Boris FX 4 Manual

USER MANUAL
TM
Boris FX™ VERSION 4.0
The material contained herein is protected by copyrights. Permission to use materials

may be granted upon written request and proper credit.
Boris FX
381 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
(617) 451-9900
(617) 451-9916 fax
[email protected]
http://www.borisfx.com
For information on site licenses for Boris FX, please call: 617 451-9900; or email:
[email protected]
The information in this manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, Artel
Software assumes no responsibility for its use; nor for any infringements of patents or
other rights of third parties which may result from its use. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any
means, electronic, mechanical, by photocopying recording or otherwise without the
prior written permission of Boris FX.
Boris FX™ and Pixel Chooser™ are trademarks of Boris FX. After Effects® and Photoshop®
are registered trademarks of Adobe® Systems Incorporated. Premiere is a trademark of
Adobe Systems Incorporated. DVision® ONline™ is a trademark of DVision, Inc. FAST VM
Studio Plus™ is a trademark of FAST®, Inc. Avid® MCXpress™ is a trademark of Avid, Inc.
In:Sync® Speed Razor™ is a trademark of In:Sync, Inc. Media 100® is a trademark of
Media 100, Inc.
Copyright 1999 by Boris FX All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Installing Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Overview of Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Boris FX Keyframe Library - Preset Effect Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Computer Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Host Application Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Understanding Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Chapter 1: Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Previewing the Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Moving Around the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Current Time Indicator (CTI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Shortcut Keys in The Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Creating a Picture-in-Picture Effect: Keyframes and Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Creating a New Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Scaling the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Changing the Interpolation Setting of a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Tumbling the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Moving the Image Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Viewing an Outline of the Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Viewing the Motion Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Using Ease In / Ease Out Interpolation to smooth motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Editing the Bezier Keyframes in a Motion Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Saving Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Creating a Video Cube: Changing Media and Applying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Changing the Media for a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating a Cube Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Changing the Video Image on a Side of a Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Changing the Depth of the Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Adding a Filter to the face of a cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Previewing the Right Face Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
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Adding a Filter to the Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Creating a Title with an Alpha Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Adding a Drop Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Using the Chroma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Creating a Mask Using An Alpha Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Creating a Mask Using the Chroma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 2: Using Borix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Starting Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Boris FX User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Controls Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Preview Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Timeline Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Tracks in the Timeline Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Track Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Shape Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Face Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3D Container Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Filter Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Mask Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Transformations Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Parameter Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Hiding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Shape Can be Put onto the Face of Another Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Adding And Changing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Alpha Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Media Tab Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Re-linking Tracks to Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Adding Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Disabling Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Creating a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
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Deleting a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Snap CTI to Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Copying and Pasting Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Moving a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Ripple Move Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
One-Way Ripple Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Two-Way Ripple Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Setting the Interpolation Method Between Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Choosing an Interpolation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Setting the Default Interpolation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Turning Keyframes On and Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Previewing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Preview Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Preview to Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Multiple Preview Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Using Motion Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Preview Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Update Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Display on Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Refresh Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Toggle Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Toggle Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Quality sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Resolution sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Image sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Mark sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Channel sub-menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Preview to Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Upstream and Downstream Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3D Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Creating a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Adding Tracks to a 3D Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Saving Boris FX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 3: Boris FX Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

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Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Selecting a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Flat 3D Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Common Shape Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Border Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Round Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Cube Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Changing Cube Depth Using the Scale Z Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Cube Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Displace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Front Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Sphere Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Using the Light Tab with the Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Using the Crop Tab with the Sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
The Sphere Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Wrap % . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Front Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Wrap pop-up menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Cylinder Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Using the Position Tab with the Cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Using the Light Tab with the Cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The Cylinder Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Cylinder Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Wrap % . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Front Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Axial Displace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Wrap Pop-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Page Turn Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The Page Turn Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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Flap Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
The Position Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Positioning Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Positioning an Image Using Sliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Positioning an Image Using Numerical Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Changing Position X and Position Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Position Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Centering an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Controlling Distance with Position Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Trails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Controlling Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Using the Scale Lock Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Controlling Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Tumble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Spin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
The Pivot Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Pivot Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Anchor To Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Anchor Independent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Moving the Pivot Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Centering Pivot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
The Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Ambient Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Light Position Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Light X and Y Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Light Z Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Specular Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Falloff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Diffuse Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
The Shadow Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Revolutions and Degrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
The Camera Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
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Camera Position Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Camera X and Y Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Camera Z Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
The Crop Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Softness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Square Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Lock icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
The Mask Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Invert Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Blend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Round Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Lock icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Creating a Wipe with the Mask tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chapter 4: Boris FX Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using Video Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
PixelChooser™ Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
PixelChooser Pop-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Blend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Point, Rectangle, Edge and Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Blur Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Blur Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Directional Blur Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Directional Blur Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Gaussian Blur Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Gaussian Blur Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Unsharp Mask Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Unsharp Mask Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Color Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Color Spaces and Color Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Using the Color Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Brightness/Contrast Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
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Brightness Contrast Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Color Balance Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Color Balance Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Color Correction Filter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Color Correction Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Invert/Solarize Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Invert/Solarize Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Solarization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Levels/Gamma Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Levels Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
MultiTone Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Choose Color Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Apply Colors Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Settings Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
PixelChooser Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Posterize Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Poster Levels Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Scramble Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Shift Channels Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Shift Channels Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Shift Channels Pop-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Tint Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Tint Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Tritone Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Distortion Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Bulge Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Bulge Basics Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Edge Bevel Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Bevel Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Ripple Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Ripple Basics Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Time/Space Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Chaos Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Wave Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Basics Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
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Decay Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Keying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Viewing Your Matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Binary Keys, Linear Keys, and Chroma Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chroma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Matte Control Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Flare Suppression Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Garbage Matte Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Clean Up Alpha Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Linear Luma Key, Linear Color Key, and Two Way Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Combining Linear Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Region of Interest Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Linear Luma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Key Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Linear Color Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Key Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
RGB Weights Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Two Way Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Luma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Luma Darker Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Make Alpha Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Make Alpha Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
PixelChooser Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Premultiplied Alpha Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
RGB Difference Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Noise Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Alpha Pixel Noise Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Noise Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Luma Pixel Noise Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Noise Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
RGB Pixel Noise Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Noise Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Spray Paint Noise Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Noise Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
•
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Contents • xi
•
•
•
Apply Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Particle Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
2D Particles and Advanced 2D Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Particles Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Move Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Gravity Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
PixelChooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
2D Particles Filter Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Basic Particle Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Tweaking the Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
The Move Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
The Gravity Tab (Advanced 2D Particles) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Other Advanced Features (and Options Tab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Scatterize Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Scatterize Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Appendix A: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Appendix B: Borix FX Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Appendix C: Borix FX Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Appendix D: Boris FX Keyframe Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
•
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xii •• Contents
•
•
Introduction
Boris FX is a digital video effects (DVE) plug-in for a variety of non-linear digital video
editing systems. It’s a multi-channel DVE, complete with variable interpolation, matte
manipulation, and multiple keyframes. With Boris FX, you can simultaneously spin,
tumble, rotate, and resize any number channels of full motion video in a variety of
shapes. You can also map video onto a sphere, a cube, a cylinder or create a page turn.
Installing Boris FX
Installation instructions for Boris FX are available in an Adobe Acrobat file called
Installation Guide.pdf, located on your Boris FX Product CD.
Overview of Manual
This manual describes the features of the Boris FX software package:
• Chapter 1 provides short tutorial exercises to help familiarize you with the features
of Boris FX.
• Chapter 2 provides a description of Boris FX features, and the user interface.

• Chapter 3 describes the use of shapes in Boris FX, including Flat 2D, Flat 3D, Cube,
Sphere, Cylinder, and Page Turn.
• Chapter 4 describes the Boris FX Video Filters, including Blur Filters, Color Filters,
Distortion Filters, Keying Filters, and Particle Filters.
• Appendix A provides a list of shortcut keys that can be used in Boris FX

• Appendix B describes the Preferences window.
• Appendix C provides a Glossary of Terms.
• Appendix D describes the Keyframe Library.
Boris FX Keyframe Library - Preset Effect Settings

Boris FX comes with hundreds of preset effect settings. For more information, see
Appendix D, “Boris FX Keyframe Library” on page 147.
•
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2 •• Introduction
•
•
Computer Experience
This manual assumes that you are familiar with basic computer functions such as
mouse-pointing, clicking, dragging, scrolling, choosing commands from menus and
understand your computer’s operating system at a fundamental level. You should also
know how to select and edit text and how to create and open and save documents and
folders. Consult your computer’s documentation if you are not familiar with these terms
and functions.
Host Application Experience

It is also assumed that you have installed the host video editing application software on
your system and that you are proficient enough with the host application to perform
basic-level program editing skills, include custom transitions and render effects.
Understanding Plug-ins
Boris FX is a plug-in. Plug-ins are software products which can be added to your main
application to enhance its functionality. Your application acts as a host to a Plug-In.
Plug-In can be a small and simple addition or a complex piece of software.
Plug-ins are files which have to reside in a specific folder on your computer so that the
host program can find them. If a plug-in is misplaced or moved around, the host
application may loose track of it. As any other files, plug-ins can be renamed and the
new name will be used by the host application to identify the plug-in.
When the host program starts up, it looks in the plug-in folder for the available plug-ins.
It loads all recognized plug-ins and makes them available to the user.
Plug-ins become an integral part of the host program sharing all the resources including
memory. Plug-ins can have windows for setting up parameters. These windows become
a natural extension of the host application user interface.
Plug-ins are not separate applications, they do not have to “run in the background” and
do not require additional memory.
•
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• 3
•
•
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Chapter 1
Tutorial
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Setting Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Previewing the Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Moving Around the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Creating a Picture-in-Picture Effect: Keyframes and Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Creating a Video Cube: Changing Media and Applying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Creating a Title with an Alpha Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the Chroma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Creating a Mask Using An Alpha Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Creating a Mask Using the Chroma Key Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
•
•
4 •• Chapter 1
•
•
Overview
The tutorial exercises in this chapter introduce the basic user interface of Boris FX, show
how to build several effects, apply filters, create masks, and use alpha channels.
You can follow along with these tutorial exercises in the Boris Keyframertm, a standalone
application that works independently of any host video editing applications. The
Keyframer is installed when Boris FX is installed. For more information on installation,
see the Adobe Acrobat file called Installation Guide.pdf, located on your Boris FX Product
CD. The other files referred to in this Tutorial are located on your Boris FX product CD-
ROM, in the Tutorial Files folder.
If you prefer, you can do these exercises with the Boris FX plug-in from within your host
video editing application. If you do this there will be some small differences in the
exercises depending on your particular setup.
Setting Preferences
Boris FX has many settings you can adjust in the Preferences window.
1 Start the Keyframer by double-clicking the Keyframer icon.
The interface looks like this:
Boris FX Interface
•
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Tutorial • 5
•
•
•
1 Select Preferences from the Edit menu. The Preferences window opens. (Depending
on the host application and hardware, the options may vary.
Preferences Window
2 On the lower-left of the window, there is a Timeline Options area.

3 Deselect Show Mask Tracks and Show Transformation Tracks.
These preferences determine whether to display Transformation and Mask tracks in
the Timeline for each Shape track. You can change these preferences at any time
while you are working on a project.
4 For information on any other items in the Preferences window, see Appendix B,
“Borix FX Preferences”.
5 Click OK to exit the Preferences window and save your changes.
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6 •• Chapter 1
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•
Previewing the Exercises

Final versions of the tutorial exercises in this chapter are available on the Boris FX
product CD.
1 Insert the Boris FX product CD into the computer’s CD-ROM drive.
2 Start the Keyframer by double-clicking the Keyframer icon.
3 Select Open Settings from the File menu.
4 Open the “Tutorial Files” folder on the Boris FX product CD, and open any of the
settings files (these files all end with a “.bfx” file extension in the filename).
A Media Files dialog box may appear if Boris FX cannot find media files that are linked to
a settings file. To locate the files, click Replace and find the necessary file inside the
Tutorial Files folder on the Boris FX CD.
5 Click the play button in the Composite window, to play the effects.
Play button
You can also press the Spacebar to play the effect.For a complete list of shortcut keys, see
Appendix A, “Keyboard Shortcuts”.
•
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Tutorial • 7
•
•
•
6 To generate a real-time preview of the effect, select Preview to RAM from the
Preview menu.
Preview to RAM plays the entire effect if the computer has enough RAM available. If the
computer does not have enough system memory, some effects may not play all the way
through. The effect plays slowly one time while loading the information into the
computer’s memory, and then plays in real time.
Moving Around the Timeline

In addition to playing the effect, there are several other ways move around in the
Timeline, and view different parts of the effect.
Drag the vertical brown bar to adjust the location in

the Preview window without moving in the Timeline
Drag the large grey bar to move the Timeline
forward and back in time. This bar also shows the
location, in time and the proportion of the
Timeline which is currently displayed. Click to resize
entire effect
into current
window
size
Tracks
Move the CTI (Current Time Indicator) Use the horizontal scroll bar to move Use the vertical scroll bar to
by clicking in the Timecode area above the Timeline forward and back in move up and down through
the tracks, or by dragging the Top of time the tracks
the CTI window.
Moving Around in the Timeline window
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8 •• Chapter 1
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•
Current Time Indicator (CTI)

The Current Time Indicator (CTI) indicates the location of the frame currently displayed
in the Composite window. The CTI position is displayed numerically in the Time area of
the Timeline. Move the CTI by clicking in the Timecode area above the tracks, or by
dragging the Top of the CTI.
Time area
displays location
of CTI
CTI
Shortcut Keys in The Timeline
If you want to move to. Press
the beginning of the effect the Home key
the end of the effect the End key
one frame forward Right arrow key
one frame backward Left arrow key

