Pinnacle HFX 50 Us M3 M2 Man Hollywood FX Pro 5.0 User’s Guide 5 Eng

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Hollywood FX

User’s Guide

Release 5.0 - Revision A - English

ii Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Pinnacle Systems, Inc.

280 North Bernardo Avenue

Mountain View, CA 94943

Table Of Contents iii

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION...................................... 1

What is Hollywood FX?.......................................................................... 1

Hollywood FX levels............................................................................... 2

Before you start ....................................................................................... 3

Installing Hollywood FX......................................................................... 4

Licensing and registration ....................................................................... 6

Customer support.....................................................................................7

CHAPTER 2: GETTING STARTED ............................... 9

Hollywood FX in the application ............................................................ 9

Adding a Hollywood transition .............................................................10

Changing an existing HFX transition .................................................... 11

Using Hollywood FX as a filter............................................................. 12

CHAPTER 3: TUTORIALS........................................... 15

Tutorial 1: Transitions and options........................................................ 15

Selecting an FX......................................................................................16

The Monitor panel ................................................................................. 17

Basic effect options ............................................................................... 17

Basic flight options................................................................................ 18

Basic lighting, shadows and shine......................................................... 19

Basic render options ..............................................................................21

Tutorial 2: Transition+ ............................................................................23

Selecting the Transition+....................................................................... 23

Mapping a video clip to Source 3.......................................................... 24

Tutorial 3: MultiWindow FX .................................................................. 26

Selecting the FX and setting options ..................................................... 27

CHAPTER 4: PINNACLE ONLINE .............................. 29

iv Hollywood FX User’s Guide

CHAPTER 5: TROUBLESHOOTING........................... 31

CHAPTER 6: PERFORMANCE ................................... 35

CPU speed, bus speed and memory....................................................... 35

Graphics card drivers............................................................................. 36

Adjusting preview rendering performance............................................ 36

CHAPTER 7: ADVANCED TUTORIALS ..................... 39

Tutorial 4: Keyframe editing with envelopes......................................... 39

The Envelope Editor.............................................................................. 40

Selecting an object and option............................................................... 40

Creating the envelope ............................................................................41

Setting up the first keyframe .................................................................42

Adding a keyframe ................................................................................43

Other envelope controls......................................................................... 44

Tutorial 5: Flight path editing................................................................. 45

Modifying the path ................................................................................ 47

Tutorial 6: Creating new FX from existing FX PRO .............................. 49

Saving your custom FX......................................................................... 52

Adding a filter plugin ............................................................................ 53

Tutorial 7: Warp plugins PRO .................................................................. 56

Changing Peel options........................................................................... 58

Keyframing the angle of peel ................................................................ 60

Tutorial 8: 3D text generation PRO ......................................................... 61

CHAPTER 8: THE HOLLYWOOD FX WINDOW ......... 65

CHAPTER 9: MENUS AND PANELS .......................... 67

Menus ....................................................................................................67

The FX Tree panel................................................................................. 74

FX Tree Advanced Features PRO ........................................................... 75

The Monitor panel and associated controls ........................................... 78

Table Of Contents v

CHAPTER 10: THE ALBUM ........................................ 83

CHAPTER 11: FX PROPERTIES ................................ 85

Quick Flight Controls............................................................................86

Quick Lighting Controls........................................................................86

CHAPTER 12: MEDIA PROPERTIES.......................... 91

Media Selection ..................................................................................... 91

Trimming............................................................................................... 94

Cropping controls ..................................................................................94

CHAPTER 13: OBJECT PROPERTIES....................... 95

Object hierarchies.................................................................................. 95

Positioning controls............................................................................... 97

Shape and dissolve ................................................................................99

Object flags.......................................................................................... 100

CHAPTER 14: SURFACE OPTIONS......................... 101

Basic color attributes ........................................................................... 102

CHAPTER 15: THE ENVELOPE EDITOR ................. 107

The single-value envelope................................................................... 107

Multiple-value envelope...................................................................... 108

The Envelope window......................................................................... 109

Key Type controls ............................................................................... 110

Keyframe controls ............................................................................... 110

Keyframing example ........................................................................... 111

Saving and loading envelopes ............................................................. 113

Exiting Hollywood FX ........................................................................ 113

CHAPTER 16: PLUGINS PRO ..................................... 115

Managing Plugins................................................................................... 116

Filter - Blur.......................................................................................... 117

Filter - Chroma Key.............................................................................119

Filter - Luma Key ................................................................................ 120

Filter - Directional Wipe .....................................................................121

vi Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Filter – Edge Wipe ..............................................................................122

Filter - Gradient Wipe .........................................................................124

Warp – AlphaParticles......................................................................... 125

Warp – Displacement Map.................................................................. 128

Warp – Explode................................................................................... 130

Warp – Peel ......................................................................................... 133

Warp – Polyshrink............................................................................... 134

Warp – Ripple .....................................................................................135

Warp – Swirl .......................................................................................138

Warp - Twist........................................................................................ 140

CHAPTER 17: EXPORT HFX PRO .............................. 141

CHAPTER 18: IMPORT 3D PRO .................................. 143

CHAPTER 19: 3D TEXT PRO ....................................... 147

APPENDIX A: LICENSE AGREEMENT .................... 151

INDEX ........................................................................ 155

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Chapter 1:

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing Pinnacle Systems’ Holly-

wood FX. Hollywood FX is a powerful editor of 3D

transitions, titles and animated effects. Since 1994 this

product has provided many of the same capabilities as

broadcast television equipment and high-end

compositors. It gives you an incredible collection of 3D

transitions that you can quickly add to your video

productions, and completely customize to your needs.

This chapter will introduce you to Hollywood FX,

provide instructions for installation and give contact

information for customer support.

This is a general guide to using Hollywood FX. If you

received Hollywood FX as part of a complete Pinnacle

Systems’ solution, you should first read the Hollywood

FX documentation accompanying that solution.

What is Hollywood FX?

Hollywood FX is an incredible collection of true 3D

transitions and effects that you can add to any video

production. Hollywood FX works as an integrated

plugin to your video editing software (the “host

application”). Hollywood FX is:

• True 3D: Hollywood FX uses OpenGL to provide

hardware accelerated, high quality 3D rendering.

• Easy to use: Simply drag-and-drop Hollywood FX

into your timeline like any other transition or filter.

The Hollywood FX window will appear and you can

2 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

select a transition, change your options, or customize

an effect.

• Organized: Transitions are organized into conveni-

ent bin categories with icons that let you find the

transition you want quickly.

• Convenient: With every transition you can quickly

change the flight direction, lighting, shadows, shine

and antialiasing with the click of your mouse.

• MultiWindow excitement: Hollywood FX supports

unlimited video sources to create multi-layer 3D

composites. Create cubes with different video

sources on each side, and much more.

• Expandable: Additional theme packs of 3D

transitions, effects, plug-ins and more are available

through Pinnacle Online, and Hollywood FX PRO

lets you share your own creations with other users.

Visit Pinnacle Online at:

hollywoodfx.pinnaclesys.com

Hollywood FX levels

There are two levels of Hollywood FX for Edition:

• Plus: This version is included with Edition 5 and

includes 300 FX plus advanced control over lighting,

light direction, shadows, shine, motion blur, trails,

antialiasing and more. Plus lets you customize any

transition with full keyframe editing of flight paths,

object shape (morphing) and transparency of objects.

• PRO: Gives you more than 100 additional

transitions (over 400 total) and gives you complete

control over all 3D rendering options. PRO provides

Chapter 1: Introduction 3

a complete suite of 3D tools to create your own 3D

transitions and effects:

• Complete keyframe editing of all object, surface,

light and camera attributes in a full 3D editing

environment.

• Includes a suite of image filters including: Blurs,

Directional Wipe, Edge Wipe, Gradient Wipe

and Luma and Chroma key.

• Includes a powerful suite of 3D warp plugins

including: Alpha Particles, Displace, Explode,

Peel, PolyShrink, Swirl and Twirl.

• Adds an incredible 3D text generator that lets

you create amazing 3D text fly-ons.

• Import your own 3D objects (Lightwave 5

format) to create completely unique 3D effects.

• Share your customized effects with others by

exporting a simple self-installing compressed file

that contains the effect and all objects and

images needed for that effect.

You can easily and instantly upgrade between these

levels over the Internet at Pinnacle Online or purchase

packaged upgrades from your video reseller.

This is a complete guide for both the Plus and PRO

levels of Hollywood FX. Sections and features only

available in PRO are marked with PRO .

Before you start

Before getting started with Hollywood FX you should

have a good working knowledge of your Windows

system. You should be able to use the mouse to select

menu options and should understand and be able to use

the common controls.

4 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

You should also be thoroughly familiar with your video

editing software. You should be able to use clips in the

timeline and understand how to add and modify

transitions and filters.

Throughout this document we use the term FX to refer

to the transitions and effects in Hollywood FX. This

term generically describes the following types of

transitions and effects:

• Transition: These are standard A-B transitions,

where one video source transitions into a second.

• Transition+: These are also A-B transitions;

however, they may have additional video channels

that can be mapped with video. For example, the

FlipOver FX features the first video source flipping

over like a card to reveal the second video source.

There is a third video source that is visible in the

background as the “card” flips over.

• MultiWindow: These effects are not transitions at

all. Instead, windows of video may fly on or off the

screen into various positions while playing your

video.

• AniComps: These are effects that frame a picture,

provide 3D titles and accentuate a video segment

through animated composites.

Installing Hollywood FX

If Hollywood FX was included in a Pinnacle Systems’

solution, it will be installed automatically with that

product, and you can skip this section.

Before installing Hollywood FX, verify that you have

the correct minimum requirements:

• PC-compatible computer with at least a 300 MHz

(Intel Celeron/Pentium II, or AMD Duron/Athlon

class processor).

Chapter 1: Introduction 5

• Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME,

Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

• 64 MB RAM (more may be required by your video

editing software). For multi-window effects, 128 to

256 MB (or more) is recommended.

• At least 200 MB hard disk space.

• 16-bit or 24-bit display adapter. A 3D OpenGL

accelerator is recommended.

To install Hollywood FX:

1. Insert the Hollywood FX CD into your CD-ROM

drive. The main installation menu for your software

will appear.

2. Select Install Hollywood FX. The Language

Selection dialog will appear.

3. Select your preferred language then click OK. The

Serial Number dialog will appear.

4. Enter the serial number that came with your

software (normally found on the first page of this

guide or on the CD-ROM sleeve). Enter the serial

number exactly as shown, including dashes, then

click OK.

5. Click Next to continue. The Setup Path dialog will

appear.

Normally you should accept the default path for

installation. Do not select your non-linear editor’s

plug-in path for installation; the installer will

automatically install the files needed into your non-

linear editor’s folders. Click Next to continue.

Hollywood FX will be installed on your system.

After installation, the LicenseTool dialog will

appear. You have the option to register online

6 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

immediately (see “Licensing and Registration”

below).

After installation, you may be required to restart

your system.

Licensing and registration

The License Tool

Registering your software gives you access to

important benefits including current updates, support,

upgrade promotions, and information on exciting new

products from Pinnacle Systems.

Hollywood FX Basic and Plus do not require

registration, but will continue to remind you until you

have registered your software.

Hollywood FX PRO is copy protected, and users must

When you register a Hollywood FX product, you will

receive a permanent keycode that fully enables

Chapter 1: Introduction 7

Hollywood FX on a particular computer and stops the

registration reminders.

You can register from any Internet-enabled computer

by connecting to hollywoodfx.pinnaclesys.com. If you

do not have your own Internet-enabled computer, you

can register from any computer that is connected to the

Internet (from a library or Internet café for example).

If you reformat your system drive and reinstall the

operating system or move Hollywood FX to a new

computer, you will need a new permanent keycode,

which you can obtain at

hollywoodfx.pinnaclesys.com.

Customer support

Pinnacle Systems is dedicated to providing the best

products and the best customer support.

For fastest support, point your browser to:

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/support

Please note: Pinnacle Systems cannot provide support

for using your non-Pinnacle video editing software.

You should first make sure you fully understand the

operation of your other software before calling. You

should also look through the read-me file and the

Troubleshooting section of this guide (page 31) before

contacting customer support.

Chapter 2: Getting started 9

Chapter 2:

Getting started

This chapter will help you get started using Hollywood

FX in Pinnacle’s Edition and Liquid – the “host

applications”. The basic procedure for adding and

modifying Hollywood FX transitions and filters is

described, along with hints and tips.

After this brief introduction, first-time users should

continue with the tutorials in the next chapter (page

15).

Hollywood FX in the application

The Hollywood FX effects can be found and inserted

into a host application project in various ways. One

way is by selecting the ALL button just below the

central bar. This will reveal the tree of various filters

and plugins offered. From here you can either select the

primary Hollywood FX icon from the PlugIn

Transition FX if you want to use an FX for transitions.

To use an FX as a filter, select the Hollywood FX icon

from Plugin Clip Fx.

Another way is under RealtimeTransition FX/Specials.

Here, every transition has its own icon that you can

simply drag and drop it between two video sources.

10 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Adding a Hollywood transition

Multiple ways to select a Hollywood FX

Before adding a Hollywood FX transition, prepare two

video sources on the A and B tracks of the timeline, so

that there is some overlap between the two video clips.

Timeline prepared for Hollywood FX Transition

To add a transition to the timeline:

1. Click on the Edition.FX tab in the Project window,

then double-click on the Plugin Transition FX

folder, and the Pinnacle group.

2. Drag Hollywood FX from the Project window into

the timeline, between the two video clips.

Chapter 2: Getting started 11

3. Double-click on the transition block or Right-click

on the transition and choose the Edit... command

from the popup menu.

The Hollywood FX dialog will appear, letting you

choose a specific transition, and change options for

your transition.

A Hollywood FX Transition in the timeline

Changing an existing HFX transition

You can modify a transition that is already in the

timeline, changing the selected effect or any options at

any time.

To change an existing transition in the timeline:

• Double-click on the transition block; or,

• Right-click on the transition and choose the Edit...

command from the popup menu.

The Hollywood FX window will appear, letting you

choose a specific transition, and change options for

your transition.

12 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Using Hollywood FX as a filter

Hollywood FX can be used as a filter on a graphic,

title, or video clip. Hollywood FX is great for flying on

or off titles over video.

To prepare:

1. Start a new sequence and drag a video clip into the

first video track.

2. Select a title and drag three copies of it into the

timeline, on the video track immediately above the

video clip you dragged into the first track.

The Timeline, ready for a Hollywood FX Filter.

(1) The first copy of the title will fly on over the

video clip; (2) The second will simply be overlaid

on the clip; and (3) The third will fly off the screen.

To fly on the title with Hollywood FX:

1. In the Project window, click on the Edition.FX tab,

then double-click on the Plug In Clip Fx folder.

2. Drag the Hollywood FX 5.0 Filter from the Project

window into the timeline on top of the first copy of

the title.

Chapter 2: Getting started 13

3. Double-click on the asterisk ( ) icon on the title

clip to display the Hollywood FX window.

The Hollywood FX Filter has been added to the

first title clip. Double-click the icon (circled) to

display the Hollywood FX dialog. Right: The icon

is shown in a magnified view.

4. Click on the Domino effect in the first row of the

FX Album.

5. Click on Basic Options in the Properties panel on

the left.

6. Check the Reverse Flight checkbox (this will make

the effect fly on instead of fly off).

7. Click OK to close the Hollywood FX window.

After background rendering is complete, you can play

the sequence back and see the title fly on with the

effect selected.

