FilmFX Tips

 
# 1 You can customize the default FilmFX settings.
To do this, create the settings you would like (even with animation). Then, save the file to the same directory as FilmFX and call it DEFAULT.FFX. When you load the plugin or select FILE/RESET, the settings from that file will be used.
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# 2 You can use straight lines instead of splines on the Color Curves and Animation Curves.
Right click on the Color Curves or the Animation Curves and you can select Straight Lines instead of Cubic Splines for the control. This allows a simple way to create posterization effects with the color curves and more mechanical looking animated settings if you desire.
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# 3 When you turn OFF part of FilmFX, the plugin remembers the settings.
This is handy if you are trying to get one setting just right and don't need to worry about the other settings which add to the render time.

For example, if you have Dust, Scratches and the 3:2 pulldown set on a clip and you want to adjust the Color Curves, you can turn off the other aspects of the effect so you can get faster feedback on the color changes. Once your curves are set properly, you can easily turn the other controls back on and your settings are still there.

The settings for the controls will always be maintained in the OFF position even if they are animated, saved to an FFX file or saved in the Speed Razor project file.
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# 4 You can right click on the Animation Curves to select a control or click on the control itself.
Clicking on a tool makes the current tools animation spline visible. Right clicking on the Animation Curves window gives you the option to choose any control from the visible page.
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# 5 You can use FilmFX 2 to remove pixel crawl from still images and computer generated graphics.
Simply assign FilmFX 2 to the problem graphic and turn the Telecine on to Blend Fields. This will stop the rolling and crawling between fields.
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# 6 The Gradient at the bottom of the Color Curves updates as you change the curves to show you all the levels of white as they move across.
For example, if you raise the greens in the higher sections raise blues and reds in the middle, the gradient below the curves will progress from black, through gray with a purple tint to white with a green tint.
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# 7 Keep your effects looking different by changing the Random Number Seed.
By selecting Options/Random Number Seed from the menu, you can change the root number FilmFX uses for most of its random settings including Grain, Scratches, Dust, Stains, Gate Weaves, etc. If you are using multiple instances of FilmFX in a project, changing this setting for each instance can keep your effects from looking similar. Also remember, the Random Number Seed is stored with all of the other settings.
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# 8 You can make Duo Tone images with the Color Saturation Tool.
Set the Saturation to 0 (or between 0 and 100 for a faded color look). Then click on the 2 color squares above the saturation control to choose the 2 colors. This works great for everything from sepia tones to wild, unnatural colors. Also, the colors and saturation are animatable for your next music video.
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# 9

 Create contemporary titles design with Gate Weave.
Select the Gate Weave option and select Random Placement from the drop down box. Select Maximum X and Y % of about 3%. Set the Probability to 75%. The text will now jump like a very poor film projector. Experiment with the settings to get more subtle and wild effects.
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# 10

 The Random Defocus in the Old Film Effect has 2 modes.
Selecting Projector Problems from the drop down box will cause the resulting random blurring to affect everything on the screen including Dust, Scratches, Stains, Roll Frame Separators, etc. simulating projector feeding problems. If you select Camera Problems, only the original image is blurred by the plugin, simulating problems feeding the camera.
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# 11

 Each channel's gamma can be adjusted individually or as a group.
To adjust all channels equally, select the LOCKED TO RED check box. Then, the Red channel's gamma setting will be used for all color channels. Turn this off to set each channel separately.
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# 12

 Use FilmFX to protect all of your footage from colors illegal for broadcast.
You can use FilmFX to check any footage, even if you are not using any of the FilmFX. Simply turn off all of the settings in the plugin and select OPTIONS/NTSC COLOR CHECK/CLIP. This will make sure you will keep the engineers happy.

FilmFX is designed to protect you from creating illegal colors in several ways. The first is a simple check when you select a color in any of the color boxes. If the color you select (for something like the letterbox matte color) is illegal, the plugin will warn you and offer a legal replacement color. You may choose to ignore this warning, accept the suggested color or choose another color by clicking on the original color.

However, your footage may have illegal colors because of color correction you have applied (especially turning up the saturation) or because the original footage was illegal (perhaps computer generated, etc.). To protect you, in the menu under OPTIONS/NTSC COLOR CHECK you have 3 options. You may turn the color checking off, have the plugin flag the offending colors with black or scale the chroma of the offending colors to make them legal (default). This parameter is saved in the FFX file.
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# 13

 You can improve the look and speed of rendering by analyzing the Telecine Style needed for each shot.
NTSC based shots with lots of motion and dynamic camera movements look great with the 3:2 pulldown. However, PAL users and locked down cameras with little movement will generally look better (and render much faster) with one of the other telecine styles. Analyzing the shots where you are using FilmFX for the appropriate choice will garner the best results.

