Understanding the Tutorial Exercises

Avid FX Tutorials

Understanding the Tutorial Exercises

The following tutorial exercises provide step-by-step instructions for creating various kinds of effects, while exploring many aspects of the Avid FX user interface and functionality.

Each exercise builds on the steps and techniques introduced in the exercise that precedes it. For this reason, new users should begin with the first exercise and perform the tutorials in order. More advanced users should look over the tutorial topics and choose tutorials that are applicable to their skill level.

These tutorial exercises are designed to be used with Avid FX. You can perform the steps in these exercises within a host application such as Avid Xpress Pro or within Avid FX as a standalone application, but host-specific aspects of Avid FX (such as rendering) are not covered in these tutorials.

The tutorials use and refer to media files, which are found in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library.

These exercises assume you are using the default settings and preferences. You can reset all preferences to the default settings by deleting your Avid FX preferences file. For more information, see “Resetting Preferences” on page 239.

See the following topics:

• Getting Started

• Exercise 1: Animating an Image Using Keyframes

• Exercise 2: Creating a Multi Input Page Turn Transition

• Exercise 3: Animating Masked Tracks in a 3D Container

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• Exercise 4: Filtering Selectively with the PixelChooser

• Exercise 5: Creating a Rolling Title Effect

• Exercise 6: Creating Animated Text Effects

• Exercise 7: Creating a Chroma Key Effect

• Exercise 8: Creating a Custom Scatter Wipe Effect

• Exercise 9: Creating a 3D Text Effect

• Exercise 10: Creating a Displacement Map Effect

Getting Started

To complete the tutorial exercises, you need Avid FX. If you have not already installed Avid FX, you can do so by following the instructions in the Installation Guide that is included with your software.

To start Avid FX from within an Avid editing application:

1. In the Avid editing application, open a sequence in the Composer monitor. The sequence appears in the Timeline.

2. Select Tools > Effect Palette.

The Effect Palette opens.

3. Drag an Avid FX effect onto the Timeline.

4. Select Tools > Effect Editor.

The Effect Editor opens.

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5. Click the Other Options button.

The Avid FX windows open.

To finish using Avid FX within an Avid editing application:

1. Click OK in the bottom of the Avid FX Timeline window to apply the effect changes to the Avid Timeline and return to the Avid editing application.

2. Render the Avid FX effect.

To open Avid FX as a standalone application:

t Select Start > Programs > Avid FX 4.5 > Avid FX Engine.

The Avid FX windows open.

Controls window Composite window

Timeline windowProject window

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Exercise 1: Animating an Image Using Keyframes

In this tutorial, you use keyframes to animate a single video track in 3D space. This tutorial also covers basic interpolation settings and file management.

Importing Still Image Files

To import still images:

1. Start Avid FX. See “Getting Started” on page 2.

2. Click to select the Video 1 track in the Timeline window. The track turns blue when you select it.

3. Press the Media icon in the track, and choose Still Image File from the menu.

4. A dialog box lets you navigate to the file’s location. Open “Columns.pct” located in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library and click Open. The “Columns” image is visible in the Composite window and the Media icon displays the icon for Still Image Files. The track is renamed Columns.pct.

5. Follow the same steps to import the still image file “Waves.pct” into the Video 2 track.

6. Click the Visibility icon on Columns.pct to hide that track. The “Waves” image is visible in the Composite window.

7. Click the Visibility icon again to restore Columns.pct’s visibility.

Media icon

Visibility icon


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Naming Tracks

By default, tracks are named by their media type. For example, when you launch Avid FX, the tracks are named Video 1 and Video 2. If you change a track’s media to Still Image File, the track is automatically assigned the file name. However, once you explicitly name a track, the track retains that name, even if you change the track’s media type.

To name tracks:

1. Select the Columns.pct track and choose Track > Rename Track.

2. Type “Columns” and press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows). The track is renamed “Columns.”

3. Rename the Waves.pct track, using the following shortcut. Select the track and press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows). Type “Waves” and press Return or Enter. The track is renamed.

Animating the 3D Plane Shape

Selecting a track displays the parameters for that type of track in the Controls window. Parameters can be animated using keyframes. A keyframe sets specific parameter values for a track at a certain point in the timeline. When you place multiple keyframes on the timeline, the program interpolates, or computes intermediate values, between keyframe values.

Avid FX includes two types of keyframes, master keyframes and parameter keyframes. Master keyframes appear on the Shape track. Parameter keyframes appear on the Transformations tracks nested inside the Shape track. You can associate multiple parameter keyframes with each master keyframe. When you create a parameter keyframe, the corresponding master keyframe is automatically created. In this section, you set keyframes in the timeline to animate several 3D Plane parameters.

Shape icon

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To animate the 3D Plane shape:

1. Click to select the Columns track. The track already has keyframes placed at the start and end. Because both keyframes contain the default parameter values for the track, the effect is static (not animated).

2. Move the Current Time Indicator (CTI) to frame 10 (Time 00:00:00:10). The CTI determines which frame of the effect displays in the Composite window. As you move the CTI around the timeline, the Composite window updates to display the frame at the new CTI location. Because the Columns.pct is a still image, all the frames are the same.

You can either drag the CTI to the new location or type the timecode of the new location in the Time field in the Timeline window and press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows). Make sure that the first keyframe is not selected after you drag the CTI. Selected keyframes are red. To deselect a keyframe, click in the track on the right side of the timeline.

3. If it is not already displayed, click the Position tab in the Controls window.

KeyframesCurrent Time Indicator (CTI) Time Field


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4. Change the Scale X value to 60 by dragging the slider to the left. (The Scale X and Scale Y values are locked by default so the Scale Y setting also updates.) You could also scrub the numerical field or click the numerical field, type 60, and press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows).

A new keyframe is automatically created at frame 10, and the Columns image is scaled to 60% of its original size. The keyframe uses the default interpolation, Ease In/Out.

5. Click to select the new keyframe at frame 10. Selected keyframes are red.

6. Press the Interpolation field in the Scale X controls. Choose Hold from the menu.(The Scale X and Scale Y values are locked by default, so the Scale Y setting also updates.)

7. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, either by dragging the CTI to the beginning or by pressing the Home key.

8. Play the sequence by clicking the Play button in the Composite window or by pressing the Space bar.

The Columns track starts full size, shrinks to 60% size by frame 10, then holds at that size for the remainder of the effect. Playback loops until you press the Space bar or Play button again.

Numerical Field SliderLock

Interpolation Field

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9. To view the effect in real time, choose Preview > Preview to RAM or press Command-zero (Macintosh) or Control-zero (Windows). The effect plays through once slowly as it renders each frame to RAM, then plays through in real time.

To add animation to move the Columns track off-screen and reveal the Waves track.

1. Select the Columns track.

2. You should see red, green and blue OpenGL interactors in your Composite window. If you don’t, press the G key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactors > Show Interactors. The interactors should display arrows at their ends to indicate that you are in Translation mode. If they don’t, press the W key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactors > Translation Interactor.

3. Move the CTI to frame 10 (Time 00:00:00:10).

4. Select the Position X track, then choose Track > New Keyframe. A parameter keyframe appears in the Position X track at the CTI’s current position (Time 00:00:00:10). Use the same steps to create a new keyframe at that point in the Position Y track.

Disclosure triangle


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5. Select the Rotate Z track. This time use the keyboard shortcut, Command-N (Macintosh) or Control-N (Windows), to create a new keyframe in the Rotate Z track (at Time 00:00:00:10). Because the keyframes use Ease In/Out interpolation, they appear as an “X” in the timeline. Your timeline should now appear like the following illustration.

6. Click the CTI on the last frame in the Columns track (Time 00:00:01:00). The keyframe turns red to show that it is selected. You may need to scroll up.

7. Click the green interactor in the Composite window. The green interactor moves the image on the Y-axis. Make sure you click the interactor and not the Columns image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected.

8. Drag the interactor until the Columns image is near the top of the screen. In the Controls window, the value for Position Y updates. Stop dragging at a Position Y value of approximately 0.

9. Click the red interactor and drag to the right until the Columns image is offscreen. Make sure you click the interactor and not the Columns image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected. In the Controls window, the value for Position X updates. Stop dragging at a Position X value of approximately 940.