•
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Tutorial • 9
•
•
•
Creating a Picture-in-Picture Effect: Keyframes and Interpolation

This exercise creates a picture-in-picture effect that shrinks and tumbles the outgoing
clip as it moves in a circular pattern and off the screen.
Creating a New Effect

1 If the Keyframer is already open, select New in the File menu. Otherwise, start the
Keyframer by double-clicking its icon.
Naming Tracks
Before creating the effect, rename both tracks.
It’s useful to rename tracks because it is easier to identify them, which is especially
helpful when effects get more complicated.
1 Click the top track to select it. When the track is selected, it is light blue.
2 Select Rename Track from the Track menu and type “My Tutorial Exercise, Track 1”
3 Name the second track “My Tutorial Exercise 1, Track 2”
4 Press Return on the Macintosh, or Enter on a PC.
5 Sometimes, there is not enough room to display the entire name. To expand this
area of the Timeline, drag the vertical bar to the right of the track names.
Drag the vertical bar to move the divider line
Scaling the Image

Begin by shrinking the image in Track 1, until it disappears at the end of the effect,
revealing track 2.
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•
10 •• Chapter 1
•
•
1 Position the CTI near the end of the effect, at about frame 25, and make sure Track
1 is selected.
To shrink an image, you use the Scale parameter. The Scale parameter is set in the
Position tab of the Controls window. The Positions tab is displayed by default.
2 Make sure that the Lock is set to the Locked setting.
Click the Lock icon to toggle between the locked and unlocked modes. When the lock is
locked, the all the controls move together, and the crop is uniform around the image.
When the lock is unlocked, you can crop any side independently.
Unlocked Locked
•
•
Tutorial • 11
•
•
•
3 Set Scale X % and Scale Y % to 10% by dragging one of the sliders. You can fine-tune
by clicking the text box and using the up and down arrow keys.
Scale parameter
sliders
Controls Window
When the scale parameters are changed Boris FX creates a keyframe automatically
in the Timeline because one did not already exist in that location.
New keyframe is
created
4 Click and drag in the Timecode area above the tracks to move the CTI around the
Timeline. Note how Track 1 gradually shrinks as the CTI moves toward the
keyframe. Also note how the Scale settings in the Controls window update
interactively.
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12 •• Chapter 1
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•
5 Preview the effect by pressing the Play button in the Composite window. You can
also select Preview to RAM to play a real-time preview.
Changing the Interpolation Setting of a Keyframe

After frame 25, the image in track 1 enlarges again. This is because Interpolation on the
new keyframe is set to Linear, and the next keyframe’s value is 100. You can keep the
Scale at 10% until the end of the effect by changing the interpolation of the keyframe
you created from Linear to Hold.
Linear Interpolation icon
If the Interpolation settings for Scale are not automatically set to Linear interpolation
values, the default interpolation setting is not set to Linear. To change the default
interpolation, open the Preferences window by selecting Preferences from the Edit menu,
and set the Default Interpolation to Linear. For more information on the Preferences
window see Appendix A, Preferences.
Follow these steps to change the interpolation of the keyframe to Hold.

1 Move the CTI to Frame 25.
2 Click the Interpolation setting in the Scale X % or Scale Y % parameters of the
Controls window, and select Hold. (Both of the Interpolation settings will update
because the Lock icon is set to Lock.)
•
•
Tutorial • 13
•
•
•
3 Preview the effect again. The new Scale setting is maintained from frame 25 until
the end of the effect.
Tumbling the Image

Now Tumble the image in Track 1.
1 Position the CTI at the end of the effect by pressing the End key. Click the track to
make sure no keyframes are selected.
2 In the Controls window, set Tumble to one Revolution plus 85 degrees by clicking
in the dial, and fine-tuning the setting with the up and down arrow keys. You can
also enter “1” in the Revolutions field and “85” in the degree field.
Revolutions
Degrees
3 Preview the effect.The tumble begins at the start of the effect, and continues until
the last frame. This is because the Tumble parameter is set to the default of 0 at the
start of the effect, and interpolates to 85 degrees at the end of the effect.
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14 •• Chapter 1
•
•
Moving the Image Around

Now move the image in Track 1 off-screen.
1 The image moves when its Position X and Position Y parameters are adjusted. Set
the Position parameters in the Position tab of the Controls window.
2 Position the CTI at 15 frames, Click the track to make sure no keyframes are
selected.
Position parameter
sliders
3 Set Position X to 150 and Position Y to 60.

4 Position the CTI at the end of the effect by pressing the End key. Click the track to
make sure no keyframes are selected
5 Set Position X to 650 and Position Y to 10.
6 Preview the effect.
Viewing an Outline of the Shape

The image is difficult to see at the end of the effect, because it moves off-screen.
1 To view an outline of the image that is visible off-screen, select Shape from the
Controls submenu of the Preview menu.
•
•
Tutorial • 15
•
•
•
A wireframe image appears outside of the screen area.
2 You can resize the Composite window to view more of the area around the viewable
area. You can also zoom in on the image by selecting “1:1” from the Scale submenu
of the Preview menu.
Viewing the Motion Path

The keyframes are joined by a Motion Path.
1 To view the path of the image, select Motion Path from the Controls submenu of
the Preview menu.
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16 •• Chapter 1
•
•
The white dots represent the location of the image in each frame of the effect. The
Density of the dots indicates the speed with which the object moves.
Motion Path, Linear Interpolation
Using Ease In / Ease Out Interpolation to smooth motion

The path of the image consists of two straight lines set at a sharp angle. To make the
movement more smooth, change the Interpolation of the keyframes to Ease In/Ease
Out.
1 Press the Home key to move the CTI to the beginning of the effect.
2 Select Ease In/Ease Out interpolation for the Position parameter from the box next
to the Position Parameter in the Controls window.
3 Activate the Timeline window, and press Option-Right arrow (Mac) or Alt-Right
arrow (Windows) to advance the CTI to the next keyframe, and reset this keyframe
to Ease In/Ease Out interpolation.
4 Change the next two keyframes to Ease In/Ease Out interpolation.
•
•
Tutorial • 17
•
•
•
5 The Motion Path in the Composite window is now curved. Keyframes now appear
as Bezier keyframes. The center point on the Bezier keyframe anchors the curved
segments, and the two direction lines control the direction of the curves.
Additionally, the length of the line controls the velocity of the curve in that
direction.
Bezier Keyframe
Motion Path, Ease In/ Ease Out Interpolation
6 Preview the effect, and note the smoother motion of the image.
Editing the Bezier Keyframes in a Motion Path

There are several adjustments you can make to Bezier keyframes which change the
shape and velocity of the motion path.
Click and drag and move the handles of a Bezier

keyframe to change the shape of the motion path.
•
•
18 •• Chapter 1
•
•
Click and drag and lengthen or shorten the handles to

adjust the velocity of a bezier curve.
Option-click the motion path to create a new Bezier

keyframe.
Option-Shift drag a handle to adjust the velocity and

direction of a single handle.
Saving Settings
If you want to save your exercise, you can save the settings file from the Keyframer.
1 SElect Save Settings from the File menu.
2 Enter a name for the settings file in the dialog box that appears, and save the file.
•
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Tutorial • 19
•
•
•
Creating a Video Cube: Changing Media and Applying Filters

Boris FX allows you to easily create a solid cube object. You can map six different images
(including live video) onto the six sides of the cube.
Changing the Media for a Shape

2 Name the top track “Cube,” and name the bottom track “Background.”
Change the Background Track to display a still image.
3 Click and hold the “V2” icon in the Background track and choose Still Image File
from the pop-up menu.
4 Locate the file gradient.pic on your Boris FX product CD, inside the Tutorial Files
folder.
Creating a Cube Shape

1 Click the track named “Cube” to select it.
2 Click and hold the flat 3D shape icon on the track, and select Cube from the drop-
down menu.
This creates a video cube with one face displayed full-screen. (It does not look any
different than the flat 3D shape yet.)
Next, spin the cube so you can see the right side as well as the front side.
3 Move the CTI to the end of the effect by pressing the End key.
4 In the Controls window, set the Spin for the cube to 90 degrees by clicking in the
dial, and fine-tuning the setting with the up and down arrow keys.
Revolutions
Degrees
•
•
20 •• Chapter 1
•
•
5 Preview the effect, and observe the cube spinning to reveal its right face.
Changing the Video Image on a Side of a Cube

Now map a different video image onto the right side of the cube.
1 Click the Disclosure triangle next to the track named “Cube”
The six faces of the cube are each displayed as a track in the Timeline. Each of the
six faces displays Video 1.
2 Select the “Right Face” track.

•
•
Tutorial • 21
•
•
•
The options in the Control Window update to display information for the Right face.
3 Click and hold the Media pop-up menu in the Controls window, or the “V1 “icon on
the Right Face Track.
4 Select Video 2 from the pop-up menu.
5 Preview the effect, and observe the cube spinning to reveal right face with the new
video image.
•
•
22 •• Chapter 1
•
•
Changing the Depth of the Cube

Move the cube back in space, and then forward again, as it turns.
1 Select the Cube track.
2 Move the CTI to the middle of the effect.
3 Set Position Z to 2000.
The cube moves back, and then forward again.
Adding a Filter to the face of a cube

Now add a Filter to right face of the cube.
1 Select the Right Face track.
•
•
Tutorial • 23
•
•
•
2 Choose New Filter from the Track menu, and choose Gaussian Blur filter from the
Blur menu.
The Gaussian Blur filter is applied to the right face of the cube.
The Controls window also updates, to display controls for the Gaussian Blur filter
3 Move the CTI to the end of the effect by pressing the End key.
4 Set the Horizontal and Vertical Blur levels to 0.
5 Preview the effect again. The particle effect animates from beginning to end of the
effect.
•
•
24 •• Chapter 1
•
•
Previewing the Right Face Only

You can open multiple Preview windows to view selected parts of an effect. This is useful
if you want to view part of the cube that is not currently visible.
1 Move the CTI to the start of the effect. Only the Front Face is visible.
2 Select the Right Face track and click the tv icon on the track.
3 The Right Face is displayed in a separate Preview window, called Cube:Right Face.
4 Press the Home key, and press the Spacebar to preview the effect again. Both
preview windows update as the effect plays.
You can only run Preview to RAM on one preview window at a time. However, if you
play the effect by pressing the Spacebar, the images will update in all open Preview
windows.
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Tutorial • 25
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Adding a Filter to the Cube

Now add the Posterize filter to the entire cube.
1 Select the Cube track.
2 Choose New Filter from the Track menu, and choose Posterize from the Color
menu.
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26 •• Chapter 1
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The Posterize filter appears in the Timeline.
3 Preview the effect again. The Posterize filter is applied to the entire cube.
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Tutorial • 27
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•
Creating a Title with an Alpha Channel

In this section, you’ll scroll in a title with an Alpha channel. Alpha channels let you cut
out part of the frame in the shape of a logo or other graphic element.
Your title should appear in the foreground and your video in the background. This
means that the title should be in the top track, and your video should be in the bottom
track.
2 Name the top track “Title,” and name the bottom track “Video 2.”
3 In the track named Title, choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up menu.
4 Locate the file Title.pct on your Boris FX product CD, inside the Tutorial Files folder.
Your title appears in front of the video background. Boris FX automatically detects
and turns on the Alpha Channel in the Title.pct file.
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28 •• Chapter 1
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5 To view the use Alpha setting, Expand the Title track and the Face Track by clicking
the Disclosure Triangles, and select the Media track.
The Controls window displays the information for the Title.pct file.
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Tutorial • 29
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•
Adding a Drop Shadow

Now add a Drop Shadow to the Title.
1 Select the Title Track.
2 Click the Shadow Tab in the Controls window. The Drop Shadow parameter is
available on the Shadow tab in the Controls window.
3 Set a Distance of 60 an Intensity of 100.

4 Press the Home key to move to the start of the effect, and set the Interpolation of
each of these parameters to Hold, so that the shadow parameters are maintained
through the entire effect.
5 Click the Position tab in the Controls window and set the Position X to -250
6 Press End to move to the end of the effect and set Position X to 840.
7 Preview the effect. The title scrolls across the screen.
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30 •• Chapter 1
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Using the Chroma Key Filter

In this section, you’ll import an image file with a blue screen, and apply a chroma key
filter to key the image against the background.
2 Name the top track “girl” and name the bottom track “Video 2.”
3 In the track named Title, choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up menu.
4 Locate the file Chroma fly girl.pct on your Boris FX product CD, inside the Tutorial
Files folder. The image appears.
5 Expand the Title track and select the Face Track.

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Tutorial • 31
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•
•
6 Select The Chroma Key Filter from the Track menu.
7 In the Controls window, click the eyedropper tool and click in the blue part of the
girl image.
8 Make sure the Interpolation of the Key is set to Hold.

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32 •• Chapter 1
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The girl is keyed over the background.

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Tutorial • 33
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Creating a Mask Using An Alpha Channel

In this section, you’ll import an image file with an alpha channel, and use it to mask
another image.
2 In Track 1, choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up menu.
3 Locate the file Mannikin Tilthead.tga on your Boris FX product CD, inside the
Tutorial Files folder. The image appears.
4 Expand Track 1 by clicking the Disclosure Triangle.

