes blue or green spill from the keyed image by extracting the color selected from Spill Color from the image (usually set to maximum).
Spill Method
This selects the algorithm used for the Spill Suppression. Rare Medium Well Done Used for very light spill suppression Works best for green screens. Medium works best for blue screens
Burnt To A Crisp Works best for blue. Use this mode only for very troublesome shots. DFX+ 4 644

Chroma Keyer
Fringe Gamma
This slider raises and lowers the luminosity of the fringe, or halo, surrounding the keyed image.
Cyan-Red, Magenta-Green And Yellow-Blue

Use these three controls to color correct the Fringe of the image. This is useful for correcting semi-transparent pixels that still contain color from the original background to match the new background.
Fringe Size
This slider expands and contracts the size of the Fringe, or halo, surrounding the keyed image.
Fringe Shape
This forces the fringe to be pressed toward the external edge of the image or pulled toward the inner edge of the fringe. Its effect is most noticeable while the Fringe Size sliders value is large.
Garbage Matte
This option determines the functionality of Garbage Mattes created on this tool. You cannot mix Garbage Mattes of different modes within a single tool. Use the Matte control tool to create additional Garbage Mattes of different types.
Make Transparent This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent. Make Solid This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent.
Post Multiply Image

This check toggles the option of post multiplying the image with alpha. Best used in conjunction with the Additive setting in Merge. For more information see Merge in the Composite Tools chapter.
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Difference Keyer
DIFFERENCE KEYER
Difference keying produces a matte based on the differences between two images. Ideally, an image with the subject to be keyed will be supplied with an image without the subject. Both images are connected to the tool simultaneously, allowing the Keyer to detect the differences, which is, in essence, the subject to be keyed.
Difference Keyer Controls Tab
Threshold High And Low

This slider works by defining a range of difference values between the images to create a matte. A difference below the Low Threshold becomes black in the Matte. Any difference above the High Threshold becomes white (solid) in the Matte. The difference values in the range in between create a grey scale matte.
Matte Blur
This Blurs the edge of the Matte. A value of zero results in a sharp, cutoutlike hard edge. DFX+ 4 646

Difference Keyer
The higher the value, the more blur, to a point where your matte becomes so blurred that the foreground image literally disappears. This is a useful slider to animate, as it creates an interesting growing dissolve on and off effect.
Matte Contrast
The Contrast slider changes the Look Up Table curve of the mattes Luminance values. This creates a soft cropping of the Matte at the low end of the slider and a hard edge expansion of the Matte at higher slider values.
Matte Gamma
Matte Gamma raises, or lowers, the values of the Matte in the semitransparent areas. Higher values cause the grey areas to be more opaque, while lower values cause the grey areas to be more transparent. Completely black or white regions of the Matte remain unaffected.
Invert
When toggled on, the Matte is inverted, causing all transparent areas to be opaque and all opaque areas to be transparent.
Garbage Matte
This determines the functionality of Garbage Mattes created on this tool. You cannot mix Garbage Mattes of different modes within a single tool. Use the Matte tool to create additional Garbage Mattes of different types.
Make Transparent This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent. Make Solid This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent.
Post Multiply
This toggles the option of post multiplying the image with alpha. Best used in conjunction with the Additive setting in Merge. For more information, see Merge in the Composite Tools chapter.
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Luma Keyer
LUMA KEYER
Controls Tab
A Luma Keyer uses either the overall Luminance, or the Red, Green or Blue channels of an image, to create a grey scale matte. The Threshold controls the black cutoff and white clip of the Matte.
Channel
This determines the color channel used to create the Matte. Select from the Red, Green, Blue, Alpha, Hue, Luminance, Saturation and Depth (Z-Buffer) channels.
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Luma Keyer
Threshold High And Low

This slider works by defining a range of Luminance values in your image to create a matte. Any value below the Low Threshold becomes black in your matte. Any value above the High Threshold becomes white (solid) in your matte. All values in the range in between create a grey scale matte.
Matte Blur
This blurs the edge of the Matte. A value of 0 results in a sharp, cutout-like hard edge. The higher the value, the more blur, to a point where your matte becomes so blurred that the foreground image literally disappears.
Matte Contrast
The Contrast slider changes the Look Up Table curve of the mattes Luminance values. This creates a soft cropping of the Matte at the low end of the slider and a hard edge expansion of the matte at higher slider values.
Matte Gamma
Raises or lowers the values of the Matte in the semi-transparent areas. Higher values cause the grey areas to be more opaque while lower values cause the grey areas to be more transparent.
Invert
Garbage Matte
This control sets the mode of Garbage Mattes created on this tool as either transparent or solid.
Post Multiply Image

This toggles the option of post multiplying the image with Alpha. Best used in conjunction with the Additive setting in Merge.
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Matte Control Tool
MATTE CONTROL TOOL
The Matte Control tool is useful for manipulating an existing alpha channel in an image, or combining one images alpha with another. RGBA images rendered in a 3D application already have an alpha channel or matte, therefore, there is no reason to extract a matte using the Chroma Keyer or Luma Keyer. You may, however, still want to affect the alpha channel of the image using this tool. Matte Control tools are often used when it is necessary to create a matte manually. This process is known as Rotoscoping.
Matte Control Tab
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Matte Control Tool
Matte Combine
This menu is used to combine the alpha channels of the background and foreground inputs. The default is set to None for no operation.
None Combine Red
Causes the foreground image to be ignored. Copies the red channel to the alpha channel.
Combine Green Copies the green channel to the alpha channel. Combine Blue Copies the blue channel to the alpha channel.
Combine Alpha Copies the alpha channel to the alpha channel. Solid Clear Causes the alpha channel to become completely opaque. Causes the alpha channel to become completely transparent.
Combine Operation
Select the method used to combine the foreground channel with the background.
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Matte Control Tool
Copy Add Subtract
Copies the value from one matte to another. Adds the values from matte to matte. Subtracts the values of one matte from another.
Inverse Subtract Subtracts the underlying matte from the new matte. Maximum Minimum And Or Merge Over Merge Under Compares the two images and takes the maximum or brightest values from each image. Compares the two images and takes the minimum, or darkest, values from each image. Performs a logical And on the values from matte to matte. Performs a logical Or on the values from matte to matte. Merges the matte over the top of the underlying matte. Merges the matte underneath the underlying matte.
Matte Blur
This blurs the edge of the Matte. A value of zero results in a sharp, cutoutlike hard edge. The higher the value, the more blur, to a point where your matte becomes so blurred that the foreground image literally disappears.
Matte Contract And Expand

This slider shrinks, or grows, the Matte to exclude some of the keyed image or include some of its surrounding area. Values above 0.0 expand the Matte while values below 0.0 contract it.
Matte Gamma
This raises, or lowers, the values of the Matte in the semi-transparent areas. Higher values cause the grey areas to become more opaque, while lower values cause the grey areas to become more transparent. Completely black or white regions of the Matte remain unaffected.
Matte Threshold
Any value below the Low Threshold becomes black or transparent in your matte. Any value above the High Threshold becomes white or opaque in your matte. All values within the range maintain their relative transparency values.
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Matte Control Tool
Invert Matte
Garbage Matte
This control sets the mode of Garbage Mattes created on this tool as either transparent or solid.
Post Multiply Image

This toggles the option of post multiplying the image with alpha. Best used in conjunction with the Additive setting in Merge.
Multiply Garbage Matte

When selected, the images color values will be multiplied against the values of the Matte Channel created by garbage masks applied to the tool.
Spill Tab
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Matte Control Tool
Spill Color
Select the color used for Spill Suppression purposes.
Spill Suppression
Spill Method
This selects the algorithm used for the Spill Suppression.
Rare Medium Well Done Burnt
The lightest of all methods. Works best for green screens. Works best for blue screens Works best for blue. Use this mode only for very troublesome shots.
Fringe Gamma
This slider raises, and lowers, the luminosity of the Fringe or halo surrounding the keyed image.

Use these three controls to color correct the fringe of the image. This is useful for correcting semi-transparent pixels that still contain color from the original background to match the new background.
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Ultra Keyer (Module 2)
Fringe Size
Fringe Size expands and contracts the size of the Fringe, or semi-transparent pixels surrounding the keyed image.
Fringe Shape
Fringe Shape forces the Fringe to be pressed toward the external edge of the image or pulled toward the inner edge of the fringe. Its effect is most noticeable while the Fringe Size sliders value is large.
Garbage Matte
Determines the functionality of Garbage Mattes created on this tool. This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent or opaque. You cannot mix Garbage Mattes of different modes within a single tool. Use the Matte tool to create additional Garbage Mattes of different types.
ULTRA KEYER (MODULE 2)
The Ultra Keyer is a matte creation tool used to automatically create transparency information for a series of images. It has optimized algorithms for handling footage shot over blue or green backgrounds, for the purpose of keying them over other layers.
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Pre-Matte Tab
Color Background
The Ultra Keyer is optimized for removal of blue or green backgrounds. Select the color closest to your background from these buttons.
RGB And Luminance Threshold

These range controls update automatically to represent the current color selection. Colors are selected by clicking on the keyer tools tile in the Flow, then dragging a box around the undesirable colors in the Display View. These sliders can be used to tweak the selection slightly, although in practice, selecting colors in the displays is all that is required.
Lock Color Picking

When toggled on, the Color Picking and threshold adjustments are prevented. All other controls remain editable.
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Pre-Matte Size
This softens or blurs the general area around the keyed image and creates a simulated Garbage Matte around the keyed image. It may also be used for wire and small rig removal.
Matte Separation
Matte Separation emphasizes the background under the foreground image. This is usually only required on poorly lit images, or images where the foreground is somewhat similar to the background.
Reset Color Range

This button discards all changes to the Ultra Keyers ranges but maintains all other slider and control values.
Matte Tab
Matte Blur
This blurs the edge of the Matte. A value of zero results in a sharp, cutoutlike hard edge. The higher the value, the more Blur, to a point where your matte becomes so blurred that the foreground image literally disappears.
Matte Contract And Expand

This option shrinks, or grows, the Matte to exclude some of the keyed image or include some of its surrounding area. Values above 0 expand the Matte, while values below 0 contract it.
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Matte Gamma
Matte Gamma raises, or lowers, the values of the Matte in the semitransparent areas. Higher values cause the grey areas to become more opaque, while lower values cause the grey areas to become more transparent. Completely black or white regions of the Matte remain unaffected.
Matte Threshold
Any value below the Low Threshold becomes black or transparent in your matte. Any value above the High Threshold becomes white or opaque in your matte. All values within range maintain relative transparency values.
Invert Matte
Image Tab
Spill Color
This selects the color used for Spill Suppression purposes.
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Spill Suppression
Spill Method
This selects the algorithm used for the Spill Suppression.
Rare Medium Well Done Burnt
The lightest of the spill modes. Works best for green screens. Works best for blue screens Works best for blue. Use this mode only for very troublesome shots.
Fringe Gamma
This raises and lowers the luminosity of the Fringe, or semi-transparent, surrounding the keyed image.

Use these three controls to color correct the Fringe of the image. This is useful for correcting semi-transparent pixels that still contain color from the original background to match the new background.
Fringe Size
Fringe Size expands and contracts the size of Fringe surrounding the keyed image.
Fringe Shape
Fringe Shape forces the Fringe to be pressed toward the external edge of the image or pulled toward the inner edge of the Fringe. Its effect is most noticeable while the Fringe Size sliders value is large.
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Garbage Matte
This determines the functionality of Garbage Mattes created on this tool. This control can be set to make applied Garbage Mattes transparent or opaque.
You cannot mix Garbage Mattes of different modes within a single tool. Use the Matte tool to create additional Garbage Mattes of different types.
Post Multiply Image

This toggles the option of post multiplying the image with Alpha. Best used in conjunction with the Additive setting in Merge.
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36
MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS
FIELDS TOOL (MODULE 2)
The Fields tool is a robust multi-purpose utility offering several functions related to interlaced video frames. It interpolates separate video fields into video frames, or separates video frames into individual fields. It can be used to assist in the standards conversion of PAL to NTSC, and provides the ability to process fields and frames for specific portions of a flow. For more information about how DFX+ handles fields processing, consult the Frame Formats chapter in this manual.
Controls Tab
Operation
This control is used to select the type of operation the tool will perform.
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MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS | 36
Fields Tool (Module 2)
Do Nothing Strip Field 2 Strip Field 1
Causes the images to be effected by the Process Mode selection exclusively. Removes field 2 from the input image stream, which shortens the image to half of the original height. Removes field 1 from the input image stream, which shortens the image to half of the original height.
Strip Field 2 And Interpolate Removes field 2 from the input image stream and inserts a field interpolated from field 1 so that image height is maintained. Should be supplied with frames, not fields. Strip Field 1 and Interpolate Removes field 1 from the input image stream and inserts a field interpolated from field 2 so that image height is maintained. Should be supplied with frames, not fields. Interlace Combines fields from the input image stream(s). If supplied with one image stream, each pair of frames will be combined to form half of the amount of double height frames. If supplied with two image streams, single frames from each stream will be combined to form double height images. Separates fields from one input image stream. This will produce double the amount of half height frames.
De-Interlace
Reverse Field Dominance

When selected, the Field Order or Dominance of the image will be swapped.
Process Mode
This control is used to select the fields format used for the output image.
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Shadow Tool
Full Frames NTSC Fields PAL Fields
Forces frame processing. Useful for processing frames in a part of a flow that is otherwise field processing. Forces NTSC Field Processing. Useful for processing fields in a part of a flow that is otherwise frame processing. Forces PAL Field Processing. Useful for processing fields in a part of a flow that is otherwise frame processing.
PAL Fields (Reversed) Forces PAL swapped Field Processing. NTSC Fields (Reversed) Forces NTSC swapped Field Processing. Auto Attempts to match the mode of its input images. Fields is used if the input types are mixed.
SHADOW TOOL
Shadow is a versatile tool used in the creation of shadows that are based on the Alpha Channel information from an image. It is also possible to use an additional image to control the shadows apparent depth.
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Shadow Tool
Controls Tab
Shadow Offset
This control sets the apparent distance of the shadowed object from the background. Adjusting the Shadow Offset crosshair in the views is the quickest possible way to create simple drop shadows.
Softness
Softness controls how blurry the Shadows edges appear. The further the background is from the object, the fuzzier it becomes.
Shadow Color
Use this control to select the color of the Shadow. The most realistic shadows are usually the ones that are not totally black and razor sharp.
Light Position
This control sets the position of the light relative to the shadow-casting object. The Light Position is only taken into consideration when the Light Distance slider is NOT set to infinity (1.0).
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Shadow Tool
Light Distance
This slider will vary the apparent distance of the light between infinity (1) and being at zero distance from the shadow-casting object. The advantage of setting the Light Distance is that the resulting shadow is more realisticlooking with the further parts of the shadow being longer than those that are closer.
Minimum Depth Map Light Distance

This control is active when an image is connected to Shadows Depth Map input. The slider is used to control the amount that the Depth Map contributes to the Light Distance. Dark areas of a Depth Map make the Shadow deeper. White areas bring it closer to the camera.
Z Map Channel
This menu is used to select the color channel of the image connected to the Z Map that is used to create the Z Map. Selections exist for the RGB and A, Luminance and Z Buffer channels (if Module 4 is installed).
Output
The Output image can either contain the image with Shadow applied, or the Shadow Only. Changing the setting in the Output drop-down list controls which mode will be used. This method is useful when color correction, perspective or other effects need to be applied to the resulting shadow before it is merged back with the object. For example, Shadow Alpha controls the Shadows degree of transparency.
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Time Speed Tool
TIME SPEED TOOL
Time Speed allows image sequences to be sped up, slowed down, reversed or delayed. Image Interpolation offers smooth, high quality results.
Time Speed Controls Tab
Speed
This control is used to adjust the Speed, in percentage values, of the outgoing image sequence. Negative values reverse the image sequence. 200% Speed is represented by a value of 2.0, 100% is 1.0, 50% is 0.5 and 10% is 0.1. The Speed control cannot be animated. Use a Time Stretcher Tool to animate changes in the speed of a clip.
Delay
Use this control to Delay the outgoing image sequence by the specified number of frames. Negative numbers will offset time back and positive numbers will advance.
Interpolate Between Frames

When checked, frames before and after the current frame will be Interpolated to create new frames. This usually offers smoother and cleaner results. When cleared, no interpolation will take place. DFX+ 4 666
Time Stretcher Tool (Module 2)
Sample Spread
This slider controls the strength of the interpolated frames on the current frame. A value of 0.5 causes 50% of the frame before and 50% of the frame ahead of the current frame to be blended with 0% of the current frame. A value of 0.25 would blend 25% of the previous and next frames with 50% of the current frame. Set this control over 0.25 only in extreme cases.
TIME STRETCHER TOOL (MODULE 2)
The Time Stretcher tool is similar to the Time Speed tool, but it permits the speed of the clip to be animated over the course of the effect. Full spline control of the effect is provided, including smoothing. As a result, the Time Stretcher can be used to animate a single clip to 200%, back to normal speed, pause for a second, and then play backwards (like a VCR rewinding).
Controls Tab
Source Time
This control designates from which frame in the original sequence to begin sampling.
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Time Stretcher Tool (Module 2)
When a Time Stretcher tool is added to the Flow, the Source Time control already contains a Bezier spline with a single keyframe set to 0.0. The position of the keyframe is determined by the current time when you add the tool to the Flow. (The Source Time spline may not be immediately visible until you select Edit from the Source Times context menu, or display all splines from the spline windows context menu.)
Interpolate Between Frames

This toggles whether the Time Stretcher will interpolate between the next and previous frames.
Sample Spread
Determines the strength of the interpolated frames on the current frame. A value of 0.5 causes 50% of the frame before and 50% of the frame ahead of the current frame to be blended with 0% of the current frame. A value of 0.25 would blend 25% of the previous and next frames with 50% of the current frame. Set this control over 0.25 only in extreme cases.
Using The Time Stretcher Tool

Make certain that the current time is either the first or last frame of the clip to be affected in the project. Add the Time Stretcher tool to the flow. This will create a single point on the Source Time spline at the current frame. The value of the source time will be set to zero for the entire Global Range. Set the value of the Source time to the frame number to be displayed from the original source, at the frame in time it is to be displayed in during the project.
For Example
To shrink a 100-frame sequence to 25 frames, follow these steps: 1 2 3 4 5 Change the Current Time to frame 0. Change the Source Time control to 0.0. Advance to frame 24. Change the Source Time to 99. Check that the spline result is linear.
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Trails Tool (Module 1)
6 7 8 9
DFX+ will render 25 frames by interpolating down the 100 frames to a length of 25. Hold the last frame for 30 frames, then play the clip backward at regular speed. Continue the example from above and follow the steps below. Advance to frame 129. Right-click on the Source Time control and select Set Key from the menu.
10 Advance to frame 229 (129 + 100). 11 Set the Source time to 0.0.
TRAILS TOOL (MODULE 1)
The Trails Tool is used to create a ghost-like after-trail of the image. This is only useful for moving images. Unlike a Motion Blur, only the preceding motion of your image is displayed as part of the effect. This tool is unique within DFX+, in that it makes use of an image buffer to create a feedback loop. This feedback loop takes the output of the Trails tool from the previous frame and performs a merge of the current frame over top of it. The various controls of the Trails tool are used to modify this frame prior to the merge. An image buffer is used to store this image until the next frame. This helps to avoid several issues, including the need to re-render the frames multiple times, such as the Time Stretcher or Motion Blur effects. The interactive and rendering speed of the tool is, therefore, greatly increased. It is often necessary to clear the buffer, as changes made interactively in previous frames will remain in the buffer. This tool is not well suited to jumping frames in large increments, which is often done interactively. Each frame will tend to stick in the buffer. When this occurs, simply click the Restart button in order to clear the view. Once the Trails tool is configured, it may be useful to pass through the effect of this tool until you are ready to render a preview or final version. DFX+ 4 669
Note
Due to the way the Trails tool operates, this tool cannot be network rendered.
Controls Tab
Restart
This control clears the image buffer and displays a clean frame, without any of the ghosting effect.
Preroll
This will make the Trails tool pre-render the effect by the number of frames on the slider.
Reset/Pre-Roll On Render
When this checkbox is enabled, the Trails tool will reset itself every time a preview or final render is initiated, and it will Pre-Roll the designated number of frames.
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This Time Only

This will make the pre-roll use this current frame only, and not the previous frames.
Number Of Pre-Roll Frames

This determines the number of frames to Pre-Roll.
Lock Gain RGBA

When selected, this checkbox control allows you to control the Gain of the color channels independently. This allows for tinting of the trails effect.
Lock Scale X And Y

When selected, this checkbox allows the X and Y axis scaling of the image buffer to be manipulated separately for each axis.
Lock Blur X And Y

When selected, this checkbox allows the blurring of the image buffer to be controlled separately for each axis.
Gain
The Gain control affects the overall intensity and brightness of the image in the buffer. Lower values in this parameter will create a much shorter, fainter trail, whereas higher values will create a longer, more solid trail.
Rotate
The Rotate control allows you to rotate the image in the buffer before the current frame is merged into the effect.
Offset X And Y
The Offset controls allow you to offset the image in the buffer before the current frame is merged into the effect. Control is given over each axis independently.
Scale
The Scale control allows you to resize the image in the buffer before the current frame is merged into the effect. DFX+ 4 671
Blur Size
The Blur Size control allows you to apply a Blur to the image in the buffer before the current frame is merged into the effect.
Apply Mode
This menu is used to determine the method used by the Trails tool when merging one sample over another. The methods in this menu are documented more completely in the Composite Tools chapter of this manual.
Subtractive/Additive, Alpha Gain, Burn In

For details on these controls and their effect, consult the Composite Tools chapter.
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RunCommand Tool (Module 1)
RUNCOMMAND TOOL (MODULE 1)
The RunCommand tool is used to execute an external command or batch file at certain points during a render. You can choose to run a command once at the start, or at the end of a render, or you can have the command execute once for each frame. An image input is not required for this tool to operate. If the application launched returns a non 0 result, the tool will also fail.
Frame Tab
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Frame Command
The first file browser in the tool is used to specify the path and parameters for the command to be run after each frame is rendered. Select the Hide Frame checkbox to prevent the application or script from displaying a window when it is executed.
Hide
Select this checkbox to suppress the display of any window or dialog started by the command.
Wait
Enable this checkbox to cause the tool to Wait for the remote application or tool to exit before continuing. If this checkbox is cleared, the system will continue rendering without waiting for the external application.
Number A (%B) And Number B (%B)

Various wildcards can be used with the frame commands, these wildcards will be substituted at render time with the correct values. %a outputs the number from the Number A thumbwheel control. %b outputs the number from the Number B thumbwheel control. %t outputs the current frame number (without zero padding). %s substituted with the text from the large text entry field. If you want to add zero padding to the numbers generated by %t, refer to the wildcard with %0x where x is the number of characters with which to pad the value. This also works for %a and %b. For example, test%04t.tga would return the following values at render time: test0000.tga test0001.tga test0009.tga test0010.tga You may also pad a value with spaces by calling the wildcard as %x, where x is the number of spaces with which you would like to pad the value.
Process Priority
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The Process Priority buttons provide options for selecting the priority at which the launched process runs. This determines how much processor time the launched process receives compared to other applications.
Interactive
This checkbox determines whether the launched application should run interactively, allowing user input.
Start And End Tabs
The two other file browsers in the tool are used to specify the path and parameters for the command to be run at the Start and End of the render.
Example
To copy the saved files from a render to another directory as each frame is rendered, save the following text in a file called copyfile.bat to your C:\ directory (the root folder). @echo off set parm=%1 %2 copy %1 %2 set parm= Create or load any flow that contains a Saver. The following example assumes a Saver is set to output D:\ test0000.tga, test0001.tga etc. You may have to modify the example to match. Add a RunCommand tool after the Saver. Now enter the following text into the RunCommand tools Frame Command text box: C:\ copytest.bat D:\ test%04f.tga C:\ Select the hide frame command check box to prevent the command prompt window from appearing briefly after every frame.
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Custom Tool (Module 1)
When this flow is rendered, each file will be immediately copied to the C:\ directory as it is rendered. The RunCommand tool could be used to FTP the files to a remote drive or Abekas device on the network, to print out each frame as it is rendered, or to execute a custom image processing tool. The RunCommand tool is not restricted to executing simple batch files. DFScript, VBScript, Jscript, CGI, and Perl files could also be used, as just a few examples.
CUSTOM TOOL (MODULE 1)
The Custom tool allows you to create custom expressions and filters to modify an image. In addition to providing three image inputs, the Custom tool will allow for the connection of up to eight numeric inputs and as many as four XY position values from other controls and parameters in the Flow. Per-pixel calculations can be performed on the Red, Green, Blue, Alpha, Z, U, V, X Normal, Y Normal and Z Normal channels of the images.
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Controls Tab
Number In 1-8
These are variables or numbers that are used in the mathematical expressions and can be animated like other controls in DFX+.
Point in 1-4, X And Y

