7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
1/290
USER MANUAL
v e r s i o n 5 . 0
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
2/290
Boris FX Version 5.0 (Standard and Professional)
The material contained herein is protected by copyrights. Permission to use materialsmay be granted upon written request and proper credit.
Contact information:
Boris FX, Inc.
381 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
Phone: (617) 451-9900
Fax: (617) 451-9916
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.borisfx.com
For information on site licenses, please call (617) 451-9900 or e-mail
For technical support, visit the Boris FX Technical Forum at
http://www.borisfx.com/support. You can also contact technical support by calling (617)
451-9900 or e-mailing [email protected].
The information in this manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, Boris
FX, Inc. assumes no responsibility for its use; nor for any infringements of patents or
other rights of third parties which may result from its use. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any
means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying recording or otherwise without the
prior written permission of Boris FX, Inc.
Boris FX, Boris FX PRO, and PixelChooser are trademarks of Boris FX. After Effects
and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Certain graphics used in the tutorials and illustrations in this book appear courtesy of
Emile Tobenfeld, an engineer for Boris FX, Inc. These images are Copyright 1998 by
Emile Tobenfeld (www.foryourhead.com).
Written by Victoria Merriman and Katherine Higgins.
Copyright 2000 by Boris FX, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U. S. A.
Updated March 2000.
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
3/290
3
ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Understanding Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Installing and Starting Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Boris FX Keyframe Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Using the Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Overview of Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Filters Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Computer Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Host Application Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Release Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 1: Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
About Tutorial Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Exercise 1: Animating an Image Using Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Importing Still Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Animating the Flat 3D Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Working with Bezier Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Saving Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exercise 2: Creating a Multi Input Page Turn Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Creating a Page Turn Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mapping Media to Front and Back Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Applying Upstream and Downstream Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Exercise 3: Animating Masked Tracks in a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
About Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Applying a Mask to a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Changing the Duration of an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Manipulating Tracks Within a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Creating the 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Static Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Animating Position Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Using the 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Setting the Default Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
4/290
4 Contents
Adjusting the Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Exercise 4: Filtering Selectively with the PixelChooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Applying a Blur to Selected Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Creating a Wipe Between the Original and Blurred Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Using a PixelChooser Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Exercise 5: Creating a Chroma Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Creating the Garbage Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Creating and Adjusting the Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Adjusting the Foreground Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Exercise 6: Creating a Custom Scatter Wipe Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Importing a Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Creating the Wipe Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Creating the Scatter Wipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Animating the Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Adding the Scatter Wipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adjusting Particle Shape and Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Exercise 7: Creating a 3D Text Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Using the Text Window to Format Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Mapping Media to the Faces of the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Working with 3D Text Shape Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Working with Lighting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Chapter 2: The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Installing Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Starting Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Controls Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Dial Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Color Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Position Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Interpolation Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Composite Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Playback Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Preview Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
On-screen Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Timeline Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Organizing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
5/290
Contents 5
Creating a New Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Selecting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Renaming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Deleting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Positioning Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Nesting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Expanding and Collapsing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Track Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Shape Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Media Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Track Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Filter Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Motion Blur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Filter Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Timecode Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Timecode Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
KeyFrame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Timeline Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Local Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Global Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Current Time Indicator (CTI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Cancel and Apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Creating Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Selecting Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Deleting Keyframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Snap CTI to Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Copying and Pasting Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Moving a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
The Preferences Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Resetting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
General Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Default Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
View Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Render Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Render Fields as Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
6/290
6 Contents
Multi-Processor Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Generate Color-Safe Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Use Host Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Draft Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Project Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Width and Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
FPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Timeline Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Show Mask Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Show Transformations Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Keep Keyframe Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Preview Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Fast and Best . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Force Update with Option/Alt Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Grid Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
User Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Use Tool Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Preview to RAM Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Cache Disk Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
RAM to Disk Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter 3: Working with Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Media Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Importing Media Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Relinking Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The Media Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Media Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Still Image File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Preparing Still Image Files for Import into Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Editing the Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Adding and Deleting Color Stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Selecting Color Stops and Midpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Setting the Location of Color Stops and Midpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Adjusting Color and Alpha Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
7/290
Contents 7