5 Expand the Face Track by clicking the Disclosure Triangle.
6 Select Mask under the Face Track
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34 •• Chapter 1
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7 Select The Flat 3D Shape from the Track menu.
A new Shape Track appears under the Mask.

8 Name the New Shape Track alpha mask.
9 In the track named alpha mask, choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up
menu.
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Tutorial • 35
•
•
•
10 Locate the file coffecup.pct on your Boris FX product CD, inside the Tutorial Files
folder. The coffeecup image appears as a mask.
11 Make sure the alpha mask track is still selected, and set keyframes on the track to
move the cup around the screen.
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36 •• Chapter 1
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Creating a Mask Using the Chroma Key Filter

In this section, you’ll import an image file with a green screen, apply a chroma key filter
to key the image, and then use this image as a mask over another image.
2 In Track 1, choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up menu.
3 Locate the file Gradient.pct on your Boris FX product CD, inside the Tutorial Files
folder. The image appears.
4 Expand Track 1 by clicking the Disclosure Triangle.

5 Select Mask under Track 1.
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Tutorial • 37
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6 Select The Flat 3D Shape from the Track menu.
A new Shape Track appears under the Mask.

7 Name the New Shape Track chroma key mask.
8 Expand the chroma key mask track by clicking the Disclosure Triangle.
9 Expand the Face Track

10 Select the Media Track
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38 •• Chapter 1
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11 Choose Still Image File from the Media pop-up menu.
12 Locate the file girl image green screen.pct on your Boris FX product CD, inside the
Tutorial Files folder.
13 Click the TV icon on the Media track to preview the Media.
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Tutorial • 39
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•
14 Add a chroma key to the image by selecting chroma key from the Track menu.
15 In the Controls window, click the eyedropper tool and click in the green part of the
girl image.
16 Make sure the Interpolation of the Key is set to Hold.

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40 •• Chapter 1
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17 The gradient image appears masked.

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• 41
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Chapter 2
Using Borix FX
Starting Boris FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Controls Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Preview Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Timeline Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Tracks in the Timeline Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Track Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Hiding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Adding And Changing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Alpha Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Media Tab Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Re-linking Tracks to Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Adding Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Creating a Keyframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Setting the Interpolation Method Between Keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Previewing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Preview Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Preview to Ram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Multiple Preview Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Using Motion Paths 40
Preview Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Upstream and Downstream Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3D Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Saving Boris FX Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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42 •• Chapter 2
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Starting Boris FX
Boris FX runs as plug-in software from the Video Application you are using, which is
referred to as the Host Application. For instructions on using Boris FX with your host
application, please see the instructions on your Boris FX product CD.
Boris FX User Interface

The user interface is the same from all host applications. The Timeline, Control, and
Composite windows contain all the basic controls you need for creating effects. Each of
these windows is movable, and the Preview window and Timeline window are
resizeable.
Boris FX Interface (Windows) Boris FX Interface (Macintosh)
Controls Window
The Controls windows contains all the parameter settings, as well as setting for media
and filters. When you select a Track in the Timeline, the Controls window displays
controls for the track.
Click the tabs to view additional

parameters
Click the text field, or drag the slider,

or dial to change a parameter
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Using Borix FX • 43
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Preview Window
The Composite preview window displays the current location of the effect. You can also
open additional preview windows. For details, see “Previewing Media” on page 57.
L
A B C D E F G HI J K
A Back one frame H Use the magnifying glass to zoom the H
B Play/Stop image.
C Forward one frame I Shape/Motion Path
D Play once/Play forward and back/ J Current Timecode

Loop playback K Use the scroll bars to move around if the
E Wireframe, Draft, High image is larger than the Preview window
F Full, Half, Quarter L Use the hand tool in the Tools window to
move the image around if it is larger than the
G RGB, Red, Blue, Green, or Alpha Preview window.
Tools Window
Preview window controls

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44 •• Chapter 2
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Timeline Window
The Timeline window contains all the tracks you used in an effect, including video, DVE
effects, filters, and graphic files. The Timeline contains the entire effect. You can click
anywhere in the Timeline to reposition the CTI (Current Time Indicator).
Drag the vertical brown bar to adjust the location in

the Preview window without moving in the Timeline
Drag the large grey bar to move the Timeline
forward and back in time. This bar also shows the
location, in time and the proportion of the
Timeline which is currently displayed. Click to resize
entire effect
into current
window size
Tracks
Drag the CTI (Current Time Indicator) Use the horizontal scroll bar to move Use the vertical scroll bar to
to move around the Timeline without the Timeline forward and back in move up and down through
changing the display in the Preview time the tracks
Moving Around in the Timeline window
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Tracks in the Timeline Window

Boris FX supports unlimited tracks of media. The media you use for these tracks may be
video, background colors, or graphic files with or without alpha channels.
By dragging tracks up and down, you can change the vertical order of the tracks, which
also changes the layering of images in your effect. Rendering is done with the bottom
track first (or background) and the upper track last (foreground).
The current track is highlighted in light blue. To change the current tracks, click on it or
use the up and down arrow keys.
To rename a track, click on a track name and select Rename Track from the Track menu.
You can also click on the track name, press Return, type the new name, and press Return
again.
To add a track, select New Shape, New Filter, or new container from the Track menu.
To delete a track, select a track and choose Delete track from the Edit menu.
Click to Hide or Click to show or Click to open a

Display Track. hide Filters for Preview window
this track. for this track.
Disclosure triangle
3D Container track
Transformations Track.
Shape Track.
Mask Track
Transformations Track
Face
Filter Track
Mask Track
Media Track
Face
Tracks and track controls in the Timeline window
In the Preferences window you can choose to show or hide the Mask Tracks and
Transformation Tracks under each Shape track.
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Track Types
Shape Tracks
Every shape is represented by a track in the Timeline.
Face Tracks
Each face of a shape is represented as a Track in the Timeline. The Face Tracks are nested
underneath the Shape track. Media is assigned to a Face track. For information on
media, see “Adding And Changing Media” on page 49.
3D Container Tracks
3D containers are also tracks in the Timeline. 3D containers allow you to combine
multiple shapes, video tracks, or filters into one track in the Timeline. For more
information, see “3D Containers” on page 66.
Filter Tracks
Finally, filters are represented as tracks in the Timeline, and are nested beneath what
they are applied to. To apply a filter to a shape effect, you nest the filter track inside the
shape track. For more information on filters see “Adding Filters” on page 52.
Mask Tracks
This Track is used to build a Mask. For more information on masks, see “Masks” on
page 63.
Transformations Tracks
Open the triangle to view parameters for a track. All the parameters for an effect are
represented by parameter tracks. These parameters can also be set in the Controls
window.
Parameter Tracks
The tracks that appear under the Transformation track are called parameter tracks. You
can use the parameter tracks to control all the same parameters that you adjust in the
Controls window.
Hiding Tracks
Tracks can be enabled/disabled by clicking on the eye icon at the left of the track. Any
disabled tracks are not visible in Preview or renders. You can disable tracks to isolate
previews to certain tracks, or render tracks selectively.
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Shapes
Boris FX offers several shapes, which are described below. A detailed description of
adjusting settings for each of these shapes is available in Chapter 3, “Boris FX Shapes” on
page 69.
Shape Icon Example Description
Flat 3D Flat 3D is the default shape for new tracks. It is a

flat piece of video that can be manipulated in 3D
with control on three axis; X, Y, and Z. This is the
most basic shape for DVE effects.
Cube The Cube shape is a six-sided cube which appears

with the same media on all six sides by default.
You can change the media that appears on each
face of the cube.
Sphere The Sphere shape maps the source image onto

the surface of a sphere. The image can be fully or
partially wrapped. The inside surface, when
visible, can display a different image.
Cylinder The Cylinder shape maps the source image on the

surface of a cylinder. The cylinder can be tumbled
to reveal the inside surface, which can also have
a different image.
Page Turn The Page Turn shape creates the effect of an

image pulled up like a page from a book. You can
put different images on the front and back of the
page.
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Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces

Any shape with more than one face can have different media on each face. You may use
any media type supported by Boris FX and include alpha channels, filters, and shapes
on any surface.
The M/S Toggle allows you to optimize the processing for shapes with the same image
mapped on all faces (sides). Select Multi-Channel (M) if you use different images on
different sides, If you want to use different filters on same or different images, or if you
want to hide front/back image for sphere, cylinder, page turn or hide any of the six sides
of the cube.
In all other cases, select Single-Channel (S), to increase previewing and rendering speed.
When S is selected, the Filter panel does not display the Face pop-up because there is
only one image for all faces.
M/S toggle has M selected
Multiple faces of a cube
Shape Can be Put onto the Face of Another Shape

You can also put a Shape on the face of another shape.
Sphere on the front face of a cube

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Adding And Changing Media

To change the media associated with a face track, select the track and select your new
media from the pop-up menu in Media tab of the Controls window. You can also change
the media for a face track by selecting from the pop-up menu located on the track itself.
All media file types except for Solid Color can include an embedded Alpha Channel. For
more information on Alpha Channels, see “3D Containers” on page 66.
Media
Media is added to the faces of a shape. Boris FX links faces of a shape in your effect to
media files from your host application, and to external media files. External media files
are defined as files that have not been imported into your host application project.
The number of media files that can be assigned to a particular shape depends on the
number of faces that the shape has. Each face displays one media file. For example, the
cube shape has six faces, and can display six separate media files. The Cylinder shape
can display one or two media files.
Alpha Channels
In video terms, an alpha channel is the same as a matte. It is information imbedded in
an image that tells Boris FX which part of the image to display. It also contains
information about the opacity of the visible pixels.
The alpha channel acts as a key on the source image. This means that type, logos, or
graphics that occupy only a portion of the screen can be manipulated with the same
control as full frames of video. This is especially useful for flying in titles.
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Media Tab Parameters

Depending on the media file type you select, different controls appear in the Media Tab
of the Controls window.
In addition to the parameters in the Controls window, several parameters which affect your
media, including Width, Height, FPS and 4:3 ratio, are adjusted in the Preferences window.
See Appendix B, Preferences.
Key The Key parameter determines whether to use an embedded Alpha channel. It has
the following settings:
No Alpha will make the image 100% opaque and will ignore any alpha channel
information associated with the media file.
Use Alpha displays the portion of the media file defined by the alpha channel
associated with the file. The portion of the image where the alpha channel is black
(value 0) is transparent. The portion of the image where the alpha channel is white
(value 255) is opaque. Portions of the image with alpha channel levels between
white and black (grey) will display with varying transparency.
Invert Alpha has the opposite effect as Use Alpha. Hence, the portion of the image
where the alpha channel is black (value 0) is now opaque. The portion of the image
where the alpha channel is white (value 255) is now transparent. Alpha channel
levels in between white and black (grey) will display with varying transparency.
Flip Image This pop-up menu allows you to choose how the media file will be oriented on each
surface of the cube. The options are Never, Horizontal, Vertical, and Both Horizontal
and Vertical.
Activating the Display Shape checkbox produces a cube with its surfaces displaced
in three dimensions.
Conform The Conform pop-up is displayed for file based media (movie and still files). The
Conform pop-up includes two choices: Conform to Pixel Aspect (possibly non-
square) and Never. The default is Conform to Pixel aspect. For more information,
see“Conform to 4:3 Ration” on page 208, in Appendix B, Preferences.
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Start Time Start Time is used to indicate at which point in the Timeline the movie clip begins
playing.
Example 1: If the first keyframe on the movie track is at Frame 10, use Start Time
equal to 10. Otherwise, you will not see the first 10 frames of your movie.
Example 2: If a movie is mapped onto a side of a cube that is not visible until certain
point in the effect, you have to figure out the frame point in the effect at which this
side becomes visible and use this number as the Start Time so that your movie starts
to play at the right moment
Clip Head The Clip Head field allows you to trim your movie at the beginning. To specify clip
head, enter a frame number in the text box, and then press Tab or Enter to view that
frame of your movie.
Re-linking Tracks to Media Files

The Find Media Files dialog box allows you to browse through the mounted hard drives,
to locate missing files. Missing files are indicated by Italic font.
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Adding Filters
To add a filter, click on the Track you want to apply a filter to, and select New Filter from
the Track menu. Filters are nested under the Track they are applied to.
For example, you can apply a filter to the face of a shape by creating a filter track under
a face track.
For detailed information on each Boris FX filter, see Chapter 4, “Boris FX Filters” on
page 109.
Filter is Applied to Front Face
You can also now apply a filter to an entire shape.
Filter is Applied to Cube
Disabling Filters
To hide the Filters associated with a shape, toggle the F on the track which the filter is
associated with. A a red line appears.
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Keyframes
The blue and red spheres on the Timeline tracks represent keyframes. Keyframes are
markers in time that hold information about how you want your effect to appear at that
point. Effects develop as you images transition from one keyframe to the next.
Parameter information for each keyframe is entered in the Controls window, or in the
Parameter tracks in the Timeline window.
For example, to transition the image in a track from 100 percent of its original size at
the start of an effect to 0 percent of its size at the end of the track, The X and Y Scale
parameter is set to 100 in the first keyframe, and 0 in the last keyframe.
Creating a Keyframe
Keyframes are automatically created at the current location of the CTI whenever a
parameter is adjusted in the Controls window. If a keyframe already exists at the CTI
location, or another keyframe is selected (red) the parameters for that keyframe are
adjusted.
When a
parameter is
adjusted, a
Keyframe is
automatically
created
Be sure that the CTI is located where you want to create or adjust a keyframe before
making any changes to parameters.
Deleting a Keyframe
To delete a keyframe, select the keyframe (it turns red) and select delete keyframe from
the Edit menu, or press the Delete key.
Snap CTI to Keyframe