These are 2D X and Y centers that are used in the mathematical expressions and can be animated like other controls in DFX+.
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Setup Tab
Setup 1-4
Up to four separate expressions can be calculated in the Setup tab of the Custom tool. The Setup expressions are evaluated once per frame, before any other calculations are performed. The results are then made available to the other expressions in the Custom tool as variables s1, s2, s3 and s4.
Inter Tab
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Intermediate 1-4
An additional four expressions can be calculated in the Inter tab. The Inter expressions are evaluated once per pixel, after the Setup expressions are evaluated but before the Channel expressions are evaluated. Results are available as variables i1, i2, i3 and i4.
Channels Tab
RGBA, Z, UV Expressions And XYZ Normal Expressions

The Channel tab allows you to set up one expression per each available channel of the image. Each expression is evaluated once per pixel, and the result is used to create the value for that pixel in the output of the image. Color Channel expressions (RGBA) should return Floating Point values between 0.0 and 1.0, and all other expression values must produce values between -1.0 and 1.0. The Channel expressions may use the results from both the Setup expressions (as variables s1-s4) and Inter expressions (as variables i1-i4). The following variables are used to refer to the various inputs and to create the expressions.
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Input Variables
n1..n8 p1x..p4x p1y..p4y s1..s4 i1..i4 time w1 - w3 h1 - h3 Numeric Inputs Position Values (X-axis) Position Values (Y-axis) Setup Expression Results Inter Expression Results Current Frame Width of Input Images Height of Input Images
Channel (Pixel) Variables

r g b a z u v nx ny nz Red Green Blue Alpha Z-Buffer U Coordinate V Coordinate X Normal Y Normal Z Normals
To refer to the red value of the current pixel in input one, you would type r1. For the image in input 2, it would be r2. There are a variety of methods used to refer to pixels from other locations than the current one in an image. getr1b(x,y) would output the red value of the pixel at position x, y, if there were a valid pixel present. It would output 0.0, if the position were beyond the boundaries of the image. getr1d(x,y) would output the red value of the pixel at position x, y. If the position specified were outside of the boundaries of the image, the result would be from the outer edge of the image (RGBA only). DFX+ 4 680
getr1w(x,y) would output the red value of the pixel at position x, y. If the position specified were outside of the boundaries of the image, the x and y co-ordinates would wrap around to the other side of the image and continue from there. (RGBA only) To access other channel values with these functions, substitute the r in the above examples with the correct channel variable. (r, g, b, a and, for the getr1b() functions only, z, etc) as shown above. Substitute the 1 with either 2 or 3 in the above examples to access the images from the other image inputs.
Mathematical Expressions
pi e log(x) ln(x) sin(x) cos(x) tan(x) asin(x) acos(x) atan(x) atan2(x,y) abs(x) int(x) frac(x) sqrt(x) rand(x,y) rands(x,y,s) min(x,y) max(x,y) The value of pi The value of e The base-10 log of x The natural (base-e) log of x The sine of x (x is degrees) The cosine of x (x is degrees) The tangent of x (x is degrees) The arcsine of x, in degrees The arccosine of x, in degrees The arctangent of x, in degrees The arctangent of x,y, in degrees The absolute (positive) value of x The integer (whole) value of x The fractional value of x The Square Root of x A random value between x and y A random value between x and y, based on seed s The minimum (lowest) of x and y The maximum (highest) of x and y
dist(x1,y1,x2,y2) The distance between point x1,y2 and x2,y2 if(c, x, y) returns x if c <> 0, otherwise y DFX+ 4 681
Mathematical Operators
!x1.0 if x = 0, otherwise 0.0 -x(0.0 - x) +x(0.0 + x) i.e. effectively does nothing x^yx raised to the power of y x*yx multiplied by y x/yx divided by y x%yx modulo y, i.e. remainder of (x divided by y) x+yx plus y x-yx minus y x<y1.0 if x is less than y, otherwise 0.0 x>y1.0 if x is greater than y, otherwise 0.0 x<=y1.0 if x is less than or equal to y, otherwise 0.0 x>=y1.0 if x is greater than or equal to y, otherwise 0.0 x=y1.0 if x is exactly equal to y, otherwise 0.0 x==y1.0 if x is exactly equal to y, otherwise 0.0, identical to above x<>y1.0 if x is not equal to y, otherwise 0.0 x!=y1.0 if x is not equal to y, otherwise 0.0, i.e. identical to above x & y1.0 if both x and y are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0 x && y1.0 if both x and y are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0, i.e. identical to above x | y 1.0 if either x or y (or both) are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0 x || y 1.0 if either x or y (or both) are not 0.0, otherwise 0.0
The Custom tool is quite likely the most complex, and the most powerful, tool in DFX+. Any user moderately experienced with scripting, or C++ programming, should find the structure and terminology used by the Custom tool to be familiar.
Example
DFX+ 4 682 The following example is intended to help you understand the various components of the Custom tool. Our example duplicates the functionality of the 3X3 Custom Filter tool shown in the image below.
This convolution kernel performs an average operation that averages the current pixel together with the eight pixels surrounding it. To duplicate it with a Custom tool, add a Custom tool to the Flow, and enter the following expressions into the Setup tab. (Leave the tool disconnected to prevent it from updating until we are ready.) S1 1.0/w1 S2 1.0/h1 These two expressions will be evaluated at the beginning of each frame. S1 divides 1.0 by the current width of the frame, and S2 divides 1.0 by the height. This provides a Floating Point value between 0.0 and 1.0 that represents the distance from the current pixel to the next pixel along each axis. Now enter the following expression into the first text control of the Channel tab (r) (getr1w(x-s1, y-s2) + getr1w(x, y-s2) + getr1w(x+s1, y-s2) + getr1w(x+s1, y) + getr1w(x-s1, y) + r1 + getr1w(x-s1, y+s2) + getr1w(x, y+s2) + getr1w(x+s1, y+s2)) / 9 This expression adds the nine pixels above the current pixel together by calling the getr1w() function nine times and providing it with values relative to the current position. Note that we referred to the pixels by using x+s1, y+s2 rather than using x+1, y+1. DFX+ refers to pixels as Floating Point values between 0.0 and 1.0, which is why we created the expressions we used in the Setup tab. If we had used x+1, y+1 instead, the expression would have sampled the exact same pixel over and over again. (The function we used wraps the pixel position around the image if the offset values are out of range.) That took care of the red channel, now use the following expressions for the green, blue and alpha channels.
(getg1w(x-s1, y-s2) + getg1w(x, y-s2) + getg1w(x+s1, y-s2) +
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getg1w(x+s1, y) + getg1w(x-s1, y) + g1 + getg1w(x-s1, y+s2) + getg1w(x, y+s2) + getg1w(x+s1, y+s2)) / 9
(getb1w(x-s1, y-s2) + getb1w(x, y-s2) + getb1w(x+s1, y-s2) + getb1w(x+s1, y) + getb1w(x-s1, y) + b1 + getb1w(x-s1, y+s2) + getb1w(x, y+s2) + getb1w(x+s1, y+s2)) / 9
(geta1w(x-s1, y-s2) + geta1w(x, y-s2) + geta1w(x+s1, y-s2) + geta1w(x+s1, y) + geta1w(x-s1, y) + a1 + geta1w(x-s1, y+s2) + geta1w(x, y+s2) + geta1w(x+s1, y+s2)) / 9
It is time to view the results. Add a Background tool set to solid color and change the color to a pure red. Add a hard edged rectangular Effects Mask and connect it to the expression just created. For comparison, add a Custom Filter tool and duplicate the settings from the image above. Connect a pipe to this tool from the background to the tool and view the results. Alternate between viewing the Custom tool and the Filter while zoomed in close to the top corners of the Effects Mask. Of course, the Filter tool renders a lot faster than the Custom tool we created, but the flexibility of the Custom tool is unparalleled anywhere else. For example, you could use an image connected to input 2 to control the median applied to input one by changing all instances of getr1w, getg1w, and getb1w in the expression to getr2w, getg2w, and getb2w, but leaving the r1, g1, and b1s as they are. This is just one example, the possibilities of the Custom tool are limitless.
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37
PARTICLE SUITE (MODULE 7)
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ Module 7 adds a suite of tools for the creation of elaborate and intricate 3D particle systems. These tools can be used to create volume-type effects like fog, smoke, fire and rain, or other, more stylistic effects. Several particle tools have been provided, each working together to create an almost infinitely flexible particle toolkit.
WHAT IS A PARTICLE SYSTEM?

Particles can be defined as any number of objects that share similar behaviors and properties affected by the same forces. Each particle is a unique object, but behaves as one of a group of many other objects. For example, smoke in the real world generally consists of small particles of ash and soot suspended in the air. Each smoke particle is independent, possessing its own velocity, position and size. It is, however, perceived as part of a greater system of similar particles, which we refer to collectively as smoke. A digital particle system emulates the behavior of real world particles to create realistic or semi-realistic particulate effects. Most particle systems have an emitter, which produces the particles. They may also have external forces, which act upon the particles and affect their overall behavior. DFX+ 4 685
PARTICLE SUITE (MODULE 7) | 37

How The Particle Suite Works
In the case of this smoke example, the emitter would be the fire producing the smoke and the external forces would be gravity, wind and convection (to name a few). To model smoke in a realistic fashion, we would need to emulate each of these forces. The DFX+ Particle Suite is capable of simulating each of these effects and more.
HOW THE PARTICLE SUITE WORKS

The DFX+ Particle Suite uses the same flow-based working methodology as our image processing tools, to the extent that particle systems are built right within the Flow view and particle tools co-exist directly with image tools like Drips and Merges.
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Particle Tools In The Flow
Unlike any other tool in DFX+, Particle tools do not produce an image at their output, with the exception of the pRender tool, which takes the calculated position of each of these particles and renders an image from that information. Each of the other Particle tools in the suite manipulates the particles position, behavior, velocity or other parameters directly. For that reason, every single Particle system starts with one or more pEmitter tools and ends with a pRender tool. The pRender tool is the only particle tool that can be connected to an image tool and behaves within the Flow exactly as a creator tool does.
PARTICLE TOOLS IN THE FLOW

Particle tools are distinguished from other tools by the addition of a p to the toolname (for example, pRender or pEmitter) and are represented in the Flow with purple tool icons rather than the green or grey ones used for image tools. With the exception of the pRender tool, thumbnail icons of the Particle tools cannot show an image of the particle system as it appears to that tool, since these tools produce no image. Particle tools cannot be directly connected to image tools in the DFX+ flow. For example, a Blur could not be placed between a pEmitter and a pRender tool. The same Blur could be placed after the pRender tool. Particle tools also cannot be branched as image tools are, due to the difficulty of maintaining two separate copies of the same particle system. The output of a pEmitter tool cannot be connected to both a pPointForce and a pDirectionalForce at the same time. It would be necessary to connect these three tools in a direct line, one after the other. For the same reason, a particle system can only end in a single pRender tool. The Cache to Disk and Force Cache to RAM options are only available to the pRender tool. These options are disabled for other Particle tools. DFX+ 4 687

Network Rendering
NETWORK RENDERING
One powerful feature of the DF Particle Suite is its support for Distributed Network Rendering. Flows containing particle systems can be submitted to the network and rendered on multiple machines. Out of order rendering is not an issue because each rendering machine will perform an automatic pre-roll of the particle system to ensure that the correct particle state is shown on each rendered frame. Flows containing a particle system are submitted for Network Rendering just like any other flow in DFX+. See the chapter on Network Rendering for details.
PARTICLE SYSTEM COMMON CONTROLS

There are a variety of controls that are common to all of the Particle tools. These controls generally provide mechanisms for limiting the effect of the Particle tool. They are organized into two tabs.
Conditions Tab
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Particle System Common Controls
Probability
This control determines the Probability or percentage chance that the tool will affect any given particle. The default value of 1.0 will affect all particles. A setting of 0.6 would mean that each particle has a 60 percent chance of being affected by the control.
Note that probability is calculated for each particle on each frame. For example, a particle that is not affected by a force on one frame has the same chance of being affected on the next frame.
Start/End Age
This range control can be used to restrict the affect of the tool to a specified percentage of the particle lifespan. For example, to restrict the affect of a tool to the last 20 percent of a particle's life, you would set the start value to 0.8, and the end value would remain at 1.0. The tool on frames 80 through 100 would only affect a particle with a lifespan of 100 frames.
Set Mode And Sets
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This menu control determines if the particle tools effect will be applied to all particles, limited only to particles from a specified set(s), or applied to all particles except the selected set(s). Sets are assigned by the tools that create particles; the pEmitter, pImage Emitter, the pChangeStyle and the pSpawn tools.
Region Tab
Regions are used to restrict the tools effect to a geometric region or plane, and to determine the area where particles are created in a pEmitter tool. There are seven types of regions, each with its own controls.
All (2D)
Particles will be created anywhere within the boundaries of the image.
Bezier (2D)
A user-created polyline determines the region where particles are created. To animate the shape of the polyline over time or to connect this polyline to another polyline, right-click on the Polyline label at the bottom of the control and select the appropriate option from the context menu.
Bitmap (2D)
A Bitmap source from one of the other tools in the Flow will be used as the region where particles are born.
Cube (3D)
A full 3D Cube is used to determine the region within which particles are created.
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The height, width, depth and XYZ positions can all be determined by the user and animated over time.
Line (2D)
A simple Line control determines where particles are created. The Line is composed of two end-points, which can be connected to Paths or Trackers, as necessary.
Rectangle (2D)
The Rectangle region type is like the Cube type, except that this region has no depth in Z Space. Unlike other 2D emitter regions, this region can be positioned and rotated in Z Space.
Sphere (3D)
This is a spherical 3D emitter region with Size and Centre Z controls, and is the default region type for a new pEmitter tool.
Random Seed Control
Another control that is seen in almost all of the Particle tools is the Random Seed value. The Seed value is often used to set up the initial conditions for calculations with a random component. Using the same seed value will ensure that the same set of random values is produced by the calculation.
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Emitter <pEm>
Since many of the Particle tools use random elements as part of their calculations, changing a seed value is often a good way to slightly modify the results of a tool.
EMITTER <PEM>
The pEmitter tool is the main source of particles and will usually be the first tool used in any new particle system. This tool contains controls for setting the initial physical parameters of the particles, as well as controls for the visual style of each particle. Like all other Particle tools (with the exception of a Particle Render tool), the Particle Emitter does not produce a visible image and, therefore, cannot be viewed on a display. To view the output of a particle system, add a pRender tool after the pEmitter.
Controls Tab
This tab contains settings that affect the physics of the particles emitted by the tool. These settings do not directly affect the appearance of the particles; instead they modify behavior like velocity, spin and quantity.
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Emitter <pEm>
Number
This control is used to set the amount of new particles generated on each frame. A value of 1 would cause one new particle to be generated each frame. By frame 10, there would be a total of 10 particles in existence (unless Particle Lifespan were set to less than 10). Animate this parameter to specify the number of particles generated in total. For example, if only 25 particles in total are desired, animate the control to produce five particles on frame 0-4, then set a key on frame five to generate zero particles for the remainder of the project.
Number Variance
This modifies the amount of particles generated each frame, as specified by the Number control. For example, if Number is set to 10.0 and Number Variance is set to 2.0, the emitter will produce anywhere from 9-11 particles per frame. If the value of Number Variance is more than twice as large as the value of Number, it is possible that no particles will be generated for a given frame.
Lifespan
This control determines how long a particle will exist before it disappears or dies. The default value of this control is 100 frames, although this can be set to any value. The timing of many other Particle Controls is relative to the Lifespan of the particle. For example, the size of a particle can be set to increase over the last 80% of its life, using the Size Over Life graph in the Style tab of the pEmitter.
Lifespan Variance
Like Number Variance, the Lifespan Variance control allows you to modify the Lifespan of particles produced. If Particle Lifespan were set to 100 frames, and the Lifespan Variance to 20 frames, particles generated by the emitter would have a lifespan of 90-110 frames.
Color Source
This provides the ability to specify from where the color of each particle is derived. The default setting is Use Style Color, which will provide the color from each particle according to the settings in the Style tab of the pEmitter tool. DFX+ 4 693

Emitter <pEm>
The alternate setting is Use Color From Region, which overrides the color settings from the Style tab and uses the color of the underlying bitmap region. The Use Color From Region option only makes sense when the pEmitter region is set to use a bitmap produced by a tool in the Flow. Particles generated in a region other than a bitmap region will be rendered as white when the Use Color From Region option is selected.
Position Variance
This control determines whether or not particles can be born outside of the boundaries of the pEmitter region. By default, the value is set to zero, which will restrict the creation area for new particles to the exact boundaries of the defined region. Increasing this controls value above 0.0 will allow the particle to be born slightly outside of the boundaries of that region. The higher the value, the softer the regions edge will become.
Velocity Controls
These controls affect the initial Velocity and angle of new particles. Velocity And Velocity Variance These determine the initial speed or velocity of new particles. By default, the particle has no velocity and will not move from its point of origin unless acted upon by outside forces. A velocity setting of 10.0 would cause the particle to cross the entire width of the image in one step, so a velocity of 1.0 would cause the particle to cross the width of the image over 10 frames. Velocity Variance modifies the velocity of each particle at birth, in the same manner described in Lifespan Variance and Number Variance above. DFX+ 4 694

Emitter <pEm>
Angle And Angle Variance This determines the angle at which particles with velocity applied will be heading at their birth. Angle Z And Angle Z Variance As above, except this control determines the angle of the particles along Z-Space axis (toward or away from the 'camera').
Rotation Controls
Rotation Mode
This menu control provides two options to help determine the orientation of the particles emitted. When the particles are spherical, the effect of this control will be unnoticeable.
Absolute Rotation The particles will be oriented in the same direction as the original source particle, regardless of angle or heading. Rotation Relative To Motion The particles will be oriented in the same direction as the particles heading.
DFX+ 4 695

Emitter <pEm>
Rotation Z And Rotation Z Variance These controls allow for Rotation of the individual particles. This is particularly useful when dealing with a bitmap particle type, as the incoming bitmap may not be oriented in the desired direction. Rotation Z Variance can be used to vary the amount of rotation by a specified amount around the center of the Rotation Z value to avoid having every particle oriented in the exact same direction. Spin Z And Spin Z Variance These provide a spin to be applied to each particle at birth. The particles will rotate x degrees each frame, as determined by the value of Spin Z. The Spin Z variance will vary the amount of rotation applied to each frame in the manner described by Number Variance and Lifespan Variance documented above.
Sets Tab
This tab of controls consists of 32 checkboxes that can be used to assign the particles generated by this pEmitter to a specific set. These controls are useful when a pMerge tool is used to combine multiple pEmitter streams into one. Assigning sets allows individual groups of particles to be addressed by modifier tools like pDirectionalForce and pTurbulence. Sets can also be used to differentiate the particles created with a pSpawn or a pChangeStyle tool from their source particles. To assign the particles created by a pEmitter to a given set, simply select the checkbox of the set number you want to assign. A single particle stream can be assigned to one or multiple sets.
DFX+ 4 696

Emitter <pEm>
Style Tab
The Style tab provides controls that affect the appearance of the particles, allowing the look and feel of the particles to be determined and animated over time.
Style Type
The Style Menu control provides access to the various types of particles supported by the Particle Suite. Each style has its own specific controls, as well as controls it will share with other styles.
Point Style
This option produces particles exactly one pixel in size. Controls that are specific to Point Style are : Apply Mode Add - Overlapping particles are combined by adding the color values of each particle together. Merge - Overlapping particles are merged together. Sub Pixel Rendered This checkbox determines if the particles are rendered with sub pixel precision, which provides smoother looking motion but blurrier particles that take slightly longer to render.
DFX+ 4 697

Emitter <pEm>
Bitmap Style And Brush Style
Both the Bitmap and Brush Styles produce particles based on an image file. The Bitmap Style relies on the image from another tool in the Flow and the Brush Style uses image files in the brushes directory. Controls that are specific to Bitmap and Brush style are : Bitmap Source (Bitmap Style only) Use this control to specify the DFX+ tool that provides the bitmap source for the particle. You can drag and drop the tool into this text box from the Flow or Timeline, or you can right-click on the tool and select the desired source from the Connect To menu. This drop-down list shows the names of any image files stored in the brushes directory. The location of the brushes directory is defined in the Preferences dialog, under Paths. The default is DFXPlus/Brushes. If no images are in this directory, the only option in the menu will be None. This list determines how the animation of the bitmap source is applied to newly created particles. Over Time - All particles adopt the image produced by the bitmap at the current time, and advance together. A particle created at frame 1 will contain the image at frame 1 of the bitmap source.
Brush
Animate
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Emitter <pEm>
At frame 2, the original particle will take the bitmap from frame 2 as its source, and so will any new particles. All created particles will share exactly the same bitmap image from their source at all times. Particle Age - Each new particle starts at the beginning of the bitmap sources animation cycle and animates forward from there. Each particle animates through the sequence independently. Particle Birth Time - New particles adopt the image from the bitmap at the current time and keep that image as their appearance until the end of the particles lifespan. It can be hard to visualize the impact of this control until it has been experimented with. A good way to experiment is to load the flow in the DFXPlus/Examples directory called pTextParticleAge.flw and try out the three settings. View the Text tool in the Small Display View, and the pRender tool in the Large Display View, then step through the frames using the [ and ] keys. Time Offset Time Scale This control allows the bitmap source frame to be Offset in time from the current frame. This control can be used to scale the time range of the source bitmap images by a specified amount. For example, a scale of 2 would cause the particle created at frame 1 to be read from the bitmap source at frame 2. This control is used to apply a correction to the overall Gain of the image used as the bitmap. Higher values produce a brighter image, while lower values reduce both the brightness and the transparency of the image.
Gain
Blob Style
This option produces large, soft spherical particles. Control specific to Blob style is :
DFX+ 4 699

Emitter <pEm>
Noise
Increasing this controls value will introduce grain-type noise to the blobby particle.
Coopers Style
This style produces particles composed of bottle caps from the Coopers brand of beer (the best beer in Australia, and quite possibly the world).
Line Style
This style produces straight line-type particles with optional falloff. The Size To Velocity control described below (under Size Controls) is particularly useful with this Line type. Control specific to Line style is : Fade The Fade control adjusts the falloff over the line particles length. The default value of 1.0 causes the line to fade out completely by the end of the length.
DFX+ 4 700

Emitter <pEm>
Point Cluster Style

This style produces small clusters of single pixel particles. Point Clusters are similar to the Point style, but they are more efficient when a large quantity of particles is required. This style shares controls with the Point style. Additional controls specific to Point Cluster style are : Number Of Points And Variance The value of this control determines how many points are in each Point Cluster.
General Controls
Color Controls
This standard Color Control selects the color and alpha values of the particle generated by the emitter. Color Variance These range controls provide a means of expanding the colors produced by the pEmitter. Setting the Red variance range at -0.2 to +0.2 would produce colors that varied 20% on either side of the red channel, for a total variance of 40%.
DFX+ 4 701

Emitter <pEm>
If the pEmitter were set to produce R0.5, G0.5, B0.5 (pure grey), the variance shown above would produce points with a color range between R0.3, G0.5, B0.5 and R0.7, G0.5, B0.5. To visualize color space as values between 0-256 or as 065535, change the values used by DFX+ using the options provided in the General Preferences tab. Color Over Lifetime This standard Gradient control allows for the selection of a range of color values to which the particle will adhere over its lifetime. The left point of the gradient represents the particle color at birth, and the right point shows the color of the particle at the end of its lifespan.
Additional points can be added to the Gradient control to cause the particle color to shift throughout its life. This type of control can be extremely useful for fire-type effects (for example, the flame may start out blue, turn orange and end a darker red). The Gradient itself can be animated over time by right-clicking on the control and selecting Animate from the context menu. All points on the Gradient will be controlled by a single Color Over Life spline.
Size Controls
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Emitter <pEm>
The majority of the Size Controls are self-explanatory. The Size and Size Variance controls are used to determine the size and degree of size variation for each particle. It is worth noting that the Point style does not have size controls (each point is a single pixel in size and there is no additional control). When a Bitmap Particle style is used, a value of 1.0 indicates that each particle should be exactly the same size as the input bitmap. A value of 2.0 would scale the particle up in size by 200%. For the best quality particles, always try to make the input bitmap as big, or bigger, than the largest particle produced by the system. For the Point Cluster style, the size control adjusts the density of the cluster, or how close together each particle will get. There are additional size controls that can be used to further adjust the size of particles based on velocity and depth. Size To Velocity This increases the size of each particle relative to the Velocity or speed of the particle. The Velocity of the particle is added to the size, scaled by the value of this control. 1.0 on this control, such as for a particle travelling at 0.1, will add another 0.1 to the size (velocity * size2velocity + size = newsize). This is most useful for Line styles, but the control can be used to adjust the size of any style. Size Z Scale This control measures the degree to which the size of each particle is increased or decreased according to its depth (position in Z space). The effect is to exaggerate or reduce the impact of perspective. The default value is 1.0, which provides a relatively realistic perspective effect. Objects on the focal plane (Z 1.0) will be actual-sized. Objects farther along Z will become smaller, while objects closer along Z will get larger. A value of 2.0 would exaggerate the effect dramatically, while a value of 0.0 would cancel the effects of perspective entirely.
DFX+ 4 703