Setting the Shape and Direction of the Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Saving and Loading Gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Chapter 4: Creating Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Shape Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Transformations Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Face Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Mask and Media Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Applying a Shape Track to a Face Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Mask Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Upstream and Downstream Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Applying a Mask to a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Filter Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Applying a Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Hiding a Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Upstream and Downstream Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3D Container Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Animating Shapes, Filters, and Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Setting In and Out Points of Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Creating Animated Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Setting Keyframe Values for a Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Setting the Interpolation Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Creating Static Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Resetting Tracks and Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Working with Value Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Viewing the Value Curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Using the Value Curve Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Wheel Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Size to Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Ruler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Manipulating the Value Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Using Bzier Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
The Boris Library Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Opening the Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Previewing and Applying Effects in the Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Animate Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
8/290
8 Contents
Best Quality Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Previewing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Playing the Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Preview to RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Preview to RAM on Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Preview Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Update Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Display on Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Refresh Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Toggle Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Toggle Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Image Sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Mark Sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Preview at 4:3 Aspect Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Saving Boris FX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Saving Boris FX Settings to a Host Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Saving Boris FX Settings to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Save Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Exporting Frames as Still Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Opening Saved Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Opening Settings with the Library Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Saving Selected Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Inserting Settings Into an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Important Notes About Rendering Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
The Rendering Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 5: Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Mapping Media to the Faces of a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Common Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Position Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Pivot Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Tips for Using Lighting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Shadow Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Camera Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Crop Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187Mask Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
9/290
Contents 9
Composite Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Flat 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Motion Blur Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Border Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Lights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Common Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Diffuse Specular Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Spotlight Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Understanding Position and Target Controls in Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Cube Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Sphere Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Cylinder Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Page Turn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Page Turn Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
3D Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
The Text Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Tabs and Rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Importing Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Previewing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Updating Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Style Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Margin Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Shape Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Position Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Lights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Using Lighting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
3D Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Chapter 6: 3D Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Using a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Creating a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Adding Tracks to a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Using Track Controls Within a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2403D Container Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
10/290
10 Contents
Position Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Pivot Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243Camera Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Motion Blur Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Shadows Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Appendix A: Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
The Boris FX Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Blur Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Color Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Distortion Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Keying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Light Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Noise Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Particles Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Appendix B: Apply Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Boris FX Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
11/290
11
Introduction
Boris FX and Boris FX PRO are digital video effects (DVE) plug-ins for a variety of non-
linear digital video editing systems that combine 3D title animation and compositing
effects. Boris FX is a multi-channel DVE, complete with keyframe interpolation, motion
blur, and a number of blur, keying, color, and noise filters. Boris FX PRO contains all the
features of Boris FX, but adds realistic light and image shatter filters and provides apply
modes for compositing layers over one another.With both versions of Boris FX, you can simultaneously spin, tumble, rotate, and resize
any number of tracks of full motion video in 3D space. You can also map video onto a
flat plane, a sphere, a cube, a cylinder, three-dimensional extruded text, or create a page
turn. Use 3D containers to manipulate tracks in groups while independently controlling
their individual properties.
Boris FX and Boris FX PRO include a range of different compositing filters, including blur,
color, distortion, keying, lighting, and particles effects. The PixelChooser providesadditional control over many of these effects by allowing you to select the pixels to be
filtered using custom mattes.
Understanding Plug-ins
Boris FX is a plug-in. Plug-ins are software products which can be added to your host
application to enhance its functionality. A plug-in can be a small and simple addition or
a complex piece of software.
Plug-in files have to reside in a specific folder on your computer so that the host
program can find them. If a plug-in is misplaced or moved around, the host application
may loose track of it. As with any other file, a plug-in file can be renamed and the new
name will be used by the host application to identify the plug-in.
When the host program starts up, it looks in the plug-in folder for the available plug-ins.It loads all recognized plug-ins and makes them available to the user.
Plug-ins become an integral part of the host program sharing all of its resources
including memory. Plug-ins are not separate applications; they do not have to run in
the background and do not require additional memory.
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
12/290
12 Introduction
Installing and Starting Boris FX
Installation instructions vary for each supported host application. For instructions on
installing and loading Boris FX into your host application, see the Installation Guide
located on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
Boris FX Keyframe Library
Boris FX automatically installs the Keyframe Library, which contains hundreds of preseteffect settings. The Keyframe Library is installed by default on your computers hard
drive, in the locations described below.
Windows Hosts
The Keyframe Library can be found in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Artel Software Inc.\Boris FX\KeyFrame Library
Macintosh Hosts
The Keyframe Library is installed to the following location:
System Folder/Application Support/Boris FX/KeyFrame Library
To open any of the KeyFrame Library settings, choose File > Open Settings, and navigate
to the settings file you want to use. You can also modify any settings file and save it inthe Library for future use.
You can also preview and apply any settings in the KeyFrame Library in the Boris
Library Browser. For more information, see The Boris Library Browser on
page 158.
Using the ManualThis manual and has been designed to help you understand the many options offered
by Boris FX and Boris FX PRO so that you may use these complex programs to their fullest
potential.