If the Snap CTI to Keyframe option is selected (Track menu), the CTI relocates to the
position of a keyframe when you select it. However, if Snap to CTI to Keyframe is set to
Off, the CTI does not move when you select a keyframe.
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Copying and Pasting Keyframes

You can copy and paste a keyframe to transfer the parameter value to the new
keyframe.
Moving a Keyframe
You can drag a keyframe to move it to another location on a track.
Ripple Move Keyframes

You can ripple keyframes one-way and two-way:
One-Way Ripple Keyframes

You can ripple keyframes located to the left or right of a selected keyframe by holding
the Shift key while moving the keyframe. This moves the keyframes proportionally,
while preserving the duration of the effect.
Two-Way Ripple Keyframes

Option-click (Mac) or Control-click (Windows) on any keyframe and drag to the left or
right to shift all surrounding keyframes relative to that keyframe. This feature either
condenses or expands the time it takes for the effect to occur
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Setting the Interpolation Method Between Keyframes

Interpolation is how Boris FX calculates the frames in between each keyframe for a
particular parameter. Set the Interpolation method for a keyframe by clicking the mouse
next to the parameter in the Controls window. The interpolation is set from the current
keyframe until the next keyframe where that parameter is activated.
Choosing an Interpolation Method

There are several interpolation methods from which to choose:
Interpolation Description
Method
Hold The effect holds the parameter value from the current keyframe to the next
keyframe with that parameter activated. If the value of the next keyframe
is changed, the value of the keyframe set to Hold is automatically changed
to the new value.
Linear Values for a parameter change in equal increments from the current
keyframe to the next keyframe with that parameter activated.
Accelerate Values for a parameter change in increasing increments from the current
Decelerate Values for a parameter change in decreasing increments from the current
Ease In/Ease Out Ease In Ease Out helps create smooth, natural motion paths. It
applies Bezier interpolation near the starting and ending keyframes.
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Setting the Default Interpolation Method

You can set the Default interpolation method in the Preferences window.
Turning Keyframes On and Off

Set Interpolation to None to turn off a keyframe. To do this, Click the mouse on the
Interpolation setting in the Controls window and select None from the popup menu.
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Previewing Media
The preview of the entire effect always appears in the Composite window. In addition,
you can have view additional preview windows for other tracks in the Timeline.
Composite window displays entire effect.
Preview Playback
You can preview your effect by pressing the space bar or clicking on the Play deck
button. The preview plays from the location of the Current Time Indicator (CTI) and
continues until either the Stop button is pressed again, or the Space bar is pressed. If
neither of these options is selected, the playback loops.
Preview to Ram
Select Preview to Ram to see animations and effects for the current Preview window
played back in real time without rendering to disk. Your system will play back as much
as is possible given your system’s available memory.
The first time your effect plays in the Preview to Ram option your effect will play more
slowly. This is because Boris FX is computing and caching every frame. After the first time
the effect plays, it will play in real time.
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Multiple Preview Windows

You can open multiple preview windows to view a single track, a selected portion of the
effect, as well as your entire effect. For example, you can preview an entire effect, a
cube, one face of a cube with filters applied, and also preview the original video source
without any filters.
Entire Effect Cube Face with Blur Effect Video Source
You can also use multiple preview windows to view an image with a key applied,
without the background image, or to view the alpha channel of an image.
This is what the chroma- This a preview of the This is a preview of the This is a preview of the
keyed image looks like track with the key track’s Alpha Channel. final composited image.
before applying the key. applied.
Using Motion Paths

Motion Path draws a virtual path or line along which the center of the image will travel.
To view the motion path, select Motion Path from the Preview Menu. Motion Path will
only be available for the selected track.
The Motion Path changes depending on the interpolation method. For details on
interpolation methods, see “Choosing an Interpolation Method” on page 55.
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Preview Menu
The Preview Menu allows you to control the way an effect is displayed.
Update Monitor
This Preview Menu selection can be toggled on and off to preview your effect on a Video
monitor connected to your hardware video output.
This feature may not be available for all host applications. See Release Notes for more
information.
Display on Monitor
Selecting Display on Monitor previews the frame in the Boris FX preview window to the
Video monitor, but only that frame. This is different from Update Monitor which
previews every frame of the video to your monitor as you play the effect.
Refresh Image
Use this when you want to update your video in the effect to a frame accurate depiction.
When you use Refresh Image, the video tracks will load the correct image for that time.
Using Update Source (described below) makes this choice unnecessary since your
preview will always update the frames by default.
Toggle Quality
This Menu item toggles between the different preview modes, Best and Fast. The modes
are set in the Preferences window. See “Preview Options” on page 210 for details.
Toggle Mark
Toggles between the different Mark modes. The modes are None, Title-Safe Area, and
Grid. (Face and Media track preview windows do not display Marks.)
Quality sub-menu
These selections allow you to control the image quality during preview that will enable
faster frame rates in preview. Changes to these settings will not affect rendering.
Wireframe Selecting WireFrame changes the preview playback from images to wireframe
display mode.
Wireframe plays back your effect in real time, enabling you to check the
dynamics of your effect in real time. However, to achieve real time playback,
Boris FX may be forced to drop frames in the preview.
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Draft Preview With Draft Preview selected, previews will play back faster, but at a lower image
quality.
Recommendation: Work with the Draft Preview selected. This setting will not
affect the rendering quality of an effect.
High With High quality selected, previews in the preview area will be played back
slower, but at the highest image quality. This mode lets you see the clean edges
an image will have after final rendering at high quality.
Resolution sub-menu
This affects the size of an image. Lower settings yield faster previews. The image will lose
resolution on the lower settings and pixilation becomes visible.
Full Selecting Full in the Resolution sub-menu changes the preview resolution to the
full preview size.
Half Selecting Half in the Resolution sub-menu changes the preview resolution to
one half of the preview size.
Quarter Selecting Quarter in the Resolution sub-menu changes the preview resolution
to one quarter of the preview size.
Image sub-menu
These settings control the source imagery used in the preview area.
Proxy Selecting proxy allows you to view your effect even if you don’t have
media associated with it. Instead, the images are substituted as the
numbers 1 and 2, representing outgoing and incoming clips, as
determined by the host editing application.
Source To view a snapshot of video associated with your effect, select Source in
the Source sub-menu. The program shows the actual video in the place
of the proxy image. The same image is used for all other frames.
Update Selecting Update Source allows you to view the actual video on a
Source frame-by-frame basis while previewing the effect. This mode slows
the playback, but allows for a completely frame accurate preview.
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Note: In order to see frames of video in the preview, you must be using active video
tracks in your host application. If the preview shows something other than what you
expected to see:
1. Move the current time indicator to the selected (red) keyframe.
2. Ensure that all tracks are enabled by inspecting the check boxes at the left of the
Timeline.
3. Confirm that the parameter value you’ve entered has been accepted by pressing the
Tab or Enter key.
Mark sub-menu
The Mark settings overlay guidance images to help you align items and ensure images
are Broadcast ready. (Face and Media track preview windows do not display Marks.)
Title Safe Enabling Title Safe Area adds two white boundaries to the Preview
Area which helps to ensure that your images are positioned within video title
and action safe limits. The inner most bounding box represents Title
Safe limits. The exterior, Action Safe.
Grid Grid adds a white-lined grid to the preview window. This can be a
helpful preview mode to work in when lining up titles along a common
baseline, or when placing multiple picture-in-picture images
symmetrically across the frame.
Channel sub-menu
These settings allow you to independently view the channels of your media.
RGB RGB in the Channel sub-menu allows you to view all color components
of the image. This is the normal mode. Selecting Red, Green, or Blue
individually displays the respective color channel alone as a grey scale
image.
Alpha Selecting Alpha in the Channel sub-menu allows you to view the alpha channel
of the image if used with Source Mode.
In Composite Mode, the alpha is always opaque, or white. Nevertheless,
if used as a filter, Boris FX will generate the appropriate alpha when
rendering the effect.
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Preview to Ram
Select Preview to Ram to see animations and effects for the current Preview window
played back in real time without rendering to disk. Your system will play back as much
as is possible given your system’s available memory.
The first time your effect plays in the Preview to Ram option your effect will play more
slowly. This is because Boris FX is computing and caching every frame. After the first time
the effect plays, it will play in real time.
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Masks
Mask are applied by adding a shape track to the Mask track associated with a track.
1. If you do not see Mask Tracks in the Timeline, select Show Mask Tracks from the
Preferences window.
2. Select a Mask Track
3. Create a new Shape by selecting 3D Shape from the Track menu.
4. Assign the media you want to use for the mask to the new 3D shape.
This creates a mask.

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Upstream and Downstream Masks

You can apply a mask to a shape, or to the face of a shape. These are referred to as
upstream and downstream masks.
Upstream Mask -- when track is moved, mask and underlying image both move
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Downstream Mask -- when track is moved, mask moves but underlying image does not move
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3D Containers
3D containers allow you to combine multiple shapes, video tracks, or filters into one
track in the Timeline. The 3D containers let you create true 3D hierarchical animations,
with the option of controlling each object individually or making changes to multiple
objects as a group.
Use the 3D Container to apply parameters to a group of tracks or shapes. For example,
if you want to resize several shapes together, you can put them into a 3D container, and
only have to apply the Size parameters once to all the shapes.
3D containers provide a better method for rendering images, with faster, higher quality
rendering than what you get when you use the face of a Shape as a container.
3D Container
In 3D containers all geometry from the container (parent) and nested tracks (children)
is processed in one render pass.
Creating a 3D Container
To create a 3D Container, select 3D Container from the Track menu.
Adding Tracks to a 3D Container

To add tracks to a 3D container, click and drag the tracks.
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Saving Boris FX Settings

To Exit Boris FX and return to your host application, select Quit (Macintosh) or Exit
(Windows) from the File menu. A dialog box will prompt you to save your new settings
with the Host.
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Chapter 3
Boris FX Shapes
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Selecting a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Flat 3D Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Cube Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Sphere Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Cylinder Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Page Turn Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
The Position Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The Pivot Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Light Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
The Shadow Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The Camera Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
The Crop Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
The Mask Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
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Overview
Shapes in Boris FX are created with a process which appends one or more images onto
a geometric shape. On the other hand, filters in Boris FX are a process applied to an
image.
Boris FX provides the following shapes:
• Flat 3D Shape
• Cube Shape
• Sphere Shape
• Cylinder Shape
• Page Turn Shape
Additionally, the following tabs appear in the Controls window for all shapes, and are
described later in this chapter:
• Position Tab
• Pivot Tab
• Light Tab
• Shadow Tab
• Camera Tab
• Crop Tab
• Mask Tab
Selecting a Shape
To select a shape, click and hold the Shape icon on a track in the Timeline,
You can also change a shape by selecting New Shape Menu on the Track menu.
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Flat 3D Shape
The Flat 3D Shape is a simple shape that is used in the most common type of DVE effects.
These effects include picture-in-pictures, wipes, dissolves, masks, and cropped media
effects.
Common Shape Parameters

The following tabs appear in the Controls window for all shapes. These common tabs
described on the following pages:
• “The Position Tab” on page 86
• “The Pivot Tab” on page 93
• “The Light Tab” on page 96
• “The Shadow Tab” on page 99
• “The Camera Tab” on page 101
• “The Crop Tab” on page 103
• “The Mask Tab” on page 105
Border Tab
The Border Tab, described below, only appears for the Flat 3D shape.
The Border controls allow you to create edge borders for your images. Borders are often
used to create better looking picture-in-picture style effects, or to help to call out a
foreground image from the background. You can apply borders to full size images or to
cropped images. You cannot apply borders to images containing alpha channels or any
type of keying.
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The Border Tab is only available with the flat 3D shape.
Width
Width is the first parameter you need to define when setting up border. After the border
width is set, other parameters can be adjusted to achieve the desired look. Width is
measured in pixels from 0 to 150, and based on an image scale of 100%. A setting of 0
pixels displays no border. When the image is scaled, the border is scaled as well.
Opacity
The Border Opacity control allows you to determine the opacity of the border. Opacity
is measured from 0 to 100%. A lower opacity setting allows the background image to be
seen through the border. Borders are not visible at opacity equal to zero.
The image opacity setting in the Position tab acts as a master opacity control for the border
and the drop shadow. When an image is faded out, the border and drop shadow are faded
out with it.
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Softness
The Border Softness parameter allows you to control the softness at the outer edge of
the border. The amount of softness depends on the width of the border. Wider borders
can accommodate a greater amount of softness.
Softness is applied on the outside edge of the border. To create the same softness on the
inside use the Softness control in the Crop tab.
Round Style
Checking the Round Style check box creates rounded soft corners rather than 90° angles
on the corners of a border. When softness is at 0 this has no effect.
Color
The Color parameter allows you to choose colors for the border in two distinct ways:
• Using the system color picker.
• Using the eyedropper–Click on the eyedropper on the far right and then select a
color from anywhere on the screen.
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Cube Shape
The cube maps images onto six sides of a cube shape. The cube’s X, Y dimensions are
based on the image/size applied to the front face.
One image is mapped onto the six faces of the cube by default. You can change the
image on any of the six faces. For information on changing the images on the face of a
shape, see “Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces” on page 48.