Emitter <pEm>
Size Over Life
This LUT spline control determines the size of a particle throughout its lifespan. The vertical scale represents a percentage of the value defined by the Size control. The horizontal scale represents a percentage of the particles lifespan. This graph supports all of the features available to a standard LUT view. These features can be accessed through the context menu of the Spline Graph.
Fade Controls
This simple range slider provides a mechanism for fading a particle at the start and end of its lifetime. Increasing the Fade In value will cause the particle to fade in at the start of its life, while decreasing the Fade Out value will cause the particle to fade out at the end of its life. This controls values represent a percentage of the particles overall life, therefore, setting the Fade In to 0.1 would cause the particle to fade in over the first 10% of its total lifespan. For example, a particle with a life of 100 frames would fade in from frame 0-10.
Merge Controls
This set of particle controls affects the way individual particles are merged together. The Subtractive/Additive slider works exactly as documented in the standard Merge tool. The Burn-In control will cause the particles to overexpose, or blow out, when they are combined together.
DFX+ 4 704

Emitter <pEm>
Blur Controls
This set of particle controls can be used to apply a Blur to the individual particles. Blurring can be applied globally, by age, or by Z Depth position.
Blur And Blur Variance This control applies Blur to each particle. Unlike the Blur in the pRender tool, this is applied to each particle independently before the particles are merged together. The Blur Variance slider modifies the amount of blur applied to each particle. Blur Over Life This spline graph controls the amount of Blur that is applied to the particle over its life. The vertical scale represents a percentage of the value defined by the Blur control. The horizontal scale represents a percentage of the particles lifespan.
This graph supports all of the features available to a standard LUT view. These features can be accessed through the context menu of the Spline Graph.
DFX+ 4 705

Emitter <pEm>
Z Blur (DOF) And DOF Focus This slider control applies blur to each particle based on its position along the Z axis.
The DOF Focus range control is used to determine what area of the image remains in focus. Lower values along Z are closer to the camera. Higher values are farther away. Particles within the range will remain in focus. Particles outside that range will have the blur defined by the Z Blur control applied to them.
Region Tab
The controls found under the Region tab are used to determine what portion of the image will actually generate particles. This has no affect on where a particle can go, only on where it is actually created or born. Only one region can be applied to any given particle emitter. 2D-type regions will produce particles along a flat plane in Z Space, usually positioned at Z1.0. 3D emitters possess depth and can produce particles inside a user-defined, three-dimensional region. There are seven types of regions available, each with its own set of controls as described in the particle Custom Controls section above.
DFX+ 4 706

Render <pRn>
RENDER <PRN>
The Render tool is the only tool in the particle suite that outputs an image. It takes the output of the particle tools and renders that data into an image, which can be used by the rest of the tools in DFX+.
pRender And The Display Views

When the pRender tool is selected in a flow, all of the on-screen controls from particle tools connected to it are presented in the display views. This provides a fast, easy-to-modify overview of the forces applied to the particle system as a whole. For example, in a particle flow like the one shown below, the on-screen controls for the pEmitter, pPointForce and pVortex tools would all be displayed whenever the pRender tool were selected.
DFX+ 4 707

Render <pRn>
About Pre-Roll
Pre-Roll is necessary because the state of a particle system is completely dependent on the last known position of the particles. If the current time were changed to a frame where the last frame particle state is unknown, the display of the particle is calculated on the last known position, producing inaccurate results.
To demonstrate, place a pEmitter and pRender in the Flow and set the Velocity of the particles to 0.1. Place the particle emitter on the left edge of the screen and set the Current Frame to 0. Set a Render Range from 0-100 and press the Play button. Observe how the particle system behaves. Stop the playback and return the current time to frame 0. Make sure that the Automatic Pre-Roll option is off in the pRender tool. Now try jumping from frame 0 to 10, then to frame 60, and 90. Do not pass through the frames in between. Use the Edit control or click in the ruler directly to jump straight to the frame. See how the particle system only adds to the particles it has already created and does not try to create the particles that would have been emitted in the intervening frames? Try selecting the Pre-Roll button in the Pre-Render tool. Now the particle system state is represented correctly. For simple, fast rendering particle systems, it is recommended to leave the Automatic Pre-Roll option on. For slower particle systems with long time ranges, it may be desirable to only Pre-Roll manually, as required.
Pre-Roll Options
Particle tools generally need to know the position of each particle on the last frame before they can calculate the affect of the forces applied to them on the current frame. This makes changing current time manually by anything but single frame intervals likely to produce an inaccurate image. The controls here are used to help accommodate this by providing methods of calculating the intervening frames.
DFX+ 4 708

Render <pRn>
Restart
Clicking on the Restart button will restart the particle system at the current frame, removing any particles created up to that point and starting the particle system from scratch at the current frame.
Pre-Roll
Clicking on this button will cause the particle system to recalculate, starting from the beginning of the render range up to the current frame. It will not render the image produced. It will only calculate the position of each particle. This provides a relatively quick mechanism to ensure that the particles displayed in the views are correctly positioned. If the pRender tool is displayed when the Pre-Roll button is selected, the progress of the pre-roll is shown in the Display View, with each particle shown as Point style only.
Automatic Pre-Roll
Selecting the Automatic Pre-Roll checkbox causes the particle system to automatically pre-roll the particles to the current frame whenever the current frame changes. This prevents the need to manually select the Pre-Roll button whenever advancing through time in jumps larger than a single frame. The progress of the particle system during an Automatic Pre-Roll is not displayed to the views, to prevent distracting visual disruptions.
Only Render In Hi-Q

Selecting this checkbox causes the style of the particles to be over-ridden when the Hi-Q checkbox is de-selected, producing only fast rendering Point style particles. This is useful when working with a large quantity of slow image-based or blob-style particles. To see the particles as they would appear in a final render, simply enable the Hi-Q checkbox.
View
DFX+ 4 709

Render <pRn>
This drop-down list provides options to determine the position of the camera view in the 3D space. The default option of Scene (Perspective) will render the particle system from the perspective of a virtual camera, the position of which can be modified using the controls in the Scene tab. The other options provide orthographic views of the front, top and side of the particle system. It is important to realize that the position of the on-screen controls for particle tools is unaffected by this control. On-screen controls are always drawn as if the Display View were showing the front orthographic view.
Image Tab
The controls in the Image tab of this tool determine the width, height and aspect of the image. Refer to the Creator tools Common Controls section of the manual for details on the use of these controls.
Controls Tab
Blur
This control applies a Gaussian Blur to the image as it is rendered, which can be used to soften the particles and blend them together. The end result is no different than adding a Blur after the pRender tool in the Flow.
Sub Frame Calculation Accuracy

This determines the number of sub-samples taken between frames when calculating the particle system. Higher values will increase the accuracy of the calculation, but also increase the amount of time taken to render the particle system.
DFX+ 4 710

Render <pRn>
Kill Particles That Leave The View

Selecting this checkbox control will automatically destroy any particles that leave the visible boundaries of the image. This can help to speed render times. Particles destroyed in this fashion will never return, regardless of any external forces acting upon them.
Pre-Generate Frames
This control is used to cause the particle system to pre-generate a set number of frames before its first valid frame. This is used to give a particle system an initial state from which to start. A good example of when this might be useful is in a shot where particles are used to create the smoke rising from a chimney. Pre-Generate Frames would be set to a number high enough to ensure that the smoke is already present in the scene before the render begins, rather than having it just starting to emerge from the emitter for the first few frames.
Generate Z Buffer
Selecting this checkbox will cause the pRender tool to produce a Z Buffer channel in the image. The depth of each particle is represented in the Z Buffer. This channel can then be used for additional depth operations like Depth Blur, Depth Fog, and Downstream Z Merging. Enabling this option is likely to increase the render times for the particle system dramatically.
Depth Merge Particles

Enabling this option will cause the particles to be merged together using Depth Merge techniques, rather than layer-based techniques.
Scene Tab
DFX+ 4 711

Render <pRn>
The controls in this tab are used to reposition the virtual camera in 3D space through rotation, translation and axis conversions. Zoom and perspective adjustments can also be made to the camera view. The default values are essentially identical to a front orthographic view. The transformations applied here do not affect the drawing of on-screen controls for particle tools (with the exception of the particle grid described below). Use the front orthographic view for an accurate display of on-screen controls in 3D Space. These controls can be animated.
Z Clip
The Z Clip control is used to set a clipping plane in front of the camera. Particles that cross this plane are clipped, preventing them from impacting on the virtual lens of the camera and dominating the scene.
Grid Tab
The Grid is a helpful, non-rendering display guide used to help orient the scene in 3D space. The grid is never seen in renders, just like a center crosshair is never seen in a render. The width, depth, number of lines and grid color can be set using the controls found in this tab. These controls cannot be animated.
DFX+ 4 712

Avoid <pAv>
AVOID <PAV>
The Particle Avoid tool is used to create a region or area within the image that affected particles will attempt to avoid entering and/or crossing. It has two primary controls; one that determines the distance from the region a particle should be before it begins to move away from the region, and another to determine how strongly the particle moves away from the region.
DFX+ 4 713

Bounce <pBn>
A pAvoid tool creates a desire in a particle to move away from a specific region. If the velocity of the particle is stronger than the combined distance and strength of the pAvoid region, the particles desire to Avoid the region will not overcome its momentum and the particle will cross that region anyway.
BOUNCE <PBN>
The Particle Bounce tool is used to create a region from which affected particles will bounce away when they come into contact with the region. The Bounce tool has three main controls, as described below.
DFX+ 4 714

Bounce <pBn>
Elasticity
Elasticity affects the strength of a bounce, or how much velocity the particle will have remaining after impacting upon the Bounce region. A value of 1.0 would cause the particle to possess the same velocity after the bounce as it had entering the bounce. A value of 0.1 would cause the particle to lose 90% of its velocity upon bouncing off of the region. The range of this control is 0.0 to 1.0 by default, but greater values can be entered manually. This will cause the particles to gain momentum after an impact, rather than lose it. Negative values will be accepted, but do not produce a useful result.
Variance
DFX+ 4 715

Change Style <pCS>
By default, particles that strike the Bounce region will reflect evenly off of the edge of the Bounce region, according to the vector or angle of the region. Increasing the Variance above 0.0 will introduce a degree of variation to that angle of reflection. This can be used to simulate the effect of a rougher surface.
Spin
By default, particles that strike the region will not have their angle or orientation affected in any way. Increasing or decreasing the Spin value will cause the Bounce region to impart a spin to the particle based on the angle of collision, or to modify any existing spin on the particle. Positive values will impart a forward spin, while negative values impart a backward spin. The larger the value, the faster the spin applied to the particle will be.
CHANGE STYLE <PCS>

The Particle Change Style tool provides a mechanism for changing the appearance or style of particles that interact with a defined region.
DFX+ 4 716

Change Style <pCS>
The primary controls in this tool perfectly mirror those found in the Style tab of the pEmitter tool. Particles that intersect or enter the region defined for this tool will change to the new style selected in the Change Style tool. With the possible exception of the pCustom tool, this is the only tool that modifies the appearance of a particle, rather than its motion. It is often used to cause the appearance of the particle to change in response to some event, like striking a barrier.
When using the pChangeStyle tool in this fashion, it would be natural to assume that the pCS tool should be placed after the tool causing the event. As an example, consider the creation of a particle system that appears to change its style after bouncing off of a pBounce line region, as pictured below. In this case, the pChangeStyle tool also uses a line region, positioned identically to the one in the pBounce tool.
In the example described, placing the pBounce before the pChangeStyle in your flow causes the particles to bounce off of the region before the pChangeStyle gets an opportunity to calculate its affect on the particle.
DFX+ 4 717

pCustom <pCu>
The result is that the particle is no longer intersecting with the pChangeStyle tools region, and so the style never changes.
As a rule, to create a change in style that appears to be caused by a physical event created by another modifier tool in the Flow, the pChangeStyle tool must be placed before that tool for the effect to work properly.
PCUSTOM
<PCU>
The pCustom tool is used to create custom expressions that affect the properties of particles. This tool is almost identical to the Custom tool as described in the Miscellaneous Tools chapter, except that the calculations affect properties of the particles rather than the properties of a pixel. The following particle properties are exposed to the pCustom control : px py pz (position) vx vy vz (velocity) rx ry rz (rotation/angle) sx sy sz (spin)
DFX+ 4 718

pCustom <pCu>
pxi1, pyi1 (2D position corrected for image 1s aspect) pxi2, pyi2 (2D position corrected for image 2s aspect) mass (not currently used by anything) size r g b a (colors) rgnhit (1 means region has been hit) rgndist (distance from region) rgnix rgniy rgniz (region hit point) rgnnx rgnny rgnnz (region surface normal at hit point) w1 h1 (image 1 width/height) w2 h2 (image 1 width/height) i1 i2 i3 i4 (intermediates) s1 s2 s3 s4 (setups) n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 n7 n8 p1x p1y p2x p2y p3x p3y p4x p4y time (current frame) age (particle age) lifespan (particles lifespan) Additional information on the custom class of tools can be found in documentation for the Custom tool. All of the operators, functions and conditional statements described for that tool apply to pCustom as well. The pCustom tool is an incredibly powerful tool for solving problems, but its complexity can be somewhat overwhelming at first.
DFX+ 4 719

Directional Force <pDF>
DIRECTIONAL FORCE <PDF>
This tool applies a uni-directional force that pulls the affected particles in a specified direction. Its primary controls affect the strength of the force, and the angle of the forces pull along the X, Y and Z axis.
As the most common use of this tool is to simulate gravity, the default direction of the pull is down along the Y Axis (-90 degrees) and the default behavior is to ignore regions and affect all particles.
DFX+ 4 720

Flocking <pFl>
FLOCKING <PFL>
Particle Flocking is a mechanism that can be used to simulate the behavior of organic systems, such as a flock of birds or a colony of ants. Its use can make an otherwise mindless particle system appear to be motivated, or acting under the direction of intelligence. Flocking works through two basic principles. Each particle attempts to stay close to other particles and each particle attempts to maintain a minimum distance from other particles. The strength of these desires produces the seemingly motivated behavior perceived by the viewer.
The following five parameters control the behavior of the Flocking system.
DFX+ 4 721

Flocking <pFl>
Flock Number
The value of this control represents the number of other particles that the affected particle will attempt to follow. The higher the value, the more visible clumping will appear to be in the particle system, and the larger the groups of particles will appear to be.
Follow Strength
This value represents the strength of each particles desire to follow other particles. Higher values will cause the particle to appear to expend more energy and effort to follow other particles. Lower values increase the likelihood that a given particle will break away from the pack.
Attract Strength
This value represents the strength of attraction between particles. When a particle moves farther from other particles than the Maximum Space defined in the pFlock tool, it will attempt to move closer to other particles. Higher values cause the particle to maintain its spacing energetically, resolving conflicts in spacing more rapidly.
Repel Strength
This value represents the force applied to particles that get closer together than the distance defined by the Minimum Space control of the pFlock tool. Higher values will cause particles to move away from neighboring particles more rapidly, shooting away from the pack.
Minimum/Maximum Space
This range control represents the distance each particle attempts to maintain between it and other particles. Particles will attempt to get no closer or further than the space defined by the Minimum / Maximum values of this range control. Smaller ranges will give the appearance of more organized motion, while larger ranges will be perceived as disorganized and chaotic.
DFX+ 4 722

Friction <pFr>
FRICTION <PFR>
The Friction tool applies resistance to the motion of a particle, slowing the particles motion through a defined region. This tool produces two types of Friction. One type reduces the Velocity of any particle intersecting/crossing the defined region, and one reduces or eliminates Spin and rotation.
Velocity Friction
This value represents the Friction force applied to the particles Velocity. The larger the value, the greater the Friction, thus slowing down the particle.
Spin Friction
This value represents the Friction force applied to the particles rotation or Spin. The larger the value, the greater the friction, thus slowing down the rotation of the particle.
GRADIENT FORCE <PGF>
The Gradient Force control accepts two inputs, one from a particle system and one from a bitmap image. The particles are then affected by a Force generated by the Gradients in the alpha values of the input image. Particles will accelerate along the Gradient, moving from white to black (high values to low). DFX+ 4 723

Image Emitter <pIE>
This tool can be used to give particles the appearance of moving downhill, or of following the contour of a provided shape.
Gradient Force has only one specific control, it affects the strength of the force and acceleration applied to the particles. Negative values on this control will cause the Gradient Force to be applied from black to white (low values to high values).
IMAGE EMITTER <PIE>
DFX+ 4 724

Image Emitter <pIE>
The Image Emitter tool takes an input image and treats each pixel of the image as if it were a particle. Pixels with a black (transparent) alpha channel will not generate any particles. The main differences between the Image Emitter and the normal particle Emitter is that this tool takes a source input image, and does not require a region to be set up. The region is considered to be the entire frame.
In the example below, a source image of a 3D Helicopter has been used as the source for a pImageEmitter. The second image shows the same image with a pPointForce tool pulling on the particles. The vast majority of controls in this tool are identical to those found in the Emitter, and those controls are documented in that section of this chapter. Below are the descriptions of the controls unique to the pImageEmitter tool.
X And Y Density
The X and Y Density sliders are used to set the mapping of particles to pixels for each axis. They control the density of the sampling grid. A value of 1.0 for either slider indicates 1 sample per pixel. Smaller values will produce a looser, more pointilistic distribution of particles, while values above 1.0 will create multiple particles per pixel in the image.
Alpha Threshold
The Alpha Threshold is used for limiting particle generation so that pixels with semi-transparent alpha values will not produce particles. This can be used to harden the edges of an otherwise soft alpha channel. The higher the threshold value, the more opaque a pixel has to be before it will generate a particle. DFX+ 4 725

Kill <pKl>
Lock Particle Color To Initial Frame

Select this checkbox to force the particles to keep the color with which they were born throughout the life of the particle.
Use Z Channel For Particle Z

If the input image used to generate the particles has a Z Depth channel, that channel can be used to determine the initial position of the particle in Z space. This can have an interesting hollow shell effect when used in conjunction with camera rotation in the pRender tool.
KILL <PKL>
The Kill tool is used to destroy (kill) any particle that crosses or intersects its region. It has no specific controls, as it has only one possible affect on a particle. The Particle Common controls are normally used to restrict this control, by restricting the affect to particles which fall within a certain region, age, set, or by reducing the probability.
MERGE <PMG>
This tool has no controls whatsoever and does not even appear in the tool controls display area on the right side of the screen. It serves to combine particles from two streams. Any tools downstream of the Particle Merge tool will treat the two streams as one.
DFX+ 4 726

Point Force <pPf>
POINT FORCE <PPF>
This tool applies a force to the particles that emanates from a single point in 3D space. The Point Force can either attract or repel particles within its sphere of influence. There are four controls specific to the Point Force tool. DFX+ 4 727

Point Force <pPf>
Strength
This parameter sets the Strength of the force emitted by the tool. Positive values represent attractive forces and negative values represent repellent forces.
Power
This determines the degree to which the Strength of the force falls off over distance. A value of zero causes there to be no falloff of strength, while higher values will impose an ever-sharper falloff in strength of the force with distance.
Limit Force
The Limit Force control is used to counter balance potential problems with temporal sub-sampling. Because the position of a particle is only sampled once a frame (unless sub-sampling is increased in the pRender tool), it is possible that a particle can overshoot the Point Forces position and end up getting thrown off in the opposite direction. Increasing the value of this control reduces the likelihood that this will happen.
X, Y, Z Centre Position
These controls are used to represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the point force in 3D space.
DFX+ 4 728

Spawn <pSp>
SPAWN <PSP>
The Particle Spawn tool makes each affected particle act as an emitter that can produce one or more particles of its own. The original particle continues until the end of its own lifespan, and each of the particles it emits becomes wholly independent with a lifespan and properties of its own. As long as a particle falls under the affect of the Spawn tool, it will continue to generate particles. It is important to restrict the affect of the tool with limiters like Start And End Age, Probability, Sets and Regions, and by animating the parameters of the emitter so that the tool is operative only when required. The Spawn tool has a large number of controls, most of which exactly duplicate those found within the pEmitter tool. There are a few controls that are unique to the Spawn tool, and their effects are described below.
Affect Spawned Particles

Selecting this checkbox causes particles created by spawning to also become affected by the Spawn tool on subsequent frames. This can exponentially increase the number of particles in the system, driving render times up to an unreasonable degree. Use this checkbox cautiously.
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Tangent Force <pTF>
Velocity Transfer
This control determines how much velocity of the source particle is transferred to the particles it spawns. The default value of 1.0 causes each new particle to adopt 100 percent of the velocity and direction from its source particle. Lower values will transfer less of the original motion to the new particle. The remaining controls in this tool are identical to those in the pEmitter tool, in every respect. Consult the documentation for this tool to obtain information on their functions.
TANGENT FORCE <PTF>
This tool is used to apply a tangential force to the particles, a force that is applied perpendicularly to the vector between the Tangent Force emitter and the particle it is affecting. The controls for this tool are used to position the emitter in 3D space and to determine the strength of the tangential force along each axis independently.
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Turbulence <pTb>
TURBULENCE <PTB>
The Turbulence tool imposes a frequency-based chaos on the position of each particle, causing the motion to become unpredictable and uneven. The controls for this tool affect the strength of the Turbulence along each axis. They also control the density, or how tight, the wavelength of the turbulence affecting the particles. The strength control affects the amount of chaotic motion imparted to particles.
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Vortex <pVt>
VORTEX <PVT>
The Vortex tool applies a rotational force to each particle, causing them to be drawn toward the source of the Vortex. In addition to controls for positioning this control in 3D space, the Vortex tool has the following controls.
Strength
This control determines the Strength of the Vortex Force applied to each particle.
Power
This control determines the degree to which the strength of the Vortex Force falls off with distance.
Angle X And Y
These slider controls the amount of rotational force applied by the Vortex along the X and Y axis.
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38
THE TRACKER (MODULE 1)
INTRODUCTION
The Tracker tools and modifiers are only available when Module 1 (Visual Effects) is enabled for DFX+. The Tracker tool is used to detect and follow one or more pixel patterns across frames in moving video. The tracking data can then be used to control the position or values of other tools in the Flow (for example, the center of a Drip). Additionally, Trackers can be used to stabilize an image, or to apply de-stabilization to one image based on the motion of another. There is no limit to the number of trackers that can be used in one flow, or in the number of connections that can be made to a tracker. This chapter serves as a reference for the various controls in the Tracker, but we strongly suggest you read the more general information about using the tracker in the Tracking chapter. The Tracker can be employed in two forms; as a tool in the Flow, or as a modifier attached to a control. When the Tracker is used as a tool in the Flow, the image tracked comes from the input to the Tracker tool. There is no limit to the number of patterns that can be tracked by a single Tracker tool. When the Tracker is used as a modifier, its controls appear in the Modifier tab for any tool with a control connected to that modifier. Only one pattern can be tracked in by a Tracker Modifier, but the image source can come from anywhere in a flow. This technique is generally used when tracking a quick position for a control. DFX+ 4 733
THE TRACKER (MODULE 1) | 38

Display View
If you have used previous versions of DFX+, you will find that the Tracker in DFX+ 4 completely replaces the old Tracker, Corner Positioner and Stabilize tools. This one tool is now capable of everything these older tools did, and more.
DISPLAY VIEW
On-Screen Controls
Each pattern in the tracker has its own set of on-screen controls, used to select the pixels in the image to be tracked. These controls are visible in the display views whenever a tracker is selected in a flow. The on-screen control is indicated by a green rectangle with a handle in the top left corner. This rectangle indicates the position of the pattern in the image. Every pixel within the rectangle is considered to be part of the pattern used for tracking. Resize the pattern by clicking and dragging on the rectangles borders.
Whenever the mouse moves over the pattern rectangle, a second rectangle with a dashed outline appears. This represents the search area, which determines how far away from the current pattern the Tracker looks on the next frame. This should always be larger than the pattern, and it should be large enough to encompass the largest frame-to-frame movement in the scene.
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Display View
Faster moving objects require larger search areas and slower moving objects can get away with smaller search areas. The larger the search area, the longer it will take to track, so try not to make the search area larger than necessary. Clicking and dragging on the handle repositions the pattern. While you reposition the pattern, a thumbnail window with an enlarged view of the pattern is displayed in the views, to assist with precise positioning of the pattern. This thumbnail disappears when you release the mouse button.
If the selected tracker has a custom name, then the name of that tracker will be displayed as a label at the bottom right of the search area rectangle.
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Trackers Tab
TRACKERS TAB
Track Buttons
There are four buttons used to initiate tracking, and one in the middle used to stop a track in progress. These buttons can track the current pattern forward or backward in time. Hold the mouse pointer over each button for a moment and a tooltip with the name of the button will appear.
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Trackers Tab
The buttons operate as follows :
Track Reverse
Clicking on this button will cause all Active trackers to begin tracking their patterns, starting at the end of the render range and moving backward through time until the beginning of the render range.
Track Reverse From Current Time