To fly off with Hollywood FX:

1. Drag the Hollywood FX 5.0 Filter from the Project

window into the timeline on top of the last copy of

the title.

2. Double-click on the asterisk ( ) icon on the title

clip to display the Hollywood FX window.

3. Select the Dive Off effect from the first row of the

FX Album.

4. Click OK to close the Hollywood FX window.

When background rendering is complete, you can play

the sequence back, and you will now see the title fly

on, hold, then fly off.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 15

Chapter 3:

Tutorials

Here we present three tutorials that will help you get

oriented quickly to using Hollywood FX. Each tutorial

focuses on a different FX type: Transitions,

Transitions+ and MultiWindow.

TUTORIAL 1: TRANSITIONS AND OPTIONS

This tutorial will take you through the basics of

selecting a Transition FX and setting Effect Options.

To prepare for this tutorial: Set up two video clips in

your host application and add Hollywood FX as

described in Getting Started (page 9). When the

Hollywood FX window appears, you are ready to

begin.

The Hollywood FX window

16 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

The Hollywood FX window is organized into panels

and menus. The first panel is the Properties panel (by

default this panel may be closed upon first use after

install). This is where all detail controls are found.

The second panel is the Monitor panel that displays the

preview of the current FX (the above image shows the

monitor selected in Tri-View mode).

Finally, the lower half provides access to the Album

folders. One is for selecting property controls for

Objects, Plug-ins, Media, Camera and Lights. The

other is for selecting from the many categories of FX.

Selecting an FX

When the Hollywood FX window is displayed, you

will immediately see the FX Album Folders (the FX

you chose and the FX Folder it is a part of should be

highlighted). The FX Album has two major panels: the

FX Album Folder tree showing the different FX

Folders and the panel showing the FX Album Items of

the FX Folders allows you to select one of the many FX

available. For this tutorial you will select an interesting

transition called Ball Split. This FX is in the Basic

Shape group.

Selecting a folder (1) and an item (2) in the FX Album.

To select the Ball Split FX:

1. Select Basic Shapes from the FX Group popup list.

2. Click on the Ball Split FX icon.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 17

The Monitor panel

Whenever you make changes in Hollywood FX, the

preview window in the Monitor panel is updated. Try

dragging the slider directly below the preview to view

different frames of the preview.

Monitor panel: 1) Play entire FX preview once;

2) Loop play: preview continuously as you work (press

again to stop preview); 3) Step backward one frame;

4) Step forward one frame; 5) Go to first frame; 6) Go

to last frame; 7) Frame counter; 8) Timeline slider.

To turn on continuous playback of the preview:

click on the Loop Play button below the preview

window in the Monitor panel.

Basic effect options

Hollywood FX gives you quick and easy control over

many FX options. You can create new and exciting

results without having to re-keyframe the entire FX.

To view the basic effect options: Click on the name at

the top of the FX Tree.

18 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Left: The FX tree. Right: The Basic Options selected in

the Properties Panel.

Basic flight options

You can quickly change the flight path of an object in

useful ways using the Basic Options controls.

Basic flight options

Watch the preview now. You will see that instead of

the first video source flying off and revealing the

second video source, the second video source will fly

on and cover the first video source.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 19

Flight path try-out:

• Click-and-drag the Flight Rotation dial so that it

reads 45. Watch the preview.

• Click on the Object Rotation checkbox so it is

checked. Watch the preview.

• Click-and-drag the Flight Path dial so that it reads

90. Watch the preview.

• Click-and-drag the Flight Path dial so that it reads

0. You can also use the arrow keys to change the dial

by one degree increments.

The Flight Path dial rotates the entire flight path of the

3D objects in the FX, giving you a different result

quickly and easily. When you change the Flight Path, it

does not rotate the object itself. Checking the Rotate

Object checkbox will cause the object itself to rotate

and “follow” the new path.

Note: Some FX were not designed to be compatible

with the basic flight options. So this feature may be

disabled for those effects.

Basic lighting, shadows and shine

Lighting, shadows and shine add incredible 3D realism

to an FX. By default all of these features are turned on.

Try turning them off to see the difference it makes.

Basic lighting options

20 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Basic shadow options

Basic shine options

To turn off Lighting and Shadows:

• Click on the Shadows checkbox to clear it. Notice

that the shadow disappears.

• Click on the Lighting checkbox to clear it. Notice

that the 3D ball is no longer shaded.

• Click on Shadows and Lighting to turn these

features back on.

In addition to being able to control which lighting

features are used, you can also control the light

direction. By default, light comes from the top center of

the 3D “world”. When you adjust the light direction, it

automatically adjusts the shine and shadow position as

well.

Light direction try-out:

• Click-and-drag the Light Direction dial so that it

reads 90. Watch the preview.

• Click-and-drag the Light Direction dial so that it

reads 180. Watch the preview.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 21

• Click-and-drag the Light Direction dial so that it

reads 0. You can also use the arrow keys to change

the dial by one degree increments.

Changing the light direction to 180 degrees gives a

very unique, almost sinister appearance.

Basic render options

The Basic Options Render controls let you adjust

special rendering features of the 3D engine.

Render type

Normally objects with curves are rendered with smooth

surfaces. You can use the render type to change to

faceted or wire surfaces.

To change the render type:

• Select Flat from the Render dropdown. Notice that

the object no longer appears smooth.

• Select Wire from the Render dropdown. Notice that

the object is now rendered as a wire-frame rather

than a solid object.

• Select Smooth from the Render dropdown to return

to smooth solid rendering.

Antialiasing

Because of the low resolution of video, sharp edged 3D

effects will often exhibit blocky stairstepping along the

edges of objects. Antialiasing eliminates much of this

problem. Hollywood FX includes three methods of

antialiasing (although the preview generally displays

only edge antialiasing).

22 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Selecting render options

Antialiasing first look:

• Select Web/CD under Antialiasing and notice how

the edges of the 3D ball are smoothed.

• Select Video under Antialiasing to switch to scene

antialiasing. This generally will not change the

preview, but during final rendering full Scene

antialiasing will be used.

• Select Hardware under Antialiasing to take

advantage of some of today’s high-end graphics

chips.

The additional checkboxes and advanced shadow

controls are described in more detail under “Quick

Lighting Controls” (page 86).

When you are ready, click OK in the Hollywood FX

dialog to exit, then render your project to see the

results.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 23

TUTORIAL 2: TRANSITION+

In Tutorial 1 you worked with a Transition FX that had

only two video sources. In the present tutorial you will

use a Transition+ FX that also performs a transition but

has additional video sources you can use.

When you are finished with this tutorial, you will

know:

• How to use a Transition+ FX with extra video

sources.

• Some of the features on the Settings menu.

To prepare for this tutorial: Set up two video clips in

your host application and add Hollywood FX as

described in the “Getting Started” chapter (page 9),

creating a two-second transition. When the Hollywood

FX window appears, you are ready to begin.

Selecting the Transition+

To select the transition:

1. Select Wipes and Fades from the FX Group popup

list at the top of the page.

2. Click on the FlipOver icon.

3. Click the Play Once preview button on the

Monitor.

Watch the preview. Notice that while the video is

flipping over, you can see black in the background.

There is a backdrop that is currently not visible,

because no video source has been mapped to it. The

next step is to map that third video source.

24 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Mapping a video clip to Source 3

Continuing Tutorial 2, we will now add a video clip to

Source 3 so that the background is no longer black.

Selecting media options

To add a video clip to Source 3:

1. Double click on the Back 3 Object icon in the

Tree panel.

2. Double click on the Backdrop 3 Surface Icon

to expand out the Media file.

3. Click on the Select File button in the Media

Options panel.

4. Using the file requester, select a video clip to use

for Source 3.

5. Click on the Play Once button in the Monitor

window.

You have selected a new video source and should be

able to see it in the background as Source 1 flips over

to Source 2. You should also make sure the field

interpretation is correct for this video.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 25

To change field Interpretation: Click on the

Interpret popup, and select the proper field

interpretation for your video. For most video capture

cards you will select Interlaced – Upper First or

Interlaced – Lower First.

While correct interpretation is not important in the

preview, it will be important for final rendering. If

interpretation is not set correctly, the video in the

background will playback incorrectly (it will jitter

rather than playing smoothly).

Media Options panel, showing the Interpret field

From now on, when you select a video file, the

Interpret value will be defaulted to the last option

selected. You will only need to change Interpret if you

select a single image file, or video captured using a

different video card.

26 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

TUTORIAL 3: MULTIWINDOW FX

Tutorials 1 and 2 introduced you to Transition and

Transition+ FX respectively. The third type of FX in

Hollywood FX is the MultiWindow FX. MultiWindow

FX do not perform a transition from one video source

to another. Instead, they feature multiple video

windows that fly on or off screen in various ways. For

this tutorial we will use the Flip 4 effect, where four

video windows fly off after playing over a backdrop.

Prepare for the tutorial

MultiWindow FX are designed differently from

Transitions. In a MultiWindow FX, the Source A video

from the host application is always used as the

backdrop video. This makes it easy to lay out the

timeline so that you can have the backdrop video

continue before or after the FX.

To prepare for the tutorial:

1. Start a new project.

2. Place the video you want to use as the backdrop on

video track 5, so that it starts at the beginning of the

project, and runs for about five seconds.

3. Insert the Hollywood FX filter plug-in from the

Plug-In Clip FX onto the video in Track 5.

4. Double click on the asterisk next to the thumbnail

at the end of the video clip to open the Hollywood

FX window to select the effect.

Chapter 3: Tutorials 27

The Hollywood FX transition in Edition, ready for a

MultiWindow FX. 1) Drag and drop the Hollywood FX

filter from the Plug-In Clip FX; 2) Place the filter on

this video, as it will be the backdrop for the FX;

3) Double-click asterisk here to open Hollywood FX.

Selecting the FX and setting options

To select the Flip 4 FX and set options:

1. Select Multiwindow Effects from the FX Album.

2. Select Flip 4 from the FX icons.

3. Click on the Play Once button in the Monitor

panel.

Notice that the video source from the timeline plays in

the background. We will now select video clips for the

remaining video windows.

To map the additional video sources:

1. Click on the FX Tree panel.

2. Click on the Flat 3 object.

3. Click on the Host Video 3 to reveal the Media

Properties panel.

4. Click on Select Media File folder in the Properties

panel.

28 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

The Hollywood FX transition selected and ready to

map additional video. 1) Select folder to map

additional sources; 2) Selected FX – Flip 4; 3) How

Flip 4 should look after mapping additional sources.

5. Select a video clip using the file requester.

6. Now you’re ready to do the same for the other Host

Medias, except for Back 1.

7. Click on the Play Once button in the Monitor panel

to see the preview.

Because you set up the default Interpret value in

Tutorial 2, you should not have to change it for each

video source you selected above.

Chapter 4: Pinnacle Online 29

Chapter 4:

Pinnacle Online

When you register Hollywood FX online to get your

permanent keycode, you will also receive a userid and

password for Pinnacle Online, where you can purchase

and instantly download upgrades and add-on packs of

FX.

To use Pinnacle Online you will need a web browser

(like Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher), and a

connection to the Internet. Simply connect to:

http://hollywoodfx.pinnaclesys.com

Follow the instructions there to access and use your

Pinnacle Online account.

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 31

Chapter 5:

Troubleshooting

This section provides a list of common problems and

their solutions. If you can’t find an answer to your

problem in this list, or in the ReadMe file that is

created during setup, then contact Hollywood FX

customer support (see page 7) for more help.

Hollywood FX does not show up in my host

application.

During installation Hollywood FX will attempt to find

all compatible host applications and install the proper

plug-in files for each. If Hollywood FX does not show

up in Pinnacle Edition/Liquid, try copying the plug-in

files from the Host Plugins folder (in Hollywood FX)

as follows:

• Copy Edition\HfxEdt5.vfx to:

Edition\Plugins\Transitions

• Copy EditionFilter\Fl-HfxEdt5.vfx to:

Edition\Plugins\Filter

My video editor crashes when I try to use

Hollywood FX.

This usually indicates a conflict with your 3D graphics

card. You should download and install the very latest

drivers for your graphics card.

32 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

I never get a rendered transition, I just get the

Hollywood FX Logo.

This indicates that Hollywood FX was not able to use

OpenGL to render the effect. Check the following

items to resolve this problem:

• Check to make sure the files Opengl32.dll and

Glu32.dll are in your Windows\System folder

(Winnt\System32). If they are not present, Windows

95 users should download the OpenGL libraries from

the Support area of the Hollywood FX website.

Windows 98, NT, and 2000 users should check their

operating system installation, and reinstall any

service packs.

• Make sure you are using the very latest drivers for

your graphic display card.

• Change the preview engine under Render Engine in

the Preview menu.

When I select video or images in the Media

Options panel I get a white object instead of

video.

Generally this indicates you have run low on memory.

If you are doing MultiWindow effects with more than 3

video sources, you should have a minimum of 128 MB

of RAM (with at least 256 MB highly recommended).

If you are using images you scanned in, you should

lower the resolution of those scanned images.

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 33

I get color/brightness jumps at the start and end

of my effect.

This is normally because the rendered effect is being

recompressed while the surrounding video is not. Many

non-linear editors have an option to Recompress

Always or to turn off Smart Rendering. If your non-

linear editor does not have a Recompress Always

option, you can usually solve the shift by adding a

Brightness/Contrast filter to both the incoming video

and outgoing video clips, but leave the

Brightness/Contrast settings unchanged. This will

cause the video to be recompressed, but not changed.

Chapter 6: Performance 35

Chapter 6:

Performance

Hollywood FX uses OpenGL, which is the industry

standard 3D graphics language for high performance

high quality rendering. Over the past few years the 3D

accelerators and their OpenGL graphics drivers have

improved dramatically, however there are still times

that the graphics drivers cause incompatibilities with

Hollywood FX. For this reason, Hollywood FX

defaults to software-only rendering for the highest

degree of compatibility, at the cost of slower previews

and rendering.

This section describes the steps you can take to

improve 3D rendering performance. You should only

try these changes once you are familiar with

Hollywood FX and have successfully rendered some

effects in your projects.

CPU speed, bus speed and memory

Your system configuration can make a dramatic

difference in performance. By upgrading your CPU to a

faster speed, upgrading to a new motherboard that has a

133MHz (or faster) bus, and by increasing memory to

256MB or more, you can dramatically improve the

performance of Hollywood FX, whether you have a 3D

graphic accelerator or not.

36 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Graphics card drivers

The most important aspect to 3D performance from

your graphics accelerator is the driver software you are

using. You should regularly check your graphics

accelerator manufacturer’s website for updated drivers.

Here are the website addresses of the most popular

graphics cards.

• 3D-Labs (Wildcat, Oxygen) – www.3dlabs.com

• ATI (Radeon) – www.ati.com

• Matrox (G450, Parahelia) – www.matrox.com/mga

• Nvidia (GeForce, Quadro) – www.nvidia.com

Adjusting preview rendering performance

Almost any good 3D accelerator will dramatically

improve the performance in the Preview Monitor

window. However, we highly recommend a graphics

card with at least 128 megabytes of memory on board.

You must enable OpenGL Hardware in the Preview

Settings to benefit from your accelerator.

To enable accelerated preview rendering: In the

Preview menu, move down to select the Accelerated

OpenGL from the Render Engine sub menu.

If you encounter problems with the preview after

enabling on-screen rendering, you should immediately

return to Preview menu Render Engine and select the

Software engine.

Notice: It is recommended to test these rendering

changes using the Easy FX editor that you can launch

from the Start Menu.