Changing Cube Depth Using the Scale Z Parameter

Cube depth is determined by the Scale Z setting on the Position Tab. Reducing the Scale
Z setting creates a slab effect.
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You’ll notice that the landscape image that appears on the right face of the following
image is squeezed to fit within the new depth of 300 pixels. Any media that is over or
under the size of the depth and appears on the top, bottom, right or left face will be
squeezed or stretched to fit the new dimensions.
Cube Tab
The Cube Tab contains parameters that are specific to controlling the cube attributes.
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Displace
Using the displace tool, the faces of a solid video cube/slab can be pushed away from
each other in all directions. Nice uses of this parameter are cube collapses and push-
aways.
Front Opacity
Use the Front Opacity parameter to make the front faces of the Cube partly transparent,
so that the back faces can be seen through them.
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Sphere Shape
The Sphere distorts media around curves and takes on the natural characteristics of
curved shapes with accurate light reflection and drop shadows.
One image is mapped onto the inside and outside faces of the sphere by default. You
can change the image on either of the two faces. For information on changing the
images on the face of a shape, see “Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces” on page 48.

Using the Light Tab with the Sphere

One important difference between the Sphere (and Cylinder) lighting and the lighting of
the other shapes is that the Sphere and Cylinder have no Camera controls. The viewer's
height is determined by the Perspective setting, and there are no user controls for the
viewer's X and Y axes.
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Using the Crop Tab with the Sphere

The cropped image of a sphere will be wrapped, tiled, or fit on the front of the sphere,
depending on the Wrap setting. Some very interesting effects can be created by varying
the crop settings and using the tile setting, which tiles the cropped area over and over.
Source Crop Preview Tiled on a Sphere
The Sphere Tab

The Sphere Tab contains parameters that are specific to controlling the sphere
attributes.
Perspective
Perspective determines the height of the viewer above the surface of the sphere. The
maximum perspective value of 100 puts the viewer far away from the sphere (essentially
at infinity), and the minimum value of 1 places the viewer just above the surface,
increasing the apparent size of the sphere and emphasizing the section of the sphere
that is directly in front of the viewer.
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Wrap %
Wrap % controls the percentage of the sphere that the image is wrapped around. A
percentage of 100 wraps the image completely around the sphere. As the percentage is
reduced, four things happen to the physical model:
• The radius of the sphere gets larger.
• The image is mapped onto a smaller and smaller sector of the sphere.
• The viewer's eye moves further away from the sphere.
• The aspect ratio is adjusted toward the original aspect ratio of the source.
The effect is a gradual flattening of the shape as percentage is reduced. A Percentage of
0 with the other parameters at their default values will give you an undistorted, or flat,
image.
Sphere of Video wrapped 45%
You can animate the “rolling up” of the image onto a sphere by setting a Wrap % value
of 0 at the start of the effect, and a Wrap % value of 100 at the end. You can also create
some very interesting partially wrapped spheres by setting Percentage to an
intermediate value and rotating the sphere.
The Wrap % control is designed to allow you to animate from an undistorted source to a
front-facing image fully wrapped onto a sphere or cylinder. If you rotate the Sphere with
percentage set to a low value, the source may be rotated out of the rendered area.
Animating percentage with Wrap set to One Way or Back/Forth may result in unwanted
seams in the image.
Front Opacity
The Front Opacity parameter controls the opacity of the front of the sphere. Use this
parameter to show the back of the sphere through a partly transparent front.
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Wrap pop-up menu

The main function of the Wrap pop-up menu is to control the horizontal wrapping of
the source image around the sphere. Because of the symmetry of the sphere, it is
necessary to stretch or shrink the aspect ratio of a 4:3 source image to map it onto the
sphere. Wrap has five
choices:
• Around–stretches the source horizontally so that it wraps completely around the
sphere
• One Way–puts a copy of the source on the back of the sphere
• Back/Forth–puts a mirrored copy of the source on the back which will make a less
visible seam when the sphere is rotated
• Front–leaves the back of the sphere transparent
• Tile–creates a tiled effect when Wrap % is less than 100
Tiles will not usually fit evenly on the sphere for most Percentage settings, so rotating the
tiled sphere may show some unwanted edges.
Wrap Examples:
Around One Way Back/Forth
Front Tile
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Cylinder Shape
The Cylinder shape maps 2D images onto a 3D cylinder. It has a hollow core, and the
outside and inside can have the same or differing images. The Cylinder distorts media
around curves and takes on the natural characteristics of curved shapes with accurate
light reflection and drop shadows.
One image is mapped onto the inside and outside faces of the Cylinder by default. You
can change the image on either of the two faces. For information on changing the
images on the face of a shape, see “Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces” on page 48.

Using the Position Tab with the Cylinder

When the Cylinder is used, the Scale X % and Scale Y % affect the mapping of the image
along the axis of the cylinder. Scale Y % scales the rendered image along the axis of the
cylinder., while Scale X % scales the radial dimension of the cylinder.
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Using the Light Tab with the Cylinder

One important difference between the Cylinder (and Sphere) lighting and the lighting of
the other shapes is that the Cylinder and Sphere have no Camera controls. The viewer's
height is determined by the Perspective setting, and there are no user controls for the
viewer's X and Y axes.
The Cylinder Tab

The Sphere Tab contains parameters that are specific to controlling the sphere
attributes.
Cylinder Tab
The Cylinder Tab contains parameters that are specific to controlling the Cylinder
attributes. All the other tabs present for the Cylinder work the same as they do on other
shapes.
Perspective
Perspective determines the height of the viewer above the surface of the cylinder. The
default perspective maximum value of 100 puts the viewer far away from the cylinder
(essentially at infinity), and the minimum value of 1 places the viewer just above the
surface, increasing the apparent size of the cylinder and emphasizing the section of the
cylinder that is directly in front of the viewer.
Wrap %
Wrap % controls the percentage of the cylinder that the image is wrapped around. A
percentage of 100 wraps the image completely around the cylinder. As the percentage
is reduced, four things happen to the physical model:
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• The radius of the cylinder gets larger

• The image is mapped on a smaller and smaller sector of the cylinder
• The viewer's eye moves further away from the cylinder
• The aspect ratio is adjusted toward the original aspect ratio of the source.
The effect is a gradual flattening of the shape as percentage is reduced. A Percentage of
0 with the other parameters at their default values will give you an undistorted, or flat,
image.
You can animate the rolling up of the image onto a cylinder by setting a Wrap % value
of 0 at the start of the effect, and a Wrap % value of 100 at the end. You can also create
some very interesting partially wrapped cylinders by setting Percentage to an
intermediate value and rotating the cylinder.
The Wrap % control is designed to allow you to animate from an undistorted source to
a fully wrapped cylinder. If you rotate the Cylinder with Wrap % set to a low value, the
source may be rotated out of the rendered area. Animating Wrap % with Wrap set to One
Way or Back/Forth may result in unwanted seams in the image.
Front Opacity
The Front Opacity parameter controls the opacity of the front of the cylinder. Use this
parameter to show the back of the sphere through a partly transparent front.
Axial Displace
Axial Displace slides the mapped image along the Cylinder axis.
Wrap Pop-up
The main function of the Wrap pop-up is to control the horizontal wrapping of the
source image around the cylinder. Because of the cylinder's symmetry, it is necessary to
stretch or shrink the aspect ratio of a 4:3 source image to map it onto the cylinder. Wrap
has four choices:
• Around–stretches the source horizontally so that it wraps completely around the
cylinder
• One Way–puts a copy of the source on the back of the cylinder
• Back/Forth–puts a mirrored copy of the source on the back which will make a less
visible seam when the cylinder is rotated
• Front–leaves the back of the cylinder transparent
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Page Turn Shape

The Page Turn shape creates the effect of an image pulled up like a page from a book.
You can vary the way the page turn peels away by changing the corner or side from
which it originates, changing the transparency of the flap or widening the amount of
flap pulled up from the page. The Page Turn distorts media around curves and takes on
the natural characteristics of curved shapes with accurate light reflection and drop
shadows.
One image is mapped onto the two sides of the page turn by default. You can change
the image on either of the two faces. For information on changing the images on the
face of a shape, see “Track Shapes With Multiple Surfaces” on page 48.
The Page Turn Tab

The Page Turn Tab contains parameters that are specific to controlling the Page Turn
attributes. All the other tabs present for the Page Turn work the same as they do on
other shapes.
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Radius
Radius lets you select how much curve the flap will have. A zero setting will give you a
Flat page turn; similar to a dog-eared corner of a book. Higher settings will give you a
rounder page turn.
Offset
Offset controls the percentage that the page has turned. Selecting 0 represents no page
turn. Selecting 100 represents a full page turn. Use this parameter to animate the page
turn.
The Offset and Radius parameters are dependent on each other. With a larger Radius,
there will be a delay in the page turn start. To compensate for this increase the Offset to
a value greater than zero at the starting keyframe of the effect.
Flap Transparency
This control lets you set the transparency for the overlapping flap. If you want to set a
transparency for the entire track, use the Opacity control under the Position tab.
Direction
This control lets you change the direction of the page turn. The number of degrees you
select in the direction box determines the crease angle of the page turn and this will also
affect the direction of the turn. Using a 0 value in the degrees box will cause the page to
turn straight across from right to left. A value of 90 will cause the page to straight up
from bottom to top. The default setting is to 45 degrees. The image below shows a page
turn direction of -45 degrees.
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The Position Tab

The Position Tab, the left-most of the tabs in the Controls window, allows you control
the following parameters: Position, Trails, Opacity, Scale, Tumble, Spin, and Rotate.
Positioning Images
Positions X, Y, and Z allow you to change the horizontal and vertical location, and depth
of an image.
Positioning an Image Using Sliders

Images can be positioned by moving the sliders. When the sliders are moved, the
numerical values are updated in the edit boxes.
Slider
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Positioning an Image Using Numerical Values

Images can also be positioned by entering numerical values in the edit boxes. These
numbers are scaled to the frame size of the project you’re working in.
Edit box
Changing Position X and Position Y

If your project resolution is 640 x 480, the screen values are assigned in the following
manner:
0, 0 640, 0
0, 480 640, 480
The upper-left corner of the screen is pixel position (0,0) meaning that the X and Y
positions are both 0. The lower-right corner is position (640, 480).
For PAL, the coordinates are as follows: Upper left (0,0); Upper right (768, 0); Lower left
(0, 576); Lower right (768, 576).
The default position with the image centered is (320, 240) for NTSC and (384, 288) for
PAL.
Certain effects may require that you move the image off the screen entirely. For that
reason, Boris FX allows you to enter values between -64000 and +64000 for the X value,
and -48000 and +48000 for the Y value.
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Some host applications will work at a different native aspect ratio. Check your host
application’s documentation.
Position Point
To change Position X and Position Y simultaneously, drag the Position Point in the center
of the image in the Composite window to re-position it. To drag outside the limits of the
frame, continue dragging. The image will follow.
If the Position Point does not appear in the Preview window, select Position Point from
the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window.
Position Point
Select Position Point to display
When the Position X and/or Position Y of an image is moved during an effect, a motion
path is created which can be view in the Preview window. See “Using Motion Paths” on
page 58.
Centering an Image
An image can be positioned in the center of the screen by pressing the Centering button,
located to the right of the Position buttons.
Centering icon
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Controlling Distance with Position Z

Position Z controls the position of an image along the Z-axis (see illustration). The text
box measures the distance in pixels. For example, a distance of 1000 puts the image
1000 pixels away in distance.
The three dimensions in Boris FX
The Sphere and Cylinder do not have a Position Z setting.
Trails
The Trails control creates a motion trail, which appears as a series of residual images
trailing behind the image. You can only see a trail if the image moves.
The residual images behind the main image descend in values of opacity as the trail
layer moves back. Depending on the rate of speed at which your image moves across the
frame, trail layers can be closer together or farther apart.
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Controlling Scale
The Scale X and Scale Y controls allows you to change the size of your images from 0 to
300% of their original size. Images can be scaled by moving the sliders, or by entering
numerical values in the edit boxes.
Using the Scale Lock Control

The default setting for Scale locks the X and Y dimensions together. This means that any
changes in Scale X or Scale Y will also adjust the other Scale setting.
To change the Scale X and Scale Y dimensions independently,click the Scale Lock control.
The icon changes to unlocked.
This control can be used to squeeze images vertically or horizontally.