This manual covers both Boris FX and Boris FX PRO. The tutorial exercises are designed
to work with both applications. However, certain features discussed in the manual are
only available in Boris FX PRO and not in Boris FX. These features are noted whereapplicable.
I t d ti 13
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
13/290
Introduction 13
Overview of Manual
The manual is divided into the following sections:
Chapter 1 provides several short tutorial exercises to help familiarize you with thefeatures of Boris FX.
Chapter 2 provides descriptions of Boris FXs user interface. Chapter 3 describes how to import, create, and adjust various supported media
types.
Chapter 4 describes how to create, preview, and render animated and static effects. Chapter 5 discusses each of the 3D shapes available in Boris FX. Chapter 6 discusses the use of 3D Containers.
Filters Guide
Information on all Boris FX and Boris FX PRO filters is available in the Filters Guide, a
separate PDF document located on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
Icons
Throughout the manual, certain icons are used to denote sections of special interest.
Designates features that are not part of the standard feature package and are
available only in Boris FX PRO. All other features are available in both Boris FX and
Boris FX PRO.
Indicates warnings about procedures that might produce unwanted effects, are
very memory-intensive, or cannot be easily undone.
Accompanies useful notes about a parameter, filter, or procedure. These notes can
help you better understand how to use Boris FX.
Denotes a reference to another part of the manual in the text. Check the indicated
sections for further information.
Accompanies creative ideas for using Boris FX to produce specific effects.
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
14/290
14 Introduction
Computer Experience
This manual assumes that you that you understand your computers operating systemat a fundamental level and are familiar with basic computer functions such as mouse-
pointing, clicking, dragging, scrolling, and choosing commands from menus. You
should also know how to select and edit text and how to create, open, and save
documents and folders. Consult the documentation provided with your computer if you
are not familiar with these terms and functions.
Host Application Experience
This manual assumes that you have installed the host video editing application software
on your system and that you are proficient enough in the host application to perform
basic-level program editing techniques, including custom transitions and rendering
effects.
You must also know how to apply effects to the timeline in your host application, edit
effects, and render effects in order to use Boris FX. If you are unfamiliar with theseoperations, consult the documentation provided with your host application.
Release Notes
The Release Notes contain valuable, up-to-date information on new features, supported
host applications and operating systems, and known limitations. The Release Notes are
located on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
Technical Support
If you encounter host-specific questions that are not covered in this manual, or have
difficulty installing or starting Boris FX, visit the Boris FX Technical Forum at
http://www.borisfx.com/support, and look for the link for your host application and
operating system. You can also contact Boris FX Technical Support by calling (617) 451-
9900 or e-mailing [email protected].
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
15/290
TUTORIAL
c h a p t e r 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
16/290
17
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
17/290
Chapter 1Tutorial
About Tutorial Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Exercise 1: Animating an Image Using Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Importing Still Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Animating the Flat 3D Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Working with Bezier Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Saving Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exercise 2: Creating a Multi Input Page Turn Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Creating a Page Turn Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mapping Media to Front and Back Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Applying Upstream and Downstream Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Exercise 3: Animating Masked Tracks in a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
About Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Applying a Mask to a Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Changing the Duration of an Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Manipulating Tracks Within a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Creating the 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Setting Static Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Animating Position Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Using the 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Setting the Default Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Adjusting the Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Exercise 4: Filtering Selectively with the PixelChooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Applying a Blur to Selected Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Creating a Wipe Between the Original and Blurred Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Using a PixelChooser Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Exercise 5: Creating a Chroma Key Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Creating the Garbage Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Creating and Adjusting the Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Adjusting the Foreground Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Exercise 6: Creating a Custom Scatter Wipe Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53Importing a Movie File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
18 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
18/290
18 Chapter 1
Creating the Wipe Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Creating the Scatter Wipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Animating the Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Adding the Scatter Wipe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adjusting Particle Shape and Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Exercise 7: Creating a 3D Text Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using the Text Window to Format Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Mapping Media to the Faces of the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Working with 3D Text Shape Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Working with Lighting Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Tutorial 19
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
19/290
About Tutorial Exercises
The following tutorial exercises provide step-by-step instructions for creating various
kinds of effects, while exploring many aspects of the Boris FX user interface and
functionality.
Each tutorial builds on the steps and techniques introduced in the tutorial that precedes
it. For this reason, new users should begin with the first tutorial and perform the
tutorials in order. More advanced users can look over the tutorial topics and sub-topics
and choose tutorials that are more applicable to their skill level.
These tutorials are designed to be used with the Keyframer, the stand-alone version of
Boris FX. You can perform the steps in these tutorials from within a host application, but
host-specific aspects of Boris FX (such as rendering) are not covered in these tutorials.