Clicking on this button will cause all Active trackers to begin tracking their patterns, starting at the current frame and moving backward through time until the beginning of the render range.
Track Forward From Current Time

Clicking on this button will cause all Active trackers to begin tracking their patterns, starting at the current frame and moving forward through time until the end of the render range.
Track Forward
Clicking on this button will cause all Active trackers to begin tracking their patterns, starting at the first frame in the render range and moving forward through time until the end of the render range.
Frames Per Path Point

This value of the slider determines how often the Tracker sets a Keyframe on the Path. The normal default is 1, which sets a Keyframe on the tracked path at every frame. If the project is field rendered, a value of 1 sets a Keyframe on every frame. Increasing the value of this slider will cause the tracked path to be less accurate. This may be desirable if the track is returning fluctuating results, but under normal circumstances this control should be left at its default value.
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Trackers Tab
Sub-Pixel
Use this menu to set the Sub-Pixel accuracy of the trackers. The smaller the fraction, the more accurate the track will be, so a value of 1/256 is much more accurate than a value of 1/64. Higher settings, however, will take much longer to render, so this should not be set higher than necessary. The default value of 1/64 is sufficient for most scenarios.
Adaptive Mode
DFX+ is capable of re-acquiring the tracked pattern as needed, to help with complex tracks. This button array determines what mode of Adaptive tracking is employed.
None
If selected, DFX+ searches only for the pattern originally selected in each single frame.
Every Frame
If selected, DFX+ re-acquires the pattern every frame. This helps the tracker compensate for gradual changes in profile and lighting over time.
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Trackers Tab
Best Match
If selected, the Tracker will compare the pattern acquired at each frame and compare it to the original selected pattern. If the variation between the two patterns exceeds the threshold amount defined by the Match Tolerance control, DFX+ will not re-acquire the pattern on that frame. This helps to avoid tracker drift caused by transient artifacts that cross the patterns path (such as a shadow).
Path Center
The two buttons in this button array determine how the Tracker behaves when re-positioning a pattern. These controls are used when switching a path from one pattern to another, which happens when a pattern leaves the frame, or changes so significantly it can no longer be tracked. When Pattern Center is the Active mode, the tracked path continues from the center of the new path. This is appropriate when replacing an existing path entirely, but if you are trying to append to a path using a new pattern, this will cause a discontinuity. When Track Center (append) is selected, the path tracked by a new pattern will be appended to the existing path. The Path created is automatically offset by the required amount. This technique will work best if the new pattern is located close to the position of the old pattern to avoid any problems with parallax or lens distortion.
Tracker List
The Tracker List shows the names of all of the patterns created on this tracker. It is also used to add new trackers. The Tracker tool is capable of hosting a virtually unlimited number of tracker patterns. Click on the Add button immediately above the list to add a new tracker pattern. Each pattern appears in the list by name, next to a small checkbox. Clicking on the name of the pattern will select that pattern. The controls below the list will change to affect that pattern only. Click once on a selected pattern to rename the pattern to something more descriptive.
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Trackers Tab
Clicking on the checkbox changes the state of the Tracker. There are three states :
Enabled (Black Checkbox)

An Enabled pattern will re-track each time the track is initiated. Its path data is available for use by other tools, and the data is available for Stabilization and Corner Positioning.
Suspended (Grey Checkbox)

A Suspended pattern does not re-track when the track is initiated. The data is locked to prevent additional changes. The data from the Path is still available for other tools, and the data is available for advanced tracking modes like Stabilization and Corner Positioning.
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Trackers Tab
Disabled (Clear)
A Disabled pattern does not create a path when tracking is initialized, and its data is not available to other tools, or for advanced tracking operations like Stabilization and Corner Positioning.
Show
These two buttons determine what controls are displayed in the tool controls. They have no effect on the operation of the Tracker, they only affect the interface. When Selected Tracker Details is selected, the controls displayed pertain only to the currently selected tracker. You will have access to the Pattern Window and the Offset sliders. When All Trackers is selected, the pattern window for each of the trackers is displayed simultaneously below the Tracker List.
Pattern Display : Selected Pattern
Left Pattern
The Pattern Display has two image windows next to each other, and a series of status bars. The window on the left shows the pattern initially selected, while the one on the right shows a real-time display of the current pattern as tracking progresses. As you move the on-screen controls for a pattern, the display in the leftmost window will update to show the pattern. As the pattern is moved, the clarity and contrast of the image channels is indicated by the vertical bars immediately to the right of the image display. DFX+ 4 741

Trackers Tab
The channel, or channels, with the best clarity are automatically selected for tracking. These channels have a white background in the vertical bar representing that channel. You can allow the automatic tracking to stand, or you can override the automatic selection and choose the channel used for tracking yourself by disabling the button labelled with a question mark, and selecting the button beneath the channel to track. Under normal circumstances, the channel selected is indicated in the Pattern Display. If the selected channel is blue, then a greyscale representation of the blue channel for the pattern appears. The image is only represented in full color if all three channels are selected for tracking. You can override this behavior by selecting the Show Full Color button beneath the Pattern Display, instead of the Show Selected Channel button.
Right Pattern Display

The Pattern Display on the right indicates the actual pattern acquired for tracking. This display is clear until the first time you actually track the selected pattern. The Pattern Display becomes active during tracking, displaying the pattern that DFX+ acquires from frame to frame. As the tracking occurs, the pattern from each frame is accumulated into a Flipbook, which can be played back in the pattern window after tracking by using the transport controls at the bottom of the window. While the track is progressing, the vertical bar immediately to the right of the pattern shows how confident DFX+ is that the current pattern matches the originally selected pattern. A green bar indicates a high degree of confidence that the current pattern matches the original. A yellow bar indicates less certainty, and a red bar indicates that DFX+ has detected extreme variations in the current pattern, and is no longer certain of its accuracy.
Pattern Width And Height
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Trackers Tab
These controls allow you to adjust the width and height of the selected tracker pattern manually. The size of the tracker pattern can also be adjusted in the Display View, which is the normal method, but small adjustments are often easier to accomplish with the precision of manual controls.
Search Width And Height
The search area defines how far DFX+ will look in the image from frame to frame to re-acquire the pattern during tracking. As with the Pattern Width and Height, the Search Area can be adjusted in the display views, but you may want to make small adjustments manually using these controls.
Tracked Center
This positional control indicates the position of the trackers center. To remove a path from a tracker pattern, right-click on this control and select Remove Path from the context menu.
X And Y Offset
You will often need to track the position of an object in the scene, but that object does not provide for a very reliable pattern. The Offsets permit you to track something close to the intended object instead. Use these Offsets to adjust the reported position of the Tracker so that the data is reported for the intended pattern instead of the actual one.
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Operation Tab
OPERATION TAB
The Tracker tool is capable of performing a wide variety of functions, from match moving an object into a moving scene, smoothing out in a shaky camera movement, or replacing the content of a sign. The options and buttons in the Operation tab allow you to select the function performed by the Tracker tool.
Operation Buttons
These four buttons select the exact function performed by the Tracker. The remaining controls in this tab fine tune the result of the Operation.
None
The Tracker performs no additional operation on the image beyond simply locating and tracking the chosen pattern. This is the default mode, used to create a path that will then drive another control in DFX+.
(Un)stabilize
This mode is used when stabilizing an image, or when matching the position, rotation and scaling of the layer for match moving another element into the scene. Stabilizing requires a minimum of one tracker to determine position, and two or more to determine scaling and rotation in the sequence.
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Operation Tab
Corner Positioning
The Corner Positioning mode is used to track the four corners of a rectangular object, and replace the contents with a new image. A minimum of four trackers is required for this mode, and if there are not enough trackers, new ones will be created until the total equals four.
Perspective Positioning
This mode is similar to the Corner Positioner but, rather than replacing the contents of the rectangle, the four tracked corners are mapped to the four corners of the image. This is generally used to remove Perspective from an image. Like the Corner Positioner, this mode requires four trackers, which will be created if there are not already that many.
Stabilize Settings
The Tracker tool automatically outputs several steady and unsteady position outputs to which other controls in the Flow can be connected. The Stable Position output provides X and Y coordinates to match or reverse motion in a sequence. These controls are available even when the operation is not set to (Un)Stabilize, since the Stable Position output is always available for connection to other tools. See the chapter on Tracking earlier in this manual for details.
Axis Type (Stabilize Setting)
Under virtually all circumstances, the axis for any stabilization should be the average position of all trackers on that frame, however, the rare occasion arises when the trackers axis must be elsewhere. This array of buttons allows for the selection of an axis for the Stabilization based on the position of a single tracker, or a manual position.
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Operation Tab
Reference (Stabilize Setting)
The Reference controls are used to set the snapshot frame for Stabilization. When you stabilize an image, there must be a position that is considered correct, to which all subsequent movement is detected, and corrected.
Select Time
The Select Time Reference mode determines the snapshot frame based on the frame where the pattern is first selected. All Stabilization is intended to return the image back to that reference.
Start
The snapshot frame is determined to be the first frame in the tracked path. All Stabilization is intended to return the image back to that reference.
Start And End

The Start and End Reference mode is somewhat different from all other Reference modes. Where the others are intended to take a snapshot frame to which all stabilization returns, immobilizing the image, the Start and End mode is intended to smooth existing motion, without removing it. This mode averages the motion between the Start and End of the path, drawing a straight line between those points. When this mode is Active, it reveals the Reference Intermediate Points control. Increasing the value of this control increases the number of points in the path used by the Reference, smoothing the motion from a straight line between start and end without making it wholly linear.
End
The snapshot frame is determined to be the last frame in the tracked path. All Stabilization is intended to return the image back to that Reference.
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Operation Tab
Merge
The Merge control determines what is done (if anything) with the image provided to the foreground input of the Tracker. This array of buttons appears when the operation is set to anything other than None.
BG Only
The foreground input is ignored, only the Background is affected. This is used primarily when Stabilizing an image sequence.
FG Only
The Foreground input is transformed to match the movement in the background, and this transformed image is passed through the Trackers output. This Merge technique is used when match moving one layers motion to anothers.
FG Over BG
The Foreground image is merged over the Background image, using the Merge method described by the Apply Mode control that appears.
BG Over FG
The Background is merged over the Foreground. This technique is often used when tracking a layer with an Alpha channel so that a more static background can be applied behind it.
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Operation Tab
Apply Mode
This drop-down menu provides a variety of options to determine how the two layers should be combined. The options in this menu are explained in more detail in the reference chapter for the Merge tool.
Subtractive - Additive
This determines whether the foreground layer is placed over the background in using Additive or Subtractive merging techniques. This control is explained in more detail in the documentation for the Merge tool.
Edges {(Un)stabilize}
This button array only appears if the Operation mode is set to (Un)Stabilize. The various options select how the revealed edges are handled when the image is moved to match position and scaling.
Black Edges
Out of frame edges revealed by Stabilization are left black.
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Operation Tab
Wrap
Portions of the image moved off frame to one side are used to fill edges that are revealed on the opposite side.
Duplicate
The last valid pixel on an edge is repeated to the edge of the frame.
Position, Rotation, And Scaling Checkboxes {(un)stabilize}

The Position, Rotation and Scaling checkboxes only appear when the mode is set to (Un)Stabilize. They determine what components of motion that stabilization will attempt to correct in the image. For example, if only the Position checkbox is selected, no attempt will be made to correct for Rotation and Scaling in the image.
Flatten Transformation {(Un)stabilize}

This checkbox only appears when the mode is set to (Un)Stabilize. Like most transformations in DFX+, Stabilization is concatenated with other sequential transformations by default. Selecting this checkbox will flatten the transform, breaking any concatenation taking place and applying the transform immediately.
Mapping Type [Corner Positioner]
The Mapping Type control only appears in the Corner Positioning mode. There are two options in the button array. The first method is Bi-Linear where the FG image is mapped into the BG without any attempt to correct for perspective distortion.
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Operation Tab
This is identical to how previous versions of DFX+ operated, and the Classic mode is included pretty much for compatibility reasons only. The preferred setting for this control is True Perspective.
Corner Selector [Corner And Perspective Positioner]
When the operation of the Tracker is set to either Corner or Perspective Positioner modes, these four drop-down menus appear. They are used to select which trackers map to each of the four corners of the rectangle used by these modes. This is useful when a tracker has more than four patterns selected, and you must choose which are used by the positioners.
Rotate Buttons [Corner And Perspective Positioner]
These controls only appear when the operation of the Tracker is set to either Corner or Perspective Positioner modes. They are used to rotate the FG image by 90 degrees before it is applied to the BG.
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39
TRANSFORM TOOLS
CAMERA SHAKE TOOL (MODULE 1)
Use this tool to simulate a variety of Camera Shake style motions using a frequency generator and some randomization. It is not the same as the Shake Modifier, which generates random number values. See the Connections and Modifiers chapter for more information.
Camera Shake Controls Tab
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TRANSFORM TOOLS | 39
Camera Shake Tool (Module 1)
Deviation X And Y
This determineS the amount of shake in the horizontal and vertical axis. Values between 0.0 and 1.0 are permitted. A value of 1.0 generates shake positions anywhere within the boundaries of the image.
Rotation Deviation
This determines the amount of shake applied to the rotational axis. Values between 0.0 and 1.0 are permitted.
Randomness
Higher values in this control cause the movement of the shake to be more irregular, while smaller values cause the movement to be more predictable.
Overall Strength
Adjusts the general amplitude of all the parameters and blends the effect in and out. A value of 1.0 applies the effect as described by the remainder of the controls.
Speed
Speed controls the frequency, or rate, of the shake.
Frequency Method
This selects the overall shape of the shake. Available frequencies are Sine, Rectified Sine and Square Wave.
Edges
This determines how the Edges of the image are treated.
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Camera Shake Tool (Module 1)
Black Wrap Duplicate
Causes the edges that are revealed by the shake to be black. Causes the edges to wrap around (the top is wrapped to the bottom, the left is wrapped to the right, etc.). Causes the Edges to be duplicated causing a slight smearing effect.
Invert Transform
Select this control to Invert any position, rotation or scaling transformation. This option is useful when exactly removing the motion produced in an upstream Camera Shake.
Flatten Transform
The Flatten Transform option prevents this tool from concatenating its transformation with adjacent tools. The tool may still concatenate transforms from its input but it will not concatenate its transformation with the tool at its output. See the Transformations chapter earlier in this manual for details on concatenated transformation.
Example
Below is a simple example of how to achieve the shaky text effect. 1 2 Start a new flow and add a Text tool with medium size text. Connect the output of the Text tool to the input of a Camera Shake tool (located in the main Tools/Transform menu). Remember that you can always add tools to your toolbar and bins by the options in their respective context menus. Activate View and expand the Camera Shake tools controls. The default settings are quite good as a starting point, so reset to default settings if required. Set the Current Frame to frame 0. Animate the Overall Strength parameter by right-clicking and selecting the Bezier Spline option. Set the Overall Strength value to 0.0. Advance to frame 9 and set the Overall Strength value to 0.75.
3 4 5 6 7 8
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Crop Tool
Advance to frame 49 and set a key frame for the Overall Strength to 0.75.
10 Advance to frame 59 and set the Overall Strength value to 0.0. 11 Open the Camera Shake tools common controls Tab by clicking on the trefoil symbol in the controls. 12 Enable the tools Motion Blur by checking (clicking on) the Motion Blur checkbox. 13 Set the Motion Blur Quality value to 5 for smoother results. 14 Set the Render Range to start at 0 and end at 59. 15 Create a Flipbook preview (note the size available according to your available memory). Remember that all of the nice detail will only show up if you enable the HiQ Preview option. Experimenting with the various parameters will produce different results. Increasing the Randomness and Deviation values can create some pretty violent results. See also Shake Position in the Connections And Modifiers chapter.
CROP TOOL
Use the Crop tool to cut out an area from an image or to offset the image into a larger image area. This tool actually changes the resolution of the image, and should not be animated under normal circumstances. It is possible to crop an image in the view by viewing the upstream tool and selecting a region with the mouse.
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Crop Tool
Cropping tab
Offset X And Y
These controls position the top left corner of the cropping window. Values larger than the actual resolution of the cropped image cause it to disappear off the edges of the output image. Values below 0 will push the input image toward the bottom right of the result. The values of these controls are measured in pixels.
Size X And Y
Use this control to set the vertical and horizontal resolution of the image output by the Crop tool. The values of these controls are measured in pixels.
Keep Aspect
When toggled on, the Crop tool maintains the aspect of the input (original) image.
Keep Centered
When toggled on, the Crop tool automatically adjusts the X and Y Offset controls to keep the image centered.
Reset Size
Resets the image dimensions to the Size of the input image.
Reset Offset
Resets the X and Y Offsets to their defaults. DFX+ 4 755
DVE Tool
Change Pixel Aspect

Enable this checkbox to reveal a Pixel Aspect control that can be used to change the pixel aspect that the image is considered to have. See the Frame Formats chapter for details on how pixel aspect operates in DFX+.
Auto Cropping Tab
RGBA Color Channels

Select which channels are examined for an Auto Crop. This is useful for auto cropping images with non-solid backgrounds in a specific color channel, (like a blue color gradient). Toggling the channel off causes Auto Crop to ignore it when evaluating the image.
Auto Crop
This evaluates the image and attempts to determine the color of the background. It then crops each side of the image to the first pixel that is not this color.
DVE TOOL
The DVE tool is a 3D-image transformation similar to tools found in an online edit suite. The tool encompasses image rotations, perspective changes and Z moves. You can define the axis for all transformations.
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DVE Tool
Settings Tab
Axis X And Y
Position the axis of rotation and scaling. The default is 0.5 0.5, which is in the center of the image. For ease of use, view the input image of the DVE (the tool previous to it) while adjusting the axis location.
XYZ Rotation
This rotates the image around the X axis, Y axis or Z axis.
Center X And Y
This positions the center of the DVE image on screen. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which positions the DVE in the center of the image.
Z Move
This zooms the image in and out along the Z axis. Visually, when this control is animated, the effect is similar to watching an object approach from a distance.
Perspective
This adds additional Perspective to an image rotated along the X or Y axis.
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DVE Tool
Masking Tab
The DVE tool allows pre-masking of its input image. This offers the ability to create transformations from the masked area of the image while leaving the remainder of the image unaffected. Unlike regular effect masking, the transformation occurs after the masking process. To use this feature, select and view the DVE tool. Right-click on the view and select DVE Mask from the context menu. All of the usual mask shapes can be applied to the DVE Mask as well.
Black Background
Toggle this on to erase the area around the Mask from the DVEs input.
Fill Black
Toggle this on to erase the area within the Mask from the DVEs input.
Alpha Mode
This determines how the DVE will handle the alpha channel of the image. Ignore Alpha Subtractive Additive Causes the input images alpha channel to be ignored. Causes the internal merge of the pre-masked image over the input image to be subtractive. Causes the internal merge of the pre-masked image over the input image to be additive.
For more information on Subtractive and Additive merges, see the Merge tool in the Composite Tools chapter.
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Letterbox Tool (Module 1)
LETTERBOX TOOL (MODULE 1)
This tool enables you to adapt existing images to the frame size and aspect ratios of any other format. The most common use of this tool is to adapt film resolution images to NTSC or PAL sized frames for viewing on an external television monitor.
Letterbox Controls Tab
Horizontal or vertical black edges are automatically added where necessary to compensate for aspect ratio differences. Place the pointer on the Aspect X or Y control, and press the right mouse button to display a menu with available frame formats. Select any one of the choices from the menu to set the Height, Width and Aspect controls automatically, or enter the required information manually.
Width And Height

The values of these controls determine the size of the output image as measured in pixels.
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Resize Tool
Pixel Aspect X And Y

The values of these controls determine the Pixel Aspect Ratio of the output image.
Center X And Y
This center control repositions the image window when used in conjunction with Pan and Scan mode. It has no effect on the image when the tool is set to Letterbox mode.
Mode
This control is used to determine the Letterbox tools mode of operation. Letterbox/Envelope Corrects the aspect of the input image and resizes it to match the specified width. Pan-and-Scan Corrects the aspect of the input image and resizes it to match the specified height. If the resized input image is wider than the specified width, the center control can be used to animate the visible portion of the resized input.
RESIZE TOOL
Use the Resize tool to increase or decrease the resolution of an input image. This is useful for converting images from one format to another (for example, from film to video resolution).
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Resize Tool
Resize Controls Tab
Width
This designates the new resolution in the X axis.
Height
This designates the new resolution in the Y axis.
Keep Aspect
When toggled on, the Resize tool maintains the aspect of the original image.
Change Pixel Aspect

Enable this checkbox to reveal a Pixel Aspect control that can be used to change the pixel aspect that the image is considered to have. See the Frame Formats chapter for details on how pixel aspect operates in DFX+.
Reset Size
Reset the image dimensions to the original size of the image.
Filter Method
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Resize Tool
Select the algorithm used to resize the image. Nearest Neighbor Skips or duplicates pixels as needed. This produces the fastest but crudest results. Bi-Linear Bi-Cubic B-Spline Uses a simplistic filter, which produces relatively clean and fast results. Uses a filter, which produces a nominal result. It offers a good compromise between speed and quality. Produces better results with continuous tone images but is slower than Bi-Cubic. If the images have fine detail in them, the results may be blurrier than desired. Produces good results with continuous tone images which are resized down. Produces sharp results with finely detailed images. Very similar in speed and quality to Bi-Cubic. Similar to Catmull-Rom but produces better results with finely detailed images. It is slower than Catmull-Rom. Very similar to Mitchell and Catmull-Rom but is a little cleaner and also slower. An advanced filter that produces very sharp, detailed results, however, it may produce visible ringing in some situations. Optimizations in version 4 have made this filter significantly faster than in the past. Similar to the Sinc filter but may be slightly faster.
Catmull-Rom
Gaussian Mitchell Lanczos Sinc
Bessel
Window Method
Selects the Windowing method for the Sinc and Bessel filters. These shapes limit the filters sample size to reduce the processing speed and ringing effects.
Note
Most of the Resize tools filters are useful only when making an image larger. When shrinking images, it is common to use the Bi-Linear filter, however, the Catmull-Rom filter will produce sharper results. Because this tool changes the physical resolution of the image, we do not normally advise animating the controls.
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Transform Tool
TRANSFORM TOOL
Use the Transform tool to move, rotate and scale an image or element along a user-selected axis. You can also modify aspect values using this tool. The Transform tool is capable of concatenating its process with other transformation style tools. This collects the transformations applied by immediately adjacent tools into one operation rather than several. Consult the Transformations chapter of this manual for details.
Transform Controls Tab
Flip Horizontal And Vertical

Toggle this control on to flip the image in the X or Y axis.
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Transform Tool
Edges
Determine how the edges of the image will be treated. Black Wrap Causes the edges of the image that are revealed to be black. Wraps the edges of the image around the borders of the image. This is useful for "seamless" images to be panned creating an endless moving background image. Causes the edges of the image to be duplicated as best as possible, continuing the image beyond its original size.
Duplicate
Center X And Y
This sets the position of the image on the screen. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which places the image in the center of the screen.
Axis X And Y
This positions the axis of rotation and scaling. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which is the center of the image. For ease of use, it is often useful to view the input image of the Transform (the tool that sends the image to the transform), while adjusting the axis position.
Use Size And Aspect