When you unlock the Scale Lock, Y assumes the value of the X parameter. Clicking the
lock again re-locks X and Y, and removes the Scale Y parameter.
Controlling Opacity
The Opacity control changes the overall opacity of an image. It allows you to fade images
in and out during an effect.
Opacity is measured as a percentage. A 0% setting makes a frame transparent, while

100% makes the image completely opaque.
If you lower the Opacity in one track while raising it in another, you can create a cross
fade (dissolve) between the two tracks.
The Opacity control can be used to make fades or dissolves that change in stages. For
example, an image might dissolve from 0% to 40% opacity, hold for 2 seconds at 40%,
and then change to 100% opacity.
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This parameter acts as a “master” control for similar parameters in borders and shadows
discussed later.
Tumble
Tumble changes perspective along the image’s X axis. Positive values cause the top of
the image to tumble toward the viewer and the bottom of the image to tumble away
from the viewer.
Negative values cause the image to tumble in the opposite direction. If the tumble value
is between 91° and -90°, the image appears upside down.
X-Axis
Spin
Spin changes the image’s perspective along the Y axis. Positive values cause the left side
of the image to spin away from the viewer and the right side of the image to spin toward
the viewer.
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Negative values cause the image to spin in the opposite direction. If the spin value is
between 91° and -91°, the image appears backwards as if reflected against a mirror.
Y-Axis
Note: Spins or Tumbles that are set at 90° or -90° appear invisible, because the image is
turned on its edge. It may be helpful to move the time indicator off the currently selected
keyframe to see how it plays back over time.
Rotate
Rotate turns the image around the Z axis. Positive values cause the image to rotate
clockwise; negative values in either text box cause the image to rotate counterclockwise.
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Rotate
If the Rotate value is between 90° and -90°, the image appears upside down.
The Pivot Tab

The Pivot controls allow you to position the point in space that acts as a center of
rotation for the image.
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Pivot Pop-up Menu

The Pivot Pop-up menu allows you to choose from two choices: Anchor To Position and
Anchor Independent.
Anchor To Position
This selection locks the pivot point to the center of an image (or shape). When working
with a cube shape, the pivot point adjusts in Z axis to place the pivot at the center of the
cube’s depth.
Anchor Independent
This is used to create an orbital rotation where rotation center and image center do not
coincide. Choosing Independent lets you change the Pivot point on a keyframe. The
Pivot X, Y, Z controls allow you to move the pivot point along the X, Y, and Z axes.
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Moving the Pivot Point

Drag the centering icon in the Preview window to position the pivot point. Similarly, you
can move the pivot point by entering numerical values in the boxes next to the Pivot X,
Pivot Y, and Pivot Z controls.
Pivot Point
Centering Pivot
To position the Pivot Point Pivot in the center of the screen click Centering button to the
right of the Pivot buttons.
Centering icon
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The Light Tab

Boris FX employs three types of light. The light can be used on any media type and its
properties can be animated over time.
Lighting effects can be very expensive in terms of rendering time. Use them sparingly!
Lighting an image which has an alpha channel will cause the light to reflect only within the
visible area. This can be helpful when creating title “light sweep” effects which can produce
dramatic titles.
Ambient Light
Use ambient light if the object emits light (glows) by itself without an external light
source. In this case, changing the light position will not affect the picture. Use ambient
light to lighten up dark images or to obtain a flashing effect. The Ambient light default
value is 100 (no effect).
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Light Position Controls

Light Position controls allow you to change the position of the light source in space.
Light X and Y Position

Light X and Y work the same way as the other position controls.
Light Z Position
Light Z controls the distance from the light source to the object or image. The lower the
value in Light Z, the closer the source. This allows you to focus the light, or to spread it
out over a larger area.
Light position affects Specular and Diffuse light, while light position does not affect
Ambient Light.
Specular Light
Specular is the most interesting light effect. This light simulates the look of a shiny
surface lit by a directed light source. The Phong method is used for rendering. Both light
position and camera position will affect the reflection.
Specular Light
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Color Picker
Use the Color Picker to change the color of the light source. This control only applies to
Specular light.
Falloff
Higher Values produce a more “focused” light spot. This control only applies to Specular
light.
Diffuse Light
Using Diffuse light, the object is lit from a light source and light is reflected evenly in all
directions. This simulates the appearance of a dull or porous surface (such as chalk). You
can use diffuse light on 3D shapes to attenuate faces of the cube. Light position will
affect the picture.
Diffuse Light
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The Shadow Tab

The Shadow Tab allows you to create drop shadows for your images. This technique is
often used to create more realistic, better looking picture-in-picture-style effects.
The Shadow controls give you the ability to vary the parameters of Distance, Intensity,
Softness, Angle, and Color for your drop shadows.
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Distance
Distance controls, the distance between the drop shadow and the main image.
This is the first parameter you set when working with drop shadows. If the distance value
is 0, then no drop shadow appears, regardless of the other settings. Distance values
range from 0 to 150 pixels.
Intensity
The Drop Shadow Intensity parameter controls the percentage of opacity of the drop
shadow.
A setting of 100% displays a completely opaque drop shadow. The lower the opacity, the
more you see through the drop shadow to the image(s) behind. If Intensity is set to 0%,
the drop shadow does not appear at all.
Softness
The Drop Shadow Softness parameter allows you to control the softness of the shadow.
Adjustments may be necessary depending on the distance of the shadow.
Angle
The Angle control determines the direction of the drop shadow. A setting of 0° places
the drop shadow to the right of the image; a setting of 90° places it directly below the
image.
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Revolutions and Degrees

The Revolution and Degree controls works similarly to the 3D Tumble, Spin, and Rotate
controls. Entering a number in the Revs box controls how many times the drop shadow
revolves around the image center.
Color
The Color control allows you to choose color for the drop shadow, using the color picker
or eye dropper.
The Camera Tab

The Camera Tab is designed to accommodate features associated with the camera
viewing angle
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The Camera Tool is most effective with images that are employing the Boris FX 3D
distortion tools, such as Tumble, Spin and Rotate, or Video Cubes and slabs. Experiment
with the Camera Tool to see how images are affected by this unique perspective tool.
Camera Position Tools

Camera (viewer) position is given by the coordinates of a point in 3D space.
Changing the camera position parameters will create camera motion effects.
Unmodified images are not affected by changing camera position, because that position
coincides with the projection plane. You start to see the effect of camera movement on
images that are turned in 3D.
Camera X and Y Position

Camera X changes the camera position based on the X, or horizontal axis. Camera Y
changes the camera position based on the Y, or vertical axis. Turn on both parameters
to move the Camera Position on both axes.
Camera Z Position
Camera Z changes the camera position based on the Z axis. The higher the Z value, the
further the camera position is from the image. The lower the value, the closer the
position.
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The Crop Tab

Boris FX enables you to crop frames of video or graphics. Any media track can be
cropped to cut out poor quality or unwanted parts of the image or to create special
effects such as source wipes.
Amount
Use the Left, Top, Right, and Bottom controls to adjust the amount of the image that is
cropped.
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Softness
Softness controls allow you to create a gradient blur along the edges of an image. For
example, use Softness controls to feather image edges in Picture-in-Picture effects.
Square Style
Checking this box turns off rounded blending on the corners.
Lock icon
Both the Amount and Softness controls have a lock icon which toggles between the
locked and unlocked modes. When locked, all four parameters are synchronized. When
the unlocked, each parameter can be changed individually.
Unlocked Locked
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The Mask Tab

The Mask tab allows the user to create a rectangular mask from the media on a track.
The mask can have an optional gradient blend at the edges. The shape and amount of
blending are keyframeable so that they can vary over time.
The masks you create with the Mask tab are “downstream” masks, which means that when
the mask is moved the image under the mask remains stationary. This is know as a
downstream mask. Use the Mask Track feature in the Timeline to create both upstream and
downstream masks. For more information, see “Masks” on page 63.
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Distance
Distance controls the amount of masking on all four sides of the frame.
Invert Mask
Invert Mask inverts the masked area.
Blend
The blend controls dissolve or blend the edges of the mask.
Round Style
Checking the Round Style check box creates rounded corners rather than 90° angles on
the corners of a blend. When Blend is at 0 this has no effect.
Lock icon
Both the Distance and Blend controls have a lock icon which toggles between the locked
and unlocked modes. When locked, all four parameters are synchronized. When the
unlocked, each parameter can be changed individually.
Unlocked Locked
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Creating a Wipe with the Mask tab

To create a wipe, first set the position of the image, then open the Mask Tool (click the
Mask button) to set masking parameters. To wipe from left to right, set the Left
parameter to zero in the first keyframe of the track and to your screen width for the last
keyframe.
For soft wipes you can set the Left blend control to a value and hold it for the duration
of the effect. If the amount of blend is significant, you may want to introduce it
gradually over several frames in the beginning of the effect, then hold it for most of the
time and bring it back to zero at the end. This method requires two additional
keyframes near the beginning and end of the track.
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Chapter 4
Boris FX Filters
Using Video Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
PixelChooser™ Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Blur Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Color Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Distortion Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Keying Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Noise Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Particle Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
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Using Video Filters

Video Filters can be applied to a face of a shape, an entire shape, and even an entire
effect. You can also combine two ro more filters to achieve your desired effect.
You add filters by nesting filter tracks in the Timeline. When you select a filter track in
the Timeline, the relevant controls appear in the Controls window. For information on
how to apply filters in the Timeline, see “Adding Filters” on page 52.
PixelChooser™ Tab
All of the Color, Noise, and Blur filters, as well as the Make Alpha Key filter (discussed
later), have a PixelChooser tab. This tab allows you to select the pixels that will be
processed by the filter, and to create a blend region in which the filtered pixels are mixed
with the unfiltered pixels.
When you first go to the PixelChooser tab, you will see just one control, the Choose By
pop-up menu. The default setting, All, passes all of the pixels to the filter for processing,
and requires no other controls. The other settings of this pop-up are: Luma, Red, Green,
Blue, Alpha, Saturation, Hue, Lightness, RGB Difference, Point, Rectangle, Edge, and
Angle.
PixelChooser Pop-up
If the PixelChooser pop-up is set to Luminance, Red, Green, Blue, Alpha, Hue,
Saturation, Lightness, or RGB Difference, the From, To and Blend sliders and the Reverse
Range check box will be activated. The From and To sliders specify the range of values
for which the pixels are to be filtered. If the Reverse Range check box is off, only pixels
with values in this range will be filtered. If the Reverse Range checkbox is on, only pixels
outside this range will be filtered. Note that the range controls for Choose By Hue are
rotary, representing the position of colors around the color wheel. Also note the
additional color picker controls for Choose By RGB Difference. The pixels are filtered
based on the sum of the differences between the RGB values of the pixel and the values
of the color picker
Blend
If Blend is set to a value greater than 0, pixels near the edge of the range will be partly
filtered. The filtered pixels will be blended with the unfiltered pixels in the output
image. Larger Blend values produce a smoother transition between filtered and
unfiltered pixels.
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In the image produced with the settings file “Invert based on Luma,” the From value is
0, To is 100, Blend is 40, and the Reverse Range check box is off. This shows an image in
which pixels with Luma values from 0 to 100 are unchanged, pixels with Luma values
between 100 and 140 are partially inverted, and pixels with Luma values greater than
140 are completely inverted. The resulting effect is one of the many variations on
solarization that can be achieved with Invert/Solarize and the PixelChooser.
Note that if you are choosing pixels based on a color channel, and have set Blend to a
low value, you can get sharp discontinuities between the filtered and unfiltered parts of
the image. This can give the image a noisy or disordered appearance, particularly if you
are choosing by Hue or Saturation. Hue or Saturation can vary wildly from point to
point, particularly in the less saturated parts of an image.
Point, Rectangle, Edge and Angle

The remaining Choose By options select pixels based on their location in the image
rather than the values of their color or alpha channels. The PixelChooser tab contains a
Point control in addition to the From, To, and Blend sliders. This allows you to choose
pixels based on their distance to a particular point (in this case the center of the image).
The filter controls have been set to boost contrast and brightness. Thus, the filtered
image has a spot in the center of the image that is brighter and more contrasty than the
rest of the image.
The panel also contains a Stretch slider. For the default setting of 0 the region selected
by the PixelChooser is circular. Positive values stretch the circle into a horizontal oval,
and negative values stretch it into a vertical oval.
Rectangle has the same set of controls as Point. The only difference between Rectangle
and Point is that the region selected is square or rectangular, instead of circular or oval.
Choose By Edge selects pixels based on their distance to any edge of the image, using
only the From, To, and Blend sliders. Choose By Angle has a Point control, and rotary
sliders for From and To. It chooses pixels based on the angle that a line from the pixel
to the Point control makes with the horizontal. You can create clock wipe effects by
animating the angle controls.
Blur Filters
Boris FX offers four blur filters: Blur, Gaussian Blur, Directional Blur, and Unsharp Mask.
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Blur Filter
The blur filter creates an effect similar to that obtained by deliberately shooting an
image out of focus, or with a strong diffusion filter on the camera.
Original Blurred
The controls in the Blur Tab are Direction, Mix with Original, and Channels.
Direction controls the intensity of the blur, and separate values can be set for Horizontal
and Vertical blur. The default setting locks these values to Horizontal, meaning that the
Vertical setting automatically uses the Horizontal blur value, thus preserving the one-to-
one ratio between the two. Unlock these settings by clicking on the lock icon to the left
of the Horizontal slider.
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Mix with Original blends some of the source image with the blurred image. Animating
Level can cause the blurring to jump from one frame to the next. You can avoid this
problem this by animating Mix with Original instead.
Use the Channels pop-up to choose which channels the filter affects. The choices are
RGBA, RGB, Alpha, Red, Green, Blue, Red/Green, Red/Blue, Green/Blue and Difference.
The Blur Filter also has a PixelChooser tab, which is explained in detail in the above
section, “PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110. The “Blur Outside” settings file on your Boris
FX CD-Rom illustrates the use of Blur with the PixelChooser to blur the outside of an
image while leaving the center sharp.
IThis filter also blurs the alpha channel of the image. Use it to dissolve the edges of titles
and logos.
Directional Blur Filter