Chapter 6: Performance 37

Adjusting preview rendering performance

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 39

Chapter 7:

Advanced tutorials

Before following these tutorials, you should fully read

and understand the previous portion of this guide.

TUTORIAL 4:

KEYFRAME EDITING WITH ENVELOPES

This tutorial demonstrates the way you can keyframe

any option in Hollywood FX to create advanced

results.

Hollywood FX uses the term Envelope to designate a

set of keyframes that describe how an option’s value

will change over time in Hollywood FX.

Prepare for the tutorial and select the FX:

1. Create a new project in your host application.

2. Add two video clips and create a two-second

transition between them.

3. Add Hollywood FX as a transition between the two

video clips.

4. From the Hollywood FX window, select the

Tumble 2 transition in the Flying Windows group.

Before continuing, please change to Percent settings.

This will make it easier to follow the tutorial.

40 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

To change to percent settings: With the Hollywood

FX window open, go to the Setup menu, move down to

Timecode and change to Percent.

The Envelope Editor

Hollywood FX uses the term Envelope to designate a

set of keyframes that describe how an option’s value

will change over time in Hollywood FX.

The Envelope Editor is normally hidden when you first

begin using Hollywood FX (to keep life simple).

To display the Envelope Editor: Click on the

Show/Hide Album button to hide the Album and make

the Envelope Editor visible.

The Show/Hide Album Button

The Envelope Editor will appear. We are going to

modify the Tumble 2 transition by making the

tumbling video dissolve as it tumbles into the distance.

We will do this by creating an envelope for the object’s

Dissolve option.

Selecting an object and option

In this step, we specify the object (“SoftFB 1”) and

option (dissolve) that will be controlled by the

envelope we are creating.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 41

To select the Object and Option:

1. Click on the SoftFB 1 object in the FX Tree panel.

2. Click on the Dissolve slider in the Object

Properties panel so that it is highlighted.

Notice that the word Dissolve under the slider is

highlighted in green. This is an indicator that it is the

current option that can be modified in the Envelope

Editor. Whenever you select a control that can have an

envelope in Hollywood FX, it will be highlighted in

green.

Creating the envelope

Hollywood FX makes it extremely easy to create

envelopes by simply clicking and dragging in the

envelope window. We want to create an envelope for

dissolve that makes the object disappear over the entire

length of the transition.

To create a simple envelope: Click-and-drag the

slider in the envelope window to the end of the timeline

and click on the keyframe button. Drag the

keyframe you create all the way to 100% value and

release the mouse.

The envelope after creating the first keyframe. 1) Click

here to create your first keyframe; 2) A second

keyframe is created automatically at time 0%; 3) Make

sure your slider is here; 4) Resulting keyframe.

42 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Notice that there are two keyframes (indicated by

blocks). The one at the end is the one you created. The

keyframe at 00:00:00 is created automatically, since all

envelopes in Hollywood FX must at a minimum have

keyframes at each end of the envelope editor.

Also notice that the preview and the current time slider

at the top of the envelope window have moved left to

right, from beginning to end. Notice that the keyframe

at the end is highlighted in yellow to indicate that it is

the current keyframe.

Setting up the first keyframe

The way the envelope is currently designed, the value

of Dissolve will remain 100% for the entire effect.

What we want is for the value to start at 0%, so let’s

change the first keyframe.

Dissolve slider

To change the first keyframe:

1. Click-and-drag on the time slider and move it to

beginning in time 0%.

2. Drag the dissolve slider and you will see the yellow

block move to the bottom of the envelope window

(value 0%). Its value is “tied” to the current

envelope.

3. Release the mouse button.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 43

The first keyframe is adjusted: 1) Click here to create

keyframe; 2) Keyframe is created at 00:00:00:00.

Now our envelope will work correctly, causing the

object to dissolve over the entire length of the

transition. Try playing the preview to see the results.

Adding a keyframe

Let’s add one more keyframe to this envelope, so that

the object becomes transparent more quickly. We will

create this key in a different way.

To create the new keyframe:

1. Drag the dissolve slider until it is at the middle of

the timeline.

2. Now drag the Dissolve slider in the Shapes &

Dissolve panel over to 90%.

After creating the new keyframe

44 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

The new keyframe is created automatically when you

change the value of Dissolve. This shows how the

original value slider for Dissolve and the Envelope

Editor are tied together. This feature makes it

extremely easy to create keyframes for any value in

Hollywood FX.

Other envelope controls

Before concluding this tutorial, let’s play around with

some of the other envelope controls. First, let’s move

quickly between the keyframes in this envelope.

To move between keyframes:

1. Click on the Prev button in the Envelope

Editor. The current time slider (and preview) will

move to the keyframe at 0%.

2. Click on the Next button in the Envelope

Editor. The current time slider will move to the

keyframe at 50%.

3. Click on the Next button. The current time slider

will move to the keyframe at 100%.

4. Finally, click on the Prev button to return to the

50% keyframe.

Using the Prev and Next buttons can quickly get you to

the keyframe you need, especially when you have

keyframes close together and one of them is hard to

select by clicking on it with the mouse.

Deleting a keyframe

Now let’s say we don’t really like having the keyframe

at 50%, so we will get rid of it.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 45

To delete the current keyframe: Click on the Delete

button in the Envelope Editor.

The keyframe at 50% disappears, and the envelope

returns to a straight line between 0% and 100%.

Remember, envelopes can be created for almost any

value in Hollywood FX. If a control is highlighted in

green when you use it, that means you can control that

value with an envelope and create exciting results.

TUTORIAL 5: FLIGHT PATH EDITING

You can edit the paths of any 3D object to create

unique results. A set of tools on the Object Options

panel along with the Envelope Editor give you

complete flexibility to create new flight paths for

objects.

In this tutorial we will take the Ball Backup FX, and

create a new path so that the ball bounces up and down

on the screen. We use the term path to mean the

envelope for an object’s position, rotation, and scale.

To prepare for the tutorial and select the FX:

1. Create a new project in your host application.

2. Add two video clips and create a two second

transition between them.

3. Add Hollywood FX as a transition between the two

video clips.

4. Select the Ball Backup transition in the Basic

Shapes group.

5. Click on the Sphere object in the FX Tree panel.

46 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Let’s start by looking at the keyframes in the Ball

Backup FX. The picture above shows each keyframe in

the Ball Backup FX. For each keyframe you can see the

position, rotation and scale values, as well as a camera

preview and a perspective preview of the FX at that

time. You can follow along yourself by using the Next

and Prev buttons in the Envelope Editor.

Keyframe notes

At the first keyframe, the object is not morphed, and is

positioned at 0, 0, 0 on the X, Y, and Z axis. It is not

rotated at all (0, 0, 0), and is scaled at 100% of normal

size (1, 1, 1).

At the second keyframe, the object is moved down a

small amount along the Y axis (-0.123) and farther

away from the camera (-0.37 along the Z axis). The

sphere object is also scaled smaller (0.39, 0.39, 0.39) in

all directions.

The third keyframe continues the object’s movement

away from the camera (-1.36 on Z), and is smaller

again (0.25, 0.25, 0.25 for scale).

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 47

In the fourth keyframe, notice that the sphere is rotated

118 degrees around the X axis, and has moved

offscreen.

In the last keyframe, the object has been scaled so

small it is no longer visible, and is far offscreen.

Modifying the path

We are going to create a path where the sphere moves

up and away from the camera, then drops down and

bounces up and over background video. We will begin

by altering the current path. (As in Tutorial 4, we use

the term path to mean the envelope for an object’s

position, rotation, and scale.)

Before you start, switch to a Multiview:

• Make sure you have at least Split view mode

selected so you can see the Perspective view.

• If you cannot see above the top of the backdrop in

the Perspective view, click on the Zoom button

above the Monitor panel and move your mouse left

or right to see more or less.

Split view (L) and the Zoom button (R)

To alter the current path:

1. Click on the Next key button to go to the

keyframe at 40%.

2. Click on the Move button to the right of the

monitor and proceed to move the ball up high in the

48 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Monitor panel by sliding the mouse forward several

times until it is halfway off the top of the monitor.

This will create the illusion that the ball has been

thrown up and in the next keyframe it will come

down.

To change the next keyframe:

1. Click the Next button in the Envelope Editor, so

that you’re at keyframe 70%.

2. Click on the Scale tool button at the right of the

Monitor panel.

3. Click-and-drag in the Monitor window to

interactively scale the sphere object smaller. Drag

to the left until the object is about half its original

size (you can watch the scale values and stop

scaling when the scale values reach about 0.45).

4. Click on the Move tool, then click-and-drag in

the monitor to interactively move the sphere. Move

the sphere towards the bottom of the Monitor, also

move it slightly backwards.

5. Now click-and-drag the timeline slider back and

forth to view the path of the ball. In the perspective

view you will notice at the end that the ball passes

through the background. This is OK because from

the camera view you cannot see this.

To create the bottom of the bounce:

1. Move the current time slider to 40%.

Note: If the timeline is not in percentages, you can

switch from timecode/frames etc. to percent from

the Setup/Timecode menu.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 49

2. Click on the Move tool on the right side of the

Monitor.

3. Click-and-drag down in the preview until the object

is at the very bottom of the preview.

How things should look after everything is keyframed.

TUTORIAL 6:

CREATING NEW FX FROM EXISTING FX PRO

The easiest way to create new FX is by changing an

existing FX to meet your needs rather than starting

from scratch. In this example, we will take the Flyoff

FX and replace the flying window with a morphing

shape, plus we will use an image filter plugin to

dissolve the shape in an exciting way.

Prepare for the tutorial and select the FX:

1. Create a new project in your host application.

2. Add two video clips and create a two second

transition between them.

3. Add Hollywood FX as a transition between the two

video clips.

4. The FlyOff transition should already be selected.

50 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

5. For ease of training, switch to Percent by clicking

on the Setup menu, then Timecode, then click on

Percent.

Switching to Percent for training purposes

The first thing we want to do is replace this simple flat

window with a more interesting shape. We will choose

a Large Cylinder shape to replace the flat window.

To replace the Flat Window (SoftFB 1):

1. Select the object SoftFB 1 in the FX Tree.

2. Drag the Album Tree slider and move it down until

you see the Objects Albums, and select the Shapes

Album.

3. In the Album panel to the right, hold the shift key

down and drag the Large Cylinder icon over and

drop it on top of the SoftFB 1 object.

Replacing SoftFB 1: 1) SoftFB 1 selected in the FX

Tree; 2) the Shapes Album selected in the Album

Tree; Large Cylinder selected to drag and drop on

SoftFB 1.

The flat window has now been replaced with a large

cylinder. If you play the preview, the cylinder flies off;

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 51

however, it does not start flat. This is because we have

not morphed the cylinder from its flat shape to its fully

morphed cylinder shape. To do this, we will create an

envelope that will morph it from flat to cylinder during

the first 10% of the FX duration.

To create the initial keyframes:

1. Click-and-drag the Morph slider in the Object

Options panel so that it is high-lighted and its value

is 0 at 00:00:00:00.

2. Click Create a Key in the Envelope window to

create a new envelope for the Morph value.

3. Click in the Envelope window at 10% time, then

drag the new keyframe up to 100% in value and let

go of the mouse button.

To adjust the 100% time keyframe:

1. Click-and-drag on the keyframe at 100% time.

2. Drag it up to 100% value and let go of the mouse

button.

3. Click on the Linear button at the bottom of the

Envelope Editor.

Creating Morph Keys: 1) Set at 0% so the object is

flat 2) 100% morphed to Large Cylinder 3) Holding

at 100% morphed till end of effect.

We now have an envelope where the Morph starts at

0% and moves up to 100% during the first 10% of the

52 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

duration of the FX. Then it stays at 100 % morphed for

the remainder of the FX. If you play the preview you

will see the results.

Your new morphing cylinder effect.

Saving your custom FX

Next we will make some more changes to this FX, but

let’s save it as a new FX right now. If you are creating

a custom FX for a specific project, you don’t need to

save it. All of your customizations will be saved as part

of the host application’s project file. However, if you

want to use the customized FX again and again you

will want to save it to disk and add it to the FX Album.

To save your custom FX:

1. Make sure the current time slider in the Envelope

Editor panel is at a point in time that will be best

represent the FX as an icon, since Hollywood FX

takes a picture at that moment in time and makes an

icon of it.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 53

2. First in the Album Tree, either select one of the

existing Albums or create a new Album.

3. Now, pull down the Menu to Save As (notice that

the folder you selected is auto inserted into the

Save in: field).

4. Type a new name in the file requestor and click

OK.

After a few moments, the FX Album will appear

with your new FX Album and your new FX icon

visible.

Your new morphing cylinder FX saved in a new

album.

Adding a filter plugin

Now, let’s make our cylinder do a cool dissolve over

time using the Gradient Wipe filter. Hollywood FX

includes a number of plugins for filtering media video

and for warping 3D objects.

The Gradient Wipe plugin uses a grayscale gradient

image to dissolve a Media item using the “shape” of

the gradient as the shape of the dissolve.

To add the Gradient Wipe plugin:

1. Scroll down to the Filters and click on the Plugins

54 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

2. Click on the Gradient icon and drag it to the FX

Tree and drop it on Host Video 1 of the Large

Cylinder object

Adding Plugins: 1) Gradient Filter attached to

Video; 2) Plugins Album selected; 3) Gradient

Wipe plugin selected.

The new plugin will be added directly below (and

indented) the Host Video 1 Media item, and the

item Properties panel will change to show the

Gradient Wipe options.

The Gradient Wipe options

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 55

We will now select a gradient image and set some

options.

To set the options for Gradient Wipe:

1. Click on the Select Gradient… button. A file

requester will appear.

2. Change the current folder to the Hollywood

FX\Images\Gradients folder (this should be the

default).

3. Double-click on the Clouds1.tga file.

4. Make sure Wipe % From Transition is checked.

5. Change the Softness slider to 80.

6. Change the Border Size slider to 30.

7. Click on the Border Color button and select a

yellow color from the color requester.

8. Try playing the preview. Now the cylinder looks as

though it’s being eaten away by acid as it flies off

screen. Rather than tie the transition amount to the

FX duration, you could have keyframed your own

transition amount to have the object partially

dissolve then reappear, and you could envelope

softness, border size, and color to create a more

dynamic and interesting dissolve.

56 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Same cylinder, now with gradient wipe

To conclude this tutorial, save your modified FX one

more time.

To resave:

• Select Save from the File Menu. The current folder

should default to the last folder you saved an FX in.

The name will also default to the original FX name.

When you are finished, try rendering this FX in your

Host application to see the final results.

As you can see, by modifying existing FX and using

plugins you can create dramatic and exciting new FX.

TUTORIAL 7: WARP PLUGINS PRO

Hollywood FX includes a number of 3D plugins called

Warps. These Warps mathematically change the shape

of a 3D object and can be keyframed over time. This

tutorial will demonstrate the use of one of the most

common Warp plugins called Peel. Unlike more

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 57

limited effect software, Hollywood FX allows you to

attach a Peel to any object (not just a flat plane) and

allows you to attach multiple peels to the same object.

Prepare for the tutorial and select the FX:

1. Create a new project in your host.

2. Add two video clips and create a two second

transitions between them.

3. Add Hollywood FX as a transition between the two

video clips.

4. Select the Specialty Effects album from the Album

Tree

5. Select the PRO Warp Template FX for the

Specialty Effects album.

Note: The Warp Template FX contains a high-

polygon object, ready for use with Warp Plugins,

and has no motion.

To attach the Peel Plugin:

1. Click on the High Mesh object in the FX Tree.

2. Click on the Warps and then Plugins icon in the

Album Tree.