The Blend Fields will remove all interfield motion while maintaining all of the data by blending the fields together. This gives the look of films slower shutter speed while rendering much faster than the 3:2 pulldown. The final output is appears to be film shot at 30 frames per second (25 FPS for PAL). This should be the #1 choice for PAL users and the first choice for NTSC users without lots of movement in the scene.

The Deinterlace options also create a 30 FPS output (25 FPS for PAL). Unlike the Blend Fields, this choice will remove the interfield motion by deleting one field and interpolating the missing lines based on the remaining field. This results in the look of a faster shutter speed than Blend Fields.
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# 14

 Use Burst Hue to punch up particular colors.
So the director of that music video wants you to make the trees more green but don't tint the whole image? Easy, use the Burst Hue feature under Special Effects. This increases the value of a pixel of the color you select exponentially. If you ramp up the green, the greener the source the more green it will become.

Make sure you have NTSC color checking turned on under OPTIONS as Burst Hue is an easy way to go illegal.
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# 15

 Animate all of the colors in the color boxes.
All color box colors can be animated.  If you have the ANIMATE button pressed and change the color of an item, for example, the Letterbox Matte Color, its color will animate.

Also, if you right click on the animation control, you can select each color objects individual Red, Green and Blue components and animate those separately using spline controls.

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# 16

 All previous Tips of the Day are available at the website.
Just point your browser to http://www.BigFX.com and click on the Tips of the Day link.
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# 17

 Turning off the ANIMATE button does not keep the control from animating.
The ANIMATE button only selects how animation keys are set.  To remove animation from a control, right click on the curve for the control and select REMOVE ANIMATION.
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# 18

 Create widescreen images from footage originally framed for 4:3.
As you probably already know, you can use the letterboxing controls to matte your footage for widescreen presentation.   However, even if your footage has a moving camera and/or subjects framed for traditional 4:3 presentation, you correct the framing using Letterbox Position.

Use the ANIMATE button and move the timeline along the bottom of the dialog.  Set keys for the LETTERBOX POSITION to properly frame the subject as it moves.
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# 19

 You can change the grain for each color channel.
There are 2 ways to apply grain in FilmFX.  You can layer up to 3 sizes and densities of monochromatic grain or select RED, GREEN, BLUE from the dropdown box and select various colors and sizes for each color channel.
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# 20

 Use Glow to create flash transitions.
To create subtle or dramatic flash transitions, apply FilmFX 2 to the end of a clip the length you want the flash to be.  Set the Amount, Size and Visibility to 0 and the Clip to 100. 

Create a very slow upward curve on the first 3 and a slow downward curve on the Clip.  Exponentially Increase the curve of each to peak where you want the brightest part of the flash and then quickly curve each back to their starting values at the end of the timeline.

Slow versions of this are useful for flashbacks, dreams and alien abductions while fast versions can be used for cuts to other shots from the same angle or even gunfire. 

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# 21

 Delete nodes from the Animation Curves and Color Curves 2 different ways.
You can delete nodes by curves dragging another node near the node you wish to delete.  You can also Right-Click on the node and select DELETE.
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# 22

 All Scratch settings are affected by the Scratch Variations setting.
When you select a setting for Scratches, such as Length, you are setting the target amount.  Variation will add randomness to those settings.  A variation of 0 will add no randomness.  Higher and higher variations will apply more and more and randomness to the settings you've chosen.
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# 23

 Pressing  the SPACEBAR will render a preview.
If you are changing settings too quickly for Preview Always to be of much use, you can use the SPACEBAR as a shortcut to the Preview Now button.
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# 24

 Nudge curve nodes 1 value at a time with the keyboard.
While adjusting Color and Animation curves, you can move the selected point 1 value at a time in any direction by keeping the mouse button pressed and using the arrow keys.
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# 25

 Use glow to create smooth images and water color looks.
You can achieve a silky smooth and painterly effects to your images by using the Glow tool.  Set the glow Amount and Clipping to 0.  Low amounts of Visibility and Size will create a creamy image while raising those images will result in a more water color look.  Adjust the Clipping to tweak the effect even more.
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