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10. If you prefer, you can adjust the parameters in the Controls window by setting Position X to 940 and Position Y to 0 with the default Ease In/Out interpolation.

11. In the Controls window, set Rotate Z to 0 rotations, 180° by typing 180 and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows).

12. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, and play the effect or Preview to RAM by choosing Preview > Preview to RAM. The Columns track now shrinks to 60% size by frame 10, and undergoes one half rotation and moves off screen by frame 30.

13. Complete the steps in the next section to finetune your animation.

Working with Bézier Curves

The Ease In/Out interpolation (the default interpolation type) allows you to work with Bézier curves to finetune the motion of the effect. Keyframes that use the Ease In/Out interpolation are displayed as an “X” in the timeline. This section describes two ways of using the bézier controls to smooth transitions at keyframe points.

Rotations

Degrees

Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:15 Time 00:00:00:21


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To work with Bézier curves:

1. In the timeline, select the keyframe at frame 10 (Time 00:00:00:10).

2. Expand the Position X track to reveal the Value curve controls for that parameter.

Red bézier curve handles appear at each keyframe point on the Value curve in the timeline.

n If you do not see bézier handles in the value curve, press the interpolation fields in the Position X and Position Y controls and choose Ease In/Out from the menu.

Value curve controls Value curveBézier handle

Interpolation field

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3. Drag either of the handles to move them up or down or lengthen them. The left handle controls the curve going into the keyframe, and the right handle controls the curve going out of the keyframe.

4. To manipulate the direction of each bézier handle independently, press the Option key (Macintosh) or the Alt key (Windows) as you drag the handle.

Saving Settings

If you are using the Avid FX, you can use the Render Queue to render your effect. You can also save the settings file and open it later in a host application to render it. In this case, you save the effect you created to the Project window and also in the Avid FX Library Browser so that you can reuse it later.

The Project window is useful if you want to experiment with multiple versions of an effect. You can save the composition to the Project window and then continue adjusting parameters. Later, if you decide that you like the earlier version, you can open that version in the timeline.

Bézier


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To save your settings:

1. Choose Composition > Save Composition Copy.

A copy of your effect appears in the Project window.

2. Click the Composition and rename it “First Effect” by pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows), typing the name and pressing Enter or Return again. When you finish, your Project window should look like the following example.

3. Choose File > Save Project Copy to Library.

A dialog box lets you name and save a copy of the effect.

4. Click the New Folder button to create a new folder. Name the folder “My Effects” and click Create.

5. Click to select the Save Preview checkbox (Macintosh) or the Thumbnail Preview checkbox (Windows).

6. Name your effect and click OK.

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Exercise 2: Creating a Multi Input Page Turn Transition

In this exercise, you create a Page Turn transition with different media on the front and back faces of the turning page, and apply a filter to the effect.

Creating a Page Turn Transition

To create a page turn transition:

1. Choose Composition > New Composition. A new composition is created in the timeline. Your last composition is saved in the Project window.

2. Press the Shape icon for the Video 1 track and choose Page Turn from the menu. The track is automatically renamed “Page Turn -Video 1.”

3. The Composite window updates to display the new shape.

4. Rename the Video 1 track “Page Turn.”

5. Rename the Video 2 track “Background.”

6. Select the first keyframe of the Page Turn track in the timeline (Time 00:00:00:00).

Shape


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7. In the Controls window, click the Page Turn tab and set Offset to 0 with Ease In/Out interpolation.

8. Select the last keyframe in the Page Turn track (Time 00:00:01:00) and set Offset to 100 with Ease In/Out interpolation.

9. Move the CTI to the first keyframe and play the sequence to see the Offset animate from 0 to 100, which creates the page turn.

Mapping Media to Front and Back Faces

Each Shape has a Multi Input mode and Single Input mode. In Single Input mode, the assigned media is used for all faces of the shape. In Multi Input mode, multiple face tracks appear in the timeline, each of which can be assigned different media. You assign different media to the front and back faces of the page turn.

Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:00:25

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To map media to front and back faces:

1. Click the disclosure triangle to expand the Page Turn track in the timeline. Click the Multi/Single Input icon on the Page Turn track. The icon toggles to Multi Input mode.

Separate Face tracks appear for the Front and Flap faces of the page turn.

2. Press the Media icon for the Front Face track and choose Still Image File from the menu. In the dialog box that appears, choose “Tall trees.pct” from the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library and click Open.

3. Press the Media icon for the Flap Face track, and choose Color from the menu. Select the Flap Face track. In the Color Media tab in the Controls window, pick a color using the system color picker or the eyedropper.

4. Press the Media icon for the Background track and choose Still Image File from the menu. Then choose “Clover.pct” from the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library and click Open.

Multi/Single Input iconDisclosure triangle

Media icons


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5. The page turn now has “Tall trees.pct” on the front face, solid color on the back face, and reveals “Clover.pct” at the end of the transition.

Applying Upstream and Downstream Filters

There are two ways to apply a filter to a shape effect, referred to as upstream and downstream. These terms refer to the order in which the filter is processed in relation to the shape itself.

• An upstream filter is applied to the shape and processed before the shape transformations occur. An upstream filter only affects one portion of the shape, that is, one of the shape’s faces.

• A downstream filter is applied to the shape and processed after the shape transformations occur. A downstream filter affects the entire shape and all of its faces.

To apply a Ripple filter to the page turn at the upstream position:

t Select the Front Face track, and choose Filters > Distortion and Perspective > Ripple to apply a Ripple filter to that track.

The Ripple track is “nested” within the Front Face track.

Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:00:25

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The Ripple affects only the front face, and does not distort the shape itself. This is an example of an upstream filter.

To create a downstream filter effect

1. Drag the Ripple track up into the Page Turn track. As you drag a black line appears around each track. When the Page Turn track turns black, release the mouse button.

Now the Ripple filter is nested inside the Page Turn track.

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The Ripple is now in the downstream position, and is applied after the Page Turn transformation is applied. Therefore the Ripple distorts the entire shape.

To save the filter effect:

1. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect and press Play or choose Preview > Preview to Ram to view the effect.



3. Navigate to the “My Effects” folder that you created in Exercise One.

4. Click to select the Save Preview checkbox (Macintosh) or the Thumbnail Preview checkbox (Windows).

5. Name your effect and click OK.


In this exercise, you apply masks to two tracks, animate the tracks individually, then animate them together within a 3D Container. You also experiment with the OpenGL Interactors as well as 3D Container Renderers.

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About Masks

A mask is a section of media that contains an alpha (transparent) channel, which is used to hide part of another image. Each Shape and Face track contains a Mask track. When you apply a mask to an object, the object becomes transparent wherever the mask’s alpha channel has a value of 0 and remains opaque wherever the mask’s alpha channel’s value is 255. Intermediate alpha channel values produce semi-transparent areas in the object.

Any mask can be applied as either an upstream or downstream mask. These terms refer to when the mask is processed in relation to the shape’s transformations.

• An upstream mask is applied to the shape’s face track, becomes part of that face’s media and is processed before the shape transformations occur. In the following example, the mask is applied first, then the masked face is curved into a cylinder.

• A downstream mask is applied to the shape and processed after the shape transformations occur. In the following example, the face is curved into a cylinder, then the mask reveals the cylinder.


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This exercise uses only an upstream masks—that is, masks that are applied to the shape’s face before the shape undergoes transformations. You create masks using two methods. First, you import a PICT file. Second, you use Spline Primitive media to create a mask within Avid FX.

Creating Multiple Tracks

You create multiple tracks for this effect. You use several different media types, including Spline Primitive, Still Image File, Color, Gradient and Natural Media.

To create multiple effects:

1. Press the Media icon on the Video 1 track and choose Spline Primitive from the menu that appears. This creates a rectangular Spline Primitive track.

2. Click the Track Selector button at the bottom of the Controls window or press F to toggle to the Face track. The Face track is called a Path track when you work with Spline Primitive media.

The Spline Primitive tabs appear in the Controls window.

3. In the Shape tab in the Controls window, click the Arrow tab to assign the Spline Primitive an arrow shape. Choose Right from the Arrow Type menu. The track is automatically renamed Arrow. Click the disclosure triangles to close the Arrow track.

4. Press the Media icon on the Video 2 track and choose Still Image File from the menu that appears. In the dialog box, choose “Bullseye.pct,” located in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library and click Open.