3. Drag the Peel plugin from the Album and drop it on

the High Mesh 1 object. The dialog will appear.

You should immediately see that the object has peeled.

By default, the Peel time is keyed to the total transition

time, and the direction of the Peel is tied to the Flight

Direction spinner (under Effect Options). This makes it

simple to quickly add a Peel to an effect. Most plugins

work this same way, providing default options that

make it easy to quickly get the results you want.

58 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Adding Warps: 1) Peel attached to object; 2) Warps

Album selected; 3) Gradient Wipe plugin selected.

Peel Options

Changing Peel options

Let’s try changing some options to see what they do.

To modify Percent of peel completed and Angle of

Peel:

1. Clear the Peel % From Transition checkbox (the

Peel % slider will appear).

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 59

2. Clear the Direction From Transition checkbox

(the Angle of Peel spinner will appear).

3. Change the Angle of Peel spinner to -45 and the

Peel % slider to 50.

Angle of Peel showing (L) -45 and (R)180. (Note: The

lighting was adjusted on each and Full Shadows was

turned on so that the object would cast a shadow on

itself.)

The Peel % controls how far the peel has progressed.

This can simply be tied to the total transition time, or

can be keyframed individually to create interesting

effects, like partial peels. Now let’s play with the Peel

Radius.

To modify the radius of the Peel:

• Move the Radius slider back and forth to see the

result. When finished, leave the Radius at

approximately .10.

Radius of Peel of .10 (L) and 1(R)

60 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Finally, there is a checkbox that controls whether to

perform a roll (which is the default) or to actually peel

without rolling.

To Peel instead of Roll:

• Click on the Peel instead of roll checkbox.

Roll (L) and Peel (R)

Keyframing the angle of peel

Now let’s quickly create an interesting keyframed

effect where the peel spins around the object as it peels.

To start keyframing the Angle of Peel:

1. Click on the Peel instead of roll checkbox.

2. Check the Peel % From Transition checkbox.

3. Move the Angle of Peel spinner to 0.

4. Move the current time slider in the envelope

window to 0%.

5. Click on the Create button in the Envelope

Window to create a keyframe at time 0% with the

Angle of Peel currently at 0.

You have now created the first keyframe, with the

angle starting at 0 degrees.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 61

To complete the keyframing:

1. Move the current time slider in the Envelope

Window to 100%.

2. Move the Angle of Peel spinner to 180 degrees.

You have now created the second keyframe, and if

you play the preview you will see the object peel as

it flies off, and the peel rotates around the object.

Combining plugins

Remember that plugins in Hollywood FX can be

combined. You could attach a Ripple at the same time

the object is peeling, or even attach a second peel to the

same object.

Two Peels attached to the same object: 1) showing the

result; 2) showing two plugins applied in the FX Tree.

TUTORIAL 8: 3D TEXT GENERATION PRO

Hollywood FX includes an easy-to-use 3D text

generator. This feature is best used within the Filter

format of Hollywood FX. It allows you to create text

that is extruded in 3D with bevels. You can assign

different colors to the sides, face and bevel edges of the

62 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

text. You can also generate the text as a single block or

with each letter being it’s own separate object. This

tutorial will demonstrate the use of 3D text in its most

common uses. Unlike more limited effects software,

Hollywood FX allows you to attach a warp plug-in (see

“Tutorial 7” on page 56) to 3D text, so you could even

explode your text or have it surface-wipe away.

Prepare for the tutorial:

1. Create a new project in your host application and

put on clip in the timeline so that it can have a filter

attached to it and make sure it is set for Alpha

Channel transparency.

2. Add Hollywood FX as a filter and bring up the

Hollywood FX dialog for the filter.

3. Within Hollywood FX select New from the File

menu.

To applying the 3D Text plugin:

1. From the Album Tree, scroll down to the 3D Text

Plugin.

2. Drag the 3D Text Plugin over to the FX Tree and

let go.

The 3D Text Options will show above in the

Properties panel.

Chapter 7: Advanced tutorials 63

1) FX Tree with Text Added; 2) Album Tree with

3D Text plugin album selected; 3) 3D Text icon in

Album selected.

To set 3D Text options:

1. Now type any word in the Text field of the 3D Text

options.

Font field and 3D Text field

2. Select the yellow Font folder to choose another font

style.

Font Style dialog

3. Now change the colors of the text by selecting the

four color sides.

64 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

3D Text color buttons for each side of the text

Resulting 3D Text

4. Next we want to apply a preset flight path and

watch our word fly off the monitor. Move down the

Album Tree to the Presets Album.

5. Drag and drop the Spin Off icon over to the 3D

Text icon in the FX Tree

Adding Flight Path: 1) Dropping the preset flight

onto the 3D text object; 2) Album of flight presets;

3) Spin Off flight path selected.

You can change the word any time by selecting the 3D

Text plugin attached to the 3D Text object. You can

also apply plugins like Explode and make your 3D text

blow apart. Experiment and have fun with this valuable

tool of Hollywood FX.

Chapter 8: The Hollywood FX window 65

Chapter 8:

The Hollywood FX window

The Hollywood FX window gives you quick and easy

access to all of your 3D transitions, and lets you

quickly change rendering options and edit flight paths

and other attributes of FX. The window is made up of a

number of panels. These panels group together the

different features of Hollywood FX so that you can

quickly and easily select effects and make changes.

1) Menus provide extra functionality; 2) Properties

panel - select items to be changed; 3) Monitor panel –

instant preview; 4) FX Tree panel – customize FX

motion, media, surfaces, etc; 5) Album Folder tree –

access groups of album elements; 6) Album item panel

– select individual FX; 7) Click to show/hide Album (to

view Envelope Editor).

66 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Hiding the Album (by clicking on the button at in

the illustration above) reveals the Envelope Editor.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 67

Chapter 9:

Menus and panels

This chapter describes core areas of the Hollywood FX

user interface: the menus, the FX Tree panel, and the

Monitor panel.

Menus

The menus allow for extended functionality. You can

perform any of the following:

File – New PRO

This command will clear (not delete) any FX selected

and start a new FX from scratch.

File – Save to Album Preset PRO

Use this command to save the FX you are editing to the

last preset you created in the Album. To create a new

preset in the album simply drag the FX from the Tree

panel into the Album.

The icon created for the FX will match exactly what is

currently scene in the preview, so set the preview slider

appropriately to create a useful icon.

File – Export HFZ PRO

This command will allow you to package up your

custom effects for easy sharing with other users. They

are saved to a folder in:

My Documents/Pinnacle Hollywood FX

68 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

File – Close

This command will close the Hollywood FX dialog.

You need to save any options selected before choosing

this option if you want to permanently keep what you

have worked on.

Item – Undo/Redo PRO

As you make changes, the Undo menu will become

available, letting you undo the last action performed.

You can select Undo again and again to undo previous

actions. The Undo menu will change to show a

description of what action will be undone by selecting

the menu item.

If you mistakenly Undo an action, you can redo it by

selecting the Redo menu item. Each time you select

Undo, the action that was undone is added to the Redo

list, letting you move back and forth through all of the

changes you have made since displaying the

Hollywood FX editor.

Item – Rename PRO

Select this to rename the current item in the Tree panel.

When you select this, the item will be highlighted and

you can type a new name for the item.

Item – Clone PRO

Select Clone to create a copy of an Object, Light or

Plugin in the Tree panel.

Item – Delete PRO

This will delete the selected item from the FX. Only

objects, plugins, and lights can be deleted.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 69

Item – Move Up/Down PRO

Select these menu items to quickly change the

rendering order of objects (you can also drag-and-drop

items within the Tree panel to re-order them). The

feature is particularly useful for effects you design that

have a keyhole or transparency need.

The unique nature of this feature would be to create

some 3D text and set the surface opacity on the face of

the text to 0.001. Then have that text sorted above

Source 1 video in the objects list. This will cause the

face of the text as it passes by the screen to key out and

show the background source 2. Take a look at the

“Wow” effect example in the ‘Words and Icons’ group.

Wow Effect: 1) Showing keying style wipe resulting

from sorting object layers; 2) Moving the object down

will turn it off.

Item – Add Null Object PRO

Selecting this item creates a new Null Object in the

scene. Null objects are not rendered, but are used to

create motion hierarchies and as reference positions for

certain plugins.

Item – Add Light PRO

This allows you to add a spot, point or fill light to

enhance a composite.

70 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

The Keyframe menu

The commands on this menu include Previous, Next,

New, Copy, Paste, Delete and Key Type. Please see

Chapter 15: The Envelope Editor, (page 107) for

information on these commands.

Album – Import 3D

When you select this item, a file requester will appear

allowing you to select 3D objects to import into the

Album. You can import Hollywood FX objects (.hfo)

and Lightwave 5.x format objects (.lwo). When

importing objects that have morph targets, you should

name the targets with sequential numbers to indicate

that they are morph targets (for example if you selected

Airplane.lwo, Airplane1.lwo, Airplane2.lwo, then

Hollywood FX will import Airplane.lwo as the master

object, with Airplane1.lwo and Airplane2.lwo as the

morph targets.

Album – Import Media

When you select this item, a file requester will appear,

allowing you to import media files into the Album,

which you can then drag-and-drop into FX. You can

select multiple files to import from the file requester.

Hollywood FX can import AVI files, Quicktime files,

and TGA, BMP, and PNG images.

Album – Display Album

This command will show or hide the Album so that you

can view the Envelope Editor.

Album – Separate Album Window

This command will separate the FX Album into its own

floating dialog so if you have a dual monitor or large

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 71

monitor you can keep your Envelope Editor open and

also display all of your FX Albums.

Album – Delete

This command will delete the current item from the

FX. Only media and object items can be deleted, and

media items can only be deleted from an FX if they are

not used by any surfaces. You must first reassign the

media for any surfaces or delete any objects that use

that media before deleting the media itself.

Preview – Play Once, Play Loop, Step Forward &

Back, Goto Start, Goto End

This menu provides the same functions as the Moni-

tor’s playback control buttons.

Preview – Layout - Single, Split, Tri & Quad

Views

This menu provides the same functions as the Moni-

tor’s view control buttons.

Preview – Video Sources – Proxy, Still & Actual

This menu provides the same functions as the Moni-

tor’s Video Source control buttons.

• Proxy (fast): Instead of video from the host

timeline, simple proxy images with a source number

are used. This generally provides the fastest preview.

• Still (normal): This is the default selection. A single

frame for each video source is used during the entire

preview. This will generally give you a good idea of

how the final FX will look while rendering very

quickly.

72 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

• Actual (slowest): The correct video is used for each

frame of the transition. This is the most accurate and

also the slowest preview option, since for each frame

of the preview; Hollywood FX must get the correct

video frame from the host application.

Render Engine – Accelerated OpenGL vs.

Software

Almost any good 3D accelerator will dramatically

improve the performance in the Preview Monitor

window. However, we highly recommend a graphics

card with at least 128 megabytes of memory on board.

Select Accelerated OpenGL from the Preview-Render

Engine menu to speed up your preview display.

If you encounter problems with the preview after

enabling on-screen rendering, you should immediately

return to Preview menu Render Engine and select the

Software engine.

Notice: It is recommended that you to test these

rendering changes using the Easy FX editor, which you

can launch from the Start Menu.

Setup – Time Code

This menu will allow you to select the timecode

settings for the format you are working with

(e.g. NTSC vs PAL). It also is where you can select the

percent option, which although not required can make

working with Envelopes easier.

• Percent: When selected, the timecode is simply a

percent of the total time.

• SMPTE 24 fps: This option is used primarily for

film editing at 24 frames per second. Time is shown

in the format HH:MM:SS:ff.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 73

• SMPTE 25 fps: This option is used primarily on

PAL editing systems for editing video at 25 frames

per second. Time is shown in the format

HH:MM:SS:ff.

• SMPTE 30 fps drop-frame (NTSC 29.97): This is

used for standard NTSC editing, where specific

frame numbers are dropped to maintain the NTSC

29.97 frame frame. Time is shown in the format

HH;MM;SS;ff.

• SMPTE 30 fps non drop-frame: This option is

used when you want to edit at 30 frames per second

without worrying about the NTSC 29.97 fps timing.

Time is shown in the format HH:MM:SS:ff.

• Number of Samples: This timecode simply displays

sequential frame numbers. The format is #####.

• Feet+Frames 16 mm: This timecode is used for

editing 16mm film. The format is FF + ff where FF

is feet and ff is frames.

• Feet+Frames 35mm: This timecode is used for

editing 35mm film. The format is FF + ff where FF

is feet and ff is frames.

Help – Help Topics

This menu will allow you to display the Help Topics

dialog to search the resource database.

If you haven’t yet registered and entered your

permanent keycode, you can select this to display the

registration information dialog, and register online

instantly, or enter a keycode you received after

registering from another system. If you have already

74 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

registered, click on this button to find out about

upgrade options.

Technical Support

This will allow you to go directly to Pinnacle’s Tech

support forums if you have an Internet connection.

About

The About dialog displays the version number, serial

number, and machine ID of your Hollywood FX. You

can also quickly connect to Pinnacle Online through

the Internet from the About dialog.

The FX Tree panel

The FX Tree panel is the central control for the

Hollywood FX window. It lists all of the options,

objects, surfaces, and media for the current effect.

When you click on one of these items, the Properties

Panel above changes to show the options for the

selected item.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 75

The FX Tree panel

FX Tree Advanced Features PRO

The FX Tree panel has some advanced features in

Hollywood FX PRO: the main camera controls and the

lighting controls.

Camera controls

The camera controls allow you to actually rotate the

camera 360 degrees around, making it possible to

create a new look for any effect.

Another use of the camera controls would be to fly the

camera into an object, rather than flying the object to

the camera. For instance, you might have several

objects rotating in the middle of the screen, but want to

give the illusion of all of them moving in one direction.

76 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Instead of having to animate the multiple objects, you

can simply animate the camera.

Camera controls and Monitor set to quadview to see

adjustments. Notice the camera in the lower left view.

Lighting controls

Adding another light and using its controls can be done

either from the Item Menu or from within the Album

Tree.

To add a light:

1. Select any FX with a high polygon level, such as

12-Organic Shapes – BAS-Sliding In.

2. Move the slider in the Album Tree down to the

Lights Album.

The Lights Album selected.

3. Click on the Spot light.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 77

4. Drag the Bright Soft light from the Light Album

and drop it into the FX Tree under the Main

Camera.

The Lights Album with Bright Spot selected (L);

Bright Spot added to the FX Tree (R).

5. View the results in the Monitor (shown here in split

view):

The result of an added spotlight

You can make various adjustments to the spot light in

the Properties panel. Control the direction, the size and

softness of the spot light ring, and the brightness. Play

with these options to master the art of adding lights.

78 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

The spotlight control panel

The Monitor panel and associated controls

The Monitor panel provides a preview of your chosen

FX and options. The preview is generated on the fly as

you make changes. A number of controls are provided

to adjust the preview itself.

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 79

The Monitor panel: 1) Choose from single view to quad

view to see your FX from all angles for editing;

2) Click these to select proxy images, still image or

moving sequences of your video; 3) Use this slider to

move back and forth through the frames of the preview;

4) Click this button to play the entire preview one time;

5) Click this button to start and stop looping playback

of the preview; 6) Use Skip and Step buttons to jump to

start or end of the preview and single frame step.

Looping Playback button

The looping playback button starts and stops

looping playback of the preview. When the

button is pressed in, the preview will playback

continuously. You can continue to change options or

select a different transition while the preview is

playing.