This checkbox determines whether the Transform tool provides independent Size controls for the X and Y axis, or if Size and Aspect controls are used.
Size
This modifies the Size, or scale, of the image. Values range from 0 to 5, but any value greater than zero can be entered into the edit box. If the Use Size And Aspect checkbox is selected, this control will scale the image equally along both axis. If the Use Size And Aspect option is off, independent control is provided for X and Y.
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Transform Tool
Aspect
This control changes the Aspect Ratio of an image. Setting the value above 1.0 stretches the image along the X axis. Values between 0.0 and 1.0 stretch the image along the Y axis. This control is available only when the Use Size And Aspect checkbox is enabled.
Angle
This control rotates the image around the axis. Increasing the Angle rotates the image in a counter-clockwise direction. Decreasing the Angle rotates the image in a clockwise direction.
Invert Transform
Select this control to Invert any position, rotation or scaling transformation. This option is useful when connecting the Transform to the position of a tracker for the purpose of re-introducing motion back into a stabilized image.
Flatten Transform
The Flatten Transform option prevents this tool from concatenating its transformation with adjacent tools. The tool may still concatenate transforms from its input but it will not concatenate its transformation with the tool at its output. See the Transformations chapter earlier in this manual for details on concatenated transformation.
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WARP TOOLS
COORDINATE SPACE TOOL
The Coordinate Space tool changes the coordinate space of the image at its input from Rectangular to Polar or from Polar to Rectangular.
Coordinate Space Controls Tab
Shape
Select between Rectangular to Polar and Polar to Rectangular. Consider the following example to demonstrate the two coordinate spaces.
Example
To demonstrate a basic tunnel effect that can be achieved with this tool, create some text and animate it to move along a path from the top of the frame to the bottom. Connect the output of the Text to a Coordinate Space tool. Select Polar to Rectangular from the Shape menu of the Coordinate Space tool. As the text moves from top to bottom along the original path, it will appear to move from an infinite distance in the Coordinate Space tool. It may be necessary to flip the text using the Transform (Xf) tool to make it appear the correct way in the Coordinate Space tool. DFX+ 4 767
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Corner Positioner Tool
Another common use for the Coordinate Space tool is to use it in pairs, two of them set to different Shape settings with a Warp or Transform effect in between. When used in this way, the effect gets modified while the image remains the same.
CORNER POSITIONER TOOL
The Corner Positioner allows you to interactively position the four corners of an image. You would typically use this to replace a sign or other rectangular portion of a scene. Connect all corners to Paths or Trackers for animation purposes.
Controls Tab
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Deform Tool
Projection Type
This determines the method used to project the perspective caused by the Corner Positioner. The preferred method is True Perspective but the Classic method is preserved for compatibility with older flows.
Corners X And Y
There are four points in the Corner Positioner. You can click and drag these around to position each corner of the image interactively. You can attach these control points to any of the usual modifiers. The image input will be deformed and perspective corrected to match the position of the four corners.
DEFORM TOOL
Deform uses one sequence of images to deform or refract another. The varying Luminance levels in the foreground image are used to control the deformation of the background image and create a realistic-looking refraction effect. Use the Deform tool to create predator-type effects where the image is displaced by someone or something moving through it. Use Deform in conjunction with Drip to create the effect of a de-cloaking spacecraft.
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Dent Tool
Center X And Y
Use this control to adjust the overall direction of the deformation.
Channel
These buttons are used to determine what channel from the second image is used to control the deformation. Select from Red, Green, Blue, Alpha and Luminance channels.
Strength
Increase this control to raise the index of refraction or strength of the deformation.
DENT TOOL
The Dent function creates a circular deformation of an image similar to a fish eye lens effect, with the choice of six different Dent filters.
Controls Tab
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Dent Tool
Type
Select the type of Dent filter to use from this menu. All parameters for Dent are animatable
Dent 1 Kaleidoscope Dent 2 Dent 3 Cosine Dent Sine Dent
Creates a bulge dent. Creates a dent, mirrors, and inverts it. Creates a displacement dent. Creates a deform dent. Creates a fracture to a center point. Creates a smooth rounded dent.
Center X And Y
This positions the Center of the Dent effect on the image. The default values are 0.5, 0.5, which center the effect in the image.
Size
This changes the Size of the area affected by the dent. Animate this slider to make the Dent grow.
Strength
This changes the overall Strength of the Dent.
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Displace Tool
DISPLACE TOOL
This tool uses one image to Displace, or refract, another image. This is useful for creating a vast range of effects from bevels to glass and water effects.
Controls Tab
Center X And Y
Use this control to modify the overall direction of the refraction map.
Channel
Use this control to select the Channel from the refraction input image to be used. Select from Color, Red, Green, Blue, Alpha or Luminance channels.
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Displace Tool
Refraction Strength
Controls the strength of the refraction. Higher values cause stronger or more pronounced refraction.
Light Power
Controls the intensity or strength of the simulated light. This causes bright and dim areas to form according to the contour of the refraction image. Higher values cause the bright and dim areas to be more pronounced.
Light Angle
Sets the angle of the simulated light source.
Spread
Widens the displacement effect and takes the edge off the refraction map. Higher values cause the ridges or edges spread out.
Light Channel
Select the channel from the refraction image that will be used as the simulated light source. Select from Color, Red, Green, Blue, Alpha or Luminance channels.
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Drip Tool
DRIP TOOL
The Drip function creates a ripple effect over the entire image, which has the potential to animate outward from a central source. There are a variety of different Drip effects from which to choose.
Controls Tab
Shape
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Drip Tool
Use this control to select the shape of the Drip. Circular Square Random Horizontal Vertical Exponential Creates circular ripples. This is the default Drip mode. Creates even-sided quadrilateral drips. Creates randomly dispersed noise that distorts your image. Similar to a particle effect. Creates horizontal waves that move in one direction. Creates vertical waves that move in one direction. Creates a Drip effect that looks like a diamond shape with inverted, curved sides (an exponential curve flipped and mirrored). Creates an eight-way symmetrical star-shaped ripple that acts like a kaleidoscope when the phase is animated. Creates a star-shaped ripple that emits from a fixed pattern.
Star Radial
Center X And Y
Use this control to position the center of the Drip effect in the image. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which centers the effect in the image.
Aspect
Control the Aspect Ratio of the various drip shapes. A value of 1.0 causes the shapes to be symmetrical. Smaller values cause the shape to be taller and narrower, while larger values cause shorter and wider shapes.
Amplitude
The Amplitude of the Drip effect refers to the peak height of each ripple. Use the slider to change the amount of distortion the Drip applies to the image. A value of 0.0 gives all ripples no height and, therefore, makes the effect transparent. A maximum amplitude of 10 makes each ripple extremely visible and completely distorts the image. Higher numbers can be entered via the text entry boxes.
Dampening
Controls the Dampening, or falloff, of the Amplitude as it moves away from the center of the effect. It can be used to limit the size or area affected by Drip. DFX+ 4 775
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Grid Warp Tool (Module 4)
Frequency
This changes the number of ripples emanating from the center of the Drip effect. A value of 0.0 indicates that there will be no ripples. Move the slider up to a value of 100, to correspond with the density of desired ripples.
Phase
This controls the offset of the frequencies from the center. Animate the Phase value to make the ripple emanate from the center of the effect.
GRID WARP TOOL (MODULE 4)
The Grid Warp tool is a simple 2D deformation grid with flexible vertices. This tool has its own chapter earlier in this manual, titled Grid Warp. Please consult that chapter for details on the tools operation.
PERSPECTIVE POSITIONER TOOL (MODULE 1)
The Perspective Positioner is the complementary tool to the Corner Positioner tool. By positioning corner points on an image and moving them, it is possible to remove the perspective from an image.
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Vortex Tool
This function can also be used to wobble and warp the image by animating the points over time.
Controls Tab
Corners X And Y
There are the four control points of the Perspective Positioner. You can interactively drag these in the views to position each corner of the image.
VORTEX TOOL
The Vortex effect appears as a swirling whirlpool in specified regions of the image. The Vortex can be made move and grow by animating the various controls.
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Vortex Tool
Controls Tab
Center X And Y
This control is used to position the center of the Vortex effect on the image. The default is 0.5, 0.5, which positions the effect in the center of the image.
Size
Change the area effected by the Vortex in the display window by dragging the circumference of the effect or by using the Size slider.
Angle
Drag the rotation handle on the display or use the screw control to change the amount of rotations in the Vortex. The higher the angle value the greater the swirling effect.
Power
Increasing the Power slider makes the Vortex smaller but tighter. It effectively concentrates it inside the given image area.
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A PPENDIX A : SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS

DFX+ supports a wide range of file formats for both loading and saving images. Images can easily be converted from one format to another or to several formats simultaneously.
LOADER FILE FORMATS

New formats are being added all the time. If there is a specific file format that is not supported, contact eyeon Software technical support to request it.
File Name
I-PLUS (DOS) Accom / Abekas Images Amiga Interchange File Format Audio Video Interleave Bitmap Cineon Film Image Digital Picture Exchange Digital Video Movie (Truevision) DirectShow Formats dpsReality, dpsQuattrus (Leitch / DPS) Maya Images (Alias|Wavefront) Digital Fusion Stamp Image Digital Fusion Tutorial File
Extension
.IPL .YUV .IFF, .ILBM, .ILM, .LBM .AVI .BMP .CIN .DPX .DVM .MPEG, .ASF, .AVI, .MPE, .MPG .DPS .IFF .STM .DFT DFX+ 4 779
APPENDIX A : SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS A

Loader File Formats
Flexible Precision Image Format Graphic Interchange Format requires Quicktime 3 High Dynamic Range Images Hollywood (Leitch/DPS) Image File List Joint Pictures Export Group Open Media Format (AVID) Perception, Perception RT (Leitch/DPS) Photoshop Image (Adobe) PIC Images (Softimage) PIX Images (Alias|Wavefront ) Portable Network Graphics requires QuickTime 3 Quantel QuickTime Movie requires Quicktime 3 QuickDraw PICT requires Quicktime 3 Rendition Files Rich Pixel Format (Discreet) SDStation Pro SGI Sun Raster Files Tape Archives Targa Image File Tagged Image File Video Toaster (NewTek) DFX+ 4 780
.FLX
.GIF .HDR, HDRI .HVD .IFL .JPG, .JPEG .OMF .PVD, .PST .PSD .PIC, Zpic .PIX
.PNG .VPB
.MOV
.PCT .6RN .RPF, .RLA .DVS .SGI, .RGB, .RGBA, .BW, .S16 .RAS .TAR .TGA .TIF, .TIFF, .TIF16 .RVD
B
GENERAL
A PPENDIX B : KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
CTRL+N CTRL+O CTRL+S CTRL+Z CTRL+Y CTRL+X SHIFT+DEL CTRL+C CTRL+INS CTRL+V SHIFT+INS CTRL+B SHIFT+CTRL ALT + DRAG ] [
Create a new flow. Open an existing flow. Save the current flow. Undo the last change. Redo the last Undo. Cut the selected item to the clipboard. Cut the selected item to the clipboard. Copy the selected item to the clipboard. Copy the selected item to the clipboard. Paste the item from the clipboard. Paste the item from the clipboard. Toggle display of the Bins. Simulates holding down the middle mouse button, for use when panning without a three-button mouse. Holding down the ALT while dragging a center crosshair limits movement to horizontal or vertical motion only. (Square bracket) Move current time forwards one frame. (Square bracket) Move current time backwards one frame.
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APPENDIX B : KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Function Keys
CTRL+[ CTRL+] ALT+] ALT+[ CTRL+A CTRL+1 CTRL+F CTRL+R Numpad + Numpad -
(Square bracket) Change current time to the first frame in the render range (Square bracket) Change current time to the last frame in the render range (Square bracket) Advance to the next keyframe. (Square bracket) Return to the previous keyframe. Select all tools in the Flow, or all keys in a selected spline. Scales the active region to 100% size. Scales the active region to fit in the view size. Scales the active region to a rectangle (region zoom). Zooms in on the active region. Zooms out on the active region.
FUNCTION KEYS
F1 F2 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 Displays the online help for the selected tool or object. Rename the selected tools. Toggle to maximize or minimize the region under the mouse pointer. Displays the Flow View. Displays the Console. Displays the Timeline Editor. Displays the Spline Editor. Display the Tool Controls. Displays the Masks Tab. Displays the Modifiers Tab. Start Render.
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Displaying An Image In The Views
DISPLAYING AN IMAGE IN THE VIEWS

Flow Only
1 2 3 4+ ` View the selected tool on the Left view. View the selected tool on the Right view. View the selected tool on a video I/O board. Any additional views available. Clear all views.
VIEWING COLOR CHANNELS AND MASKS

Display View Only
R G B A M C Displays the red channel in the selected view. Displays the green channel in the selected view. Displays the blue channel in the selected view. Displays the alpha channel in the selected view. Displays the mask channel in the selected view. Displays a full color image in the selected view.
SETTING NUMERIC AND POSITIONAL VALUES

SHIFT + R-Arrow Increases a value in steps. SHIFT + L-Arrow Decreases a value in steps. SHIFT + U-Arrow Increases a value in steps. SHIFT + D-Arrow Decreases a value in steps. CTRL + R-Arrow Slightly increases a value.
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Splines and Polylines
CTRL + L-Arrow
Slightly decreases a value.
CTRL + U-Arrow Slightly increases a value. CTRL + D-Arrow Slightly decreases a value.
SPLINES AND POLYLINES

SHIFT + C SHIFT + D SHIFT + I SHIFT + M SHIFT + N SHIFT + O SHIFT + P SHIFT + F SHIFT + R SHIFT + B E Sets the active polyline to click append mode. Sets the active polyline to draw append mode. Sets the active polyline to insert and modify mode. Sets the active polyline to modify only mode. Sets the active polyline to done mode. Opens or closes the active polyline. (connects last point to first point). Publish the selected keys in the polyline shape. Set the selected keys to follow existing published points. Disable or enable rendering of polylines until during manipulation of polyline. Enable the Spline Shaping mode Displays the Point Editor dialog in the current display view, or sets keyboard focus to point value controls in the Spline Editor. Displays the Taper Editor dialog. Create a Keyframe on the selected spline at the current mouse position. Smooth all selected points on a spline or polyline. Linearize all selected points on a spline or polyline. Set all selected points of a spline to Step In mode. Set all the selected points of a spline to Step Out mode. Reverse the selected keyframes on a spline. Copy selected points of a spline or polyline to a new segment.
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Advanced Polyline Transformation
ADVANCED POLYLINE TRANSFORMATION

S T X Y Scale the selected points of a polyline around position of the mouse pointer. Twist the selected points of a polyline around position of the mouse pointer. Scale the selected points of a polyline around position of the mouse pointer. Scale the selected points of a polyline around position of the mouse pointer.
FLOW EDITOR
CTRL+G CTRL+W CTRL+L CTRL+P CTRL+U Create Group from selected tools. Swaps the inputs on the selected tool in the flow. Toggles Lock mode for the selected tool. Toggles Pass-Through mode for the selected tool. Toggles Update mode for the selected tool.
SPLINE EDITOR
K S L I O V CTRL + DRAG Create a keyframe on the selected spline at the current mouse position. Smooth all selected points on a spline or polyline. Linearize all selected points on a spline or polyline. Set all selected points of a Spline to Step In mode. Set all the selected points of a Spline to Step Out mode. Reverse the selected Spline. Copy selected points of a spline or polyline (Display View also). DFX+ 4 785

Time Ruler Area And Render Range
TIME RULER AREA AND RENDER RANGE

CTRL+SHIFT+DBL-Click Set the Render Range to the Slider Range. CTRL+DBL-Click Set the Render Range to the selected frame. CTRL+DRAG Set the Render Range to frames enclosed by mouse drag.
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A PPENDIX C : TOOLBARS
THE TOOLBAR
The Toolbar is the fastest way to get access to the powerful features offered by DFX+. Upon start up, the toolbars will rest in their default positions, along the top and left side of the interface. For more information about a Toolbar button, place the mouse over a tool. This will display its full name, and a brief description of the tools function will appear on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.
NEW TOOLS
CD Change Depth Grd Scl Grid Warp Scale ErDl Erode Dilate FN Fast Noise
TOOLBAR ABBREVIATIONS
AG BG Auto Gain Background Dky Dbl Dsp DX Difference Keyer Directional Blur Displace Dissolve Perl Perlin PPn Perspective Pos. Plas Plasma PsCl Pseudo Color Rsz Resize
Blur Blur Bol BC Booleans Bright/Contrast
Drip Drip
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APPENDIX C : TOOLBARS
Particle Tools
CSh Camera Shake Cky Chroma Keyer Log Cineon Log CC Clr CS Color Corrector Color Gain Color Space
DVE DVE Flds Fltr Fog Glo Grn HiL Hot Lbx LT LD Lky Fields Filter Fog Glow Grain Highlight Hot Spot Letterbox Light Trim Loader Luma Keyer
Run Run Command SV Saver
Shd Shader Sh Stb Txt Shadow Stabilizer Text
CdS Coordinate Space CPn Corner Positioner CTr Corner Tracker
Txt+ Text+ Txr TSp Texture Time Speed
Crp Crop CFlt Custom Filter CT Dfo Custom Tool Defocus
TmT Time Stretcher Trk Trls Xf Tracker Trails Transform
Man Mandlebrot Mat Mrg Pnt Matte Control Merge Paint
Dfm Deform Dnt Dent
Uky Ultra Keyer US Vtx Unsharp Mask Vortex
DBL Depth Blur
PARTICLE TOOLS
pAv Avoid pBn Bounce pCS Change Style pCu Custom pDF Directional Force pEm Emitter pFl pFr Flocking Friction pPF Point Force pRn Render pSp Spawn pTF pTr pVt Tangent Force Turbulence Vortex
pGF Gradient Force pIE pKl Image Emitter Kill
pMg Merge
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Customizing The Toolbar
CUSTOMIZING THE TOOLBAR

Occasionally, you may feel the need to change the position and appearance of the Toolbar in the DFX+ interface. Whether you have a dual monitor set-up and want the bars on only one screen or you want your most commonly used tools on one easy-to-access toolbar, the developers of DFX+ have foreseen this need and provided the ability to customize the toolbars.
UNDOCKING AND MOVING THE TOOLBARS

To undock the Toolbar from the interface, click on the move handle (the pair of vertical lines on the toolbar) and drag. You can also move the toolbar by placing the mouse on the edge of the bar and dragging the toolbar away from the interface. To dock the toolbar, drag it to the edge of the interface and it will become docked again. By clicking on the title bar of the floating toolbar, you can change its position in the interface (horizontally or vertically). Floating toolbars can provide quick access to tools and are useful for gaining valuable screen space.
ADDING AND REMOVING TOOLS FROM THE TOOLBARS

To customize or add functions to the toolbar, right-click the toolbar area, or choose View/Customize Toolbars from the main menu bar at the top of the interface. While the Customize Toolbars dialog box is visible, tool from the bars may be removed by dragging them off of the bars. Dragging them to a desired location on the toolbars also can move tools. They will be inserted to the right of the visible insert mark. The dialog box can be used to add and remove toolbars or toggle its visibility. You may add tools to the bars to suit your needs. The dialog box consists of a window for the operator bars (also known as toolbars), a Toolbar name box and a drop-down menu of the tool categories that can be added. By resting the mouse over a tool displayed in the dialog box, the name of the tool along with a brief description of it will appear. DFX+ 4 789
To Create A New Toolbar And Add Tools
TO CREATE A NEW TOOLBAR AND ADD TOOLS

By clicking the New button, a new operator bar will be added to the operator bar window. A newly created operator bar will appear at the bottom of the list and across the top of the interface. By using the Toolbar name box, you can rename the new operator box. A set of tools can be added to the new operator bar from the tool categories drop-down list. Clicking on the Add All button will place the entire set of tools to an operator bar. To add only one tool, you can drag and drop the tool from the dialog box on to the desired location on the new operator bar. They will be inserted to the right of the visible insert mark. Tools can be sorted alphabetically be choosing the Sort button. If the operator bar does not meet to your satisfaction, you can delete it by selecting the Delete button. Select the Close button to save your changes to the operator bar and close the dialog box.
Note
Any tool that is unrecognized by DFX+ will appear as a question mark (?) in red. This may be due to incompatibility or licensing requirements. By default, the toolbars have most of the tools available in DFX+ on initial start up. As plug-ins are added, they will be available in the Tools menu, but will not automatically be added to the toolbars. To add a plug-in to a toolbar, use the Customize Toolbars function mentioned above.
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A PPENDIX D : ASCII EXPORT
INTRODUCTION
DFX+ has the ability to export polyline data to a text file and to import that information back into Fusion. This provides a useful and easy to manipulate format for integrating Fusion-created motion paths, masks and mattes with other applications, or with your custom developed in-house tools. To allow for the widest possible support with third party applications, we have provided several options relating to how data is stored in the text file.
EXPORTING A MOTION PATH

To export a motion path, right-click in the Display View while the motion path is visible in a Display View. Check the options under the Path/Export context menu to confirm that the sampling type and coordinate system (described below), then select Export/Motion Path.
EXPORTING A MASK OR MATTE

To export a mask or matte, right-click in the Display View while the mask is visible. Check the options under the Polyline/Export context menu to confirm the sampling type and coordinate system (described below) and then select Shape.
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APPENDIX D : ASCII EXPORT

Importing A Motion Path Or Shape
IMPORTING A MOTION PATH OR SHAPE

To import a saved ASCII file to a polyline mask or path, you must first create a polyline to receive the imported settings. Select Import from the polylines context menu and then the file you wish to import from the file browser.
Available File Formats

MOT
LightWave MOT file format. It is not described further in this document please consult you LightWave documentation for details. Only available for Motion Paths.
DFMO
This file format contains X and Y positions to describe the shape of the motion path and time value to describe. Further details on the format below.
DFSH
This file format is identical to DFMO, but does not contain time data. To export a path or shape, select and view the tool containing the polyline, right-click in the Display View and select Name/Export from the context menu. If you select a Motion Path, the options will include export to the LightWave MOT format, or to DFX+s Motion Path or Shape formats. If you have selected a polygon mask for export, your only option will be to export a DFSH. There are two options for selecting the type of co-ordinate system used to represent the position of the points in space.
Absolute
The Absolute option uses the standard coordinate system of DFX+. The origin (0,0) is located in the top left corner of the image in which the path or shape originated, and 1.0, 1.0 describes the bottom right hand corner.
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Example of a DFMO file containing Absolute Point Sample data: DFMO 0.056944 0.092593 0.000000 0.065972 0.101852 0.500000 0.075000 0.111111 1.000000 0.084028 0.120370 1.500000 0.093056 0.129630 2.000000 0.102108 0.138876 2.500000 0.111111 0.148148 3.000000 0.120834 0.158436 3.500000 0.130556 0.168724 4.000000 0.139559 0.177997 4.500000 0.148611 0.187243 5.000000 0.157639 0.196502 5.500000 0.166667 0.205761 6.000000 0.175694 0.215021 6.500000 0.184722 0.224280 7.000000 0.193750 0.233539 7.500000 0.202778 0.242798 8.000000 0.211806 0.252058 8.500000 0.220833 0.261317 9.000000 0.229885 0.270562 9.500000 0.238889 0.279835 10.000000 etc.,
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Relative
The Relative option describes each point of position data as an offset calculated from the center of the Path or shape. The second line of the text file will hold five floating point values in the following order... The X coordinate of the center The Y coordinate of the center The rotation applied to the shape or path The size or scaling applied to the shape or path The aspect of the image calculated as height / width. ... followed by the actual data for the point describing the path or shape. DFMO (Example Using Relative Coordinates) 0.500000 0.500000 0.000000 1.000000 0.750000 -0.443056 -0.282407 0.000000 -0.434028 -0.273148 0.500000 -0.425000 -0.263889 1.000000 -0.415972 -0.254629 1.500000 -0.406944 -0.245370 2.000000 -0.397892 -0.236124 2.500000 -0.388889 -0.226852 3.000000 -0.379166 -0.216564 3.500000 -0.369444 -0.206276 4.000000 -0.360441 -0.197003 4.500000 -0.351389 -0.187756 5.000000 -0.342361 -0.178498 5.500000 -0.333333 -0.169239 6.000000 -0.324306 -0.159980 6.500000 -0.261111 -0.095164 10.000000
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If the image holding the exported polyline has a non-square aspect the coordinate values will be transformed to a square aspect before they are stored in the file. An additional set of options determines the method used to sample the polylines shape before it is converted into X and Y coordinates. The following 3 options are available.
Modes
Point
This export mode will completely ignore existing keyframes, describing the path or shape by taking regular samples of its shape. When a motion path is exported using this method, a position sample will be taken once every field. Examples of point sampling can be seen above.
Key
This mode will produce a file containing position samples for every key point in the shape or motion path. When a motion path is exported in Key mode each position sample will be accompanied by its associated time value. Examples of this format can be found in the Settings folder of your DFX+ directory.
Bezier
This mode is an extension of the Key mode, and will also produce a sample for every key point. This data will be followed by the X and Y position of the bezier handles, calculated as offsets from the position of the key point. Examples of this format can be found in the Settings folder of your DFX+ directory.
Note
If the polyline is closed, the last point will have exactly the same X and Y values as the first point.
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ASCII Export Of LUT And Color Corrector Splines
ASCII EXPORT OF LUT AND COLOR CORRECTOR SPLINES

It is often useful to be able to transfer color Look Up Tables from one system to another for calibration purposes. Plain text files containing the in and out values for each point represent the best way to accomplish this. DFX+ can export both RGB and RGBA LUT's using the normalized, 16 bit or 8 bit color spaces to describe the values.
Exporting A LUT
Create the LUT you wish to export in the Display View, Loader or Color Corrector tool. Right click anywhere in the Spline Window and select export from the menu, then choose the format you wish to export to. (format described below)
Importing A LUT
Display the LUT window for the tool to which you wish to import the ASCII LUT file. Right click anywhere in the spline window and select Import from the context menu, then select the file containing the data. The LUT spline will be created, and locked to prevent any tampering to the LUT.
Making An Imported LUT Editable