The Keyframer can be found on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
The tutorials use and refer to a number of media files, which can be found in the
Tutorial Files folder on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
These exercises assume you are using the KeyFramer applications default settings
and preferences. If you change a default setting in one exercise, you must change
the setting back before proceeding with the next exercise.
You can reset all preferences to the default settings by deleting your Boris
preferences file. For more information, see Resetting Preferences on page 97.
20 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
20/290
Exercise 1: Animating an Image Using Keyframes
In this tutorial, you will 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
1 Click Track 1 in the timeline to
select it. The track turns blue when
you select it.
2 Click the Media icon in the track,
and choose Still Image File from
the menu. A dialog box opens that
lets you navigate to the files
location. Open the columns.pct clip from the Tutorial Files folder on the Boris FX
CD-ROM.
3 The columns image is now visible in the Composite window.
4 Follow the same steps to import the still image file waves.pct into Track 2.
5 Click the View Track icon on Track
1 to hide that track. The waves
image is now visible in theComposite window.
6 Click the View Track icon again to restore Track 1s visibility. The columns image is
now visible in the Composite window.
Naming Tracks
1 Select Track 1, and choose Track > Rename Track.2 Type in the word Columns and
press Return (on Macintosh) or
Enter (on Windows). The track is
now named Columns.
Use the Keyboard shortcut to rename Track 2:
1 Select Track 2, and press Return or Enter.
Media icon
View Track icon
Tutorial 21
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
21/290
2 Type in the word Waves and press
Return or Enter. The track is now
named Waves.
Animating the Flat 3D Shape
You can assign each track in the
timeline one of five 3D shapes by
clicking the Shape icon for that track. By
default, each new track is assigned aFlat 3Dshapethat is, a flat still or video image the size of the Composite window.
Selecting a track displays the parameters for that type of track in the Controls window.
Each of these parameters can be animated using keyframes. A keyframe sets specific
parameter values for a track at a certain point on the timeline. When you place multiple
keyframes on the timeline, the program interpolates, or computes intermediate values,
between keyframe values.
In this exercise, you will set keyframes in the timeline to animate several Flat 3D
parameters.
1 Click the Columns track to select it. Notice that the track already has keyframes
placed at the start and end of the track. 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).
Shape icon
Keyframes
Current Time Indicator (CTI)
22 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
22/290
3 If it is not already displayed, click the Position tab in the Controls window.
4 Change the Scale X value to 60 by
moving the slider. (The Scale X and
Scale Y values are locked bydefault, so the Scale Y setting also
Numerical Field SliderLock
Tutorial 23
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
23/290
updates.) Or, click the numerical field, type in 60, and press Return or Enter. A new
keyframe is automatically created at frame 10, and the Columns image is scaled to
60% of its original size.
5 Click the keyframe in Frame 10 to
select it, then click the
interpolation field in the Scale X
controls. Choose Hold from the
menu.
6 Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, either by dragging the CTI to thebeginning or by pressing the Home key.
7 Play the sequence by clicking the
play button in the Composite
window, or by pressing the space
bar. The Columns track starts out at
full size, shrinks to 60% size by frame 10, then stays at that size (holds) for the
remainder of the effect.8 To view the effect in real time, choose Preview > Preview to RAM. The effect plays
through once slowly as it renders each frame to RAM, then plays through once in
real time.
Now, add another animation to move the Columns track off-screen and reveal the Waves
track.
Interpolation Field
Play Button
24 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
24/290
1 Expand the Columns track by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the track
name, then expand the Transformations track. Expand the Position track to reveal
separate tracks that correspond to each parameter in the Position tab in the
Controls window. Note that the keyframes you set earlier in the exercise appear in
the Scale X and Scale Y tracks.
2 Move the CTI to frame 10 (Time 00:00:00:10).
3 Select the Position X track, then choose Track > New Keyframe. A keyframe appearsin the Position X track at the CTIs current position (Time 00:00:00:10). Use the same
steps to create a new keyframe at that point in the Position Y track.
Tutorial 25
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
25/290
4 Select the Rotate track. This time use the keyboard shortcut, Command N (on
Macintosh) or Control N (on Windows), to create a new keyframe in the Rotate track.
Your timeline should now look like the following illustration.
5 Move the CTI to the last frame in the sequence (Time 00:00:01:00).
6 In the Controls Window, set
Position X to 840 and Position Y to
0. You can either adjust the
parameters in the Controls window
or drag the blue position point in the Composite window off the screen.7 Set Rotate to 0 rotations, 180.