80 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Reverse Effect button

The Reverse Effect button is a real time saver.

It allows you to reverse all flight directions

with one click. So now your video window will fly on,

instead of flying off..

Single Playback button

Click the single playback button to play the

entire transition one time. This is useful when

you’ve made some changes and want to see the entire

effect quickly.

Step buttons

Step forward one frame or step backward

one frame.

Skip buttons

Jump to the beginning frame of the

effect or to the last frame in the effect.

The Timeline slider

The preview slider lets you manually move

to any frame of the preview. Simply move

the slider back and forth to see different frames of the

preview. If the preview is playing (either the looping

playback is selected, or the single playback was just

pressed), you will not be able to use the preview slider.

Layout buttons

Normally, the preview shows the

view from the camera in the FX. The

camera view is what is used for rendering the actual

Chapter 9: Menus and panels 81

FX. Sometimes, particularly when editing an object’s

flight path, you will want to see the other views of the

FX from at different angles. These buttons allow you to

see multiple views, such as side, top and perspective.

View sources

These buttons allow you to switch

between Proxy, Still and Actual. Actual

shows and update of the video from the timeline, but

will slow down performance.

Layout control buttons

These buttons allow you to change

the way the multiple views display.

You can change a side view and rotate it to a

perspective angle, then zoom out or move it off center

to gain a better editing view.

The Timecode counter

The timecode counter shows the

current position of the FX in

conjunction with its Host’s timeline.

Select button

Use the Select button to click in the various

areas you want to edit.

Flight Rotation button

The Flight Rotation button is a quick way to

rotate the flight path of the transition object.

82 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Light Direction button

The Light Direction button is a quick way to

change the FX scene is lighted. You can easily

create a creepy FX by simply changing the light

direction to shine upward from below.

Green light

This means that the FX will preview in Real-

Time and Final Render will be considerably fast.

Red light

This means that the FX is more complex than the

hardware can handle. It will have to render its

Preview and Final Render time will be slower.

Chapter 10: The Album 83

Chapter 10:

The Album

The Album is where you can browse through the FX

available in Hollywood FX.

The FX Album: 1) Select from the different groups of

FX; 2) Double-click on an icon to select that FX. The

current selected FX is highlighted in purple.

If you have HFX Basic or Plus, you will see some of

the icons with a Plus or PRO watermark to indicate

that you need to upgrade to a particular level to use that

effect.

FX are organized into groups that make it easy to find

the FX you want quickly and easily.

To change to a different group: Click on the Folders

in the Album Folder Tree to select from the different

FX icons. The icons for each FX in an album will help

you find the effect you want.

To select an FX: Double-click on the icon for the FX

you wish to select. The selected effect will be

highlighted yellow, and the preview will be updated.

84 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Renaming

Click on your FX Album name once, then again to

rename the group, object name, media name, surface

names etc.

Renaming mode

Organizing FX

You can create new FX by dragging the FX item from

the Tree panel into an FX folder in the Album. You can

reorganize existing FX into different albums by simply

dragging the FX icons themselves between albums.

Chapter 11: FX properties 85

Chapter 11:

FX properties

Once you have selected an FX from the FX Album,

you can change rendering options for that FX.

To display the Properties panel: Click on the name of

the FX in the FX Tree panel.

The FX Tree

Hollywood FX makes it easy to quickly customize an

FX to your needs with a series of simple controls.

The Basic Options panel

86 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Quick Flight Controls

Flight Path

For most transitions, you can quickly change the

direction in which the video flies off (or on) using the

Flight Path dial. Simply click and drag in the dial to

change the flight direction and create a very different

result.

Rotate Object

When you use the Flight Path dial, you are changing

the direction the object flies, but the object itself stays

oriented in its original direction. When you check the

Rotate Object checkbox, the object will rotate to

follow the Flight Direction, often giving a more

interesting result.

Quick Lighting Controls

Lighting

Use this checkbox to turn on or off lighting in the FX.

Turning off lighting will eliminate the realistic shading,

but will speed up rendering.

Light Direction

Use the dial to change the direction of the light in the

scene. You can create interesting results by having

light come from the bottom of the screen instead of the

top. Light Direction affects the shading, shine, and

shadows of 3D objects in an FX.

Chapter 11: FX properties 87

Shadows

Use this checkbox to turn on or off shadows in the FX.

Turning off shadows will speed up rendering. Having

shadows on can add a sense of 3D realism to an FX.

Shadows can be controlled in more detail using

Shadow Type, Opacity, Distance and Softness.

Shadow Type

These radio buttons control the type of shadow that is

generated.

• Cast: Cast shadows treat the backdrop image like a

piece of paper that all other objects cast shadows

onto. The closer an object is to the backdrop, the

closer its shadow is to the object.

• Drop: When drop shadows are selected, shadows are

always drawn at a specified distance from an object.

• Full: Turn on full scene shadowing. With this option

objects shadow themselves and each other for the

most realistic look.

Opacity

This slider controls the darkness of the shadows. The

higher the value, the darker and more opaque the

shadows are. The lower the value, the more transparent

the shadows are. Generally a value from 30% to 50%

produces a very realistic shadow.

Distance

This slider controls the distance of shadows from their

objects. The greater the distance, the farther the shadow

88 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

is drawn from the object. This slider is particularly

useful for drop shadows. Remember, the direction of

the shadow is controlled by the Light Direction dial.

Softness

Hollywood FX lets you create soft-edged shadows.

Simply increase the softness value to create a softer

shadow. Note however, that the higher the softness

value, the greater the rendering time.

Shine

Many FX have a glossy shine on the 3D objects that fly

on or off screen. This checkbox controls shine. Clear

this checkbox to turn off the glossy shine.

You can also control the brightness of the shine and the

size of the shine spot using the sliders.

Motion Blur

This checkbox will turn on realistic motion blur for an

FX. Motion blur mimics the blur that is seen when

objects move quickly across a camera’s view. When

motion blur is turned on, you can control the specific

look of the blur using the Length and Count. Note:

Motion blur can greatly increase rendering time.

Distance

This determines how far the blur “smears”. This value

is the percent of the total distance from one frame to

another in the FX. The higher the value, the longer the

smear. Hollywood FX always renders an accurate

Chapter 11: FX properties 89

intraframe blur, unlike other products which simply

create a fixed distance blur.

Count

This determines how many copies of the object are

drawn to create the blur. The higher the number the

smoother the blur appears. Increasing this number also

greatly increases rendering time.

Trails

Checking this will turn on trails. Any moving objects

will leave trails behind them as they move.

Trail Count

Determines the number of trails that are drawn behind

each object when trails are turned on.

Render

You can change the 3D rendering of the FX:

• Smooth is the normal setting. Curved surfaces will

have a realistic smooth appearance.

• Flat will render all surfaces as flat polygons.

Surfaces that are normally smooth will have a

faceted appearance.

• Wire will render all 3D objects as wireframes rather

than solid surfaces.

90 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Antialiasing

Some FX will exhibit aliasing (blocky stair stepping

along the edge of a 3D object). Turn on antialiasing to

reduce aliasing.

• Off: No antialiasing is used. Fastest option.

• Web/CD: Antialiasing is slower, but provides good

results for all FX.

• Video: Highest level of antialiasing, slowest

rendering.

• Hardware: Good results and very fast if you have a

graphics display card that supports hardware based

anti-aliasing.

Best Quality

Turning on this feature will cause the rendering engine

to render at the highest possible quality.

Pixel Blending

Turning on this feature will cause the rendering engine

to perform advanced pixel blending, smoothing out

images in the FX. This feature is especially useful

when you “zoom” in on a piece of video. Pixel

Blending will eliminate the normal blockiness of the

zoom.

Chapter 12: Media properties 91

Chapter 12:

Media properties

When you select a Media item in the FX Tree panel,

the Media Options will be displayed in the Item panel.

The Media Options panel gives you the ability to map

video and image files onto the 3D objects in an FX.

Usually, Source 1 and 2 come from the host applica-

tion’s timeline and normally you will not remap those.

The Media items are most often used to map additional

video sources for MultiWindow FX, when the host

application does not provide that video.

Media Selection

Use Transition Source

Click on these buttons to select one of the video

sources from the host application.

Select File

This button displays a file requester, letting you select

a single image, a sequence of images, or a video file.

To select a sequence of images, simply select the first

image in the sequence (each file of the sequence must

92 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

be numbered sequentially). Hollywood FX currently

supports Targa, Bitmap, and PNG images, as well as

Video for Windows and Quicktime video files. Note

that you can also select media by dragging-and-

dropping media from the Album onto the Media item in

the FX tree.

The Media Options panel: 1) Use the Select buttons to

replace any Media with video from the host

application, or from an image or video file;

2) Different video/image files can have different

field/frame orders; 3) Use cropping to remove video

blanking or create interesting results; 4) Use the slider

and In and Out buttons to trim a video source;

5) Create interesting playback effects with these

controls.

Chapter 12: Media properties 93

Interpret

When you select a video file, you should also set the

Interpretation for that video file so that fields and

frames are correctly rendered.

• Frames - If the video sequence consists of video

frames that are not interlaced fields, then you should

select this option.

• Separate Fields – If the video is stored as separate

fields, select this option (most video is stored

interlaced however).

• Interlaced – Upper First: This option is used when

the video source consists of interlaced frames

(consisting of two fields), where the upper field is

rendered first in time.

• Interlaced – Lower First: This option is used when

the video source consists of interlaced frames

(consisting of two fields), where the lower field is

rendered first in time.

• Single Image: Use this option when you are

mapping an individual image, or you only want to

use a single image from a sequence of images or

video file.

For most video, one of the Interlaced interpretations

will be used. Generally this should be the same field

order as you set in your host application. Hollywood

FX will remember the last Interpret setting for each

type of media.

94 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Trimming

Click the In button to set the in-point of the video

source. The current time shown below the slider will be

used as the first frame in the FX.

Out

Click the Out button to set the out-point of the video

source. The current time shown below the slider will be

used as the last frame in the FX.

Cropping controls

These controls adjust the number of pixels that are

cropped on each side of the video source. This is most

often used to remove blanking information from

captured video, but may also be used to create some

unique results where you only display a small portion

of a video source.

Chapter 13: Object properties 95

Chapter 13:

Object properties

When an object is selected in the FX Tree panel, the

Object Properties panel is displayed. The Object

Properties panel gives you controls to keyframe a new

path for an object or to adjust its morphing or dissolve

level during an FX. Using the Object Properties and the

Envelope Editor, you can completely customize any

FX to create an entirely new and unique result.

There are two types of objects in Hollywood FX:

• A null object is a special object that is invisible and

is used only to position and control other objects (see

“Object hierarchies” below). A null object is

represented in the preview window by a white cross,

and in the FX Tree panel by a box.

• A normal object is one that has rendered polygons

and is usually visible in the FX. This is represented

by a box in the FX Tree panel.

Object hierarchies

Hollywood FX is a true 3D animation system and uses

object hierarchies to create complex multi-object

movements. An object hierarchy is when one object is

the child of another object. When the parent object

moves, the child object moves with it. In the FX Tree

panel you will often see an object’s icon indented

directly below another object. This indicates that the

indented object is the child of the object above it. You

can change the hierarchy by changing the parent object

for any object.

96 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Object Properties: Interactively adjust object’s

position (1), rotation (2) and scale (4) in the Monitor

window; 3) These fields show the pitch and yaw of the

object’s rotation; 5) Adjust an object’s shape and

dissolve over time using these sliders along with the

Envelope Editor; 6) Adjust the pivot point of an object;

7) These Flags define whether an object casts/receives

shadows and will be a transition object.

Chapter 13: Object properties 97

An object hierarchy in the Scroll2 FX. The Scroll

Parent Null is an invisible null object that is used to

control the movement of all of the pieces of the wooden

scroll (Stick, Stick, and Scroll).

Positioning controls

The positioning controls are used to quickly keyframe

new flight paths for an object in the FX. You can

simply move the preview slider to a particular time in

the FX, then use these controls to move an object, and

you will have created a new path. For more advanced

keyframing of paths, you will use these controls

together with the Envelope Editor.

The edit fields

For each tool, there are also text fields where you can

enter a specific value for each axis rather than using the

interactive tools in the Monitor panel. These fields will

change to show the current values when you are using

the interactive tools.

Properties positioning tools

These tool buttons let you select a tool to use in the

Monitor panel. When one of these tools is selected, you

can click-and-drag in the Monitor panel to

interactively edit the position, rotation, size, and pivot

point of the selected object. These tools are also

affected by the Axis buttons described below.

98 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Move

When the move tool is selected, clicking-and-

dragging with the left mouse button in the

Monitor panel will let you move the object along the X

axis by moving left and right, and along the Y axis by

moving up and down. Using the right mouse button,

you can move the mouse back and forth along the Z

axis by moving the mouse up and down.

Rotate

When the rotate tool is selected, clicking-and-

dragging with the left mouse button in the

Monitor panel will let you rotate the object around the

Y axis by moving left and right and around the X axis

by moving the mouse up and down. Clicking-and-

dragging with the right mouse button will rotate the

object around the Z axis.

Scale

When the scale tool is selected, clicking-and-

dragging within the Monitor panel will resize

the object along all axis simultaneously. If you want to

Chapter 13: Object properties 99

scale the object along a single axis, hold the Shift key

while clicking-and-dragging. The left button controls

scaling along the X and Y axis, while the right mouse

button scales the object along the Z axis.

Pivot

The pivot tool lets you adjust the pivot point of an

object. The pivot point indicates the point in space that

an object rotates around. Moving the pivot point can

create entirely new results when rotating an object. The

pivot point is indicated by a light blue X shape for the

selected object. Use the left mouse button to move the

pivot point along the X and Y axis. Use the right mouse

button to move the pivot point along the Z axis.

Shape and dissolve

Morph Shape

Many of the 3D objects in Hollywood FX can change

shape from the original flat screen video to a unique 3D

shape. This slider is used to control that shape change.

At 0% the object is not morphed at all (and usually

will be flat). At 100% the object is fully morphed into

its final shape. Anywhere in between, the object will be

partially morphed between the original flat shape and

the final shape. Use this slider along with the Envelope

Editor to create interesting new shape changes. For

example, with the Small Cylinder FX, you could have

the object morph back and forth between flat and

cylinder to create a flapping FX.

100 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Dissolve

This slider lets you adjust the transparency of an object.

At 0% the object is completely opaque. At 100% the

object will be invisible. Use this slider with the

Envelope Editor to create interesting results like

dissolves or fade-ins.

Object flags

These flags control special capabilities of each object.

Cast Shadows

If checked, this object will cast a shadow. If cleared,

the object will not cast a shadow.

Receive shadows

This flag is intended for full-scene shadowing which is

not currently implemented.

Transition Object

If checked, the current object is considered to be a

transition object. Only transition objects change their

flight path when the Flight Direction or Rotate

Object (Effect Options) is changed. When you create

your own FX, you will normally make sure that any

objects that fly on or off the screen are set to

Transition Object, while the background object and

any other objects that remain still have their Transition

Object flag cleared.

Chapter 14: Surface options 101

Chapter 14:

Surface options

Surfaces describe the color and texture properties of

polygons in an object. A surface can describe a simple

color or can indicate that a Media item is to be mapped

on the object. An object may have multiple surfaces

(for example the stopwatch object in the Clockers FX

has a surface for the gold colored watch and a separate

surface for the area that is mapped with video.

Surface options: 1) Control the basic color properties

of the surface here; 2) Select a media item to map to

this surface.