5. Click the bottom of the Timeline window to deselect the Bullseye.pct track.

6. Click the Add Color Media button in the timeline to create a 3D Plane track with Color media. The Face track is selected by default. The Color Media tab appears in the Controls window.

7. Assign the track a black color. Rename the track “Black.” Click the disclosure triangle to close the Black track.

Arrow tab

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8. Drag the Black track to the bottom of the timeline. As you drag a black line appears around each track. When the black line is below the Bullseye.pct track, release the mouse button.

9. Click the bottom of the Timeline window to deselect the Black track.

10. Click the Add Gradient Media button in the timeline to create a 3D Plane track with Gradient media.

This creates a Gradient track. The Face track is selected by default and the Gradient tabs appear in the Controls window. Instead of adjusting the gradient yourself, you apply a preset style from the Style Palette.

11. Choose Window > Show Style Palette or press Command-7 (Macintosh) or Control-7 (Windows) to display the Style Palette. Click the Gradient tab in the Style Palette.

12. Choose Radial2.grd from the Category menu.

13. Double-click the AquaBlue thumbnail to apply it to the gradient track.

If your Radial category does not include the AquaBlue setting, you can simply double-click any setting that you like.

14. Click the disclosure triangle to close the Gradient track.

15. Click the bottom of the Timeline window to deselect the Gradient track.

16. Click the Add Natural Media button in the timeline to create a 3D Plane track with Natural media.

Gradient tabCategory menu


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This creates a Natural Media track. The Face track is selected by default and the Natural Media tabs appear in the Controls window. Instead of adjusting the Natural Media yourself, you apply a preset style from the Style Palette.

17. Click the Natural tab in the Style Palette. Choose Marble.ntr from the Category menu.

18. Double-click the Natural thumbnail to apply it to the Natural Media track. (This category may include several thumbnails called Natural. Just double-click one that you like.) If your Marble category does not include the Natural setting, you can simply double-click any setting that you like.

19. Close the Style Palette.

Your timeline should now look like the following illustration.

In the next section you apply masks to your effect.

Applying Masks to a Track

To apply a mask to a track:

1. Expand the Face track nested inside the Veined Marble track to reveal its Mask track.

2. Drag the Arrow track into the Face track’s Mask track. You may have to scroll down.

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3. Click the disclosure triangles to close the Veined Marble track. Rename the track “Arrow.”

4. The Composite window displays the veined marble masked by the Arrow spline primitive. Click the disclosure triangles to close the Arrow track.

5. Click the disclosure triangles to expand the Gradient track. Expand the Face track nested inside to reveal its Mask track.

6. Drag the Bullseye.pct track into the Face track’s Mask track. You may have to scroll down.

7. Rename the Gradient track “Bullseye.” Click the disclosure triangles to close the Bullseye track.

8. The Composite window displays the Gradient track masked by the bullseye shape.


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9. In the next section you change the duration of your effect.

In the next section you nest your tracks in a 3D Container.

Manipulating Tracks Within a 3D Container

Placing two or more tracks inside a 3D Container preserves the spatial relationship between the tracks. Grouping tracks inside a container allows you to animate tracks independently (at the track level), then apply parameters and animations globally to all the tracks within the container (at the container level).

In this section, you animate the arrow so that it moves in from the right, passes through the center of the bullseye, and moves off-screen in the opposite direction.

Creating the 3D Container

To create the 3D container:

1. Shift-click to select the Arrow and Bullseye tracks.

2. Create a 3D Container, by choosing Track > New 3D Container or clicking the Add Container button in the timeline.

The 3D Container appears above the selected track.

If no tracks are selected, the 3D Container appears at the top of the timeline.

Setting Static Parameters

The Constant interpolation type allows you to make parameter adjustments that remain static throughout the effect and do not create keyframes. In this section you set the static attributes of the arrow before animating it.

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The Animate button in the lower-right corner of the Controls window lets you quickly toggle between Constant and the default interpolation. This is useful when you are compositing rather than animating an effect. When you want to switch back to the default interpolation, click this button again.

The Animate button also appears in the timeline. When you click either button, the corresponding button toggles to the same setting.

To set static parameters:

1. At the bottom of the Controls window, click to set the Animate button to Constant interpolation.

The top button shows the Animate button in Default interpolation: the bottom button is in Constant interpolation.

In the next section you adjust the on-screen interactors. This is easier if your Composite window does not display the Shape outlines.

2. Press the Controls button in the Composite window and choose Shape to hide this control. A dot appears next to this command when it is selected. You want it to be deselected. See “Preview Controls” on page 170 for more information.

Working with the OpenGL Interactors

Avid FX’s OpenGL hardware acceleration speeds previews. In OpenGL mode, you do not see non-accelerated objects when you use the on-screen interactors. Non-accelerated objects include filters, masks, bump maps, reflection maps, cast shadows, apply modes, cropping and opacity. As you adjust the interactors, the Composite window displays “Accelerated Draft Preview.” When you release the mouse button, the Composite window displays all objects. You must be in OpenGL mode to complete this section. For more information on OpenGL mode, see “Working with the OpenGL Interactors” in the Avid FX User’s Guide.

To work with the OpenGL Interactors:

1. Select the Arrow track and press the letter E. The on-screen OpenGL interactors now allow you to spin, tumble and rotate the selected track.This mode is indicated by circles at the ends of the interactors. Dragging the green interactor spins the track around the X axis; dragging

Controls button


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the red interactor tumbles the track on the Y axis; dragging the blue interactor rotates the track around the Z axis. If the OpenGL interactors do not appear in the Composite window, press the letter G.

2. Drag the green OpenGL interactor to the left to spin the Arrow track. Make sure you click the interactor and not the image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected. The corresponding Spin Y value updates in the Controls window as you drag. When the Spin Y value is approximately –50, stop dragging. The arrow now appears to point into the screen and away from the viewer.

3. Drag the blue OpenGL interactor up to rotate the Arrow track. The corresponding Rotate Z value updates in the Controls window as you drag the interactor. When Rotate Z is approximately 18, stop dragging. The arrow now appears to point downward and to the right.

4. Click the Animate button to return it to the default interpolation.

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Using Z Space Composite

By default, objects in a composition overlap each other based on their positioning in the timeline. Here, the arrow appears in front of the bullseye because its track is higher in the timeline than the bullseye track.

The Renderer determines how objects within the container interact. Choosing Z Space Composite displays the objects based on their relative depth positioning. In other words, if the arrow moves behind the bullseye in Z space, it is overlapped by the bullseye regardless of the position of their tracks in the timeline. Z Space Composite allows objects to intersect, interact, and cast shadows on one another when placed in the same container.

When Z Space Composite is chosen in a container, 3D Plane and 3D Sphere shapes can be placed in the container. The Z Space Composite feature helps you position and animate the arrow in Z space.

To use Z Space Composite:

1. Select the 3D Container track in the timeline.

2. In the Controls window, click the Position tab, and choose Z Space Composite from the Renderer menu.

The tip of the arrow now appears at its actual Z position behind the bullseye.

In OpenGL mode, you do not see non-accelerated objects when you work in Draft Quality mode. Non-accelerated objects include filters, masks, bump maps, reflection maps, cast shadows, apply modes, cropping and opacity.


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If your Composite window is set to Draft Quality, it looks like the following example.

3. If your Composite window appears this way, press the Quality button in the Composite window and choose High. See “Preview Controls” on page 170 for more information.

Setting the Default Interpolation

In the next few sections you animate the objects in the container using the Linear interpolation type, which interpolates at a constant rate between parameter values.

Rather than setting the interpolation type every time you adjust a parameter, you can save time by changing the default interpolation to the type you use most often. Complete the following steps to set the default interpolation type to Linear.

Setting the default interpolation:

1. Choose Avid FX > Preferences (Macintosh) or Edit > Preferences (Windows).

Quality button

General tab Press and choose Linear

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2. In the General tab, in the General Options section, set the Default Interpolation menu to Linear.

3. Click OK to apply the changes and exit the Preferences window.

Animating Position Parameters

Now you animate the X, Y, and Z Position of the arrow to make it appear to pass through the bullseye.