Rotations
Degrees
26 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
26/290
8 Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, and play the sequence. The Columns
track now shrinks to 60% size by frame 10, and undergoes one half rotation around
the Z axis and moves off screen by frame 30.
Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:15 Time 00:00:00:21
Working with Bezier Curves
The Ease In/Outinterpolation (the default interpolation type) allows you to work with
Bezier curves to fine tune the motion of the effect. This section describes two ways of
using the Bezier controls to smooth out transitions at keyframe points.
1 In the timeline, expand the Columns tracks Position track to reveal tracks for each
parameter in the Position tab.
2 Expand the Position X track to reveal the Value curve controls for that parameter.
Value Curve controls Value CurveBezier handle
Tutorial 27
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
27/290
3 In the Controls window, click the
interpolation fields in the Position
X and Position Y controls. Choose
Ease In/Out from the menu.
4 Red Bezier curve handles appear at
each keyframe point on the Value
curve in the timeline. Drag either
of the handles to move them up ordown 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.
If you do not see Bezier handles in
the value curve, you must changeyour interpolation type to Ease
In/Out. To do so, click the
interpolation fields in the Position
X and Position Y controls. Choose Ease In/Out from the menu.
5 To manipulate the direction of
each Bezier handle independently,hold the Option key (on Macintosh)
or the Alt key (on Windows) as you
drag the handle.
You can also manipulate the images motion path in the Composite window.
1 In the Composite window, click theControls button. Choose Motion
Path from the menu.
Interpolation Field
Bezier Handle
Interpolation Field
Controls Button
28 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
28/290
2 The tracks motion path appears in the Composite window. You can now drag the
Bezier curve handles to adjust the tracks motion. To manipulate the direction of
each Bezier handle independently, hold the Option key (on Macintosh) or the Alt
key (on Windows) as you drag the handle.
3 Each white dot in the path represents the tracks
position point in each frame of the timeline. Click
the Frame Advance and Frame Back buttons to
view the motion of the track as it moves througheach point.
Saving Settings
The Keyframer cannot render your effect, but you can save the settings file and open it
later in a host application to render it. If you are doing the tutorial exercises within a
host application, you can save the settings with your host.To save effect settings:
1 Click the Apply button in the lower right corner of the timeline.
2 In the Keyframer, a dialog box appears. Navigate to the place where you want to
save the file, then click Save.
3 In a host application, the settings are saved with the project.
Drag Bezier handles toadjust the images motionpath.
Frame Back Button
Frame Advance Button
Tutorial 29
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
29/290
Exercise 2: Creating a Multi Input Page Turn Transition
In this exercise, you will 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
1 Click the Shape icon for Track 1,
and choose Page Turn from the
menu.
The Composite window updates to
display the new shape.
2 Rename Track 1 Page Turn. Rename Track 2 Background.
3 Select the first keyframe of the Page Turn track in the Timeline window (Time
00:00:00:00)
4 In the Controls window, click the Page Turn tab, and set Offset to 0.
Shape icon
30 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
30/290
5 Select the last keyframe in the Page Turn track (Time 00:00:01:00), and set Offset to
100.
6 Play the sequence to see the Offset animate from 0 to 100, which creates the page
turn transition.
Page turn transition
Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:00:25
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 facetracks appear in the timeline, each of which can be assigned different media.
Set first keyframesOffset value to 0
Set last keyframesOffset value to 100
Tutorial 31
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
31/290
In this part of the exercise, you will assign different media to the front and back of the
page turn effect.
1 Expand the Page Turn track in the
timeline. Click the Multi/Single
Input icon on the Page Turn Track.
2 Separate Face tracks appear for the
Front and Back faces of the page
turn.
3 Assign tall trees.pct to the front face. Click the Media icon for the Front Face track
and choose Still Image File from the menu. Then choose tall trees.pct from the
Tutorial Files folder on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
4 Use the same steps to assign the image clover.pct to the background track.
5 Assign a solid color to the back face. Click the Media icon for the Back Face track,
and choose Color from the menu. Then pick a color using the system color picker.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.
Multi Input Page Turn Transition
Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:00:25
Multi/Single Input icon
32 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
32/290
Applying Upstream and Downstream Filters
There are two ways to apply a filter to a shape effect, referred to as upstreamanddownstream. 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 shapetransformations occur. An upstream filter only affects one portion of the shape, that
is, one of the shapes 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 itsfaces.