To unlock an imported LUT and convert it into an editable spline, select Edit imported LUT from the menu. A dialog will appear, similar to the reduce splines dialog, that will allow you to optimize the polyline for the most efficient conversion. (a LUT with 65535 points is hardly editable....)
Format Description
ASCII LUT files are saved with the extension ALUT. The ALUT file contains two header lines. The first line has the letters DFLT to help identify the type of file. The second line contains a number indicating the format used to store the data.
DFX+ 4 796

ASCII Export Of LUT And Color Corrector Splines
The second line will have one of the following: 88 bit - 256 in/out value pairs per channel 1616 bit = 65535 in/out value pairs per channel 1Normalized - in/out pairs are shown as values between 0 and 1. Can be either 16 bit or 8 bit. The third line contains the start of the LUT data. Look up tables are stored as in/out values for each channel. The first number is the in value for the red channel, the second number contains the out value. This is repeated for the Green channel, the Blue channel and, optionally, for the Alpha channel.
Sample Of The First Few Lines Of An 8 Bit RGB LUT

DFLT 8 000000 111211 222432 333642 444853 5 5 5 11 7 4 6 6 6 13 8 5 7 7 7 15 10 5 8 8 8 17 11 6 9 9 9 20 12 7 10 10 10 22 14 8 11 11 11 24 15 8
DFX+ 4 797
DFX+ 4 798
A PPENDIX E : ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

As the world of compositing and visual effects is a constantly changing one, we have included some of the available resources. These are provided for the purpose of general knowledge and eyeon Software takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information you may find. For help at any time, please contact tech@eyeonline.com. For additional information, please contact info@eyeonline.com. Also, visit www.eyeonline.com for tutorials, tips and tricks, etc.
PRINT
Digital Compositing In Depth
Kelly, Doug: Digital Compositing In Depth. Coriolis Group, New York; 2000. ISBN: 1-57610-431-1 One of the most recent books available on digital compositing, with many references to Digital Fusion and DFX+. Available through eyeon and amazon.com
The Art And Science Of Digital Compositing

Brinkmann, Ron: The Art and Science of Digital Compositing. Academic Press, San Diego; 1999. ISBN: 0-12-133960-2
DFX+ 4 799
APPENDIX E : ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Third Party Plug-ins And Expansions
A good source of information about some of the technical details and techniques used in compositing.
3D Computer Graphics
Watt, Alan: 3D Computer Graphics. Addison-Wesley, Reading; 1993. 3D Computer Graphics provides in depth technical information on the way that 3D images are rendered and modeled. Though becoming dated, it is still a valuable source of information on renderers, modeling mathematics, with some information on file formats and channels.
THIRD PARTY PLUG-INS AND EXPANSIONS

Five D (www.five-d.com)
Makers of the Monsters plug-ins for DFX+, this is the web site for Five-D in case of any technical issues with the Monsters.
Photron (www.primatte.com)
Photron makes and sells Primatte, a third-party keyer for removing blue and green screen backgrounds.
Re:Vision FX (www.revisionfx.com)
Re:Vision FX produce two plug-ins for Fusion that use optical motion analysis of frames to produce in between frames for ultra smooth motion, or to add post processed motion blur to an image sequence.
Ultimatte (www.ultimatte.com)
Combine multiple frame images in just minutes on a workstation. Fine hair detail, water, shadows, smoke, glass and reflections, even blurred edges, all composited flawlessly and automatically with Ultimatte for DFX+ All of these plug-ins offer unparalleled methods of combining multi-frame images to produce a composited sequence of images. They allow realisticlooking composited scenes with the same Academy-Award winning technology that has made Ultimatte famous.
DFX+ 4 800

Message Boards And Discussion Groups
Zbig (www.cfb-berlin.com)
CFB develops tools for seamless interaction between all kinds of techniques used for image generation in the film and video industry. Their Zbig plug-in, now available for DFX+, is an advanced chroma keyer, with intelligent spill replacement.
Komkom Doorn (www.komkomdoorn.com)

The brain child of Raf Schoenmaekers, the KroKroDove series of plug-ins were designed for the DFX+ environment. There is a mixture of free and commercial plug-ins available from this site.
Forge Technologies (www.forge.net)

Forge Technologies makes Freeform DF, a native plugin for DFX+ that provides nurbs based 3D grid deformation.
MESSAGE BOARDS AND DISCUSSION GROUPS

Pigs Fly (www.pigsfly.com)
Courtesy of the Flying Pig Ranch, the Pigs Fly Fusion User group is one of the best available for digital compositors. Developers from eyeon Software often can be found on the list, as well as compositors, visual effects directors and experienced film and video professionals from around the world.
Highend 2D Fusion Web Forum (www.highend2d.com)

The Highend2D website hosts a web forum where 2d artists and compositors can exchange ideas, scripts, macros and more. The message board on this website hosts a dedicated Fusion forum.
CGTalk Fusion Web Forum (www.cgtalk.com)