102 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Basic color attributes

Double-sided

If checked, this surface is double-sided, and both the

front and back of the polygons in the object are visible.

If cleared, only the front side of each polygon is drawn.

This option is used both for textured and color-only

surfaces.

Smooth

If checked, the polygons of this surface are drawn with

a smooth appearance. When clear, the polygons are

drawn flat and have a faceted appearance. This option

is used both for textured and color-only surfaces.

Base Color

This RGBA value determines the base color of the

surface. It is only used if the Media item is set to

<none> (a color-only surface). You can enter

individual values for the Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha

channels individually in the edit fields (the values must

be between 0 and 1), or you can click on the Base

Color button to display a color requester and select a

specific color. Adjusting the Alpha channel below 1

will create a semi-transparent object.

Opacity

This slider determines how transparent a surface is.

The highest value of 1.000 is completely opaque, while

Chapter 14: Surface options 103

the lowest value of 0.000 is completely transparent.

This will only make the surface transparent and not the

entire object, unless the entire object is a single surface.

If your object has multiple surfaces and you want the

entire object to fade out, then use Dissolve in the

Object Options.

Shine Color

A surface can have a specular shine on it (a bright spot

that makes it look glossy). This value determines the

color of that specular shine. It is used along with the

Shine Spot value which determines the size of the

specular shine spot. Normally, for a glossy appearance,

this value should be set to 1, 1, 1, 1 (pure white), but

you can use any color to create interesting results. You

can enter individual vales for the Red, Green, Blue, and

Alpha channels individually in the edit fields (the

values must be between 0 and 1), or you can click on

the Base Color button to display a color requester and

select a specific color.

Shine Spot

This slider along with the Shine color determines how

glossy a surface looks. The higher the value, the tighter

the specular spot (and the glossier the surface looks).

With a smaller value the spot is spread out and the

surface looks less glossy. At 0, no Shine is drawn for

the surface.

104 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Luminosity

This RGBA value determines the luminous color of the

surface. It is only used if the Media item is set to

<none> (a color-only surface). You can enter

individual vales for the Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha

channels individually in the edit fields (the values must

be between 0 and 1), or you can click on the Base

Color button to display a color requester and select a

specific color. When a surface has a luminous color, it

looks like it is emitting that color of light. It will no

longer be shaded based on light direction. This can be

useful to create effects like neon tubes.

Surface Adjustment Properties PRO

These texture adjustment tools let you create interest-

ing effects by changing how media is mapped onto the

polygons of an object. Click on any of the tool buttons

to activate that tool, then click-and-drag in the Monitor

window to adjust the tool’s values. You can also man-

ually enter values for position, rotation or scale using

the sliders or entering values into the text fields.

Move

When this is selected you can move the mouse up and

down to adjust the Y position of the texture and move

the mouse left and right to adjust the X position of the

texture. You can create interesting results by moving a

texture across an object (keyframe the position over

time).

Chapter 14: Surface options 105

Rotate

Use the left mouse button to rotate on the X and Y

axes. Use the right mouse button to rotate around the Z

axis. Rotating a texture can create unique results.

Scale

When selected you can move the mouse up-and-down

to adjust the Y scale of the texture and move the mouse

right-and-left to adjust the X scale of the texture. Using

Scale you can shrink or grow the texture on the object.

Chapter 15: The Envelope Editor 107

Chapter 15:

The Envelope Editor

The Envelope Editor is used for advanced

keyframing of flight paths and individual

options in Hollywood FX. When you first use

Hollywood FX, the Envelope Editor is hidden to keep

things simple. When you are ready to begin using the

Envelope Editor, open it by clicking on the Show/Hide

Album tool in the middle-right of the Hollywood FX

window.

The Envelope Editor is used to create keyframes for

whatever control is currently active in the Hollywood

FX window. The current control’s name is highlighted

in green to indicate that it is the current control, and

that the Envelope Editor can be used to create

keyframes for that control.

There are two basic types of envelope: the Single-value

envelope and the Multiple value envelope.

The single-value envelope

When you are working with a single value in

Hollywood FX (like Morph percent), the envelope

editor will show that value over time and will let you

edit the envelope by clicking and dragging in the

envelope window.

When you click and drag in the Monitor panel, it will at

the same time automatically adjust the current control.

When you adjust the current control, that will affect the

envelope window.

108 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

1) Next, Previous, Copy, Paste, Create and Delete

keyframe buttons; 2) Percent or Timecode counter;

3) The ruler shows the Transition percent or duration if

you have the Setup/Timecode set to NTSC, PAL etc;

4) Use the current time slider to move to a new frame

in the FX. This works like the preview slider, but is

more accurate; 5) The mark of a created keyframe;

6) Any key can have values curve through it, go

straight, or jump from the previous key’s value.

Multiple-value envelope

When you are editing the flight path of the object using

the object tools, you are actually adjusting keyframes

for the position, rotation and scale simultaneously for a

keyframe. You edit the values for those keyframes

using the tools in the Properties panel.

Chapter 15: The Envelope Editor 109

The Envelope window

Click the Envelope button to access the

Envelope window, which displays the current

envelope and lets you quickly click and drag to create

new keyframes for an envelope.

The Current Time slider

At the top of the envelope window you will

find the current time slider. Like the preview

slider, it lets you move back and forth to different times

in the FX. Left-click and drag the slider back and forth

to move it. As you move it, the preview slider in the

Monitor window will move also. If you move the time

over a keyframe, that keyframe will be highlighted in

red to indicate that it is the current keyframe.

The Time ruler (timecode divisions)

At the top of the window is the Time Ruler. The Time

Ruler shows the total time of the FX. This is controlled

entirely by changing the duration of the FX in your

host application. The timecode used in this ruler can be

adjusted in the Settings menu.

The Transition ruler (percentage divisions)

All keyframe information in Hollywood FX is stored as

percent values of the total transition. This allows

Hollywood FX to handle true intraframe editing.

Normally the values in this ruler run from 0% to 100%

coinciding with the Time Ruler above it. However, this

can be affected by certain Effect Options settings.

110 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Key Type controls

When the current time is on a keyframe (the keyframe

block will be highlighted yellow), you can use the

following buttons to control the type of keyframe at

that time.

Spline Curve

When Spline Curve is selected, the envelope

will be a smooth curve through the keyframe.

Linear

The envelope will be a straight line to the

current keyframe.

Value Jump

When this is selected, the value will remain at

the previous keyframe’s value until the exact

moment of the current keyframe, then it will jump to

the new value. This is great when you want an object to

disappear at a specific point in time. You can set up an

envelope for the object’s Dissolve value where the first

keyframe is 0%, and the second keyframe is a Value

Jump keyframe to 100%. This will guarantee that the

object will disappear instantaneously rather than fading

out over time.

Keyframe controls

Copy…

This button lets you copy a range of keyframes

from one time to another.

Create

Clicking this button creates a keyframe at the

current time in the envelope window, using the

current value. Usually you will create new keyframes

Chapter 15: The Envelope Editor 111

by simply clicking in the envelope window, however,

this button lets you manually create a keyframe when

you already have the current time slider at the proper

position, and your current control is set to the value

you want for the keyframe you are creating.

Delete

This button will delete the current keyframe

from the envelope. You cannot delete the

keyframes at 0% and 100% in time.

Previous Key

This button will move the current time slider to

the previous keyframe in the envelope.

Next Key

This button will move the current time slider to

the next keyframe in the envelope.

Keyframing example

Here is an example of keyframing, to create a Dissolve

envelope where the object dissolves in and out, you

could start by creating the following simple envelope.

Choose any Flying Window FX and then click on the

object you want to dissolve, then drag the slider in the

envelope window to 10% time and drag the Dissolve

slider to 1% value.

A new dissolve envelope, created by dragging the

dissolve slider.

112 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

After creating the initial envelope, click on Copy then

move the slider to 30 for the Paste value. Click Paste.

This will copy the keys from 10% and paste it at 30%,

to create the following:

The envelope after copying the keys from 10% to 30%.

Now move the slider back to 0% and click on Copy

then move the slider to 20% for the Paste value. Click

Paste. This will copy the keys from 0% and paste it at

20%, to create the following:

The envelope keys ready to Copy & Paste.

Now do this several times to create a loop:

The final envelope after several alternating Copy and

Paste operations.

Chapter 15: The Envelope Editor 113

Saving and loading envelopes

Save…

This button displays a dialog that lets you save

the current envelope to disk under a name of

your choosing. Normally you should save all

envelopes in the Envelopes folder (the default) so that

you can find them again easily. This is useful when you

might want to reuse a complex envelope in a different

FX or for a different value. For example, you might

create a complex bouncing ball path that you could

save to disk and load later in an FX with a different

shaped object.

Load…

Click this button to replace the current

envelope with a previously saved envelope.

Only envelopes that have the same range of

values can replace an existing envelope. So you could

use an envelope you saved for an object’s Morph as an

envelope for an object’s Dissolve value since they both

have a range from 0 to 100. But you couldn’t use that

Morph envelope for Flight Direction, since Flight

Direction requires an envelope that uses values from 0

to 360 degrees.

Exiting Hollywood FX

Click OK to save your changes and exit the Hollywood

FX window. When you click OK you are returned to

114 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

your host application. Clicking the close button at the

top right of the window has the same effect as clicking

OK.

Cancel

If you wish to discard the changes you have made since

the Hollywood FX window was displayed, click

Cancel. This will discard your current changes and

return to the host application.

Chapter 16: Plugins 115

Chapter 16:

Plugins PRO

Hollywood FX is a remarkably expandable program.

You can add new FX, new objects to create FX, and

new plugins that expand Hollywood FX’s capabilities

in many ways.

A plugin is basically a special program that can be

“attached” to an item in an FX, modifying the item in

some way. There are two basic types of plugins

currently available for Hollywood FX.

Image Filters: These are the traditional plugins you

will find in non-linear editors and older effects

programs. These plugins are used to modify Media

items. They can be used to adjust colors, blur an image,

create keying effects for compositing and much more.

In Hollywood FX, Image Filters can be attached to any

Media item, or to the Effect Options item. When you

attach an Image Filter to the Effect Options item, it will

filter the output video rather than one of the media

items.

Warps: Warps are true 3D object plugins that are

unique to Hollywood FX. These Warp plugins modify

3D objects in some way, such as twisting the object,

exploding it, or doing a page-peel on it.

116 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

MANAGING PLUGINS

Plugins are added to items, modified and deleted from

the Album Plug-ins and FX Tree.

To attach a plugin to an item:

1. Click and drag the slider down to the bottom of the

Album Tree. There you will see the Warps, 3D

Text and Filter plugins. Click on one and the

Album will display folders or icons to the right

containing various plugin presets.

2. Drag and Drop the plugin that you wish to add to

the item. The plugin will be added, and the Plug-ins

options will appear in the Properties panel.

To change the options for a plugin:

1. Click on the plugin in the FX Tree. The options

will appear in the Properties panel.

2. Change options and see the results in the Monitor

panel.

To remove a plugin from an item

1. Click on the plugin in the FX Tree.

2. Select Delete from the Item menu or right click

menu and select Delete.

The following sections provide individual documen-

tation for each plugin included in Hollywood FX.

Chapter 16: Plugins 117

Filter - Blur

The Blur filter lets you blur incoming video using a

number of different options.

Blur options

Box, Gaussian and Directional blur

118 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Blur Type

Use this dropdown to select different types of blur.

The remaining options will change based on which blur

type you select.

• Box – This is a quick blur that provides good

results.

• Gaussian – A slower blur, produces finer results.

• Directional – Allows blurring in a specific

direction using the Direction spinner.

Blur Channel

You can select an individual color channel to blur. This

can create interesting color effects on the incoming

video.

Mix with original %

This slider lets you overlay the blur on the original

image. The higher the number, the more of the original

imaege you will see.

Percentage From Transition

When checked, this option automatically keyframes the

blur so that the object blurs more over time as the

transition progresses. If this option is checked, the blur

amount sliders will not be visible.

Box: Horizontal

Controls the amount of blur in the horizontal direction.

Box: Vertical

Controls the amount of blur in the vertical direction.

Directional: Direction From Transition

If checked, the blur direction will be based on the

Flight Rotation spinner in the FX options. If cleared,

the Direction spinner will appear.

Chapter 16: Plugins 119

Directional: Make directional blur one-sided

When checked the blur is calculated from the center in

one direction. When cleared, the blur is calculated in

both directions from the center.

Directional: Direction

This spinner controls the direction of a directional blur.

The image will blur in the same direction as the

spinner.

Directional: Blur percentage

This slider controls the amount of blur that is

calculated and is only visible if the Percentage From

Transition is cleared.

Gaussian: Blur percentage

This slider controls the amount of blur that is

calculated and is only visible if the Percentage From

Transition is cleared.

Filter - Chroma Key

The Chroma key filter is a simple keyer that allows you

to quickly key out green or blue backdrops from video

to allow keying of video that is mapped onto 3D

objects in Hollywood FX.

Chroma Key options

120 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Type

Select Blue or Green to key out blue or green

backdrops.

Threshold

This slider controls how much of the picture is keyed

out. The higher the number the greater the range of

color that is keyed out.

Fine Adjust

This slider controls the fine adjustment of the key

around edges of differing colors.

Reverse Key

This checkbox will reverse the key, so that everything

except the blue or green areas is removed.

Filter - Luma Key

The Luma key filter is a simple keyer that allows you

to quickly key out dark or light areas of a video source.

Luma Key options

Cutoff

This slider controls how much of the picture is keyed

out. The higher the number the greater the range of

brightness that is keyed out.

Chapter 16: Plugins 121

Softness

This slider controls the fine adjustment at the edge of

the cutoff brightness, giving a softer edge to the key.

Reverse Key

This checkbox will reverse the key, so that light areas

are keyed out rather than dark areas.

Filter - Directional Wipe

This filter allows you to quickly “wipe away” a source

image in any direction you choose. It can be especially

interesting on video that is mapped onto complex

objects.

Directional Wipe options and example

Wipe % From Transition

When checked (the default) the Wipe % is

automatically tied to the total transition time, so that

the wipe will finish at the same time as the transition.

When cleared, you will be able to use the Wipe

Percentage control manually to control the wipe.

Wipe %

This will only appear if Wipe % From Transition is

cleared. With this slider you can manually control and

keyframe the Wipe amount.

122 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Direction From Transition

When checked, the Wipe Direction is controlled by the

Flight Rotation spinner in FX Options.

Wipe Direction

This spinner controls the direction in which the image

is “wiped away”.

Softness

This slider controls the softness at the edge of the wipe.

The higher the value the softer the edge of the wipe.

Border Size

This slider controls the size of the colored border. At

0, there is no border at all. The higher the value, the

larger the border.

Border Color

Click this button to select the color of the border. The

border is only visible if the border size is not 0.

Filter – Edge Wipe

This filter allows you to quickly “wipe away” a source

image using a framed border with optional soft and

curved edges.

Edge Wipe options and example

Chapter 16: Plugins 123

Wipe % From Transition

When checked (the default) the Wipe % is

automatically tied to the total transition time, so that

the wipe will finish at the same time as the transition.

When cleared, you will be able to use the Wipe %

control manually to control the wipe.

Wipe Percentage

When Wipe % From Transition is cleared, this slider

gives you manual control over the completion of the

wipe.

X and Y Offset

Normally the wipe is centered on the source image.

Use these sliders to center the wipe anywhere on the

image.

Corner Radius

With this slider you can control whether the corners of

the wipe are square or rounded. The higher the value,

the more rounded the corners.

Softness

This slider controls the softness of the edge of the

wipe. The higher the value, the softer the edge.