In this section, you will apply a Ripple filter to the page turn at both the upstream and
downstream positions.
To apply an upstream ripple effect:
1 Select the Front Face track, and
choose Filter > Distortion > Ripple
to apply a Ripple filter to that
track.
The Ripple track is now nestedwithin the Front Face track.
Tutorial 33
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
33/290
Thus, the Ripple affects only the
front face, and does not distort the
shape itself.
Now, move the Ripple filter to the downstream position, where it affects the entire
shape:
1 Drag the Ripple track into the Page
Turn track.
The track is now nested within the Page
Turn track, and the Ripple distorts the
entire shape.
34 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
34/290
Exercise 3: Animating Masked Tracks in a 3D Container
In this exercise, you will apply masks to two tracks, animate them individually, thenadjust them within a 3D Container.
About Masks
A maskis a piece of media that contains an alpha (transparent) channel, which can be
used to hide part of another image. Each Shape and Face track in Boris FX contains a
Mask track. When you apply a mask to an object, the object becomes transparentwherever the masks alpha channel has a value of 0, and remains opaque wherever the
masks alpha channels value is 255. Intermediate alpha channel values in the mask
produce semi-transparent areas in the object.
Any mask can be applied as either an upstreamor downstreammask. These terms refer
to when the mask is processed in relation to the shapes transformations.
An upstream mask is applied to theshapes face track. It becomes part ofthat faces media and is processed
before the shape transformations occur.
In the example at right, the mask is
applied first, then the masked face is
curved into a cylinder.
A downstream mask is applied to theshape and processed after the shape
transformations occur. In the example at
right, the face is curved into a cylinder,then the mask reveals the cylinder.
Tutorial 35
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
35/290
This exercise will use only upstream masksthat is, masks that are applied to the
shapes face before the shape undergoes transformations.
Applying a Mask to a Track
1 Use Command K (on Macintosh) or Control K (on Windows) to create three new
tracks. Drag the tracks to position them in numerical order, with Track 1 at the top
and Track 5 at the bottom.
2 Rename and assign media to each of the five tracks:
Change Track 1s media type to Color, and assign it a white color. Then changethe tracks name to White.
Change Track 2s media type to Color, and assign it a red color. Then change thetracks name to Red.
Change Track 3s media to the still image file Arrow.pct, located in the TutorialFiles folder on the Boris FX CD-ROM. Name the track Arrow.
Change Track 4s media to the still image file Bullseye.pct, located in theTutorial Files folder on the Boris FX CD-ROM. Name the track Bullseye.
Change Track 5s media type to Color, and assign it a black color. Change thetracks name to Black.
Your timeline should now look like the following illustration.
36 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
36/290
3 Expand the White track, then
expand the Face track within to
reveal its Mask track. Drag theArrow track into the Face tracks
Mask track.
4 Expand the Red track, then expandthe Face track within to reveal its
Mask track. Drag the Bullseye track
into the Face tracks Mask track.
The Composite window displays the red
track masked by the bullseye shape, and
the white track masked by the arrow
shape.
Changing the Duration of an Effect
Change the duration of the effect from 1 second to 3 seconds:
1 Click the Duration field in the timeline.
2 Edit the duration to the desired length (00:00:03:00).
3 Press Return (on Macintosh) or Enter (on Windows). Thetimeline updates to reflect the new duration of 3 seconds.
Tutorial 37
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
37/290
Manipulating Tracks Within a 3D Container
Placing two or more tracks inside a 3D Container preserves the spatial relationshipbetween the tracks. This 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 will place the arrow and bullseye into a 3D container, then animate
the arrow to fly in from the left and hit the center of the bullseye.
Creating the 3D Container
1 To create a 3D Container, choose Track > New 3D Container.
Be sure that no tracks are selected when you create the new 3D Container.
Otherwise, the 3D Container track will appear above the selected track, rather than
at the top of the timeline.
2 Collapse the White and Red tracksby clicking the disclosure triangle
for each track. Select the White
track, then hold the Shift key while
you select the Red track in order to
select both tracks at once.
3 Drag the White and Red tracks into
the 3D Container track.
38 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
38/290
Setting Static Parameters
To set a parameter that does not animate over the course of the effect, adjust the
parameter and set its interpolation type to Constant. In this section you will set the static
attributes of the arrow before animating it.