A Directional Blur emulates the look achieved by photographing a quickly moving
object at a slow shutter speed by blurring the image along a vector to create a feeling of
movement.
Original Directional Blur

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Directional Blur Tab
Since this filter blurs and/or displaces the image in a single direction, this tab includes
Amount and Direction controls instead of the Horizontal and Vertical controls used with
the Basic and Gaussian blurs.
A Displace Image checkbox also appears in this tab. If this checkbox is off, the image
blurs in the selected direction, but does not appear displaced. The effect will be the
same if the direction is reversed. For example, choosing either 0 degrees or 180 degrees
produces the same output.
If the Displace Image checkbox is on, the image is displaced in the direction of the blur.
A direction of 0 displaces the image displaced to the right, and a direction of 180
displaces the image to the left.
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Advanced Tab
This tab contains the Apply Mode pop-up, and Apply Mix and Spread sliders. The Apply
Modes allow you to composite the blurred image over the source in various ways, as
described in the Noise Filters section under “Spray Paint Noise Filter” on page 183. Apply
Mix controls the mix of the composited image with the uncomposited blurred image. If
Apply Mode is set to Normal, Apply Mix has no effect. If Apply Mix is 0, Apply Mode also
has no effect.
The Multi Vision control breaks the blurred image into multiple images. Increasing the
control decreases the number of images and makes each more distinct. Directional Blur
renders faster as Multi Vision is increased. Directional Blur in Draft mode always renders
with a small value of Multi Vision.
Gaussian Blur Filter

The Gaussian Blur filter implements a popular blur algorithm which produces smoother
blurs, but takes more time to render than the Basic Blur. A Gaussian Blur filter blurs an
image by the amount set by the Blur Level controls. “Gaussian” refers to the bell-shaped
curve that is created when a weighted average is applied to the pixels. This filter adds
low-frequency detail to an image to produce a hazy appearance. Enter a Blur Level value
from 0 to 200. The higher the value the stronger the blurring effect appears.
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Original Gaussian Blur
Gaussian Blur Tab
This tab offers the same parameters as the Blur tab in theBasic Blur (described above on
page 112), with one addition. The Blur Quality pop-up lets you choose Low, Medium or
High settings. Low produces a blur that is similar to that in the Basic Blur; Medium and
High produce smoother blurs. High is rendered as medium in draft mode.
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Advanced Tab
This tab contains the Apply Mode pop-up, and Apply Mix and Spread sliders. The Apply
modes allow you to composite the blurred image over the source, as described in the
Noise Filters section under “Spray Paint Noise Filter” on page 183. Apply Mix controls the
mix of the composited image with the uncomposited blurred image. If Apply Mode is
set to Normal, Apply Mix has no effect. If Apply Mix is 0, Apply Mode also has no effect.
Increasing the Spread control modifies the blur computation to give more weight to
points away from the center and less weight to points close to the center. At higher
values, the image appears as it would if the viewer has multiple vision.
Unsharp Mask Filter

The Unsharp Mask provides a classic image-sharpening technique similar to that used
to sharpen film images. The source image is blurred, and the blurred image is then
subtracted from the source. The result is a sharper image with greater contrast. The
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Unsharp Mask sharpens areas in an image with significant color changes by adjusting
the contrast of edge details to create the illusion of image sharpness. This filter is useful
for refocusing an image that appears blurry due to interpolation or scanning.
Original Unsharp Mask
Unsharp Mask Tab
Radius controls the radius of the blur. You can enter values from 0 to 200 to specify the
range of pixels that are affected at the edges. Increasing the Radius of the blur intensifies
the sharpening effects. Extreme settings can create artificial halos around image details.
Amount controls the amount of the effect to apply. You can enter values from 0 to 200.
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Threshold lets you set a level between 0 and 255 which reduces the change in each pixel
by a set amount. Pixels whose value would change by less than the threshold are not
changed at all.
Color Filters
Boris FX Color Filters allow you to adjust and correct basic image properties such as
brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and color balance, and to create color effects such
as Tint, Tritone, Invert and Solarize. The program also has a Make Alpha filter that
generates an alpha channel from the color channel information. All of these filters have
an additional tab, The PixelChooser, which gives you many additional creative options
and more control over the filter’s application.
Color Spaces and Color Channels

Video and computer equipment represent each color to be displayed by three color
channels. The color displayed at each point, or pixel, is determined by the values of the
channels at that point.
Video equipment uses the YCC color space, which contains one channel (Y), which
determines the luminance or brightness of the point, and two color channels (R-Y, B-Y),
which determine the color of the point.
Boris FX uses the RGB color space. In RGB, the color of each point is represented by three
numbers, R, G, and B. whose values are between 0 and 255. R, G, and B determine the
amount of Red, Green, and Blue light present at each point.
The Boris FX color space also has an Alpha Channel. The alpha channel controls the
opacity of the image when it is composited over another image. Portions of the image
with an alpha of 0 will be completely transparent when composited over another image
in the rendered effect, although they will show up in the Filter preview. Portions of the
image with an alpha of 255 will be completely opaque, and portions with an alpha
between 0 and 255 will be partly transparent.
The Hue/Saturation/Lightness filter uses a third color space, HSL, in which the color of
each point is represented by its hue, its saturation (or color intensity), and its lightness.
Hue and saturation are often represented by a color wheel, with the hue going from Red
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through Magenta, Blue, Cyan, Green, Yellow, and back to Red as you go around the
wheel, and the color becoming more saturated as you move from the center to the edge
of the wheel.
Using the Color Filters

The diagram below shows the structure of the Color Effect Filters.
Because these filters process each pixel of the image independently, we sometimes refer
to them as “Pixel Filters.” Each filter has a PixelChooser, which allows you to select the
pixels that will be processed by the filter, and a set of Filter Controls which determine
what the filter will do to each pixel. Many of the filters also have a Channels pop-up,
which lets you select the channels that will be affected by the filter.
Each color filter has two tabs. The tab with the filter name has the Filter Controls and
Output pop-up. The PixelChooser tab has the PixelChooser settings. Basic color
correction and tint operations can be done with just the Filter Controls. The
PixelChooser tab and the Channels pop-up give you a modular structure with flexibility
and extra creative options.
Each of the color filters has a Mix with Original control, which blends the output of the
filter with the original image. This can be used to animate a transition between the
unfiltered and filtered images, or to scale down an effect without changing other
parameters.
The Show Mask button allows you to view the mask or alpha channel that is applied to
the image. This is very helpful when using the Make Alpha filter, or when using one of
the other filters to modify the alpha channel of the image.
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Brightness/Contrast Filter
The Brightness/Contrast filter adjusts the brightness and contrast of the image. Media
100 users should note that the Boris FX Brightness/Contrast filter allows more extreme
settings than the filter included in Media 100. In addition, like every other parameter in
Boris FX, Brightness/Contrast can be animated using keyframes. You can vary the
amount of Brightness/Contrast over time in order to use as a transition.
Brightness Contrast Tab
Mix with Original blends the output of the filter with the original image. This can be used
to animate a transition between the unfiltered and filtered images, or to scale down an
effect without changing other parameters.
The Channels pop-up menu lets you choose the channels on which the filter will
operate. The choices include various combinations of Red, Green and/or Blue,
Difference and Alpha.
The default setting is RGB, which is suitable for most applications. You can adjust
different combinations of Red, Green or Blue while leaving the other channels
untouched.
Difference produces the channel-by-channel difference between the filtered and the
unfiltered image. Users of Adobe Photoshop may be familiar with the difference mode
layer and fade options. Difference mode is a useful way to give an image unexpected
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and interesting colors. The Brightness/Contrast filter will produce a black image if
Difference is selected and the default settings are used, because the difference between
an image and itself is simply black.
Alpha adjusts the Brightness/Contrast of the alpha channel, without changing any of the
color channels.
Color Balance Filter
Color Balance Tab
This filter lets you independently adjust the color balance for the red, green, and blue
channels using the Red, Green and Blue sliders.
The Mode pop-up controls the independent color channels (RGB) levels. This control has
three settings: Positive, Negative and Linear.
Positive and Negative simulate the effect of changing filtration and exposure on a
camera that is making a positive or negative image.
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Positive pins the 0 value for each channel, and scales the rest of the values up or down,
clipping the top value at 255. Negative pins the 255 value for each channel, and scales
the difference between 255 and the pixel value up or down. Use Positive if you want to
adjust the color balance while keeping blacks black, and Negative if you want to keep
whites white.
Linear simply adds or subtracts the values of the slider to the channel values for each
pixel.
As with other color filters, Color Balance contains a Mix with Original parameter. In this
filter, this parameter is particularly useful for making overall adjustments while
preserving the relationship between the Red, Green, and Blue values you have already
selected, and for easily animating all these channels together.
Color Correction Filter