The CGTalk website offers a forum for 3d and 2d artists to discuss the tools and the techniques that they use every day. This web site has a long history of excellent challenges - one month competitions to produce a work of art on a given theme using purely digital methods. The moderators of this website maintain a messageboard forum dedicated to the use of Fusion and DFX+. DFX+ 4 801
DFX+ 4 802
INDEX
INDEX
3D COMPUTER GRAPHICS 800 3D STUDIO MAX RLA (*.RLA) 359 8 BIT, 10 BIT, 16 BIT BUTTONS 573 A A/B BUFFERS 151 ABERRATION 635 ABOUT PRE-ROLL 708 ABSOLUTE 234, 792 ACTION 553 ACTIVE CONTROL 450 ACTIVE SELECTION 101 ACTIVE TILE PICTURES 116, 424 ADAPT THICKNESS TO PERSPECTIVE 522 ADAPTIVE MODE 738 ADAPTIVE PATTERN TRACKING 298 ADD 246 ADD ITEM 217 ADD OR INSERT TOOL 93 ADD OR REMOVE 190 ADDING A PAINT MASK 350 ADDING AN EFFECT MASK 241 ADDING AND REMOVING TOOLS FROM THE TOOLBARS 789 ADDING CHARACTER LEVEL STYLES 533 ADDING COMPUTERS TO THE SLAVELIST 468 ADDING FLOWS TO THE QUEUE 470 ADDING ITEMS TO THE BIN 211 ADDING NEW KEYFRAMES 192 ADDING NEW PATTERNS 292 ADDING PAINT 326 ADDING POINTS 254 ADDING SLAVES 469 ADDING TOOLS 90 ADDITIONAL SPLINE OPTIONS 207 ADDITIONAL TEXT NOTES 533 ADDITIONAL TOOLS 363 ADJUST BASED ON 553 ADJUSTING LAYOUT AND SCALING OF THE DISPLAY VIEWS 146 ADJUSTING THE INTERFACE 21 ADVANCED OPTIONS 377 ADVANCED POLYLINE TRANSFORMATION 785 ADVANCED SPLINE MANIPULATION 196 ADVANCED SPLINE SHAPING MODES 234, 324 AFFECT SPAWNED PARTICLES 729 ALIGNMENT 529 ALL (2D) 690
ALL TILE NAMES 116, 424 ALL TILE PICTURES 116, 424 ALL TOOLS 173 ALLOW MANUAL KERNING 532 ALLOW TYPING IN PREVIEW WINDOW 532 ALLOWS THIS MACHINE TO BE USED AS A NETWORK SLAVE 436 ALPHA CHANNEL 46 ALPHA GAIN 601 ALPHA MODE 758 ALPHA OVERLAY 160, 449 ALPHA SCALE 632 ALPHA THRESHOLD 725 ALWAYS ON TOP 449 AMBIENT 607 AMOUNT 621 AMPLITUDE 591 AMPLITUDE 775 ANGLE 250, 251, 254, 317, 347, 597, 620, 623, 632, 765, 778 ANGLE THUMBWHEEL CONTROL 396 ANGLE X AND Y 732 ANGLE X, Y AND Z 516 ANGLE X, Y AND Z 520 ANIMATE 182 ANIMATE A CONTROL 139 ANIMATE MODIFIER 535 ANIMATED 173 ANIMATED 623 ANIMATING A CONTROL WITH A MOTION PATH 263 ANIMATING CONTROLS 138 ANIMATING POLYGON MASK POINTS 255 ANIMATING STROKES 340 ANIMATING THE SHAPE OF THE STROKE 341 ANIMATION 43, 448 ANTI-ALIASING 322 APPEARANCE PREFERENCES 419 APPENDIX A : SUPPORTED FILE FORMATS 779 APPENDIX B : KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 781 APPENDIX C : TOOLBARS 787 APPENDIX D : ASCII EXPORT 791 APPENDIX E : ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 799 APPLICATION DIRECTORY 16 APPLY (SUBSECTION) 334 APPLY MASK INVERTED 129 APPLY MODE 335, 598, 626, 634, 672, 748 APPLYING FILTERS 169 AREA SAMPLE 322 AREA SAMPLING 447 ARRANGE 115, 217 ARRANGE TO GRID 424 DFX+ 4 803
INDEX
ARROWS 420 ASCII EXPORT OF LUT AND COLOR CORRECTOR SPLINES 796 ASCII FILES 372 ASCII FORMAT 233 ASPECT 157, 634, 765, 775 ASPECT CORRECT TILE PICTURES 116 ASPECT RATIO 57, 427 ASSIGNING FLOWS TO GROUPS 473 ASSIGNING SLAVES TO GROUPS 473 ASSOCIATING SCRIPTS WITH A FLOW 460 ATTACHING TO MODIFIERS 140 ATTRACT STRENGTH 722 AUDIO BROWSE 552 AUDIO OFFSET 552 AUDIO TAB 551 AUTO ARRANGE 217, 424 AUTO CLIP BROWSE 429 AUTO CONTROL ADVANCE 428 AUTO CONTROL CLOSE 126, 428 AUTO CONTROL HIDE 126, 429 AUTO CROP 756 AUTO CROPPING TAB 756 AUTO GAIN 364 AUTO GAIN TOOL 5, 555 AUTO PROXY 431 AUTO SAVE 288, 430 AUTO SMOOTH POINTS 323 AUTO SMOOTH SPLINES 429 AUTOMATIC MEMORY USAGE 447 AUTOMATIC PRE-ROLL 709 AUTOMATIC REJOINING OF THE QUEUE 481 AUTOSNAP 173, 205 AUTOSNAP OPTIONS 205 AUTOSNAP POINTS 173 AUTOSNAPPING AND GUIDES 205 AUXILIARY CHANNELS (MODULE 4) 46, 355 AUXILIARY CHANNELS TAB (MODULE 4) 561 AVAILABLE FILE FORMATS 420, 792 AVERAGE 247 AVI CODECS 51 AVI PREVIEWS 74 AVI VIDEO COMPRESSION OPTIONS 451 AVI/FLIPBOOK 440 AVOID <PAV> 713 AXIS 304 AXIS TYPE (STABILIZE SETTING) 745 AXIS X AND Y 757, 764 AXIS X, Y AND Z 519
B BACKGROUND RENDERING 38, 495 BACKGROUND RGBA 357 BACKGROUND TOOL 508 BATCH CAPTURE UTILITY 6 BEAT (QUARTERS) : BEAT MODE ONLY 407 BEFORE YOU BEGIN 14 BEST MATCH 739 BEST MATCH TRACKING 299 BEZIER (2D) 233, 795, 690 BEZIER HANDLES 195 BEZIER POLYLINE 220 BEZIER SPLINE 182 BG ONLY 747 BG OVER FG 747 BIAS 348 BIN 94 BINS 209, 437 BINS 22 BINS PREFERENCES 421 BITMAP (2D) 690 BITMAP MASK EXAMPLE 249 BITMAP MASKS 240, 248 BITMAP STYLE AND BRUSH STYLE 698 BLACK BACKGROUND 322, 758 BLACK EDGES 748 BLACK LEVEL AND WHITE LEVEL 371, 564 BLEND 129, 601, 612, 625 BLEND TYPE 347 BLOB STYLE 699 BLOOM LEVEL 617 BLOOM THRESHOLD 617 BLUE (PALE) 121 BLUE (SATURATED) 121 BLUR 710 BLUR CHANNELS 604 BLUR CONTROLS 705 BLUR SIZE 604, 672 BLUR SIZE X AND Y 612 BLUR/SHARPEN CONTROLS TAB 611 BLUR/SHARPEN TOOL 611 BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINE AND STRIKEOUT 513 BORDER WIDTH 245 BOUNCE <PBN> 714 BRIGHTNESS 540, 543, 557 BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST CONTROLS TAB 557 BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST TOOL 556 BROWSE FILE TAB 372 BRUSH (SUBSECTION) 331
DFX+ 4 804
INDEX
BRUSH SHAPE 332 BRUSH STROKES 336 BRUSHES 438 BUILD DIRECTION 425 BUILD FLOW VERTICALLY/HORIZONTALLY 115 BUNDLED WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS 13 BURN IN 601 BYPASS LOG > LIN 371 BYPASSING THE RENDER SETTINGS DIALOG 83 C CACHE EXTENTS INDICATOR 492 CACHE PLAYBACK 67 CACHING 37 CACHING AND MEMORY USE 489 CACHING LIMITS 434 CALC TAB 389 CALCULATION MODIFIER 387 CAMERA SHAKE CONTROLS TAB 751 CAMERA SHAKE TOOL 3, 751 CATEGORIES 420 CD KEY 15 CENTER 157, 247, 317, 449, 539, 543 CENTER BIAS 131 CENTER X AND Y 597, 619, 757, 760, 764, 770, 771, 778 CENTER X, Y AND Z 515 CGTALK 801 CHANGE PIXEL ASPECT 756, 761 CHANGE STYLE <PCS> 716 CHANGING KEYFRAME TIME 167 CHANGING OFFSET WITH OVERLAY 344 CHANGING OFFSET WITH THE MOUSE 344 CHANGING SPLINE COLORS 189 CHANGING THE SOURCE OFFSET WHILE PAINTING 344 CHANNEL (PIXEL) VARIABLES 680 CHANNEL 249, 261, 648, 770, 772 CHANNEL BOOLEAN 8, 363, 558 CHANNELS 409 CHANNELS TAB 360, 679 CHANNELS TAB 602 CHECK THE FLOW 487 CHECK THE NETWORK 488 CHECK THE RENDER LOG 487 CHECK THE SLAVES 488 CHECKBOXES 133, 187 CHOOSING A PATTERN 294 CHOOSING THE RENDER MASTER USED BY SLAVES 467 CHROMA KEYER 276, 279, 641 CHROMA KEYER 277
CHROMA KEYER IMAGE TAB 644 CHROMA KEYER KEY TAB 641 CHROMA KEYER MATTE TAB 643 CINEON AND DPX FORMATS 369 CINEON LOG - LIN TOOL 6 CINEON LOG CONTROLS TAB 563 CINEON LOG TOOL 563 CIRCLE CENTER 545 CIRCLE SCALE 545 CIRCLE SHAPE 327 CIRCLE TYPE 545 CIRCLES TAB 545 CLICK APPEND 223 CLIP CHARACTERS BEHIND CAMERA 530 CLIP LENGTH 503 CLIP LIST TAB 507 CLIP PLAYBACK 215 CLONE STROKE 327 CLONING 342 CLOSING HOLES AND REMOVING GRAIN FROM THE MATTE 280 CLOSING MASKS 224 CMYK HIGH, MID AND DARK 585 COLLAPSE/OPEN ALL 171 COLOR 450, 510 COLOR BACKGROUND 656 COLOR BUTTON CONTROL (SHADING) 525 COLOR CHANNEL AND MIX 636 COLOR CHANNELS 579, 612, 614, 623, 625, 627 COLOR CHANNELS TAB 559 COLOR CHECKBOX 590 COLOR CONTROLS 701 COLOR CORRECTOR 4, 565 COLOR CURVES TAB 578 COLOR CURVES TOOL 4, 578 COLOR DEPTH 66 COLOR GAIN BALANCE TAB 585 COLOR GAIN HUE TAB 586 COLOR GAIN SATURATION TAB 584 COLOR GAIN TAB 583 COLOR GAIN TOOL 583 COLOR IMAGE 526 COLOR SOURCE 693 COLOR SPACE 46, 261, 329, 579 COLOR SPACE CONTROLS TAB 587 COLOR SPACE CONVERSION 587 COLOR SPACE TOOL 587 COLOR TAB 509, 541, 546, 548, 636 COLOR TOOLS 555 COLOR TYPE 588
DFX+ 4 805
INDEX
COLOR WHEEL 134, 567 COLOR WHEEL AND PICKER 134 COLORS MODE 566 COMBINE EVENTS 407 COMBINE OPERATION 651 COMBINING ALPHA CHANNELS 288 COMBINING FIELDED AND FULL FRAME IMAGES 59 COMBINING IMAGES WITH DIFFERENT PIXEL ASPECTS 65 COMBINING LICENSES 17 COMMAND LINE 471 COMMAND LINE AND INTEGRATED SCRIPTING 5 COMMON CONTROLS 499 COMMON CONTROLS TAB 128, 361 COMMON MASK CONTROLS 244 COMPOSITE 521 COMPOSITE TOOLS 593 COMPOSITING BASICS 41 COMPRESSION DROP-DOWN LIST 422 COMPRESSOR 451, 453 CONCATENATED TOOLS 109 CONCATENATED TRANSFORMATIONS 365 CONDITIONS TAB 688 CONFIG TAB 399 CONFIGURATIONS 82 CONFIGURE 452 CONFIGURE BUTTON 453 CONFIGURING FILTERS 170 CONFIRMING THE KEY 281 CONNECT TO 182 CONNECTING AND DISCONNECTING TOOLS 96 CONNECTING ANIMATED CONTROLS 380 CONNECTING CONTROLS TO A TRACKER 290 CONNECTING CONTROLS WITHOUT ANIMATION (STATIC) 381 CONNECTING MASKS 385 CONNECTING ONE CONTROL TO ANOTHER ANIMATED CONTROL 139 CONNECTING ONE CONTROL TO ANOTHER STATIC CONTROL 140 CONNECTING PATHS 382 CONNECTING RELATED CONTROLS 382 CONNECTING TOOLS 96 CONNECTING UNRELATED CONTROLS 386 CONNECTIONS 380 CONNECTIONS AND MODIFIERS (MODULE 1) 379 CONNECTIONS TYPES 308 CONSOLE 458 CONSOLE WINDOW 26 CONTEXT MENU 175 CONTEXT MENU 32, 89, 93, 107, 111, 148, 185, 207, 221 CONTINUOUS POTENTIAL 548
CONTRAST 540, 543 CONTRAST, GAIN, GAMMA, BRIGHTNESS 568 CONTROL AREA DISPLAY PREFERENCES 125 CONTROL GRAB DISTANCE 430 CONTROL NUMBER : CONTROL CHANGE MODE ONLY 408 CONTROLS 396 CONTROLS AREA 20 CONTROLS AREA INTERFACE 124 CONTROLS TAB 314, 328, 398, 555, 648, 661, 664, 667, 670, 677, 692, 710, 768, 770, 772, 774, 777, 778 COOPERS STYLE 700 COORDINATE SPACE CONTROLS TAB 767 COORDINATE SPACE TOOL 767 COPY BUTTON 319, 427, 443 COPY ELLIPSE 327 COPY FILES 376 COPY PATHS 384 COPY POLYLINE 327 COPY POLYLINES, ELLIPSES AND RECTANGLES 345 COPY RECTANGLE 328 COPYING AND PASTING KEYFRAMES 193 COPYING AND PASTING MASKS 262 COPYING AND PASTING MOTION PATHS 271 COPYING AND PASTING TOOLS 112 COPYING KEYFRAMES 193 COPYING TOOLS 112 CORNER POSITIONER TOOL 5, 290, 745, 768 CORNER POSITIONING OPERATIONS 306 CORNER RADIUS 251 CORNER SELECTOR [CORNER AND PERSPECTIVE POSITIONER] 750 CORNERS X AND Y 769, 777 CORRECT EDGES 130 CORRECTION TAB 565 CREATE A NEW TOOLBAR AND ADD TOOLS 790 CREATE FLOATING VIEWS 433 CREATE/PLAY PREVIEW 117 CREATING A FLIPBOOK PREVIEW 70 CREATING A NEW BIN 210 CREATING A TOOL BIN 210 CREATING AN INTERACTIVE FLIPBOOK 351 CREATING CUSTOM BRUSHES 352 CREATING FILTERS 169 CREATING GROUPS 103 CREATING GUIDES 204 CREATING NEW IMAGE BRUSHES 352 CREATING PAINT STROKES 336 CREATING SPLINES 181 CROP TOOL 754
DFX+ 4 806
INDEX
CROPPING TAB 755 CUBE (3D) 690 CURRENT TIME 34 CURRENT TIME INDICATOR 162, 184 CURRENT TIME MODE 171 CURVE 631 CUSTOM 65 CUSTOM FILTER 438, 613 CUSTOM FILTER CONTROLS TAB 613 CUSTOM GRADIENT CONTROLS 510 CUSTOM TOOL 676 CUSTOMIZING THE TOOLBAR 789 CUT AND COPY 120 CUTTING TOOLS 113 CYAN-RED, MAGENTA-GREEN AND YELLOW-BLUE 645, 654, 659 D DAMPENING 775 DEALING WITH OBSCURED PATTERNS 299 DEALING WITH PATTERNS THAT LEAVE THE FRAME 300 DEFAULT 65 DEFAULT ANIMATE 423 DEFAULT DIRECTORIES 437 DEFAULT FORMAT 55, 426 DEFAULT PREFERENCES 422 DEFINING THE PATTERN FOR THE TRACKER 295 DEFOCUS SIZE 616 DEFOCUS TAB (GAUSSIAN FILTER) 616 DEFOCUS TAB (LENS FILTER) 617 DEFOCUS TOOL 616 DEFORM TOOL 769 DELAY 430, 666 DELETE 120 DELETE BUTTON 427, 443 DELETING A BIN 211 DELETING AN EFFECT MASK 242 DELETING GROUPS 105 DELETING GUIDES 176, 204 DELETING ITEMS FROM THE BIN 213 DELETING KEYFRAMES 193 DELETING POINTS 227 DELETING SPLINES 183 DELETING STROKES 339 DELETING TOOLS 100 DENSITY ANGLE 637 DENT TOOL 770 DEPTH BLUR 362 DEPTH BLUR CONTROLS TAB 603
DEPTH BLUR TOOL 7, 603 DEPTH FOG 363 DEPTH MERGE PARTICLES 711 DEPTH OF FIELD 604 DEPTH TOOLS 603 DETECT SEQUENCE 506 DETERMINING THE TYPE OF MASK 239 DEVIATION X AND Y 752 DF RENDER NODE 465, 467, 468 DFLIB 460 DFMO 792 DFSCRIPT 456 DFSCRIPT FILENAMES 457 DFSCRIPT.EXE COMMAND 457 DFSH 792 DFX+ 465, 468 DFX+ AUXILIARY CHANNELS 356 DFX+ BASICS 33 DFX+ INTERFACE 19 DFX+ MODULES 1 DFX+ PREFERENCES 417 DFX+S FOUR DEPTH TOOLS 362 DIFFERENCE KEYER 276, 283, 646 DIFFERENCE KEYER CONTROLS TAB 646 DIFFERENT TYPES OF KEYERS 276 DIFFUSE 607 DIGITAL COMPOSITING IN DEPTH 799 DIGITAL FUSION 466 DIGITAL PROCESSING SYSTEMS 50 DIRECTION 514 DIRECTIONAL BLUR CONTROLS TAB 618 DIRECTIONAL BLUR TOOL 618 DIRECTIONAL FORCE <PDF> 720 DISABLED (CLEAR) 293, 741 DISABLED 188 DISCONNECTING TOOLS 97 DISCONTINUOUS 539 DISK 376 DISK CACHES 484 DISK TO TAPE 378 DISPLACE TOOL 772 DISPLACEMENT 383 DISPLACEMENT, SPLINES AND PATH TIMING 265 DISPLAY 159 DISPLAY AREAS 25 DISPLAY CONTEXT MENU 158, 241 DISPLAY FILES SEQUENCES ON 440 DISPLAY POINT VALUES 171 DISPLAY SELECTORS 571
DFX+ 4 807
INDEX
DISPLAY TOOLBAR 241 DISPLAY VIEW 20, 734 DISPLAY VIEW LABEL 153 DISPLAY VIEW NORMALIZATION 158 DISPLAY VIEW ONLY 783 DISPLAY VIEW TOOLBAR 20, 24 DISPLAY VIEWS 141 DISPLAYING AN IMAGE IN THE VIEWS 783 DISPLAYING COLOR AND AUXILIARY CHANNELS 154 DISPLAYING IMAGES IN THE VIEWS 143 DISPLAYING SPLINES FOR EDITING 187 DISPLAYING THE FLOW 86 DISPLAYING THE SPREADSHEET EDITOR 177 DISPLAYING TILE PICTURES 107 DISSOLVE CONTROLS TAB 593 DISSOLVE TOOL 593 DISTANCE 348 DISTANCE SLIDER CONTROL 396 DO FONT DEFINED KERNING 514 DO Z 555 DOCUMENT LAYOUT 433 DONE 24 DPS DPT TYPE 531 DRAG AND DROP 98, 106, 110 DRAW APPEND 223 DRIP TOOL 774 DROP TOOLS HERE (IMAGE INPUT FIELD) 248 DROP-DOWN LISTS 133 DUPLICATE 749 DUPLICATING SPLINE KEYFRAMES 167 DURATION 331 DVE TOOL 756 DVS 50 E EDGES {(UN)STABILIZE} 748 EDGES 304, 619, 752, 764 EDIT BUTTONS 318 EDIT DIFFUSE AND SPECULAR 609 EDIT GRID 318 EDIT LINE 318 EDIT NONE 318 EDIT POINTS 228 EDIT POINTS CONTROLS 192 EDIT POINTS DIALOG 167 EDIT RECTANGLE 318 EDIT SPLINES 120 EDITING AND CREATING SCRIPTS 461 EDL IMPORT PREFERENCES 414, 454
EDL IMPORT UTILITY 6 EFFECT MASKS 155, 235 EFFECT MASKS, PRE-MASKS, AND GARBAGE MATTES 235 ELASTICITY 715 ELEMENT POSITION 638 ELEMENT SIZE 638 ELEMENT STRENGTH 638 ELEMENT TYPE 522, 639 ELLIPSE MASK 250 EMITTER <PEM> 692 ENABLE DIRECT READS 447 ENABLE EXTRA CHANNELS 562 ENABLE I/O CANCELLING 446 ENABLED (BLACK CHECKBOX) 293, 740 ENABLED 187, 521 ENABLING/DISABLING ON-SCREEN CONTROLS 151 ENABLING/SUSPENDING/DISABLING PATTERNS 293 END 746 ENSURING THAT THE NETWORK FUNCTIONS CORRECTLY 463 ENVELOPE CONTROLS : NOTE AND BEAT MODES ONLY 408 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE 17 EQUALIZE/MATCH RGB 573 EQUATOR ANGLE 608 ERODE/DILATE TOOL 620 EVALUATING MODULES 1 EVERY FRAME 298, 738 EXAMPLES OF SCRIPTING USE 456 EXPANDING AND COLLAPSING GROUPS 104 EXPANDING OR CONTRACTING THE MATTE 279 EXPORT MODE 552 EXPORT TAB 552 EXPORTING A LUT 796 EXPORTING A MASK OR MATTE 791 EXPORTING A MOTION PATH 791 EXPORTING A SPLINE 206 EXPRESSION MODIFIER 397 EXPRESSIONS AND CALCULATIONS 3 EXTEND FIRST AND LAST FRAME 503 EXTEND HORIZONTAL AND EXTEND VERTICAL 524 EXTENDING FIRST AND LAST FRAME 166 EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DEVICES 444 F FADE CONTROLS 704 FAILED TOOLS 109 FAST NOISE 538 FAST/FULL/BETTER 568 FG ONLY 747 FG OVER BG 747
DFX+ 4 808
INDEX
FIELDS 57 FIELDS 57 FIELDS TOOL 661 FILE BROWSER 95, 143 FILE EXPLORER 471 FILE I/O 446 FILE MENU 477 FILE NAME EXTENSION 779 FILE SEQUENCE AND DISK PREVIEWS 68 FILE SEQUENCE PREVIEWS 150 FILE TAB 501, 549 FILENAME 502 FILENAME 549 FILL 328 FILL BLACK 758 FILL METHOD 254 FILL MODE 346 FILM AND SCSI TAPE DEVICES 369 FILM STOCK GAMMA AND CONVERSION GAMMA 372 FILM STOCK GAMMA, CONVERSION GAMMA LUT FILES 564 FILTER 443, 603, 616 FILTER CONTROLS TAB 621 FILTER MATRIX 614 FILTER METHOD 761 FILTER TOOL 611, 621 FILTER TYPE 611, 622, 624 FINAL AND PREVIEW RENDERS 67 FINAL RENDER 76, 435 FINAL RENDERS AND HIGH QUALITY SETTINGS 494 FINDING THE LICENSE 16 FINE ADJUSTMENTS TO CONTROLS 151 FIRST FRAME 506, 552 FIT CHARACTERS 516 FIVE D 800 FIXED POSITION 296 FLATTEN TRANSFORM 601, 753, 765 FLATTEN TRANSFORMATION {(UN)STABILIZE} 749 FLEXLM DIRECTORY 16 FLIP HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL 610, 763 FLIPBOOK PREVIEWS 70 FLOATING DISPLAY VIEWS 142 FLOCK NUMBER 722 FLOCKING <PFL> 721 FLOOR LEVEL 614 FLOW 33, 471 FLOW CONTEXT MENU 89, 114 FLOW COULD NOT BE LOADED 487 FLOW EDITOR 26, 85, 785 FLOW FORMAT 454
FLOW FORMAT MENU 415 FLOW NAME MODIFIER 535 FLOW ONLY 783 FLOW PREFERENCES 423 FLOW VIEW 143 FLOWS 214, 437 FLOWS AND FOOTAGE 211 FOCAL POINT 604 FOG COLOR 606 FOG CONTROLS TAB 605 FOG TOOL 8, 605 FOLLOW ACTIVE 449 FOLLOW PUBLISHED POINTS 258 FOLLOW STRENGTH 722 FONT 476, 512 FOOTAGE 95, 213 FORCE 116, 424 FORCE CACHE 119 FORCE MONOSPACED 514 FORCING RAM CACHING 493 FOREGROUND Z-OFFSET 360, 602 FORMAT 65 FORMAT DESCRIPTION 796 FORMAT TAB 508, 554 FORMULAS 402 FRAME COMMAND 674 FRAME FORMAT PREFERENCES 425 FRAME FORMATS 53 FRAME RANGE 81 FRAME RATE 56, 427 FRAME TAB 673 FRAME TIMEOUT 482 FRAMES 451, 453 FRAMES AT ONCE 497 FRAMES PER PATH POINT 737 FRAMES START FROM 429 FRAMES, FIELDS AND VIDEO 47 FREQUENCY 591, 776 FREQUENCY METHOD 752 FRICTION <PFR> 723 FRINGE COLOR CORRECTION 281 FRINGE GAMMA 645, 654, 659 FRINGE SHAPE 645, 655, 659 FRINGE SIZE 645, 655, 659 FULL SCREEN PREVIEWS 72 FUNCTION KEYS 782 G GAIN 557, 627, 640, 671
DFX+ 4 809
INDEX
GAIN RGBA 583 GAMMA 557 GAMMA RGBA 584 GARBAGE MATTE 236, 284, 645, 647, 649, 653, 655, 660 GENERAL CONTROLS 701 GENERAL PREFERENCES 428 GENERATE Z BUFFER 711 GENERATION TAB 547 GETTING STARTED 11 GLOBAL IN AND OUT 500 GLOBAL RANGE 31, 34, 423 GLOW 620, 625 GLOW CONTROLS TAB 624 GLOW PRE MASK 626, 628 GLOW SIZE 625 GLOW SIZE X AND Y 628 GLOW TOOL 624 GRAB DOCUMENT LAYOUT 433 GRAB PROGRAM LAYOUT 432 GRAD METHOD 548 GRADIENT 136, 541 GRADIENT COLORS 137 GRADIENT FORCE <PGF> 723 GRADIENT INTERPOLATION METHOD 137 GRADIENT TYPE 136 GRAIN SIZE 630 GRAIN SOFTNESS 629 GRAIN SPACING 630 GRAIN SPREAD TAB 630 GRAIN TAB 629 GRAIN TOOL 629 GRAPH VIEW 184 GREEN 121 GRID DEFORMATION 311 GRID TAB 712 GRID WARP 7, 311, 776 GROUP OVERLAP 425 GROUP/UNGROUP 120 GROUPS 103, 472 GUIDE NAVIGATION DIALOG 176 GUIDES 156, 159, 175, 203 H HARDWARE FRAME BUFFERS 141 HARDWARE LOCK 13 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS 12 HAS FIELDS 57, 427 HD FIELDS 59 HEADING 383
HEARTBEAT INTERVAL 446 HEARTBEATS 482 HEIGHT 250, 427, 761 HIDE 674 HIDING THE CONTROL WINDOW FOR A TOOL 125 HIGH AND LOW 591 HIGH QUALITY 35, 80 HIGH QUALITY INTERACTIVE SAVER MODE 349 HIGHEND 2D 801 HIGHLIGHT COLOR SCALE TAB 632 HIGHLIGHT MASKS 632 HIGHLIGHT SETTINGS TAB 631 HIGHLIGHT TOOL 631 HISTOGRAM 570 HISTOGRAM CONTROL 569 HISTOGRAM MODE 570 HISTOGRAM PROXY SCALE 577 HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL ALIGNMENT 518 HOT SPOT SIZE 634 HOT SPOT TAB 633 HOT SPOT TOOL 633 HOTKEY 164 HUE 567 I I/O AND AVI PREFERENCES 450 I/O AND QUICKTIME PREFERENCES 452 ICON SIZE 217 IMAGE 448 IMAGE ASPECT SLIDER CONTROL 396 IMAGE CHANNELS 294 IMAGE EMITTER <PIE> 724 IMAGE FORMATS THAT SUPPORT AUXILIARY CHANNELS 359 IMAGE SHADING SAMPLING 530 IMAGE SIZE (IMAGE MODE ONLY) 526 IMAGE SOURCE 333 IMAGE TAB 509, 511, 538, 542, 544, 547, 658, 710 IMPORT 508 IMPORT MODE 505 IMPORT PROPERTIES 454 IMPORT TAB 504 IMPORTED LUT EDITABLE 796 IMPORTING 411 IMPORTING A LUT 796 IMPORTING A MOTION PATH OR SHAPE 792 IMPORTING A SPLINE 207 IMPORTING AND EXPORTING SPLINES 206 IN AND OUT 582, 609 INACTIVE CONTROL 450
DFX+ 4 810
INDEX
INFORMATION TAB 131 INPUT VARIABLES 680 INSERT 507 INSERT AND MODIFY MODE 223 INSERTING KEYFRAMES 178 INSERTING TOOLS 98 INSTALL DFX+ 14 INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE 13 INSTALLING UPDATES REMOTELY 478 INTEGRATED SCRIPTING 458 INTER TAB 678 INTERACTIVE 675 INTERACTIVE FLIPBOOK 351 INTERACTIVE PLAYBACK 38 INTERACTIVE RENDER 435 INTERMEDIATE 1-4 679 INTERPOLATE BETWEEN FRAMES 666 INTOOL SCRIPTS 459 INVERT 247, 647, 649 INVERT ALL 443 INVERT ALPHA 506 INVERT MATTE 643, 653, 658 INVERT TRANSFORM 601, 753, 765 INVERTED 539 ITERATIONS 547 J JOG 216 JOG AND SHUTTLE 215 JOIN STYLE 523 JUMPING TO GUIDES 204 K KB/SEC 451, 453 KEEP ASPECT 755, 761 KEEP CENTERED 755 KEEP TILE PICTURE ASPECT 425 KEEP/EQUALIZE/MATCH BUTTONS 572 KEY 233, 795 KEY FRAME EVERY 451, 453 KEY TYPE 642 KEYBOARD 88, 148, 165, 185, 191, 228 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 111 KEYFRAMES AND SPLINES 45 KEYING 42, 275 KILL <PKL> 726 KILL PARTICLES 711 KOMKOM DOORN 801
L L1, L2 AND L3 TABS 638 LABELS 189 LAST SLAVE RESTART TIMEOUT 446 LAYOUT PREFERENCES 431 LAYOUT TAB 514 LAYOUT TOOLBAR 147 LEARNING DFX+ 18 LEARNING SCRIPTING 462 LEFT PATTERN 741 LEFT/RIGHT DISPLAY VIEWS 141 LEGAL TAB 553 LENGTH 620, 631 LENGTH ANGLE 637 LENS ABERRATION 635 LENS ANGLE, SIDES AND SHAPE 618 LENS COLOR CONTROLS 639 LENS REFLECT 1-3 638 LENS TYPE 617 LETTERBOX CONTROLS TAB 759 LETTERBOX TOOL 2, 759 LEVEL 245, 523, 525 LEVELS MODE 569 LIBRARY 438 LIBRARY TAB 531 LICENSE FILE 15 LIFESPAN 693 LIFESPAN VARIANCE 693 LIGHT ANGLE 773 LIGHT CHANNEL 773 LIGHT DISTANCE 665 LIGHT POSITION 664 LIGHT POWER 773 LIGHT TRIM CONTROLS TAB 592 LIGHT TRIM TOOL 592 LIGHTWAVE MOT FORMAT 234 LIMIT CACHING SLIDER 434 LIMIT DATA RATE TO 451, 453 LIMIT FORCE 728 LIMITING THE CACHE 492 LINE (2D) 691 LINE DIRECTION 514 LINE SIZE 172 LINE STYLE 523, 525, 700 LINE UP TO GRID 116 LINEAR 193 LINEAR AND SMOOTH SPLINES 193 LINEAR SEGMENTS 226 LINEAR TOOLS 485
DFX+ 4 811
INDEX
LOAD 507 LOAD FLOW (PACKET 3) TIMEOUT 446 LOAD IMAGE 160 LOADER AND CREATOR TOOLS 499 LOADER FILE FORMATS 779 LOADER FORMAT TAB 371 LOADER TOOL 501 LOADING AND SAVING SLAVELISTS 469 LOADING AVID OMF FILES 413 LOADING EDL FILES 414 LOADING PSD 411 LOCATING MASK CONTROLS 242 LOCK BLUR X AND Y 671 LOCK COLOR PICKING 642, 656 LOCK GAIN RGBA 671 LOCK PARTICLE COLOR TO INITIAL FRAME 726 LOCK RGB 371, 564, 573, 583 LOCK RGBA 592 LOCK SCALE X AND Y 671 LOCK X AND Y 543, 604, 612, 616, 620, 625, 628 LOCKED 118 LOCKED POINTS 266 LOCKED VS. UNLOCKED POINTS 266 LOGIN 441 LOGIN REQUIRED TO EXECUTE SCRIPT 441 LOOKPACKS 420 LOOP 199, 503 LOOPING SPLINES 198 LOW AND HIGH 558, 631 LOW/MID/HIGH 569 LUMA KEYER 276, 282, 364, 648 LUT- LOOK UP TABLES 138 M MACROS 438 MAGNET CURSOR 313 MAGNET DISTANCE 315 MAGNET STRENGTH 315 MAGNET TYPE 316 MAKE ALPHA SOLID 506 MAKE EDITABLE 331 MANDELBROT GENERATOR 546 MANUAL KERNING 534 MAPPED DRIVES 476 MAPPING TYPE [CORNER POSITIONER] 749 MASK PAINTING 350 MASK SHAPES 240 MASKING TAB 758 MASKS 30, 235
MASTER/SHADOWS/MIDTONES/HIGHLIGHTS 566 MATCH LUMINANCE 572 MATCH MOVING 290 MATCH REFERENCE 582 MATCHING MOVEMENT IN FOOTAGE 305 MATERIAL ID 357 MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSIONS 681 MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS 682 MATRIX 614 MATROX 50 MATTE AND KEYING TOOLS 641 MATTE BLUR 643, 646, 649, 652, 657 MATTE COMBINE 651 MATTE CONTRACT /EXPAND 643 MATTE CONTRACT AND EXPAND 652, 657 MATTE CONTRAST 647, 649 MATTE CONTROL TAB 650 MATTE CONTROL TOOL 650 MATTE GAMMA 643, 647, 649, 652, 658 MATTE SEPARATION 657 MATTE TAB 657 MATTE THRESHOLD 643, 652, 658 MATTE TOOL 277 MATTES 41 MAXIMIZING THE CONTROL AREA 124 MAXIMUM 246 MAXIMUM MISSED HEARTBEATS 445 MAYA IFF 359 MEAN 591 MEDIAN 623 MEMORY 492 MEMORY OPTIMIZATION 78 MEMORY PREFERENCES 434 MEMORY USAGE 73 MEMORY USE 483 MENU SETTINGS 216 MENUS 90 MERGE <PMG> 726 MERGE 246, 303, 596, 747 MERGE CONTROLS 704 MERGE OVER 632 MERGE TAB 597 MERGING TEXT WITH OTHER ELEMENTS 535 MESH ANIMATION 321 MESSAGE BOARDS AND DISCUSSION GROUPS 801 MIDI EVENTS 409 MIDI EXTRACTOR MODIFIER 3, 404 MIDI FILE 405 MIDI MESSAGES 409
DFX+ 4 812
INDEX
MINIMUM 246 MINIMUM DEPTH MAP LIGHT DISTANCE 665 MINIMUM/MAXIMUM SPACE 722 MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS 661 MISSING FRAMES 504 MIX 636 MODE 118, 407, 510, 563, 579, 760, 795 MODE ICONS 122 MODIFIERS 30, 387 MODIFY ONLY 224 MODIFY ONLY/DONE 323 MODIFY WITH/CUBIC SPLINE 182 MODIFYING STROKES 338 MODIFYING THE SHAPE OF A STROKE (POLYLINE STROKES) 338 MODULE 1 - VISUAL EFFECTS 2 MODULE 2 - KEYING 4 MODULE 3 - INPUT AND OUTPUT 5 MODULE 4 - 3D TOOLS 7 MODULE 5 - NETWORK RENDERING 8 MODULE 6 - PAINT 9 MODULE 7 - PARTICLE TOOLS 10 MODULES 1 MONITOR SAFETY 156, 449 MONITORING MEMORY USE 490 MORE ABOUT MIDI 409 MOT 792 MOTION BLUR 130 MOTION PATHS 263 MOUSE 227 MOUSE CLICK 88, 148 MOUSE SHUTTLE 71 MOVING BETWEEN CELLS OF THE SPREADSHEET 178 MOVING BEZIER HANDLES 229 MOVING GUIDES 176, 204 MOVING KEYFRAMES 191 MOVING POLYLINE POINTS 227 MOVING TOOLS 102, 165 MULTIPLE GROUPS 474 MULTIPLY 247 MULTIPLY BY MASK 129 MULTIPLY GARBAGE MATTE 653 N NAME 521 NAME FOR NUMBER OR POINT X 401 NATIVE FORMAT 232 NETWORK 445 NETWORK LICENSING 17 NETWORK PREFERENCES 435
NETWORK RENDERING 463, 688 NEW BUTTON 427, 443 NEW FLOW ON STARTUP 429 NEW TOOLS 787 NEWTEK 50 NGON ANGLE 639 NGON SIDES 639 NGON STARRINESS 639 NO SLAVES COULD BE FOUND 487 NO TEXT OUTLINE 533 NOISE 348 NOISE TAB 539, 542 NORMALIZE 614 NTSC FIELDS 58 NUMBER 693 NUMBER A (%B) AND NUMBER B (%B) 674 NUMBER IN 1-8 677 NUMBER OF POINTS 631 NUMBER OF PRE-ROLL FRAMES 671 NUMBER OF SAMPLES 582 NUMBER OUT TAB 399 NUMBER VARIANCE 693 O OBJECT AND MATERIAL ID MASKING 130 OBJECT AND MATERIAL ID MASKING 8 OBJECT AND MATERIAL IDS TO PERFORM MASKING 361 OBJECT ID 357 OBJECT ID AND MATERIAL ID 322 OCCLUDE 635 OFFSET 137 OFFSET AND VECTORS 3 OFFSET ANGLE 390 OFFSET CONTROLS 391 OFFSET DISTANCE 391 OFFSET MODIFIERS 390 OFFSET POSITION 308, 391 OFFSET X AND Y 671, 755 OFFSET X, Y AND Z 528 OFFSETTING THE CLONE SOURCE IN TIME 345 OMF IMPORT UTILITY 6 ONCE / REPEAT / PING-PONG 137 ONLINE HELP 18 ONLY RENDER IN HI-Q 709 ON-SCREEN CONTROLS 150, 734 OPACITY 521, 527 OPEN BINS ON STARTUP 422 OPENING AND CLOSING THE BINS 209 OPENING THE RENDER MANAGER DIALOG 468
DFX+ 4 813
INDEX
OPENING THE SPLINE EDITOR 185 OPERATION 545, 593, 661 OPERATION BUTTONS 744 OPERATION TAB 744 OPERATION TYPE 559 OPERATORS 403 OPTIMIZING THE NETWORK 486 OPTIONS AND GUIDES 449 OPTIONS TAB 577 OPTIONS/AUTOSCALE 208 OPTIONS/FOLLOW ACTIVE 208 OPTIONS/INDEPENDENT HANDLES 208 ORGANIZING THE FLOW 102 ORIGIN X AND Y 396 OTHER MEMORY PREFERENCES 496 OUTPUT 665 OUTPUT FORMAT 550 OUTSIDE ONLY 523 OVERALL STRENGTH 752 OVERLAP 523 OVERLAY COLOR 160 OVERRIDE FLOW SETTINGS 483 OVERSEER 481 OVERSIZE AMOUNT 319 P PAINT 9, 325 PAINT AND ROTOSCOPING 325 PAINT GROUPS 328, 353 PAINT MASKS 240, 259 PAINT MASKING 9 PAINT MODE 246 PAINT STROKE MODIFIER TAB 339 PAINT TOOL 326 PAINT TOOLBAR 326 PAL FIELDS 58 PANNING THE DISPLAY VIEW 149 PANNING THE FLOW 87 PANNING/SCROLLING THE TIMELINE 164 PARTICLE SUITE 10, 685 PARTICLE SYSTEM 685 PARTICLE SYSTEM COMMON CONTROLS 688 PARTICLE TOOLS 109, 788 PARTICLE TOOLS IN THE FLOW 687 PASS THROUGH 110, 119, 121 PASSIVE SELECTION 101 PASTE SETTINGS 117, 120 PASTING KEYFRAMES 193 PASTING TOOL SETTINGS 114 PASTING TOOLS 113 DFX+ 4 814
PATH CENTERS 271, 739 PATH CONTROL HEADER 265 PATHS 475 PATHS PREFERENCES 437 PATTERN 291 PATTERN DISPLAY : SELECTED PATTERN 741 PATTERN OVERVIEW 291 PATTERN SELECTION FOR STABILIZATION 296 PATTERN WIDTH AND HEIGHT 742 PCUSTOM <PCU> 718 PERCENTAGE SLIDER 421 PERFORM DEPTH MERGE 360, 602 PERFORMING A DEPTH MERGE 360 PERLIN NOISE TOOL 541 PERSPECTIVE 516, 757 PERSPECTIVE POSITIONER TOOL 776 PERSPECTIVE POSITIONING 290, 745 PERSPECTIVE POSITIONING OPERATIONS 307 PHASE 546, 591, 776 PHOTRON (PRIMATTE) 800 PICK (FOR USE OBJECT/USE MATERIAL) 130 PICK 582 PICKING COLORS FROM AN IMAGE 135 PIGS FLY 801 PING <SLAVE IP ADDRESS> 464 PING PONG 199 PINNACLE 50 PIPE GRAB DISTANCE 425 PIPES ALWAYS VISIBLE 115, 424 PITCH BEND 410 PITCH SCALE : NOTE MODE ONLY 408 PIXEL ASPECT 62 PIXEL ASPECT X AND Y 760 PIXEL VELOCITY 358 PLASMA GENERATOR 544 PLUG-INS 476 POINT 1, POINT 2, POINT 3 252 POINT 233, 398, 795 POINT CLUSTER STYLE 701 POINT FORCE <PPF> 727 POINT IN 1-4, X AND Y 677 POINT OUT TAB 399 POINT STYLE 697 POINT TOLERANCE 319 POLAR HEIGHT 608 POLY AFTERTOUCH MODES 408 POLYGON MASKS 240, 253 POLYGON TOOLBARS 255 POLYLINE CREATION MODES 222 POLYLINE FOCUS 221
INDEX
POLYLINE MODE 327 POLYLINE STROKES 337 POLYLINE TOOLBARS 220 POLYLINES 219 POSITION 529 POSITION ON PATH 517 POSITION VARIANCE 694 POSITION X AND Y 547 POSITION/ROTATION/SCALING 303, 749 POST MULTIPLICATION 283, 647 POST MULTIPLY IMAGE 645, 649, 653, 660 POST-MULTIPLY BY ALPHA 506 POWER 623, 629, 728, 732, 778 PRE LOOP 199 PRE-CALC PROXY LEVEL 447 PRE-DIVIDE AND POST MULTIPLY 558, 582, 584 PRE-DIVIDE/POST MULTIPLY 577 PREFERENCE SETTINGS 418 PREFERENCES 158, 417 PRE-GENERATE FRAMES 711 PRE-MASKING (DVE, GLOW AND HIGHLIGHT TOOLS) 238 PRE-MATTE SIZE 657 PRE-MATTE TAB 656 PRENDER AND THE DISPLAY VIEWS 707 PREPARING A FLOW FOR NETWORK RENDERING 475 PREPARING RENDER SLAVES 466 PREROLL 670, 709 PRE-ROLL OPTIONS 708 PREVIEW PREFERENCES 439 PREVIEW RENDERS 438 PREVIEWS 149, 484 PRIMARY CENTER X AND Y 633 PRIMARY STRENGTH 634 PRINT 799 PRIORITIES 420 PRIORITY BACK 521 PROBABILITY 689 PROCESS MODE 499, 662 PROCESS ORDER 577 PROCESS PRIORITY 674 PROCESS WHEN BLEND IS 0.0 129 PROGRAM LAYOUT 432 PROJECTION TYPE 769 PROTECTION MODES 224 PROXY 431 PROXY AND AUTO PROXY 36 PROXY FILENAME 502 PSD IMPORT 412
PSEUDO COLOR RGBA TABS 590 PSEUDO COLOR TOOL 590 PUBLISH 182 PUBLISH MODIFIER 535 PUBLISH POINT TO PATH 258 PUBLISHED POINTS 257 PUBLISHING A CONTROL 381 PURGING THE RAM CACHE 493 Q QUALITY 130, 451, 453 QUEUEING MULTIPLE FLOWS TO RENDER 84 QUICKTIME VIDEO COMPRESSION OPTIONS 453 R RADIAL ON 637 RADIAL DENSITY 637 RADIAL LENGTH 637 RADIAL REPEAT 637 RADIAL TAB 636 RAM CACHE 491 RAM FLIPBOOK PREVIEW 149 RANDOM SEED 394, 400, 543 RANDOM SEED CONTROL 691 RANDOMNESS 752 RANGE 261, 556 RANGE CONTROLS 133 RANGE SOFT EDGE 262 RANGES TAB 575 RE:VISION FX 800 READ AHEAD BUFFERS 447 RECALL LAYOUT SAVED IN FLOW 433 RECORDING 273 RECTANGLE (2D) 691 RECTANGLE MASK 251 RECTANGLE SHAPE 327 REDUCE POINTS 202, 232 REFERENCE (STABILIZE SETTING) 746 REFERENCE 303 REFLECTION 607 REFLECTION TYPE 608 REFRACTION STRENGTH 773 REFRESHING THE CURRENT FRAME 493 REGION TAB 690, 706 REGISTERING YOUR SOFTWARE 15 RELATIVE 234, 794 RELATIVE DEPTH 296 RELATIVE LOOP 200
DFX+ 4 815
INDEX
RELEASE MATCH 571 REMOTE ADMINISTRATION 478 REMOVING A FLIPBOOK PREVIEW 71 REMOVING ANIMATION 139 REMOVING CHARACTER LEVEL STYLING 534 REMOVING COMPUTERS FROM THE SLAVELIST 469 REMOVING FILTERS 170 REMOVING FLOWS FROM THE QUEUE 471 REMOVING MOTION PATHS 272 RENAME 120 RENAMING A BIN 211 RENAMING AN EFFECT MASK 243 RENAMING GROUPS 105 RENAMING GUIDES 176 RENAMING SPLINES 190 RENAMING TOOLS 128 RENDER X FRAMES AT ONCE 79 RENDER <PRN> 707 RENDER LOG 475 RENDER MANAGER 467 RENDER MANAGER 470, 474 RENDER MASTER 436, 464 RENDER METHOD 321 RENDER NODE 8 RENDER ON ALL AVAILABLE MACHINES 436 RENDER OUTPUT 576 RENDER PREVIEWS USING PROXY SCALING 439 RENDER QUEUES 438, 470 RENDER RANGE 31, 35 RENDER SETTINGS DIALOG 79, 473 RENDER SEVERAL FRAMES AT ONCE 484 RENDER SLIDER 435 RENDER STATUS AND STATISTICS 77 RENDER TAB 321 RENDER TO DPS DPT FILE 531 RENDER TO FLASH FILE 531 RENDERING 49 RENDERING DIALOG AND OPTIONS 79 RENDERING TAB 530 REORDERING MASKS 243 REORDERING STROKES 339 RE-ORDERING THE QUEUE 472 REPEATING SPLINES 200 REPEL STRENGTH 722 REPLACE 247, 507 REPLACE TOOL 93 REPLACING CONNECTIONS 97 REPLACING TOOLS 99
RESET ALL COLOR CHANGES 568 RESET ALL HISTOGRAM CHANGES 573 RESET ALL LEVELS 570 RESET ALL POINTS 324 RESET ALL SUPPRESSION 574 RESET COLOR RANGES 642, 657 RESET OFFSET 755 RESET SELECTED POINTS 324 RESET SIMPLE/SMOOTH RANGES 576 RESET SIZE 755, 761 RESET/PRE-ROLL ON RENDER 670 RESIZE CONTROLS TAB 761 RESIZE TOOL 760 RESIZING FLIPBOOKS 73 RESIZING THE FLOW 87 RESTART 670, 709 RESULT CURVE 406 RESULT OFFSET, RESULT SCALE 406 RESULT/SHADOWS/MIDTONES/HIGHLIGHT 575 REVERSE 173, 198, 503 REVERSE FIELD DOMINANCE 662 REVIEWING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 12 RGB 568 RGB AND LUMINANCE THRESHOLD 642, 656 RGB AND SCALE 632 RGB BUTTONS 571 RGB CHECKBOXES 630 RGB DIFFERENCE 629 RGB LUT 797 RGBA 329, 557, 561 RGBA COLOR CHANNELS 756 RGBA PHASES 546 RGBA REPETITIONS 548 RGBA SATURATION 584 RGBA, Z, UV EXPRESSIONS AND XYZ NORMAL EXPRESSIONS 679 RIGHT PATTERN DISPLAY 742 ROTATE 610, 671 ROTATE BUTTONS 750 ROTATION 547 ROTATION CONTROLS 695 ROTATION DEVIATION 752 ROTATION ORDER 515, 519 ROTOSCOPING 44, 286, 348 ROTOSCOPING WITH PAINT 348 ROUND 524 RPF (*.RPF) 359 RUN MODE 432
DFX+ 4 816
INDEX
RUNCOMMAND TOOL 673 S SAFE TITLE 157, 449 SAMPLE IMAGE 452 SAMPLE SPREAD 131, 667 SATURATION 558, 567 SAVE ALPHA TO COLOR 553 SAVE BEFORE RENDER 430 SAVE COMPRESSED FLOWS 429 SAVE FRAMES 551 SAVE IMAGE 160 SAVED TOOL SETTINGS 96 SAVER TOOLS 549 SAVING AND LOADING PATH SHAPES 232 SAVING AND LOADING QUEUES 472 SAVING AND REUSING GROUPS 106 SAVING FLIPBOOKS 73 SAVING PHOTOSHOP FILES 413 SAVING TO MULTIFRAME FORMATS 485 SCALE 115, 159, 425, 448, 543, 671 SCALE AND SCALE X/Y 540 SCALE/SCALE TIME AND VALUE 207 SCALING THE DISPLAY VIEW 148 SCALING THE FLOW 88 SCALING THE HISTOGRAM 572 SCALING THE SPLINE EDITOR 185 SCALING THE TIMELINE 164 SCANNING FOR SLAVES 469 SCENE TAB 711 SCRIPT EDITOR 442 SCRIPT PREFERENCES 441 SCRIPTING 455 SCRIPTING DIRECTORIES 460 SCRIPTS 438 SCRUB 215 SCRUB MODE 217 SCSI TAPE INTERFACE 6 SEARCH AREAS 292 SEARCH WIDTH AND HEIGHT 743 SECONDARY SIZE 634 SECONDARY STRENGTH 634 SEED 623 SEETHE 540, 543 SEETHE RATE 540 SELECT ALL 324 SELECT ALL KEYFRAMES 191 SELECT KEYFRAMES 190
SELECT MODE 327 SELECT TIME 746 SELECTING A STROKE 337 SELECTING A TOOL TO EDIT 178 SELECTING A TOOL WITH THE CONTROL HEADER 126 SELECTING ANIMATION TO EDIT 178 SELECTING KEYFRAMES 190 SELECTING MULTIPLE TOOLS TO EDIT 178 SELECTING POLYLINE POINTS 225 SELECTING STROKES 337 SELECTING TOOLS 100, 165 SELECTION POINT 261 SEQUENCE START FRAME 551 SERIAL NUMBER 15 SET A KEYFRAME ON ANIMATED CONTROL 139 SET MESH TO ENTIRE IMAGE 318 SET MODE AND SETS 689 SET RENDER RANGE 119 SET SEQUENCE START 551 SET/RESET ALL 443 SETS TAB 696 SETTING FIELD PROCESSING FOR YOUR FLOW 60 SETTING NUMERIC AND POSITIONAL VALUES 783 SETTING PIXEL ASPECT 64 SETTING THE RENDER MASTER REMOTELY 480 SETTING THE SOURCE IMAGE 342 SETTING TIMELINE GUIDES 175 SETTING UP NETWORK RENDERING 464 SETTING UP THE DEFAULT FOR NEW FLOWS 54 SETTING UP THE RENDER MASTER 465 SETTING UP TO USE CINEON FILES 370 SETTING YOUR FRAME FORMAT 53 SETTINGS 117, 427, 438, 443, 448, 451 SETTINGS TAB 757 SETUP 1-4 678 SETUP TAB 678 SGI 50 SHADER 363 SHADER LIGHT TAB 607 SHADER SELECTION 521 SHADER TAB 608 SHADER TOOL 8, 606 SHADING TAB 520 SHADOW 364 SHADOW COLOR 664 SHADOW OFFSET 664 SHADOW TOOL 663 SHAKE MODIFIER 3, 394
DFX+ 4 817
INDEX
SHAKE TAB 394 SHAPE (BORDER FILL) 523 SHAPE (BORDER OUTLINE) 524 SHAPE 767, 774 SHAPE ANIMATION 254, 320, 517 SHAPE BOX 201, 230 SHAPE MASKS 240 SHARING BINS 217 SHEAR X AND Y 520 SHIFT INSERT 99 SHOOT ON 81 SHOW 119, 741 SHOW ALWAYS TEXT OUTLINE 533 SHOW COLOR AS 430 SHOW CONTROLS 118, 449 SHOW KEY POINTS, HANDLES, GRID AND SUBDIVISIONS 324 SHOW MENU 231 SHOW MODES/OPTIONS 424 SHOW NUMBER OR POINT X 401 SHOW RENDER SETTINGS 429 SHOW VIDEO I/O SPLASH 429 SHOW VIEW CONTROLS 245 SHOW/TIPS 208 SHOWING KEY MARKERS 196 SHUTTER ANGLE 131 SHUTTLE 216 SIMULTANEOUS BRANCHING 79, 435, 484, 496 SIZE 81, 254, 317, 333, 512, 515, 597, 764, 771, 778 SIZE CONTROLS 702 SIZE X AND Y 520, 640, 755 SKIP FRAMES TO MAINTAIN APPARENT FRAMERATE 439 SLAVE(S) FAILED TO RENDER A FRAME 487 SLAVE(S) STOP RESPONDING 487 SLIDER CONTROLS 132 SMOOTH 194 SMOOTH OUT CORRECTION CURVES 573 SMOOTH RESIZE 449 SMOOTH SEGMENTS 226 SMOOTH/LINEAR 323 SMOOTHING MOTION 304 SMOOTHNESS 394 SNAP DISTANCE 320 SNAPSHOT MATCH 571 SOFT CLIP (KNEE) 371 SOFT CLIP 564 SOFT EDGE 245 SOFT GLOW 627 SOFT RANGE 642
SOFTIMAGE PIC (*.PIC, *.ZPIC AND *.Z) 359 SOFTNESS 333, 664 SOFTNESS BLEND 527 SOFTNESS GLOW 527 SOFTNESS ON FILL COLOR TOO 527 SOFTNESS X AND Y 526 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS 13 SOLID 247 SORT BY 217 SORT ORDER 172 SORT SHADING ELEMENTS 530 SOURCE 173, 260 SOURCE AND DESTINATION 314 SOURCE OFFSET 343 SOURCE TILE PICTURES 116, 424 SOURCE TIME 667 SPACING 330, 519 SPAWN <PSP> 729 SPECULAR 607 SPECULAR COLOR 609 SPEED 666, 752 SPHERE (3D) 691 SPILL COLOR 644, 654, 658 SPILL METHOD 644, 654, 659 SPILL SUPPRESSION 280, 644, 654, 659 SPILL TAB 653 SPIN 716 SPIN FRICTION 723 SPLINE CONTROL 579 SPLINE DISPLAY 576 SPLINE EDITOR 28, 181, 785 SPLINE EDITOR INTERFACE 183 SPLINE EDITOR WORKING REGIONS 183 SPLINE INTERFACE 203 SPLINE TAPER 202 SPLINES 181 SPLINES AND POLYLINES 784 SPLIT WIPE IMAGES 152 SPLITTER BARS 147 SPREAD 773 SPREADSHEET 163, 167, 177 STABILIZATION 290 STABILIZE SETTINGS 745 STABILIZING MOTION 302 STAMP FILES 214, 438 STAMP FORMAT 422 STAMP QUALITY 421 STANDARD AND AUTO 431
DFX+ 4 818
INDEX
START 746 START AND END 746 START AND END COORDINATES 136 START AND END TABS 675 START/END AGE 689 STARTING A FINAL RENDER 76 STATUS 83 STATUS BAR 21, 112, 185 STATUS BAR INFORMATION 153 STEADY ANGLE 309 STEADY POSITION 309 STEADY SIZE 309 STEP IN AND OUT 194 STILLS VS. SEQUENCES 212 STOP RENDERING 231, 324 STOPPING A FINAL RENDER 77 STRENGTH 728, 732, 770 STROKE (SUBSECTION) 329 STROKE ANIMATION 330 STROKE DURATION 341, 349 STROKE MODE 327 STYLE TAB 697 STYLE TYPE 697 STYLED TEXT INPUT 512 SUB FRAME CALCULATION ACCURACY 710 SUBDIVISION LEVEL 317 SUBMIT NETWORK RENDER FLOWS TO 436 SUBMITTING A FLOW 477 SUB-PIXEL 738 SUBSET 513 SUBTRACT 246 SUBTRACTIVE AND ADDITIVE 601, 748 SUBTRACTIVE/ADDITIVE, ALPHA GAIN, BURN IN 672 SUPPORTED VIDEO I/O HARDWARE 50 SUPPRESS MODE 574 SUSPENDED (GREY CHECKBOX) 293, 740 SWAP FIELD DOMINANCE 506 SWAP INPUTS 120 T TAB 163, 528 TANGENT FORCE <PTF> 730 TAPE 375 TAPE FUNCTIONS 374 TAPE TO DISK 377 TCP/IP AND DFX+ 463 TEXT MODIFIERS 410, 535 TEXT OUTLINE OUTSIDE FRAME ONLY 533
TEXT SCRAMBLE MODIFIER 536 TEXT TAB 511 TEXT TOOL 538 TEXT+ 510 TEXTURE 363 TEXTURE TAB 610 TEXTURE TOOL 7, 610 THE AXIS LABELS 164, 186 THICKNESS 522, 524 THIRD-PARTY PLUG-INS 10, 800 THRESHOLD 627 THRESHOLD HIGH AND LOW 640, 646, 649 THRESHOLD OUTPUT LOW/HIGH 570 THUMBWHEEL 132 TIME 197 TIME AND VALUE EDITORS 196 TIME CODE MODIFIER 537 TIME OFFSET 197, 406 TIME RULER AREA 21, 30 TIME RULER AREA AND RENDER RANGE 786 TIME SCALE 197, 406 TIME SPEED CONTROLS TAB 666 TIME SPEED TOOL 666 TIME STRETCHER TOOL 5, 667 TIME STRETCHING 168, 200, 485 TIME TAB 389, 393 TIMELINE 143, 145, 161 TIMELINE EDITOR 27 TIMELINE FILTERS 168 TIMELINE INTERFACE 161 TIMELINE OPTIONS 171 TIMELINE PREFERENCES 442 TIMELINE TOOL COLOR CODING 179 TIMELINE VIEW 161 TIMELINE.DEF 170 TINT AND STRENGTH 567 TOOL CONTEXT MENU 89, 117, 179 TOOL CONTROLS 29, 123, 143 TOOL DISPLAY TOOLBAR 24 TOOL LIST 443 TOOL SETTINGS 212, 214 TOOL SPECIFIC TOOLBARS 154 TOOL TILE COLOR CODING AND ICONS 120 TOOL TIPS AND THE STATUS BAR 112 TOOL TREE 162 TOOLBAR 787 TOOLBAR ABBREVIATIONS 787 TOOLBAR BUTTONS 322
DFX+ 4 819
INDEX
TOOLBAR OPTIONS 532 TOOLBARS 23, 91, 163, 184, 532 TOOLBARS AND MENUS 99 TOOLS 212, 214 TOOLS TOOLBAR 20, 23 TOOLTIPS 112 TOUR OF THE INTERFACE 19 TRACING PIPES THROUGH THE FLOW 97 TRACK BUTTONS 736 TRACK FORWARD 737 TRACK REVERSE 737 TRACKED CENTER 743 TRACKER 733 TRACKER LIST 739 TRACKER MODIFIER 310 TRACKER OFFSETS 301 TRACKER OUTPUTS 308 TRACKER TOOL AND TRACKER MODIFIER 2 TRACKERS TAB 736 TRACKING 289 TRACKING A PATTERN 296 TRACKING AND STABILIZATION 44 TRAILS TOOL 669 TRAINING CURRICULUM 18 TRANSFORM CONTROLS 527 TRANSFORM CONTROLS TAB 763 TRANSFORM TAB 518 TRANSFORM TOOLS 751, 763 TRANSFORM TYPE 519 TRANSFORMATIONS 365 TRANSPARENT GARBAGE MATTES 286 TRANSPORT BUTTONS 376 TRANSPORT CONTROLS 21 TRANSPORTS PREFERENCES 444 TREE VIEW 184 TRIANGLE MASK 252 TRIMMING TOOLS 165 TROUBLESHOOTING 486 TROUBLESHOOTING RENDERS 78 TURBULENCE <PTB> 731 TWEAKS PREFERENCES 445 TWO COLOR 541 TYPE 440, 515, 525, 619, 771 TYPES OF CONTROLS 132 TYPES OF DISPLAY VIEWS 141 TYPES OF SCRIPTS 457
U U AND V OFFSET 610 U TEXTURE AND V TEXTURE COORDINATES 358 ULTIMATTE 800 ULTRA KEYER 4, 276, 655 UNC NAMES 476 UNCLAMPED RGBA 358 UNDOCKING AND MOVING THE TOOLBARS 789 UNGROUPING TOOLS 105 UNLOCK X AND Y 394 UNLOCKED POINTS 267 UNSHARP MASK CONTROLS TAB 640 UNSHARP MASK TOOL 640 (UN)STABILIZE 744, 749 (UN)STABILIZE OPERATIONS 302 UNSTEADY POSITION 309 UPDATE 118 UPDATE LOCK 614 UPDATE LOG 479 UPGRADING 18 USABILITY 428 USE ASPECT FROM 505 USE FRAME FORMAT SETTINGS (CREATOR TOOLS ONLY) 500 USE IMAGE CACHE 440 USE NETWORK 80 USE NETWORK CHECKBOX 477 USE OBJECT / USE MATERIAL 249 USE OBJECT AND USE MATERIAL 361 USE OBJECT/USE MATERIAL (CHECKBOXES) 130 USE SHOT NAMES 415, 454 USE SIZE AND ASPECT 764 USE THE FOLLOWING POSITION AND SIZE 433 USE Z CHANNEL FOR PARTICLE Z 726 USES OF TRACKING 290 USING A LOADER 411, 413 USING MORE THAN 2GB OF MEMORY 490 USING THE BINS 213 USING THE MOUSE 164, 186 USING THE TAB 185 V VALUE OFFSET 197 VALUE SCALE 198 VALUES 197, 398 VARIANCE 715 VARY OPACITY 333 VARY SIZE 332 VECTOR MODIFIER 395
DFX+ 4 820
INDEX
VELOCITY CONTROLS 694 VELOCITY FRICTION 723 VELOCITY SCALE : NOTE MODE ONLY 408 VELOCITY TRANSFER 730 VIDEO HARDWARE 486 VIDEO I/O 49 VIDEO STANDARDS 48 VIDEO TYPE 553 VIEW 217, 709 VIEW AS SQUARE PIXEL 449 VIEW DESTINATION CHECKBOX 317 VIEW INDICATORS 110 VIEW ON 117 VIEW PREFERENCES 448 VIEW TOOLBAR 149 VIEWED 188 VIEWGRAPHICS 50 VIEWING A TOOLS SPLINES 127 VIEWING AND PREVIEWING A TOOL 127 VIEWING AUXILIARY CHANNELS 362 VIEWING COLOR CHANNELS AND MASKS 783 VIEWING IMAGES FROM DISK 146 VIEWING IMAGES WITH DRAG AND DROP 143 VIEWING IMAGES WITH KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 145 VIEWING IMAGES WITH THE CONTEXT MENU 144 VIEWING THE CONTROL WINDOW FOR A TOOL 124 VIEWING THE TIMELINE 163 VIEWING TOOLS 110, 143 VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE FLOW 86 VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE INTERFACE 185 VIEWING, SCALING AND PANNING THE TIMELINE 163 VORTEX <PVT> 732 VORTEX TOOL 777 W WAIT 674 WAND MASKS 240, 260 WARP TOOLS 767 WAVEFORM 591 WAVEFRONT RLA (*.RLA) 359 WHEN RENDERS FAIL 480 WIDTH 250, 427, 761 WIDTH AND HEIGHT 56, 251, 500, 759
WINDOW 433 WINDOW METHOD 762 WINDOW SETTINGS 433 WINDOWS COLOR PICKER 134 WIRE REMOVAL 347 WORK AREA 20 WORKING WITH EFFECT MASKS 241 WORKING WITH KEYFRAMES 190 WORKING WITH MOTION PATHS 271 WORKING WITH PAINT STROKES 336 WORKING WITH PAINT TOOLS 326 WORKING WITH SPLINES IN THE TIMELINE 166 WORKING WITH TAPE FUNCTIONS 373 WORKING WITH TOOLS IN THE TIMELINE 165 WRAP 591, 749 WRITE ON 513 WRITE ON AND WRITE OFF 331 X X AND Y DENSITY 725 X AND Y GRID SIZE 316 X AND Y OFFSET 743 X AND Y PIXEL ASPECT (CREATOR TOOLS ONLY) 500 X MBYTES 435 X NORMAL, Y NORMAL AND Z NORMAL 358 X, Y, Z CENTRE POSITION 728 X/Y PIXEL ASPECT 505 XYZ ROTATION 757 Z Z CLIP 712 Z DEPTH SCALE 606 Z MAP CHANNEL 665 Z MOVE 757 Z SCALE 605 Z UNDER/Z SAME/Z OVER 323 ZBIG 801 Z-BUFFER 356 Z-BUFFER COMPOSITION 7 Z-BUFFER NEAR PLANE AND FAR PLANE 606 Z-COVERAGE 357 ZOOM 547
DFX+ 4 821