1 Select the White track. Click the Position tab in the Controls window.
2 Set the Spin value to 45 and set the
interpolation type to Constant. The
arrow is now spun 45 around the Y
axis, and stays at this angle for the
duration of the effect.
Animating Position Parameters
In this section you will use the Controls
window and the on-screen controls to animate the X, Y, and Z Positions of the objects.
1 Select the first keyframe on the Red track (Time 00:00:00:00).
2 In the Controls window, set the Redtracks Position Z value to 1500 to move
the bullseye farther from the viewer in Z
space.
Tutorial 39
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
39/290
3 Drag the blue position point control to
the right and position the bullseye near
the right edge of the frame. The PositionX and Position Y values should be
approximately 720 and 240 respectively.
If you do not see the blue position point control
in the Composite window, click the Controls
button and choose Position Point from the
menu.
To see the position point control after you moveit off-screen, either increase the size of the
Composite window or decrease the size of the
image frame using the Ratio button in the
Composite window.
4 Select the last keyframe in the Red track (Time 00:00:03:00). The Composite window
displays the default position settings for that keyframe. Therefore, the bullseyeappears at the center of the frame.
5 Set the Position X and Position Y values
to approximately 420 and 240,
respectively, using either the sliders in
the Controls window or the position
point in the Composite window. Leave
the Position Z value at its default settingof 0.
6 Select the first keyframe in the White track (Time 00:00:00:00).
Controls Button
Ratio Button
40 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
40/290
7 In the Controls window, set the Position
Z value to 640 to move the arrow closer
to the viewer.
8 Drag the arrows position point to the left until it is entirely off-screen. The Position
X and Position Y values should be about 65 and 240, respectively.
9 Select the last keyframe in the White
track. Drag the arrows position point to
place the tip of the arrow at the center ofthe bullseye. The Position X and Position
Y values should be about 352 and 240,
respectively. Leave Position Z at its
default setting of 0.
10 Move the CTI to the beginning of the
timeline and play the sequence or
Preview to RAM. The arrow flies in fromthe left and the bullseye zooms in until
the tip of the arrow hits the bullseye.
Animated effect
Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:01:25 Time 00:00:03:00
Tutorial 41
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
41/290
Using the 3D Container
In this section, you will use the 3D Container to make global adjustments the objectsyou have animated. Animating or adjusting a container affects all the objects inside it
while preserving their spatial relationship to each other.
Setting the Default Interpolation
In this section, all of the adjustments you will make are static adjustments. Therefore,
you should use the Constant interpolation type so that adjusting parameters does not
create new keyframes. Rather than setting the interpolation type to Constant every timeyou adjust a parameter, you can save time by changing the default interpolation type to
the type you want to use most often.
To set the default interpolation type to Constant:
1 Choose Edit > Preferences.
2 In the General Options, set Default Interpolation to Constant.
3 Click OK.
Adjusting the Container
In this section you will use the 3D Container to scale, rotate, and apply trails to the
objects inside the container.
1 Select the 3D Container track in the timeline.
2 In the Controls window, set Trails to 6, Scale X to 75, and Rotate to 180. Each of theseparameters should display the new default interpolation type, Constant.
3 Move the CTI to the beginning of the sequence and play it or preview it to RAM. The
new Trails, Scale X, and Rotate settings are applied to both tracks inside the
container.
Animation with adjusted container
Time 00:00:01:00 Time 00:00:02:00 Time 00:00:03:00
42 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
42/290
Exercise 4: Filtering Selectively with the PixelChooser
The PixelChooser uses the source images color or luma information to apply a filter toselected pixels. For example, you could use the PixelChooser to apply noise to only 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 images
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.
In this exercise, you will apply a blur filter to selected channels using the PixelChoosers
Channel controls. The second part of the exercise shows you how to create a wipe using
the PixelChoosers Region controls.
Applying a Blur to Selected Channels
In this section you will use the PixelChooser to blur the source images luma channel tocreate a glow effect.
1 Assign the still image grasses.pct, found in the Tutorial folder on the Boris FX CD,
to Track 1. Name the track Grasses. Delete Track 2 by selecting it and pressing the
Delete key (on Macintosh) or the Back Space key (on Windows); you will not need it
in this exercise.
2 Apply a Directional Blur filter to theGrasses track. To do this, select the track,
then choose Filters > Blur > Directional
Blur. The source image is blurred
uniformly.
Tutorial 43
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
43/290
3 In the Controls window, click the PixelChooser tab. Within this tab are separate
Region and Channel tabs. Click the Channel tab.