Animating position parameters:

1. Select the first keyframe on the Arrow track (Time 00:00:00:00).

2. Press the letter W. The on-screen OpenGL interactors now allow you to position the selected track.This mode is indicated by arrows at the ends of the interactors. Dragging the green interactor moves the track on the X axis; dragging the red interactor moves the track on the Y axis; dragging the blue interactor moves the track on the Z axis. If the OpenGL interactors do not appear in the Composite window, press the letter G.

3. In the Controls window, drag the red interactor up and to the left until the tip of the arrow is almost offscreen. You must press the interactor, not simply the arrow image.

4. Select the last keyframe on the Arrow track (Time 00:00:03:00).

5. In the Controls window, drag the red interactor down and to the right until the arrow is offscreen. Bring the arrow all the way through the bullseye and offscreen.

6. Move the CTI to the beginning of the timeline and choose Preview > Preview to RAM. The arrow flies in from the left, passes through the bullseye, then moves off the screen to the right. Its apparent size decreases as it moves farther from the viewer.

Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:01:20 Time 00:00:02:10


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Working with a 3D Model Container

When the Renderer menu is set to 3D Model, multiple 3D Extrusion shapes can interact and intersect within a 3D container. In 3D Model, the object that appears foremost in Z space covers objects that are farther away in Z space, regardless of their order in the timeline. The 3D Model Renderer is similar to Z Space Composite, but it allows you to use 3D Extrusion shapes in the container.

However, you can include tracks that use the 3D Sphere, 3D Plane, Cylinder, Cube, and Page Turn shapes in a 3D Container that uses the 3D Model Renderer. When you include one of these shape tracks in a 3D Model Renderer Container, the track is called a 3D Primitive. This means that you can now apply 3D parameters such as Materials, Textures, Reflection Maps and Bump Maps to two dimensional shapes. In this section you convert the effect that you created to a 3D Primitive and apply a bump map to the arrow.

Working with a 3D model container:

1. Click to select the first keyframe in the 3D Container track in the timeline.

2. In the Position tab in the Controls window, choose 3D Model from the Renderer menu.

3. Select the Arrow track. Move the CTI into the effect to approximately Time 00:00:01:10, so that you can see the arrow.

4. In the Controls window, click the Bump Map tab.Click to select the checkbox to turn on the bump map for the Front face. A Rock bump map is added to the Natural Media that is mapped to the Arrow track.

Checkbox

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5. The examples in this section show the Bump Map parameters set at the default. If you want, you can adjust some of the parameters. See “Working with the Bump Map Tab” on page 346 for details.

6. Move the CTI to the beginning of the timeline and choose Preview > Preview to RAM. The arrow flies in from the left, passes through the bullseye, then moves off the screen to the right. A Rock bump map texture has been combined with the Natural media.

Turning on a Cast Shadow

Unlike the shadows created by the Shadow tab, the 3D Model Container’s Shadow tab controls the shadows created by the application of the three light sources in the Lights tab. This creates true cast shadows. Use the Shadows tab to turn the shadow for each light source on and off, and adjust the softness of the shadow.

To turn on a cast shadow:

1. Click to select the 3D Container track in the timeline.

2. In the Shadows tab in the Controls window, click the checkbox to turn on the first shadow.

Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:01:20 Time 00:00:02:10


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3. Move the CTI to the beginning of the timeline and choose Preview > Preview to RAM.

Animating Objects in a 3D Container

In this section, you animate the container that contains the objects that you already animated. Animating a container animates all the objects inside it while preserving their spatial relationship to each other.

To animate objects in a 3D container:

1. Select the 3D Container track in the timeline, and select the first keyframe in the track (Time 00:00:00:00). In the Position tab in the Controls window, set the interpolation for Tumble X to Ease In/Out but leave Tumble X at the default value.

2. Select the last keyframe in the 3D Container track (Time 00:00:03:00). In the Position tab in the Controls window, set Tumble X to 90°.

3. Select Preview > Preview to RAM. The arrow and bullseye tumble together as the arrow moves through the bullseye.

Animated container

Time 00:00:01:20Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:02:10

Time 00:00:01:20Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:02:10

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Resetting the Default Interpolation

To reset the default interpolation type to Ease In/Out:

1. Choose Avid FX > Preferences (Macintosh) or Edit > Preferences (Windows).

2. In the General tab, in the General Options section, set Default Interpolation to Ease In/Out.

3. Click OK to apply the changes and exit the Preferences window.

Saving Settings to the Library Browser

To save settings to the Library browser:



2. Navigate to the “My Effects” folder that you created in Exercise One.

3. Click to select the Save Preview checkbox (Macintosh) or the With Thumbnail Previews checkbox (Windows) in the bottom left corner.

4. Name your effect and click Save.

Exercise 4: Filtering Selectively with the PixelChooser

The PixelChooser uses the source image’s color or luma information to apply a filter to selected pixels. For example, you can use the PixelChooser to apply noise only to the brightest or darkest areas of an image, depending on the luma values you set. You can also apply another image to the PixelChooser Source track, and use that image’s channels to selectively apply the filter to the source image.

The PixelChooser also provides region controls that apply the filter to a specified region in the image. This allows you to apply a filter to any rectangular or oval-shaped region, and animate the region size to create wipes between the filtered and unfiltered image.


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In this exercise, you apply a blur filter to selected channels using the PixelChooser’s Channel controls. The second part of the exercise shows you how to create a wipe using the PixelChooser’s Region controls.

Applying a Blur to Selected Channels

In this section you use the PixelChooser to blur the source image’s luma channel to create a glow effect.

To apply a blur to selected channels:

1. Press the Media icon on the Video 1 track and choose Still Image File from the menu that appears. In the dialog box, choose “Grasses.pct,” located in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library and click Open.

2. Delete the Video 2 track by selecting it and pressing the Delete key (Macintosh) or the Back Space key (Windows); you do not need it in this exercise.

3. Apply a Directional Blur filter to the Grasses.pct track by selecting the track, then choosing Filters > Color and Blurs > Directional Blur. The source image blurs uniformly.

n For more information on filters, see Chapter 8 of the Avid FX User’s Guide.

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4. In the Controls window, click the PixelChooser tab.

5. Within this tab are separate Region and Channel tabs. Click the Channel tab.

6. Set the Make Mask From menu to Luminance. The PixelChooser now creates a mask based on the source image’s luminance values, using one of three Mask Types.

7. Select the View Pixels Chosen checkbox to view the mask in black and white. The white areas of the mask show where the source image’s pixels will be filtered, and the black areas of the mask show where the pixels will remain unfiltered.

Region tab

Channel tab


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8. Select the Invert Mask checkbox to invert the luma values of the mask. This creates the glow effect by blurring all pixels except the lightest.

9. Set the Mask Type menu to Levels, and use the Input Black and Input White controls to adjust the mask and eliminate most of the gray background regions. Increasing Input Black pushes dark gray pixels to black; decreasing Input White pushes light gray pixels to white. Set the interpolation for Input Black and Input White to Constant.

10. Deselect the View Pixels Chosen checkbox to view the composite. If you want, click the Basic tab and adjust the amount of blur or the direction of the blur to finetune the glow effect.

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Wiping Between the Original and Blurred Images

In this section you animate the PixelChooser’s Region controls to create a wipe between the original image and the blurred image you just created.

To wipe between original and blurred images:

1. Click the Region tab in the PixelChooser tab, and set the Region Type menu to Inside Rectangle. This setting applies the filter inside a rectangular region whose top left corner is set using the Top Left X and Top Left Y controls, and whose bottom right corner is set using the Bottom Right X and Bottom Right Y controls.

2. Select the first keyframe in the Directional Blur track (Time 00:00:00:00). Set Bottom Right X to 0 with Linear interpolation.

3. With the first keyframe still selected, set Blend to 10 with Hold interpolation.

4. Play the sequence.

The blurred region of the image wipes from left to right. Notice that you only have to set a parameter at one keyframe to animate in Avid FX. This is because Avid FX animates from the parameter that you set (Bottom Right X to 0) to the default value at the last keyframe (Bottom Right X to 640).

Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:20Time 00:00:00:10


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Using the PixelChooser Track

You can also use a separate image’s color, luma, or alpha channels to determine how the PixelChooser filters the source image.