Border Size

This slider controls the size of the colored border. At

0, there is no border at all. The higher the value, the

larger the border.

Border Color

Click this button to select the color of the border. The

border is only visible if the border size is not 0.

124 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Filter - Gradient Wipe

The Gradient Wipe plugin is like a very simple version

of Alpha Magic – but you can apply the gradient wipe

to the surface of any 3D object. It lets you select a

grayscale gradient image and use it to dissolve the

selected media.

Gradient Wipe options and example

Select Gradient

Click this button to select a gradient to use. Use the file

requester to find a gradient image. Gradient Wipe

supports Targa (tga) and Bitmap (bmp) images. You

can find some sample gradients in:

Hollywood FX\Images\gradients

Wipe % From Transition

If this is checked, then Gradient Wipe will

automatically dissolve the media during the entire

duration of the FX. If cleared, then the Wipe % value

(and any envelope for that value) are used to dissolve

the media.

Chapter 16: Plugins 125

Wipe %

This determines how far the media is dissolved.

Normally you will create an envelope for this value to

change the dissolve over time.

Softness

This determines how soft the edges of the dissolve are.

The higher the value, the softer the edges of the

dissolve. If Border Size is not 0, then this affects the

softness of the colored border.

Border Size

This slider can be used to create a colored border at the

edges of the dissolve. The larger the value, the larger

the border. At 0, no border is present.

Border Color

Click on this button to select a color for the dissolve

border. When Border Size is not 0, this color will be

used as a border for the dissolve.

Warp – AlphaParticles

The AlphaParticles plugin lets you break up an object

into particles and have those particles fly around using

a gradient image as a “shape template” for how the

particles move.

Gradient Image

Click on this button to display a file requester to select

a gradient. You can use any .bmp, .png or .tga image

file as the gradient.

126 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Reverse Gradient

Normally the particles move towards the lighter areas

of the gradient. Checking this option causes the

particles to move towards the darker areas.

AlphaParticles options and example

Direction From Transition

When checked, the particles move towards the lighter

areas of the gradient. When cleared, the objects move

in the direction indicated by the direction spinner.

Rotation

If Direction From Transition is cleared, this spinner

will control the direction in which the particles move.

Flight Axis

These buttons determine the 3D axis (or plane) the

particles will move along. Click on one of the buttons,

XY, XZ, YZ to change the axis on which the particles

move.

Chapter 16: Plugins 127

Start Time From Image

When this is checked, the particles will start to move

based on the corresponding brightness of the gradient.

Particles that are positioned over dark parts of the

gradient begin to move first, and particles that are

positioned over light parts of the gradient are last to

start moving. This makes the object break up in the

“shape” of the gradient you are using.

Progress From Transition

When checked, the break-up and movement of the

particles is tied to the overall time of the transition. If

you wish to keyframe this movement separately, clear

this checkbox and use the time slider to control and

keyframe the particle movement.

Progress

When the Progress From Transition checkbox is

cleared, you can use this slider to control and keyframe

the timing of particle movement separately from the

overall effect time.

Particles

This controls the number of particles that are used for

the effect. At 0, every polygon is used, at other values,

the plugin will break up the object into the specified

number of particles (if possible).

Velocity

This slider determines how fast the particles move. The

higher the value, the faster they move.

128 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Rotation

This slider controls how much each particle rotates

(spins) as it moves. The higher the value, the more it

will spin.

Pull

If Tie direction to gradient is checked, this determines

how much the gradient brightness changes will affect

the direction of each particle. The higher the value, the

more each particle will be “pulled” towards the brighter

areas of the gradient. Increasing this slider also

increases the time required to calculate each frame.

Chaos

Increasing this value adds more chaos or randomness to

the movements of each particle.

Warp – Displacement Map

The Displace plugin uses a gradient or other image to

move (displace) polygons away from their normal

positions. This plugin can be useful to create 3D terrain

or other interesting results. For those with advanced

understanding of 3D modeling, the vertexes of the

polygons are moved along their normals (perpendicular

to the polygon face).

Displacement Map options and example

Chapter 16: Plugins 129

Map Image

When clicked, a file requester will appear. Select a

bitmap image (.bmp, .png, .tga) to use as the

displacement map for the selected object. Gradient

images are especially useful as displacement maps. The

brightness of the image is used to displace the polygons

in the object. The brighter the pixel, the more it moves

the polygon.

Reverse Luminosity

Checking this reverses the brightness of the image, so

that areas that were dark in the image are now bright.

This changes the displacement, since polygons are

displaced more for brighter parts of the image.

Amount

This slider controls the amount of displacement. The

higher the value, the more polygons are displaced from

their original position. It is very useful to keyframe this

value over time to create animation of the

displacement.

X Offset and Y Offset

These sliders change the “position” of the displacement

image in relation to the polygons of the object.

Adjusting these sliders will move the displacement over

the face of the object and can be animated for

interesting results.

Scale

This slider changes the “size” of the displacement

image in relation to the polygons of the object. Making

130 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

this a higher value is like zooming in on the

displacement image. You can create some interesting

animated effects by keyframing this value.

Enable Blur

Enabling blur makes the displacement of the polygons

smoother. When checked, a slider will appear where

you can adjust the amount of smoothness. The higher

the blur, the more time it takes to calculate the

displacement.

Warp – Explode

This 3D plugin lets you explode any object into pieces

and provides very fine control, with advanced options,

over every aspect of the explosion.

Explode options and example

Chapter 16: Plugins 131

Time From Transition

When checked (the default), the explosion time will

automatically be tied to the total Transition time, so

that the object will explode during the entire time of the

transition. Clear this checkbox to keyframe the

explosion time manually.

Time

When the Time From Transition checkbox is cleared,

you can manually control and keyframe the explosion

time using this slider.

Fragment Size

This slider controls how many pieces the object will be

broken into for the explosion. When set to 0, the object

is broken into individual polygons. This generally

produces the most number of pieces with the quickest

calculation. Above 0, the plugin will attempt to

generate the number of pieces indicated by the slider. If

the Jagged Pieces option is checked, this can take a

good deal of time to calculate.

Chaos

The Chaos sliders below many options add a certain

amount of randomness to the option above it. The

higher the value the more random the calculation.

Jagged Pieces

When checked, the pieces of the object will have

jagged edges and might look more realistic. This option

does take longer to calculate.

132 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Velocity

This slider controls how quickly the pieces explode

away from the center of the object. The higher the

number, the faster the pieces move.

Velocity Decay

This slider controls how much each piece slows down

over time. The higher the value, the more each piece

will slow down after the initial explosion.

Rotation of Fragments

This slider determines how much each individual piece

rotates around its own axis. The higher the value, the

more each piece spins around as it explodes.

Decay Affects Rotation

When checked, the rotation of pieces will also slow

over time along with the velocity of the objects.

Gravity

This slider controls the amount of gravitational pull.

The higher the value the more each piece is pulled by

gravity.

Plane of Gravity

These buttons determine the 3-dimensional plane that

gravity pulls along. By default this is set to XY which

means that gravity will pull along the X and Y axis,

based on the direction selected by the Gravity Spinner.

Direction

This spinner controls the direction that gravity pulls

along the selected Plane of Gravity. This spinner along

with the Plane of Gravity selection controls the final

direction of the pull of gravity.

Chapter 16: Plugins 133

Warp – Peel

The Peel plugin lets you roll or peel any object. For

doing a traditional peel on a flat object, we recommend

you use the High Mesh 1 object in the Basic Shapes

folder.

Peel options and example

Peel % From Transition

When checked (the default), the peel amount will

automatically be tied to the total transition time, so that

the object will peel over the entire time of the

transition. Clear this checkbox to keyframe the peel

manually over time.

Percentage of Peel Completed

When Peel % From Transition is cleared, you can use

this slider to manually control and keyframe the

amount of peel over time.

Radius Of Peel

This slider controls the “size” of the roll. The larger the

number the bigger the roll.

134 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Reverse Radius of Peel

When checked, the peel will be behind the object rather

than in front.

Peel Instead of Roll

When checked, the plugin will peel back the object

rather than perform a roll.

Direction From Transition

When checked (the default), the direction of the peel is

controlled by the Flight Direction spinner on the FX

Options panel. When cleared, you can control the

direction of the peel with the Angle of Peel spinner,

and can keyframe the direction manually over time.

Angle of Peel

This spinner controls the direction of the peel.

Peel Plane

This determines which 3-dimensional plane the peel

‘rolls’ across. For a flat object like High Mesh 1, you

will usually leave this set to the XY plane. For other

objects you may want to switch to different Peel Planes

to see the result.

Warp – Polyshrink

The Polyshrink plugin shrinks each polygon in an

object, creating something like a dissolve in the 3D

world.

Chapter 16: Plugins 135

Polyshrink options and example

Shrinkage From Transition

If checked, the polygons will shrink uniformly over the

entire time of the transition (by the end of the

transition, the polygons will disappear). If cleared, you

can control the Shrinkage and keyframe it over time.

Shrinkage

When Shrinkage From Transition is cleared, this

slider controls the amount that the polygons (or

fragments) are shrunk. At 100%, the polygons

disappear completely.

Fragments

At 0, individual polygons are used, at other values, this

slider determines the number of fragments created. So

when this slider is 4, four large fragments are created

over the entire object surface. Those fragments can

then be shrunk over time.

Use jagged pieces

When checked this can produce more interesting

fragments (though it is slower to render).

Warp – Ripple

The advanced ripple plugin lets you add a wide variety

of different ripples to any object. Unlike ripple filters

found in other programs, this is a true 3D ripple that

136 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

can be seen in three dimensions when the object is

rotated. For doing a traditional ripple on a flat plane,

we recommend you use the High Mesh 1 object in the

Basic Shapes folder.

Ripple options and example

Function

This controls the type of ripple that is generated:

• Droplet – This generates circular waves from the

center of the ripple.

• Aligned Ripples – This generates uniform smooth

bumps along the surface of the object.

• Crazy Ripples – Creates irregular bumps that

increase in height towards the outer corners of the

object.

• Offset Ripples – Creates wild bumps-on-bumps

across the face of the object.

• Corner Waves – Creates curved waves around the

outside corners of the object.

• Waves – Creates long straight waves, like ocean

waves coming to shore.

Chapter 16: Plugins 137

• Bumps – Creates distinct regular bumps that rise up

from the flat surface of the object.

• Ying Yang – Creates a single sharp mountain that

rises from the surface of the object.

• Bounce – Creates a single ripple out from the center

like a ball bouncing onto an elastic surface.

• Black Hole – Pulls the polygons of the object in and

creates a hole that spreads.

Phase From Transition

When checked, the phase is automatically tied to the

total transition time so that the plugin ripples over the

total time of the transition. If you clear this checkbox,

you can control the phase manually using the Phase

slider.

Phase

This slider controls the timing of the ripple, and makes

the ripple seem to move. When Phase From

Transition is cleared, you can use this slider manually

to control and keyframe the ripple.

Ripple Plane

This dropdown controls the 3D plane that the ripple is

calculated along.

Height

This controls the overall height of the ripple in

comparison to the object. The larger the number, the

higher and more pronounced the ripple.

138 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Frequency (X and Y)

These sliders control the number of waves in the ripple.

The higher the number, the more waves.

You can get very interesting results by setting the

frequency in one direction to 0, while maintaining a

higher value in the other direction.

Offset (X and Y)

These two sliders control the “center” position of the

ripple.

Warp – Swirl

This plugin will swirl the faces of an object. It can

create a whirlpool-like effect with video mapped on an

object. You have separate control over the outer

portion of the swirl (near the outside edges of an

object) and the inner portion of the swirl (near the

center of the object).

Swirl options and example

Chapter 16: Plugins 139

Swirl From Transition

When checked, the swirl will automatically increase

over the entire time of the effect. When cleared you can

control and keyframe the inner and outer swirl amounts

manually.

Inner and Outer

These two spinners control the amount of swirl at the

inner and outer edges of the swirl. They are only

visible if Swirl From Transition is cleared. Moving

them in opposite directions will create more of an

overall swirl. Keyframing the values over time can

create interesting results.

Swirl Plane

A swirl is calculated along a 3D plane. Use these

buttons to change which plane the swirl is calculated

over.

Size

Use this slider to control the distance from the center of

the swirl to its outer edge.

Offset (X and Y)

Use these sliders to move the center of the swirl. You

can animate these over time to make it look as though

the swirl is moving (like the eye of a storm moving).

140 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Warp - Twist

This plugin lets you twist a 3D object along any axis. It

uses the pivot point of the object to determine the

center of the twist. The farther a point is from the

center, the more it is twisted. You can quickly twist the

object along any or all axes.

Twist options and example

Twist Amounts

Move the sliders to twist the object around that Axis.

Normally you will only twist around a single axis, but

you can get interesting results by twisting around more

than one axis at a time.

Chapter 17: Export HFX 141

Chapter 17:

Export HFX PRO

The Export HFZ tool is designed to let you easily share

your custom creations with other Hollywood FX users.

When you export an effect as a .hfz file, Hollywood

FX compresses the effect itself, along with any of your

own objects and images that are used in the effect.

There are two important rules when using Export HFZ:

• You cannot export any of the original effects that

come with Hollywood FX. Export HFZ is for

exporting your modifications and custom-created FX

only. If you modify an existing effect, you must first

create a new Preset by dragging-and-dropping the

FX item from the FX Tree into the Album.

• Export HFZ will not include any original objects that

come with Hollywood FX (or with any Pinnacle

effect packs) in the .hfz file. If you use objects from

additional effect packs, the user who installs your

.hfz file must have the same additional effect packs

installed to be able to use your effect.

To export a modified or custom-created effect:

1. Select Export HFZ from the File menu.

2. A file requester will appear asking you to name the

.hfz file. Change the default name and location if

desired, then click Ok to create the .hfz file.

The .hfz file name will default to the name of the

effect. Export HFZ will create .hfz files in the

Hollywood FX\Share folder by default.

142 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Export HFZ in File Menu (L) Save As requester (R )

To install a .hfz file on any system with Hollywood

FX 4.6 or higher:

• Double-click on the icon of the .hfz file. The HFZ

Installer will load and install all of the files in the

.hfz file. Click Ok to close the dialog when finished.

The Export HFZ file requester and the HFZ Installer

Chapter 18: Import 3D 143

Chapter 18:

Import 3D PRO

The Import 3D tool lets you import Lightwave 5.x 3D

objects. Other object formats may be supported in

future updates: see the readme file for more

information.

Import 3D supports importing simple objects, as well

as importing multiple objects to become morph targets.

Within the Hollywood FX installation folder, you will

find the Lightwave Content folder that contains

sample objects and images to use.

Within the Images folder, you will find the MAPxxx

targa images. These are important because they can be

used as proxy images when created your own 3D

objects. Wherever you use these images, the Importer

will replace them with Host Track video references.

So, if you want an object to display Host Track 1 (the

first video source in a transition), simply map

MAP001.tga onto the surface, and when you import

the object, it will be replaced with Host Track 1.

When creating objects that you will import into

Hollywood FX, you should follow these rules:

Objects should consist of 3-point and 4-point polygons

only. It is recommended that you only use 3-point

(triangles) polygons to make sure that all polygons are

convex.

If you want to use the object in Pro-ONE for realtime,

you should use as few polygons as possible. As a

144 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

general rule, the entire effect should have less than

1,500 polygons to ensure that it will playback in

realtime.

Hollywood FX uses only a subset of the features of

Lightwave surfaces. Generally you can adjust base

color, transparency and luminosity.