4 Set Make Mask From to Luminance. This tells the PixelChooser to create a mask
based on the source images luminance values, using one of three Mask Types.
5 Select View Pixels Chosen to view the
mask in black and white. The black areas
of the mask show where the source
images pixels will be filtered, and the
white areas of the mask show where the
pixels will be unfiltered.
Region Tab
Channel Tab
44 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
44/290
6 Select Invert Mask to invert the luma
values of the mask. Now the lightest
parts of the plants will be blurred.
7 Set Mask Type to Levels, and use the
Black Level and White Level controls to
adjust the mask and eliminate most of
the gray background regions. Increasing
Black Level pushes dark gray pixels to
black, and decreasing White Level
pushes light gray pixels to white.
8 Deselect View Pixels Chosen to view the
composite. If you want, adjust the
amount of blur or the direction of theblur to fine tune the glow effect.
Tutorial 45
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
45/290
Creating a Wipe Between the Original and Blurred Images
In this section you will animate the PixelChoosers Region controls to create a wipebetween the original image and the blurred image you have just created.
1 Click the Region tab in the PixelChooser tab, and set Region Type to Inside Rectangle.
This 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 Position the CTI on the first keyframe in the sequence (time 00:00:00:00). Set
Bottom Right X to 0, and set the Interpolation type to Linear.
3 Position the CTI on the last keyframe in the sequence (time 00:00:01:00). Set
Bottom Right X to 640.
4 Play the sequence. The blurred region of the image wipes from left to right.
PixelChooser Wipe
Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:20
46 Chapter 1
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
46/290
Using a PixelChooser Track
You can also use a separate images color, luma, or alpha channels to determine howthe PixelChooser filters the source image.
1 Expand the Directional Blur track
to reveal the PixelChooser Track.
2 Assign the still image Burst.pct to the
PixelChooser Track.
3 In the PixelChooser tab in the Controls window, set Make Mask From toAlpha, and
select the Use PixelChooser Track checkbox.
4 Deselect Invert Mask.
5 The blurred portion of the image now
corresponds to the alpha channel of the
PixelChooser Track image.
Tutorial 47
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
47/290
Exercise 5: Creating a Chroma Key Effect
In this exercise, you will use the Chroma Key filter to key out the background of an imageand superimpose it over a new background. You will 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 in keying effects to discard unwanted portions of thebackground before keying takes place. Using a garbage matte can produce a cleaner key
and speed up processing time.
In this section, you will import foreground and background media, apply the Chroma
Key filter, and create the garbage matte.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences and set the Default Interpolation to Hold, since you will
not need to animate any parameters in this exercise.
2 Name Track 1 Girl and import the still image Greenscreen Girl.pct from the
Tutorial Files folder on the Boris FX CD-ROM.
3 Name Track 2 Background and import the still image file Silhouette Trees.pct
from the Boris FX CD-ROM.
4 Click the Background tracks
Visibility icon to hide the track
while you work with the
greenscreen track.
5 Select the Girl Track. Choose Filter
> Keying > Chroma Key to apply a
Chroma Key filter to the track.
Click to hide track
48 Chapter 1
i i
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
48/290
6 In the Controls window, click the Garbage Matte tab.
7 Click the Lock icon to unlock the
parameter values in order to
adjust the settings independently.
Click to unlock parameters
Tutorial 49
8 Adj t th L ft d Ri ht tti t
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
49/290
8 Adjust the Left and Right settings to
eliminate as much of the green
background as possible without cuttingoff any of the foreground subject. The
Left value should be set to about 80, and
the Right value set to about 16.
Creating and Adjusting the Matte
In this section you will create and adjust the matte using the Chroma Key and Clean Up
Alpha filters.
1 Click the Matte Controls 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 subjects hairline.
The area whose color matches the Key
Color is made transparent.
3 To view the matte you have created click the
Channels selector in the Composite window, and
choose Alpha.Channels Button
50 Chapter 1
The Composite window displays the
7/26/2019 BFX 5.0 User Manual
50/290
The Composite window displays the
alpha channel of the keyed image in
black and white. White areas are opaquein the output, black areas are
transparent, and gray areas are semi-
transparent.
This matte has some unwanted semi-transparent gray areas. You can apply a Clean Up
Alpha filter to adjust the matte and eliminate some of the gray areas.
1 Select the Girl track. Choose Filters
> Keying > Clean Up Alpha.
2 In the Controls window, adjust the White
setting to increase the range of grayvalues that are output as white. A setting
of ab