To use the PixelChooser Track:

1. Expand the Directional Blur track to reveal the PixelChooser Track.

2. Press the Media icon to assign the still image “Burst.pct” to the PixelChooser Track.

3. Reselect the Directional Blur track.

4. In the PixelChooser tab in the Controls window, click the Channel tab. Set the Make Mask From menu to Alpha.

5. Select the Use PixelChooser Track checkbox, and make sure that the Invert Mask checkbox is not selected.

The blurred portion of the image now corresponds to the alpha channel of the PixelChooser Track image.

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Exercise 5: Creating a Rolling Title Effect

The Avid FX Title Container allows you to easily create title rolls, crawls and other effects with multiple title pages. The container automatically aligns and animates the title pages so that you do not have to set keyframes in the timeline.

You can create title pages by setting a track’s media type to Text. This opens the Text window where you can type, edit or import text and set the font, size, justification, color, opacity, spacing, shadows, and borders. The parameters in the Text window are applied on a character basis, meaning that you can apply separate styles to different characters in a track. However, the Text window parameters do not create tracks in the timeline. Therefore they cannot be animated.

The Style Palette allows you to save favorite styles and apply them to other text effects. These styles can be copied and shared with other users or used on other computers. In this exercise you create a title page then save the styles from the page and apply them to other pages. Then you create a multi-page rolling title using a Title Container.

Creating a Title Page

To create a title page:

1. Create a new composition and rename the Video 1 track “Credit 1,” and the Video 2 track “Background.”

2. Press the Media icon in the Background track and choose Color from the menu. Access the color picker by selecting the Face track and using the color picker in the Color Media tab in the Controls window to assign the Background track a black color.

3. Press the Media icon in the Credit 1 track and choose Text from the menu. The Text window opens.


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4. In the Style tab in the Text window, use the menus to set the font and size of the text and center justify the text.

5. Click in the Text window and type “Name 1.”

6. Press Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows), and type “Title 1” on the next line.

7. Select the “Title 1” text. Click the Color Fill tab to open the color fill controls.

8. Select Color from the Text Fill list.

9. Use Style Color to assign this text a different color.

Style tab Font menu Font size menu Center Justification button

Color Fill tab

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10. Click Update to display the changes you made in the Composite window, but do not close the Text window. Your Composite window should appear similar to the following example.

11. Complete the steps in the following section.

Saving and Applying Styles

To use the Style Palette to save, name, and apply styles for future use:

1. Click the Style Palette button at the bottom of the Text window, and then click the Text tab. The style you are currently using is displayed in the thumbnail in the left column of the Style Palette.

2. To create a category for this style, click the Add Category icon. Type the name “Credit Roll Styles” in the dialog box and click OK.


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3. To add the current style to the selected category, select the Name 1 text in the Text window and click the Add Style icon.

4. Click the thumbnail for the new style, click the Rename Style icon, type “Name Style” in the dialog box and click OK. The thumbnail and name of the style appear in the right column.

5. In the Text window, select the Title 1 text and click the Add Style icon. Enter the name “Title Style” in the dialog box and click OK. The thumbnail and name of the style appear in the right column.

To create a new text track, and apply the saved styles to it:

1. Activate the timeline and choose Track > New Text Page to create a new text track. Rename the new track “Credit 2.”

2. Double-click the “Name Style” thumbnail in the Style Palette to apply that style to the Text window. Then type “Name 2” in the Text window.

3. On the next line, Type “Title 2,” select the text and double-click the Title Style thumbnail in the Style Palette to apply that style to the Text window.

4. Click Update in the Text window.

Add Category

Add Style

Rename Style

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n Because the title pages are centered, they overlap in the Composite window. Do not reposition them now—later you will place them in a Title Container, which automatically positions text pages.

5. Repeat steps 6 through 9 to create another text track named “Credit 3,” containing the text “Name 3” and “Title 3.” Apply the Name Style and Title Style to the text. Click Update and close the Text window.

Rolling the Text Pages

To roll the text pages you created by placing them in a Title Container:

1. Select the Credit 1 track and choose Track > New Title Container or click the Add Title Container button in the Timeline. A new Title Container is created and Credit 1 is automatically nested inside.

2. Shift-select the Credit 2 and Credit 3 tracks and drag them into the Title Container track. Position them in the order shown in this illustration.

3. Click to select the Title Container track and in the Animation tab in the Controls window, set the Animation Style menu to Roll.

4. Click to select the Credit 1 track. In the Page tab in the Controls window, set the Page Header to 100 to add some space between the text pages. Repeat this step for the Credit 2 and Credit 3 tracks.

5. Play the sequence. The three title pages are automatically positioned and animated.

Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:15 Time 00:00:00:20


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Masking the Edges of the Text Frame

Now you mask the edges of the text frame so that the credit roll appears to fade in and out at the Title Safe Area.

To mask the edges of the text frame:

1. Choose Preview > Mark > Title-Safe Area to display the title safe grid in the Composite window.

2. Click to select the Title Container track.

3. In the Animation tab, adjust Mask Top and Mask Bottom to mask the text at the edges at the top and bottom edges of the frame.

You may want to move the CTI into the credit roll so that you can see what you are doing.

The examples show Mask Top and Mask Bottom values of 55, but you can set these parameters to whatever you like.

4. In the Animation tab, adjust Blend Top and Blend Bottom to soften the edges of the mask.

The examples show Blend Top and Blend Bottom values of 20, but you can set these parameters to whatever you like.

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5. Turn off the title safe grid by choosing Preview > Mark > None.

6. Play your credit roll or choose Preview > Preview to RAM.

n When you work in OpenGL mode, you do not see non-accelerated objects when you use the on-screen interactors. Non-accelerated objects include masks. If your masks don’t appear, make sure that you are working in High Quality. For more information on OpenGL mode, see “Working with the OpenGL Interactors” on page 171 in the Avid FX User’s Guide.

7. To save your credit roll in the Project window, choose Composition > Save Composition.

8. In the Project window, click the Composition and rename it by pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows), typing the name and pressing Return or Enter again.

Exercise 6: Creating Animated Text Effects

Avid FX allows you to easily create animated text effects. The Path tab allows you to create text on a path—that is, text which wraps around a spline object. The Spline Object media type allows you to create, animate, and edit shapes composed of splines or paths.

Time 00:00:01:05 Time 00:00:03:10 Time 00:00:04:10


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Creating a Type On Effect

To create a Type On effect:

1. Choose Composition > New Composition to create a new effect.

2. Press the Media icon in the Video 2 track and choose Color from the menu. Access the color picker by selecting the Face track and using the color picker in the Color Media tab in the Controls window to assign the track a black color. Rename the track “Background.”

3. Press the Media icon in the Video 1 track and choose Text from the menu.

4. The Text window appears. Click in the window and type “Text on a Path.”

5. Select the text and make any adjustments to the font, text color, shadow and fill properties. The examples in this exercise use the font Monaco at 72 points, but you can use any font and size that you like.

6. Make sure that Text Wrap is set to No Wrap. This parameter is found in the Page tab in the Text window. By default it is set to No Wrap.

7. When the text appears the way that you want, click Update then close the Text window.

8. In the Timeline window, select the Text on a Path track.

9. Click the Track Selector button at the bottom of the Controls window or press F to toggle to the Face track.

10. Select the Face track’s first keyframe.

11. With the Face track selected, select the Type On tab in the Controls window. Set Text Type On to 0 with Ease In/Out interpolation.

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12. Set Tumble to 0 Rotations and 90°.

When you finish, the tab should look like the following example.

13. Set the duration of the effect to three seconds by typing 00:00:03:00 into the Duration field in the Timeline window and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows).

14. Choose Preview > Preview to RAM to preview the animation. The text appears to type on screen one character at a time.

15. To save your effect in the Project window, choose Composition > Save Composition.

16. In the Project window, click the Composition and rename it by pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows), typing a name and pressing Return or Enter again.


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17. Return the CTI to the start of the effect, then choose Preview > Preview to RAM.

Creating Text on Path

Now you put the Type On text that you created on a motion path using the media from the previous exercise.

To create text on a path:

1. Select the first keyframe in the Face track for the Text track.

2. In the Path tab in the Controls window, click to select the Make Path Track checkbox. The Text Path track is a Spline Object media track which appears just below the text’s Face track in the timeline.

Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:02:00 Time 00:00:03:00

Pen tool

Rectangle tool

Brush tool

Hand tool

Solid Arrow tool

Oval tool

Multi-Frame mode

Magnifying glass

Scissors tool

Rotate tool

Pencil tool

Fill color chip

Mirror mode

Stroke color chip

Hollow Arrow tool

Text tool

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3. Select the Text Path track in the timeline. The Tool window opens. The Tool window contains tools which create and edit spline objects in the Composite window.

If the Tool window does not appear, you can open the Tool window by choosing Window > Show Tool Window or pressing Command–6 (Macintosh) or Control–6 (Windows).

4. With the Text Path track selected, select the Oval tool from the Tool window and draw an oval in the composite window.

If you want, press the Shift key to constrain this tool to draw a circle instead of an oval. The Shift key also constrains the Rectangle tool to draw squares.

The Composite window updates, showing the text wrapped around the spline object in the Text Path track.

5. Choose Preview > Preview to RAM to preview the animation.

The text should snap onto the circular spline path, appearing one character at a time. Now that the text is in place you can animate a few parameters in the Type On tab.

6. Click the Track Selector button at the bottom of the Controls window or press F to select the Face track.

7. Select the Type On tab in the Controls window.

8. Select the first keyframe and set Tumble to 100, Spin to 135 and Rotate to 300.

9. Preview the effect. The text appears to pop and rock into place along the spline. If you cannot see the effect, try slowing down the animation by changing its duration to five seconds.

10. Changing the parameters under the Type On tab affects each character as it “types” onscreen. Try animating some of the other parameters and experiment with other animation effects.


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Creating a Text Reveal

To create a text animation where text appears to reveal itself:

1. Choose Composition > New Composition to create a new effect. Set the duration to one second.

2. Choose Gradient for the source media for the Video 2 track. The track is automatically renamed “Gradient.”A gradient is a graduated blending of two or more colors. For more information, see “Creating Gradients” on page 185.

3. Click the Track Selector button at the bottom of the Controls window or press F to select the Face track. The Gradient tabs appear in the Controls window.

4. Click to select the Color Stops tab if it isn’t already selected. Leave the Gradient at the default grayscale colors and set the Gradient Angle to -125.

5. Press the Media icon in the Video 1 track and choose Text for the source media.

Set to -125 degrees

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6. The Text window appears. Click in the window and type “Reveal.” Select the text and make any adjustments. When the text appears the way that you want, click Update then close the Text window. The examples in this exercise use the font Coronet at 132 points, but you can use any font that you like. Cursive fonts work best for this exercise.

7. Create a new Spline track by clicking the Add Paint Layer button. The track is automatically renamed “Spline Track.”

8. The Tool window opens with the Brush tool automatically selected. If the Tool window does not appear, select the Spline track’s Face track in the timeline and choose Window > Show Tool Window or press Command–6 (Macintosh) or Control–6 (Windows).

9. In the Composite window, using one continuous stroke, trace over the word “Reveal” just as if you were writing. Don’t worry if you miss any of the letters.

n If the brush stroke doesn’t appear in the Composite window, click to select the Brush Tab in the Controls window and select the Brush On checkbox.

10. In the Tool window, select the Pen tool.

11. In the Composite window, click the brush stroke you created. Control points appear. Use the Pen tool to make any necessary adjustments. When you click a Control point, bézier handles appear. Drag the bézier handles to adjust the Control point so that all of the underlying text is covered. If you want, click the Scale button in the Composite window and choose a larger image size.

12. To manipulate each bézier handle independently, press the Option key (Macintosh) or the Alt key (Windows) as you drag the handle.You can Option-click to create additional Control points.


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13. Use the controls in the Brush tab to make the brush stroke wider. Select the Face track, click the Brush Tab in the Controls window and set Size to 8 with Hold interpolation.

14. Drag the Spline track into the Mask track nested inside the Reveal track. When you finish, your timeline should look like the following example.

15. Click to select the first keyframe in the Face track of the Spline Track. In the Controls window, in the Brush tab, set the Stroke End to 0 with Linear interpolation.

16. Preview the effect. The spline that you created acts as a mask, revealing the underlying text so that it appears to write on to the screen.



Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:15 Time 00:00:00:20

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Exercise 7: Creating a Chroma Key Effect

In this exercise, you use the Chroma Key filter to key out the background of an image and superimpose it over a new background. You also use Clean Up Alpha to refine the matte created by the Chroma Key, and then apply Levels/Gamma to match the foreground to the new background.

Creating the Garbage Matte

A “garbage matte” is used to discard unwanted portions of the background before keying takes place. Using a garbage matte can produce a cleaner key and speed processing time.

In this section, you import foreground and background media, apply the Chroma Key filter, and create the garbage matte.

To create a garbage matte:

1. At the bottom of the Controls window, click to set the Animate button to Constant interpolation. The top button at right shows the Animate button in Default interpolation: the bottom button is in Constant interpolation.You do not need to animate any parameters in this exercise.

2. Press the Media icon in the Video 1 track, and choose Still Image File from the menu. A dialog box lets you navigate to the file’s location. Open “Mango Green Screen.pct” from the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library. Rename the track “Dog.”

3. Press the Media icon in the Video 2 track, and choose Still Image File from the menu. Open “Silhouette trees.pct” from the Avid FX CD. Rename the track “Background.”

4. Click the Background track’s Visibility icon to hide the track while you work with the greenscreen track.

5. Press the Controls button in the Composite window and make sure that Checkerboard is selected. This sets the background of the Composite window so that a checkerboard pattern represent transparent areas.

Click to hide track

Controls button


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6. Select the Dog track. Choose Filters > Keys and Mattes > Chroma Key to apply a Chroma Key filter to the track.

n For more information on filters, see Chapter 8 of the Avid FX User’s Guide.

7. Select the Chroma Key track that is nested inside the Face track inside the Dog track.

8. In the Controls window, click the Garbage Matte tab.

9. Click the Lock icon to unlock the parameter values in order to adjust the settings independently. Adjust the Left and Top settings to eliminate as much of the green background as possible without cutting off any of the foreground subject. The Left value should be set to about 53, and the Top value set to about 34.

Click to unlock parameters

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When you finish, your Composite window should look like the following example.

Creating and Adjusting the Matte

In this section, you create and adjust a matte using the Chroma Key and Clean Up Alpha filters.

To create and adjust a matte:

1. Click the Matte tab in the Controls window.

2. To set the Key Color (the color to key out), click the Eyedropper, then click the green background in the Composite window, close to the subject’s hairline.

The area whose color matches the Key Color becomes transparent.

Eyedropper


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3. To view the matte you created, press the Channel button in the Composite window, and choose Alpha from the menu.

The Composite window displays the alpha channel of the keyed image in black and white. White areas are opaque in the output, black areas are transparent, and gray areas are semi-transparent. The matte is somewhat crisp and mildly aliased around the edges.

4. Select the Dog track. Choose Filters > Keys and Mattes > Matte Choker.

This helps soften the edges of the matte.

Another very helpful filter often used in conjunction with the Chroma Key is the Clean Up Alpha filter. For more information on filters, see the Avid FX User’s Guide.

Channel button

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5. To view the keyed foreground against the background, press the Channel button and choose RGB from the menu. Then click the Background track’s Visibility icon to restore the background.

Adjusting the Foreground Image

Because the foreground and background media were shot in different lighting environments, you need to adjust the color and contrast of the foreground to match the background.

In this case, the foreground appears washed out when composited against the high-contrast background and has noise in the dark areas. In this part of the exercise, you use a Levels/Gamma filter to adjust the foreground image.

1. Select the Dog track, and choose Filters > Color and Blurs > Levels/Gamma.

2. Select the Levels/Gamma track that is nested inside the Dog track’s Face track.


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3. In the Basic tab in the Controls window, increase the Input Black setting to increase the range of gray values that are output to black. Set Input Black to about 10 to eliminate the noise from the dark areas.

4. Decrease Input White slightly to a value of about 225 to brighten the light areas in the foreground and increase the contrast.

The foreground image now matches the background more closely.

5. At the bottom of the Controls window, click to return the Animate button to Default interpolation.



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Exercise 8: Creating a Custom Scatter Wipe Effect

Many Avid FX filters can use gradients as input media to customize an effect. For example, the Displacement Map filter uses the luma information in a gradient to determine how to displace the pixels in the source image.

You can use the Gradient media type to create, edit, and save still gradients to use as media. The gradient editor can create gradients of any color or transparency, and provides control over the midpoint, steepness, and shape of the gradient.