For textures you can use any of the normal projection

mapping modes (Flat, Sphere, Cylinder) from

Lightwave 5.x.

To create morphing objects, first create the master

object, then create morph targets from the master. The

morph targets must have the same number of points as

the master.

Here is an example of how you will want to name the

object:

• Master Object – Airplane

• First Target Object – Airplane-t1

• Second Target Object – Airplane-t2

You will want to become very familiar with Newtek’s

Lightwave 3D. Pinnacle Systems does not officially

support Newtek’s products and will not provide any

tech support or additional advice on creating objects in

Lightwave 3D.

To import a Lightwave 3D object:

1. Select Import 3D from the Album menu.

2. The Open requester will default to the Lightwave

Content/Objects folder.

3. Select the Master object “Airplane”.

Chapter 18: Import 3D 145

Import 3D selected from the Album Menu

Import 3D Open requester with Airplane object

selected

Imported 3D object in Album Tree, Imported Objects

Album

Now you can simply drag and drop the object into your

FX and it’s all ready to set the morphing envelope and

move around.

Chapter 19: 3D Text 147

Chapter 19:

3D Text PRO

The 3D text plugin generates 3D text objects that can

be used like any other objects in Hollywood FX.

The 3D Text Generator options

Font

Click this button to display the Font selection dialog.

Select any font, adjust the size, and change options

(bold, italic, etc). The size of the font is not particularly

important since you can resize the 3D object after it is

generated.

148 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Text

Here you can type in the text you want to be made into

a 3D object.

Text Quality

The higher the value, the more accurately the 3D text is

generated relative to the original font. Creating higher

quality 3D text also means a larger number of

polygons.

Alignment (Horizontal, Vertical Depth)

These dropdowns change how the text is created in

relation to its pivot point.

Extrusion

This value determines the extrusion depth of the 3D

text. The higher the value, the deeper the text. At 0, the

text is flat and not extruded.

Inset

This determines the depth of the bevel. The higher the

value, the deeper the bevel along the extruded depth of

the object. At 0, no bevel is created.

Shift

This determines the thickness of the bevel relative to

the face of the 3D text that is created. The higher the

value, the thicker the bevel.

Colors

The color buttons let you set the initial surface color of

each portion of the text, including the Bevel, Face,

Sides and Back of the text. Click on a color button to

display the color requester and select a color.

Chapter 19: 3D Text 149

You can later change the generated 3D object surface

colors and other attributes. You can also map video or

images onto any of the surfaces.

1) FX Tree with Text Added; 2) Album Tree with 3D

Text plugin album selected; 3) 3D Text icon in Album

selected

The Results of the 3D Text Generator

Appendix A: License agreement 151

Appendix A:

License agreement

This End User License Agreement (“License”) is a legal agreement

between you and Pinnacle Systems (“Pinnacle”) regarding Pinnacle’s

software and the accompanying documentation (collectively, the

“Software”). CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING LICENSE.

USING THIS SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF

THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT OR UNDERSTAND

THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE, YOU SHOULD NOT INSTALL

THE SOFTWARE AND PROMPTLY RETURN THIS PRODUCT

TO YOUR VALUE-ADDED RESELLER.

1. License Grant. Subject to the restrictions set forth below, this

License grants you a non-exclusive, perpetual license to (a) install the

Software on only one computer; (b) use or authorize use of the

Software on only one computer; (c) make one copy of the Software, in

machine-readable form, solely for backup purposes; provided you

include all copyright and other proprietary rights notices on the copy

and (d) transfer the Software and this License to another party if the

other party agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License.

If you transfer the Software, you must at the same time either transfer

all copies to the same party or destroy any copies not transferred. If

you transfer possession of any copy of the Software to another party,

your License is automatically terminated.

2. License Restrictions. You may not, or allow any third party to, (a)

rent, lease, sell, loan or otherwise transfer the Software or any of your

rights and obligations under this License; (b) install the Software on a

network for use by multiple users, unless each user has purchased a

license; (c) reverse-engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software

or hardware in whole or in part; (d) remove or destroy any copyright

notices or other proprietary markings of the Software or any third-

party software; (e) modify or adapt the Software, merge the Software

into another program or create derivative works based on the

Software; (f) make copies of or distribute, for profit or otherwise, the

Software, except as expressly provided above; (g) make any

alteration, modification, connection, disconnection, improvement or

adjustment of any kind to or use the Software except as explicitly

contemplated in the enclosed documentation and in this License and

(h) sublicense, transfer or assign this License or any of the rights and

152 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

obligations granted under this License, except as explicitly

contemplated in this License. Any purported transfer or assignment

will be void.

3. Export Restrictions. The export and re-export of Pinnacle

software products are controlled by the United States Export

Administration Regulations and such software may not be exported or

re-exported to any country to which the United States embargoes

goods. In addition, Pinnacle software may not be distributed to

persons on the Table of Denial Orders, the Entity List, or the List of

Specially Designated Nationals. By downloading or using a Pinnacle

software product you are certifying that you are not a national of any

country to which the United States embargoes goods and that you are

not a person on the Table of Denial Orders, the Entity List, or the List

of Specially Designated Nationals.

4. Ownership. The license granted hereunder does not constitute a

transfer or sale of ownership rights in or to the Software. Except for

the license rights granted above, Pinnacle retains all right title and

interest in and to the Software including all intellectual property rights

therein. The Software is protected by applicable intellectual property

laws, including United States copyright laws and international treaties.

5. Third Party Proprietary Property. This Software may contain

the proprietary property of others, which has been licensed to

Pinnacle, your use of the Software is expressly conditioned on your

agreement not to remove any copyright notices or other proprietary

markings of the third party software.

6. Security. You acknowledge and agree that in order to protect the

integrity of certain third party content, Pinnacle and/or its licensors

may provide for Software security related updates that will be

automatically downloaded and installed on your computer. Such

security related updates may impair the Software (and any other

software on your computer which specifically depends on the

Software) including disabling your ability to copy and/or play

"secure" content, i.e. content protected by digital rights management.

In such an event, Pinnacle and/or its licensors shall use reasonable

efforts to promptly post notices on Pinnacle’s web site explaining the

security update and providing instructions to end-users for obtaining

new versions or further updates of the Software that restore access to

secure content and related features.

7. Term and Termination. This License shall be effective upon

installation of the Software and shall terminate upon the earlier of (a)

your failure to comply with any term of this License; (b) return,

Appendix A: License agreement 153

destruction or deletion of all copies of the Software in your possession

or (c) transfer of the Software and this License to another party in

accordance with Section 1(d). Pinnacle’s rights and your obligations

shall survive termination of this License.

8. Limited Warranty. Pinnacle warrants to the original licensee that

the Software, as delivered, will perform in accordance with the

accompanying documentation for a period of 30 days from the date of

the original purchase (“Limited Warranty”). Pinnacle’s entire liability

and your exclusive remedy for breach of the preceding Limited

Warranty shall be, at Pinnacle’s sole option, repair or replacement of

the Software that does not meet the warranty set forth herein and that

is returned to Pinnacle. This limited warranty shall be void if failure

of the Software has resulted from any accident, abuse, misuse or

misapplication by you. Any replacement Software will be warranted

for the remainder of the original warranty period or 30 days,

whichever is longer.

9. NO OTHER WARRANTIES. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH

ABOVE, THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS.

YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE QUALITY

AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. TO THE

MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW,

PINNACLE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS

OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,

NONINFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR

PURPOSE. LICENSOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE

FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET

YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR

FREE.

10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. YOU AGREE THAT IN NO

EVENT WILL PINNACLE BE LIABLE FOR ANY

CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR

PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF PINNACLE

HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH

DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL PINNACLE’S LIABILITY

EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE FEES PAID FOR THE

SOFTWARE. Some states/jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or

exclusion of incidental or consequential damages in certain

circumstances, so the above limitations may not apply in some

circumstances.

11. General. This License is governed by the laws of the State of

California and by the federal laws of the United States, without

154 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

reference to conflict of laws principles. The federal and state courts

within the County of Santa Clara, California shall have excusive

jurisdiction to adjudicate any dispute arising out of this License and

you hereby consent to the personal jurisdiction of the federal and state

courts within the County of Santa Clara, California. This License is

the entire agreement between you and Pinnacle and supersedes any

other communication with respect to the Software. No modification of

or amendment to this License will be effective unless in writing

signed by both parties. If any provision of this License is held invalid

or unenforceable, the remainder of this License will continue in full

force and effect.

Index 155

Index

3D text

Plugin, 147

Accelerators

3D, 36

Album, 83

Changing groups, 83

Renaming items, 84

Album folders, 16

AniComps – FX type, 4

Antialiasing, 90

Introduced, 21

Basic options

Effect, 17

Flight, 18

Render, 21

Best quality

Checkbox, 90

Buttons

Loop play, 17

On Monitor panel, 79

Checkboxes

Best quality, 90

Cast shadows, 100

Double-sided, 102

Lighting, 20, 86

Motion blur, 88

Object rotation, 18

Pixel blending, 90

Receive shadows, 100

Rotate object, 86

Shadows, 20, 87

Shine, 88

Smooth, 102

Trails, 89

Color

Attributes, basic, 102

Base (of surfaces), 102

Shine (of surfaces), 103

Cropping, 94

Customer support, 7

Dials

Flight path, 86

Flight rotation, 18

Light direction, 20, 86

Dissolve, 99

Drivers

Graphics card, 31, 32, 35

Easy flight controls, 18

Easy FX

Changing effect options, 17

Editing. See Changing

Edition, 9

Effects

Basic options, 17

Envelope Editor, 40, 44, 107

Displaying, 40

Envelope window, 109

Envelopes, 45

Creating, 40, 41

Linear, 110

Multiple-value, 108

Saving and loading, 113

156 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Single-value, 107

Spline curve, 110

Value jump, 110

Field interpretation

Changing, 25

Explained, 25

Options, 93

Filters, 115

Blur, 117

Chroma key, 119

Directional wipe, 121

Edge wipe, 122

Gradient wipe, 124

Luma key, 120

Using FX as, 12

Flight

Basic options, 18

Flight path

Changing, 18

Dial, 86

Editing, 45

Flight rotation

Dial, 18

Adapting, 49

Album. See Album

AniComps, 4

Antialiasing, 90

Customizing, 85, 95

Defined, 4

Groups, 83

MultiWindow, 4, 26

Organizing, 84

Render type, 89

Save as new, 52

Selecting, 16

Transitions, 4

Transitions+, 4

Tree, 41

Types, 4

FX Tree, 41

FX Tree panel

Advanced features, 75

Graphics cards

Manufacturers, 36

Hardware requirements

RAM, 32

Hollywood FX

Described, 1

Exiting, 113

Installation, 4

Levels, 2

Menus and panels, 67

Requirements, 4

User interface described, 65

Window layout, 16

Installation, 4

Introduction, 1

Keyframe

Adding, 43

Creating, 43

Editing, 39

Keyframes

Connected by spline curve, 110

Connected linearly, 110

Copying, 110

Creating, 110

Deleting, 44, 111

Looping example, 111

Move to next, 111

Move to previous, 111

Moving between, 44

With value jump, 110

Index 157

Levels

Hollywood FX (Plus, PRO), 2

License agreement, 151

Licensing and registration, 6

Light direction, 20

Dial, 20, 86

Lighting, 19

Checkbox, 20, 86

Liquid, 9

Loop play button, 17

Media Options panel, 91

Media properties, 91

Menus

Command reference, 67

Menus and panels, 67

Minimum requirements, 4

Modifying. See Changing

Monitor panel, 16, 17, 107

Morph Shape, 99

Motion blur

Checkbox, 88

Count (smoothness), 89

Distance, 88

Move (adjust texture position with

mouse), 104

MultiWindow – FX type, 4

MultiWindow FX

Explained, 26

Selecting, 27

Object Properties panel, 41, 95

Object rotation

Checkbox, 18

Objects

Flags, 100

Hierarchical organization of, 95

Morphing, 99

Positioning, 97

Shadows, 100

Transition objects, 100

Transparency (dissolve), 100

Types, 95

Opacity

Of surfaces, 102

OpenGL, 32, 35, 36

Options

Effect, basic, 17

Flight, basic, 18

Lighting, shadows and shine, 19

Plugin, changing, 116

Render, basic, 21

Surface, 101

Panels

Described, 67

FX Tree, 74

FX Tree (advanced features), 75

Introduced, 65

Media options, 91

Monitor, 16, 17, 78, 107

Object options, 45

Object properties, 41, 95

Properties, 16, 85, 108

Percent scale, 39

Pinnacle, 9

Pinnacle Online, 29

Pixel blending

Checkbox, 90

Playback

Continuous, of preview, 17

Plugin

Options, 116

Plugins, 115

3D text, 147

Adding a filter plugin, 53

Filter – blur, 117

Filter – chroma key, 119

Filter – directional wipe, 121

Filter – edge wipe, 122

Filter – gradient wipe, 124

158 Hollywood FX User’s Guide

Filter – luma key, 120

Managing, 116

Warp, 56

Warp – AlphaParticles, 125

Warp – displacement map, 128

Warp - explode, 130

Warp - peel, 133

Warp - polyshrink, 134

Warp - ripple, 135

Warp - swirl, 138

Warp - twist, 140

Plug-ins, 31

Positioning objects, 97

Preview

Continuous playback, 17

Rendering performance, 36

Problems

Color/brightness jumps, 33

Driver conflicts, 31

Installation, 31

No rendered transitions, 32

No video, 32

Video editor crashes, 31

Properties

FX, 85

Properties panel, 16, 85, 108

Registration and licensing, 6

Remapping video sources, 91

Render

Basic options, 21

Render type, 21, 32, 89

Rendering

Options, 85

Performance, in preview, 36

Requirements

Minimum, 4

Rotate (adjust texture angle with

mouse), 105

Rotate object

Checkbox, 86

Scale (adjust texture scale with

mouse), 105

Selecting a MultiWindow FX, 27

Selecting a Transition+, 23

Selecting an FX, 16

Shadows, 19, 100

Checkbox, 20, 87

Distance from object, 87

Opacity, 87

Softness, 88

Type, 87

Shine, 19

Checkbox, 88

Smoothing, 102

Source

Transition, 91

Video, 91

Support, 7

Surface adjustment properties, 104

Surfaces

Base color, 102

Defined, 101

Luminosity, 104

Opacity, 102

Options, 101

Shine color, 103

Shine spot, 103

Text - 3D, 61

Timecode scale, 39

Titles

Flying on and off, 12

Tools

Export HFX, 141

Import 3D, 143

Move, 98

Pivot, 99

Rotate, 98

Scale, 98

Trails

Index 159

Checkbox, 89

Count, 89

Transition+

Selecting, 23

Transitions, 4

Adding, 10

Changing, 11

Source, 91

Trimming, 94

Troubleshooting, 31

Tutorials

#1 - Transitions and options, 15

#2 - Transition+, 23

#3 – MultiWindow FX, 26

#4 – Keyframe editing with

envelopes, 39

#5 – Flight path editing, 45

#6 – Creating new FX from

existing, 49

#7 – Warp plugins, 56

#8 – 3D text generation, 61

Advanced, 39

Starter, 15

Video

Cropping, 94

Trimming, 94

Video sources

Remapping, 91

Warp

AlphaParticles, 125

Displacement map, 128

Explode, 130

Peel, 133

Polyshrink, 134

Ripple, 135

Swirl, 138

Twist, 140

Pinnacle HFX 50 Us M3 M2 Man Hollywood FX Pro 5.0 User’s Guide 5 Eng

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