DFXPlus 4 Manual

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DFXPlus 4 Manual

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Table Of Contents : General

TABLE OF CONTENTS : GENERAL

Tour Of The Interface

Table Of Contents : General

Table Of Contents : General

Final And Preview Renders

The Flow Editor

Table Of Contents : General

Table Of Contents : General

Table Of Contents : General

16Motion Paths 263

Table Of Contents : General

18Tracking (Module 1) 289

19Grid Warping (Module 4) 311

20Paint And Rotoscoping (Module 6) 325

21Auxiliary Channels (Module 4) 355

Table Of Contents : General

23Film And SCSI Tape Devices (Module 3) 369

24Connections And Modifiers (Module 1) 379

Table Of Contents : General

27Scripting (Module 3) 455

28Network Rendering 463

Table Of Contents : General

29Caching And Memory Use 489

30Loader And Creator Tools 499

31Saver Tools 549

32Color Tools 555

Table Of Contents : General

33Composite Tools 593

34Depth Tools 603

35Filter Tools 611

36Matte And Keying Tools 641

37Miscellaneous Tools 661

Table Of Contents : General

38Particle Suite (Module 7) 685

Table Of Contents : General

39The Tracker (Module 1) 733

40Transform Tools 751

41Warp Tools 767

42Appendix A : Supported File Formats 779

43Appendix B : Keyboard Shortcuts 781

Table Of Contents : General

44Appendix C : Toolbars 787

45Appendix D : ASCII Export 791

46Appendix E : Additional Resources 799

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

MODULE 1 - VISUAL EFFECTS

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Camera Shake Tool

Expressions And Calculations

Offset And Vectors

Midi Extractor Modifier

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Color Corrector Tool

Color Curves Tool

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

Corner Positioner Tool

Time Stretcher Tool

Auto Gain Tool

MODULE 3 - INPUT AND OUTPUT

ABOUT DFX+ MODULES

OMF Import Utility

EDL Import Utility