In this exercise, you create a gradient to use as the Wipe Gradient in a 3D Image Shatter transition. This effect causes shards to break off from the source image in a wipe-like fashion and disperse. You then finetune the effect by adjusting the shards’ shape, velocity, gravity, and rotation.

Importing a Movie File

In this section you import a movie file to use as the source media, adjust the project size, and trim the head of the clip.

To import a movie:

1. Choose Composition >New Composition to create a new effect.

2. Set the timeline duration to three seconds by typing 00:00:03:00 in the Duration field in the Timeline window and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows).

3. Press the Media icon in the Video 1 track, and choose Movie File from the menu. A dialog box lets you navigate to the file’s location. Open “Water.mov,” found in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library. Rename the Video 1 track “Water.”

4. Press the Media icon in the Video 2 track, and choose Color from the menu.

5. Click the Track Selector button at the bottom of the Controls window or press F to toggle to the Face track. Use the controls in the ColorMedia tab to assign the track a black color.

6. Rename the Video 2 track “Background.”


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7. Expand the Water track to reveal its nested tracks. Select the Face track.

The track’s Media tab appears in the Controls window.

Creating the Wipe Gradient

In this section you apply the 3D Image Shatter to a track and apply Gradient media to the filter’s Wipe Gradient track. Then you use the gradient editor to create a custom gradient wipe.

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To create a custom gradient wipe:

1. Select the Water track and Choose Filters > Distortion and Perspective > 3D Image Shatter. A 3D Image Shatter track is nested inside the Water track’s Face track.

2. Expand the 3D Image Shatter track to reveal its nested tracks.

3. Press the Media icon in the Wipe Gradient track and choose Gradient. The Gradient editing controls appear in the Controls window.

4. Drag color stop 1 on the gradient editor all the way to the left, to a value of 0.

Drag black color stop to set start of


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5. Click to the right of color stop 1 to create another black color stop. Drag this color stop 3 all the way to the right, to a Position of 1.00.

6. Drag color stop 2 to the center, to a Position of .50.

Your gradient preview should now look like the following illustration.

Creating the Scatter Wipe

The 3D Image Shatter uses the gradient you created to determine the order in which shards break from the image. Particles break off first where the gradient is darkest, and last where the gradient is lightest. This gradient is darkest at the left and right edges and lightest in the center, so particles break off at the edges first and then wipe to the center of the image.

To animate the 3D Image Shatter effect:

1. Select the 3D Image Shatter track in the timeline, and click the Particles tab in the Controls window.

2. Set the Automate Scatter menu to Manual to override the preset animations and animate the effect manually.

Click anywhere in this area to create a new color stop

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3. Select the first keyframe in the 3D Image Shatter track (Time 00:00:00:00). Set the interpolation type for Scatter to Linear, but leave Scatter set to 0.

4. Select the last keyframe in the 3D Image Shatter track (Time 00:00:03:00), and set Scatter to 3000. Set the Interpolation to Hold.

5. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect. Play the effect or preview it to RAM.

n 3D Image Shatter can be memory-intensive. You may need to set Resolution to Half or Quarter before previewing to RAM. Otherwise, you may not have enough RAM available to preview the entire effect.

To create the scatter wipe effect:

1. Click the Animate button in the Controls window to set it to Constant Interpolation. The top button (red) at right shows the Animate button in Default Interpolation: the bottom button (white) shows Constant. While the Animate button is in this position, any parameters that you change are automatically assigned Constant interpolation.

2. Select the first keyframe in the 3D Image Shatter track (Time 00:00:00:00), and click the Scatter Wipe tab in the Controls window.

3. Set the Scatter Wipe menu to On.

4. Set the Scatter Wipe Type menu to Custom. The scatter wipe effect now uses the custom gradient in the Wipe Gradient track.

5. Set Wipe Gradient to 1600 to increase the amount of time it takes the image to completely break up.

Time 00:00:00:01 Time 00:00:00:05 Time 00:00:00:10

Press to choose Resolution


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6. Play the effect or preview it to RAM. Particles break off first at the left and right edges, and break off last in the center of the image.

Adjusting Particle Shape and Movement

In this section of the exercise, you work with a number of 3D Image Shatter controls to create an effect in which long, thin particles break off from the image, beginning at the left and right edges, and fall to the bottom of the screen.

To adjust particle shape and movement:

1. Select the first keyframe in the 3D Image Shatter track.

2. Move the CTI to Time 00:00:01:00 by typing 1:00 in the Time field in the timeline and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows). This allows you to see the particles as you adjust their parameter values at the first keyframe.

Time 00:00:01:05 Time 00:00:01:15 Time 00:00:01:25

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3. Click the Particles tab in the Controls window. Set XY Ratio to 10,000 to create long, thin particles.

4. Click the Rotation tab in the Controls window. You may have to scroll over to see the Rotation tab. Set Rotate X to 5, Rotate Y to 0, and Rotate Z to 0 to rotate the particles slowly around the X axis.

5. Click the Velocity tab in the Controls window.

6. Set Velocity to 275 to make the particles move more slowly, thereby making them appear more dense.

7. Set the Velocity Type menu to Centrifugal to pull the particles away from the center as they move.

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8. Click the Gravity tab in the Controls window. Set Gravity Amount to about 250 to increase the gravitational force on the particles as they move.

9. At the bottom of the Controls window, click to return the Animate button to Default interpolation.

10. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect and play the sequence or preview it to RAM.


In this exercise, you create a 3D Text effect using the Text window and the 3D Extrusion shape controls. This exercise also covers texture mapping, lighting controls and bump mapping.

n 3D Extrusion is a memory-intensive feature. For this reason it is particularly useful to use a lower resolution and/or Draft preview mode while previewing the effect.

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Using the Text Window to Format Text

In this section, you use the controls in the Text window to input and format text.

To format input and format text:

1. Choose File > New Project.

2. In the timeline, set the Duration to two seconds (00:00:02:00).

3. Rename the Video 2 track “Background.” Change the track’s media type to Color and choose a black color for the track.

4. Rename the Video 1 track “Avid FX 3D Text.” Press the Shape icon and set the track’s shape type to 3D Extrusion. Press the Media icon and set the track’s media type to Text.

The Text window opens.

5. Click in the Text window and type “Avid FX 3D Text.”

The illustrations use Arial at 72 points, but you can use whatever font you like. You should pick a font that looks appropriate when extruded.

6. Select “3D” and set the font Size by entering 96 in the numerical field and pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows).

7. Double-click to select the word “Text” and change the size of the characters to 122 points.

8. The Size buttons scale the size of all fonts. This is useful if your text contains multiple font sizes and you want to scale all sizes up or down equally. Click the left Size button to decrease the scale by an integer of 10.Click to scale


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9. Set Tracking to 2. Tracking affects the text globally regardless of the selected text.

10. Select the “Te” in “Text”. Decrease Kerning to –5 to move the two characters closer together.

11. Select the words “Avid FX.” Increase kerning to 4 to move characters farther apart.

12. Click Update and close the Text window.

13. Choose Preview > Preview to Ram to preview the effect in the Composite window.

By default, Avid FX assigns the default plastic material from the Materials tab to all four sides. In the next section you adjust the materials and map media to the text.

Mapping Media to the Faces of the Text

In this exercise, you map a PICT file to the front and back faces of 3D text and then use an aluminum material on the extrusions and bevels. The Textures tab assigns media to the faces of a 3D Extrusion. When you select texture tracks in the Textures tab, the texture tracks are used instead of the material specified in the Materials tab. You use both texture tracks and materials on the same 3D Extrusion.

To map media to the faces of the text:

1. Select the Avid FX 3D Text track and click the Materials tab in the Controls window.

2. Set the Face Count menu to 2. This allows you to apply the same texture to the Extrusion and Bevel and a different texture to the Front and Back Faces.

The Back and Bevel tabs disappear when you change the Face Count.

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3. Click the Extrusions tab on the left.

4. Choose Aluminum from the Type menu.

When you choose Aluminum, the Aluminum material parameters appear in the tab.

5. If you want, adjust some of the Aluminum parameters. Make sure to set their interpolation to Constant or Hold. For more information, see “Working with the Materials Tab” on page 342.

Extrusions Tab

Type menu

Face CountMenu


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6. Click the Textures tab in the Controls window.

7. Select the checkbox for the Front Face. Do not select any other checkboxes. This allows you to map a media file to the Front and Back Faces. The parameters in the Materials tab are used on the other faces.

8. Leave the Map Method menu set to Clip. This maps an image directly to the center of the face. If the image is smaller than the face, the underlying material is visible. You can use the Position X and Position Y parameters to reposition the image. The Scale X and Y parameters allow you to resize the image so that it covers all of the text. You specify the image using the Texture tracks in the timeline.

9. Expand the Avid 3D Text track to reveal the Front Texture track.

Press the Media icon on the Front Texture track and choose Still Image File from the menu. Navigate to “Waves.pct” in the Tutorial Files folder on your Avid FX CD and click Open. The Waves image displays on the front face of the text.

Selects the Front Face

Choose Still Image File from the Media icon.

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Your effect should appear similar to the following image.

10. Complete the steps in the next section.

Working with 3D Extrusion Shape Controls

In this section, you use the 3D Extrusion shape controls to animate the tracking of the text in the effect. Unlike the parameters in the Text window, the parameters in the Controls window each have a track on the timeline and can be animated. Parameters in the Text window act as static properties of the effect and cannot be animated.

To use the 3D Extension shape controls:

1. Open the Preferences window by choosing Avid FX > Preferences (Macintosh) or Edit > Preferences (Windows) and make sure that the default interpolation type to Ease In/Out.

2. Select the first keyframe on the Text track, nested inside the Avid 3D Text track in the timeline. In the Controls window, in the Transform tab, set the Tracking value to 150. Tracking controls the horizontal spacing between characters in the text. Tracking affects the text globally.

3. Move the CTI to time 00:00:01:00. Press Command-N (Macintosh) or Control-N (Windows) to create a new keyframe.

4. In the Controls window, in the Transform tab, set the Tracking value to 0, then set its interpolation type to Hold.


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5. Preview the effect. The characters begin far apart, so that only the center of the text appears on screen. As the effect progresses, the characters move closer together. Halfway through the effect, the characters all appear on screen, and remain static until the end of the effect.

Working with Lighting Controls

In this section, you work with the 3D Extrusion lighting controls to create a more dramatic effect. 3D Extrusion provides three independent light sources that you can adjust individually to create complex lighting effects. In this exercise, you only work with Light 1. At the default settings, the Light 2 and Light 3 Intensity values are turned off, so they do not affect the text.

To work with 3D Extension lighting controls:

1. Select the Avid FX 3D Text track and click the Lights tab in the Controls window. The lighting controls appear.

2. Click to select the Light 1 checkbox, if it is not already selected.

Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:01:00

Light 1 checkbox

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3. Select the first keyframe in the 3D Avid Text track. Set Intensity to 0 with Ease In/Out interpolation. Set Ambient to 50 with Ease In/Out interpolation. At the first keyframe in the effect, the effect is lit entirely by diffuse Ambient light.

4. Move the CTI to Time 00:00:01:00. With the Avid 3D Text track still selected, create a new keyframe and set Ambient to 0 with Hold interpolation. Then set Intensity to 200 with Hold interpolation.


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At the second keyframe in the effect, the text is lit entirely by Light 1.

5. With the keyframe at 00:00:01:00 still selected, set Light X to 0 with Ease In/Out interpolation. This moves the Light 1 source to the left edge of the screen.

6. Select the last keyframe in the effect and set Light X to 640 with Hold interpolation. This moves the Light 1 source to the right edge of the screen.

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7. Preview the effect to RAM. The animated tracking moves the characters together until they all appear on screen. At the same time, the diffuse ambient light is replaced by Light 1, which points at the left side of the screen. During the second half of the effect, the text remains still while the light sweeps across.

8. Complete the steps in the next section.

Creating a Bump Map

Now you replace the image mapped to the front face with a bump map. A bump map to create three dimensional detail based on the luminance information. The luminance value of each pixel of the image creates height, with brighter pixels creating more height. You can create the bump map from a procedural texture or you can use a media file. You use a procedural texture in this exercise.

To create a bump map:

1. Select the Avid 3D Text track and click the Textures tab in the Controls window.

2. Deselect the checkbox for the Front Face. The Waves texture is replaced by the plastic material.

3. Select the keyframe at time 00:00:01:00 in the Avid 3D Text track. Click the Bump Map tab in the Controls window.

4. Select the checkbox for the Front Face.

5. Make sure that the Source menu is set to Procedural. This is the default setting.

6. Choose Reptilian from the Type menu. Reptilian creates a texture resembling a scaly or spotted animal skin.

Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:01:10 Time 00:00:01:25

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7. Deselect the Color On checkbox. When this checkbox is deselected, the color values of the underlying material also set the color values of the applied bump map; the bump map only sets the luminance values. For more information, see “Working with the Bump Map Tab” on page 346.

8. Preview the effect to RAM. The animated tracking still moves the characters together until they all appear on screen. At the same time, the diffuse ambient light is replaced by Light 1, which animates across the screen. However, now the text uses the Reptilian bump map instead of the waves image.

9. Save your project to the Avid FX Library Browser. See “Saving Settings” on page 12 for details.


In this exercise, you apply a Displacement Map filter to a logo, then distort the logo based on another image’s color information. A Displacement Map distorts the source image using the color or luma channel information of another image, called a “map track.”

Applying the Displacement Map

To apply a displacement map:

1. Choose Composition > New Composition.

2. Set the timeline duration to three seconds (00:00:03:00).

3. Import the still media file “Avid logo.psd,” found in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library, into the Video 1 track.

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4. Import the movie file “Fire.mov,” found in the PracticeMedia\AvidFX folder on the Online Library, into the Video 2 track.

Your Composite window should now look like the following illustration.

5. Select the “Avid logo.psd” track by clicking the logo in the Composite window.

6. Choose Filters > Distortion and Perspective > Displacement Map. A Displacement Map filter is nested inside the Avid Logo track’s Face track.

By default, the Displacement Map uses Video 1 as the map track, so the distortion is based on the soccer ball proxy image and produces the distortion shown in the following illustration.

n The map track uses the Video 1 source from your host application for the displacement.


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Creating the Map Track

You replace the existing Map Track with the Fire media, so that the fire appears to distort the logo.

To create a map track:

1. Select the Fire track by clicking the fire image in the Composite window.

2. Duplicate the Fire track either by choosing Edit > Duplicate Track or using the keyboard shortcut Command-D (Macintosh) or Control-D (Windows).

3. Expand the Displacement Map track in the timeline to reveal the Map Track.

4. Drag the copy of the Fire track into the Map Track.

5. Preview the effect to RAM. The logo is distorted by the fire, and the distortion pattern updates with each new frame of the movie.

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Animating the Effect

You animate the logo’s opacity and the distortion to make the logo appear to emerge from the flames and finish undistorted.

To animate an effect:

1. Select the first keyframe in the Displacement Map track. In the Displacement tab in the Controls window, set Max. Horizontal and Max. Vertical to 30.

2. Without moving the CTI, select the first keyframe in the “Avid logo” track in the timeline. Set Opacity to 0.

3. Select the last keyframe in the effect. Select the Displacement Map track and set Max. Horizontal and Max. Vertical to 0.

4. Return the CTI to the start of the effect, then preview the effect to RAM.

Adjusting the Animation

The distortion is somewhat difficult to see because the logo is still fairly transparent when the logo is most distorted. To correct this problem, use the Value Curves in the timeline to adjust how the distortion animates over time.

Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:02:00 Time 00:00:03:00


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To adjust the animation:

1. Expand the Displacement track in the timeline to reveal its Transformations track. Expand the Transformations track to reveal the Displacement track. Expand the Displacement track to reveal the Max. Horizontal and Max. Vertical tracks. Then expand the Max. Horizontal track to reveal the value curve for the parameter.

2. Adjust the wheel control on the left to view a smaller range of values and a more detailed curve.

3. Drag the bézier handle at the last keyframe to adjust the curve so that the Max. Horizontal value remains closer to 30 for a longer portion of the effect.

4. Repeat these steps to adjust the curve of the Max. Vertical control.

5. Save your project to the Avid FX Library Browser. See “Saving Settings” on page 12 for details.

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Documents

Understanding the Tutorial Exercises