The Color Correction filter contains all of the basic controls for correcting problems with
video footage. These are the same controls that are found on a good Time Base Corrector
or Processing Amp.
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Color Correction Tab
The Brightness and Contrast controls adjust the brightness and contrast of the image.
The Hue control rotates the image hue around the color wheel, and the Saturation
control increases or decreases color intensity.
Video that appears washed out can usually be improved by boosting Contrast and
Saturation, and adjusting Brightness to get the best overall light level. Flesh tones that
are too red or too yellow can often be improved by setting Hue to a small positive or
negative value. The Hue setting is very sensitive, and often only small adjustments (10
dgrees or less) are sufficient to correct color, so you may want to enter a number in the
text box rather than dragging the angle control.
The Output Black parameter adjusts the luminance level of black pixels. Increasing
Output Black from its default of 0 makes black pixels brighter, and “squeezes” the RGB
color space toward white. This parameter is often called “Pedestal” or “Setup” on video
equipment.
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Output White adjusts the luminance level of white piexels. Decreasing Output White
from its default of 255 makes white piexels darker, and “squeezes” the RGB color space
toward black. THis parameter is often called Gain on video equipment.
The Output controls are primarily used to keep the white and black levels within the
range expected by video equipment and legal for broadcast. If you acquired video from
a source with “hot” video levels, or are working with graphics that include pure white or
pure black, you can use these controls to cool off the image.
If you switch between Color Correction and a filter such as Brightness/Contrast that have
some of the same controls, settings that are common to the two filters will retain their
values.
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Filter
The Hue/Saturation/Lightness filter adjusts the color of each pixel in the HSL color space.
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Tab
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The Hue control rotates the colors around the color wheel. You can use small changes
in Hue to adjust the color balance of an image. For example, a small negative change
in Hue will make flesh tones appear slightly warmer, and a small positive change will
make them appear slightly cooler.
The Saturation control adjusts the color intensity of each pixel, and the Lightness control
adjusts the lightness.
Radical changes to the appearance of the image can be achieved by making large
changes to Hue and Saturation. Note that large increases in Saturation and large
changes to Hue can bring out artifacts caused by compression and video noise.
Invert/Solarize Filter
The Invert/Solarize filter gives you the ability to invert the color channels of an image,
and create solarizations by using the PixelChooser to selectively invert pixels based on
luminance or a color channel.
Invert/Solarize Tab
The Invert/Solarize filter contains the Mix with Original control, which allows you to
blend the filtered image with the original in order to scale down the effect or to easily
animate the effect without adjusting individual parameters.
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The Channels pop-up chooses the channel(s) to invert. This pop-up allows you to invert
any combination of Red. Green, and Blue channels, the Alpha channel, or the color and
alpha channels together. Inverting RGB creates a classic “color negative” effect;
experimenting with other color channel combinations will yield more unusual effects.
In addition to inverting color and alpha channels, the Luminance, Hue, Saturation, and
Lightness of the image can be inverted. Luminance inverts the luminance of each pixel,
without changing the proportion of red, blue, and green in the pixel. Hue, Saturation,
and Lightness each invert the selected channel in HSL color space. (Inverting Hue “flips”
the color wheel around the red axis.) Luminance and Lightness both change the
brightness of each pixel without changing the color, but the effects of the two can be
quite different.
Solarization
To do a basic color solarize, select Invert RGB, enter the PixelChooser tab, and Choose By
Luminance. Turn on the Reverse Range check box for an effect like a solarized print, or
turn it off for an effect like a solarized negative. Adjust the From, To, and Blend sliders
until you get an effect that you like. To create a black-and-white solarization, add a Tint
or Tritone filter before applying the Invert/Solarize filter.
More complex variations on color solarizations can be created by setting Choose By to
one or two of the color channels, or by selecting Luminance or Lightness in the Channels
pop-up. There are no firm guidelines here; experiment with the settings until you
achieve a visual effect that complements your source material and emotional message.
Levels/Gamma Filter
The Levels/Gamma filter gives you control over the mapping of colors from the source
image to the filtered image. It is particularly useful for adjusting images that do not
contain the full range of color values and images that have a lot of noise in the dark
areas.
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Levels Tab
The Input Black and Input White controls let you set the color levels in the source that
will become black and white in the filtered image. If you have a washed out source, you
can bring up the Input Black setting until the dark areas of the image appear black. If
you have an underexposed source, you can bring down Input White until the light areas
appear white. Shooting in low light often produces images with a lot of noise in the
darker areas. Bringing up Input Black will push these noisy areas to black.
Output Black and Output White control the color levels in the filtered image for source
pixels darker than Input Black and lighter than Input White. If you do not want the
output to include the full range of color values, you can bring up Output Black and/or
bring down Output White. You may want to do this to avoid NTSC-illegal blacks and
whites.
Gamma controls the slope of the curve used to interpolate pixels whose color values are
between Input Black and Input White. Increasing Gamma from the default of 100
lightens the image and tends to make it less contrasty, and decreasing Gamma darkens
the image and tends to make it more contrasty.
The Channels pop-up specifies the channels on which the filter will operate, as described
in the section “Brightness/Contrast Filter” on page 121.
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MultiTone Filter
The MultiTone filter creates a toned image that uses up to five independent colors. You
can use the PixelChooser to increase the flexibility of the MultiTone filter by selecting the
pixels to process and outputting other pixels unaltered. Images with large gray areas and
areas or edges with strong blacks and whites are ideal for MultiToning. You can also
create a blend between the processed and unaltered pixels. For more information on
the PixelChooser, see “PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
Choose Color Tab
The Choose Color tab lets you assign the colors to the five different levels of the Input
Channel. The choices are Black, White, Color 1, Color 2, and Color 3. You can use the
color swatch or eyedropper to set the color parameters.
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Apply Colors Tab
The Apply Colors tab lets you choose the output source for the five different levels of the
Input Channel. You can use the color selected in the Choose Color tab, use the original
source color, or (except for Black and White) turn the color off.
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Settings Tab
The Settings tab contains the Mix with Original control which lets you blend the filtered
image with the original taken directly from each source. Color 1 Level, Color 2 Level and
Color 3 Level modify the mapping of the input channel to the five output colors. At the
default settings, pixels with channel values 64, 128 and 192 will be output as colors 1, 2
and 3. Increasing a Color Lvl moves the channel value that is mapped to the color toward
white; decreasing a level moves the value mapped to the color toward black. You can
experiment with these settings to adjust the appearance of the effect.
PixelChooser Tab
The PixelChooser provides the same controls as it does for the color filters. For more
information, see “PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
Posterize Filter
Posterization is a process which reduces the number of colors in the image. The simplest
way to do a video or computer graphics poster is to reduce the number of different
possible levels for each color channel. The resulting output image has a few distinct
values of red, green, and blue, instead of having each value spread over the full range
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of 0 - 255. The Posterize filter lets you specify the number of levels (brightness values)
for each RGB channel of an image, then moves the color value for each channel to the
closest level.
This is similar to the technique used on hardware video mixers and DVE boxes, and will
produce results that are familiar to users of such boxes. Boris FX Posterize has additional
controls which allow you to soften the output image or to scramble the color map for
wild color effects.
Poster Levels Tab
The Red, Green, and Blue Levels parameters set the number of discrete levels to which
each channel is mapped. Each pixel can have an level ranging from 0 (black) to 255
(white) per channel. For example, a bright red color might have a red value of 255, a
green value of 25 and a blue value of 40. If Red Levels is set to 5, each output pixel is
assigned a red value of 0, 64, 127, 191, or 255, whichever is closer to the original pixel’s
red value.
A Lock icon appears on the Levels parameters. If the lock is on, one slider controls all
three channels. If the lock is off, the individual RGB sliders appear.
The Level Bias setting adds bias to the set discrete levels, and is useful for tweaking the
look of the posterized output. The levels can range from -100 to 100. Positive values
push the levels toward white, and negative values push them toward black.
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The Mix with Original setting mixes the output image with the original source. Use this
to scale down the effect or to easily animate the effect without adjusting individual
parameters.
Scramble Tab
The controls in this tab allow the user to scramble the posterize colors after remapping
The Red, Green, and Blue parameters scramble the output levels for their respective
channel. Each unit of Scramble applied to a channel causes two of the color levels in the
output to be exchanged. This creates unusual effects,as the darker of two colors in the
source becomes the lighter color in the output.
For example, suppose Red Levels is set to 5 and all red values are mapped to 0, 64, 127,
191, or 255, depending on which is closest to each pixel’s original value. Applying a
Scramble level of 1 causes one pair of the output values to be exchanged; the new list
might be 0, 255, 127, 1291, 255. Pixels whose red channel was closest to 64 will now
have a red channel of 255, and piexels whose red channel was closest to 255 will have
a red channel of 64.
Scramble includes a Lock icon. If the lock is on, only one slider appears to control all
three channels. If the lock is off, the individual RGB sliders appear.
The Seed setting controls the value of the random number generator used by Scramble.
Generally, a user sets Scramble and then adjusts this value to achieve the desired effect.
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Shift Channels Filter

The Shift Channels filter simply takes values from a selected input channel to compute
new RGB and Alpha channels for the output image.
Shift Channels Tab
Shift Channels Pop-up

The four choices in the Shift Channels pop-up are labeled Red From, Green From, Blue
From, and Alpha From. They determine the channel in the source image that will be
used for each of the four channels in the filtered image.
The choices for each channel are:
• Red, Green, Blue or Alpha. The values for the selected channel become the value for
the selected output channel. For instance, if Red From is set to Green, every green
value in the input will become the red value for the corresponding pixel in the
output.
• Luminance. The Luminance values replace the selected output channel values. If Red
From is set to Luminance, the darkest regions will have the smallest red values, and
the lightest regions will have the highest red values,
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• Full On or Full Off. Sets the output channel to either Full On (the maximum value of
255) or Full Off (the minimum value of 0). If the Red From is set to Full On, every pixel
in the output image will have a red value of 255.
• Red, Green, Blue, or Luma Inverse. Sets the value of the output channel to the inverse
of the selected input channel. If Red From is set to Luminance Inverse (and the Green
From and Blue From left at their default settings of Green and Blue), the lightest parts
of the image will have the smallest red values and appear cyan, while black regions
become pure red.
• Red, Green, Blue, or Luma Folded. The Folded options create a solarization-like
effect for the channel. Source pixels with channel values from 0 to 127 produce
output pixels with values from 0 to 255, and source pixels with values from 128 to
255 produce output pixels with values from 255 to 0. The color and/or alpha values
in the output image are taken from this values map.
The Channels pop-up specifies the channels that the filter will operate on, as described
in the Channels section in the chapter on Brightness/Contrast on page 121.
The Mix with Original slider blends the filtered image with the original source image,
which can be used to animate a transition between the unfiltered and filtered images,
or to scale down an effect without changing other parameters.
Tint Filter
Tint creates a tinted or duotone image, using only the luminance value of each pixel in
the source. The default settings produce a classic black-and-white effect. You can change
the colors used with the black and white color pickers to produce a tint that maps the
black and white pixels in the source to the colors you select, and the grey tones to colors
that are interpolated between the selected colors.
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Tint Tab
The Channels pop-up specifies the channels that the filter will operate on, as described
in the section on Brightness/Contrast on page 121. The default setting of RGB will be
suitable for most applications.
The Loops slider and the Loop Mode pop-up menu let you modify the “mapping” of
luminance to the selected color range to create unusual effects. The slider value is ten
times the number of loops, so the default value of 10 is a normal Tint.
The Loops slider lets you modify the “mapping” of luminance to the selected color range
to create unusual effects. The default Loops value of 10 produces a normal Tint.
Increasing the Loops value causes the mapping of luminance to loop—as input pixels
go from 0 to 255, the output pixels go from the “Black” color to the “White” color and
back to “Black”. Setting Loops to a value less than 10 produces an image that goes from
black part of the way to white as the source image goes from black to white, thus
darkening the output image.
The Loop Mode pop-up controls the kind of loop. Back/Forth causes the map to go
smoothly from Black to White to Black, while the Jump setting causes the map to go
from Black to White and jump back to Black. Jump creates sharp discontinuities in the
color mapping, which produces extreme-looking effects.
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Try setting Loop Mode to Back/Forth, and Loops to 20. This produces a filtered image
that resembles a solarized black-and-white photograph.
Tritone Filter
Tritone is very similar to Tint, but adds a third color in between the black and white
colors. The Middle color picker selects a color to which the grey pixels will be mapped.
The default settings produce a blue-toned image. Set the Middle color to a medium
yellow to produce an image that looks like a sepia-toned black and white print.
The Midpoint slider value determines the source luminance value that will map to the
Middle color. Pixels darker than the Midpoint slider value will map to colors interpolated
between the black and Midpoint colors, and pixels lighter than the Midpoint map to
colors interpolated between the Midpoint and white colors.
The remaining controls function as their corresponding tools do in Tint.
Distortion Filters
Boris FX offers four Distortion filters: Bulge, Ripple, Wave, and Edge Bevel.
Bulge Filter
The Bulge Filter maps the image on a surface that has been pulled out or pushed in at
a particular point.
Original With Bulge

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Bulge Basics Tab
The Center X and Center Y sliders determine the coordinates of the center of the Bulge,
which can be place anywhere inside or outside the boundary of the source image.
Height controls the apparent height or depth of the bulge. A positive value creates a
bump and negative value creates a depression.
Perspective controls the height of the viewer relative to the top of the bump (if Height
is positive), or the original surface of the image (if Height is negative). The bulge will
become more prominent as Perspective is reduced.
Negative values of Perspective put the viewer below part or all of the distorted image.
This can produce effects that have no physical model in reality, but can be quite
interesting visually.
Radius determines the radius (in pixels) of the bump or depression around the center
point. Points that lie outside the range of the radius are not distorted.
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Taper makes the bulge appear more pointed. A bulge with a Taper of 0 gently slopes
down from the center point to the outside of the bulge, while a bulge with a Taper of
100 has almost all its distortion in the center of the circle.
Original Tapered
Stretch stretches the bulge, producing a non-circular, elongated bulge. Note that
negative values of Stretch will squeeze the bulge, creating more of a ridge-like shape.
Stretch Angle allows you to orient the elongated bulge relative to the horizontal axis by
means of a rotary angle control.
A distortion filter will normally distort the edges of the image, which can cause
unwanted black or transparent areas to appear in the rendered effect. The Pin Mode
pop-up allows you to pin some or all of the edges of the image. “Pinning” an edge causes
the distortion to drop as the pinned edge is approached. Points more than halfway from
the edge to the center are fully distorted, and the distortion drops linearly as the edge
is approached.
Pinning all edges will usually prevent the invasion of black pixels from outside the
image. However even if you pin all edges, extreme distortion settings may give you some
black areas.
Each of these options pins the selected edges to their undistorted location, except for
Center, which pins the center of the image and lets the edges float.
The Antialias pop-up determines the quality of the resampling that is done when
rendering the distorted image. There are three settings, High (the default), Medium, and
Low. The anti-alias setting that is used is affected by the overall Boris FX quality setting.
In draft mode, a setting of High will be rendered as Medium to save time. In high quality
mode, an anti-alias setting of Low will be rendered as Medium.
The default setting of High produce the best rendered output in most cases. Medium will
provide an increase in rendering speed, particularly for extreme distortions, and may
produce better looking results than High in some situations. The Low setting will further
improve rendering speed in draft mode, with much lower image quality.
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Edge Bevel Filter

The Edge Bevel Filter creates the appearance of a beveled edge around the borders of
the image.
Edge Bevel
Bevel Tab
Span controls the thickness of the bevels. If the image is cropped, the bevel starts at the
border of the cropped area.
Angle determines the direction from which the bevel is lit.
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Light determines the strength of the light. Note that setting Light to 0 will cause the filter
to have no effect on the image.
Ripple Filter
Ripple filter simulates ripples spreading out from a center point in a pool of water,
similar to what you see after tossing a pebble into the pool.
Original With Ripple
The Ripple filter works by creating a wave that spreads through the image, starting at
the ripple position points. Each point in each frame of the rendered output is displaced
by an amount proportional to the height of the wave at that point in space for that
frame.
The controls for the Ripple filter are spread over three tabs, Basic, Time/Space, and
Chaos. Many of the most useful ripple effects can be created using only the Basic
controls.
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Ripple Basics Tab
The Center X and Center Y controls are used to set the coordinates of the center point of
the ripple, which must be placed within the source image.
Wave Width determines the separation between the peaks of the ripple wavelength. The
wave width does not affect the maximum displacement of each point in the image, but
it does affect how fast the displacement changes from point to point in the image. A
ripple with a large wave width will create an image with a gentle rolling distortion, and
a ripple with a very small wave width will create an image that seems quite agitated.
Height and Angle Height determine the strength of the ripple. Height determines the
amount of displacement in the direction of the wave, and Angle Height determines the
amount of displacement perpendicular to the direction of the wave.
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Height 30, Angle Height 0 Height 0, Angle Height 30
These two kinds of displacement can produce effects that are quite different in
character. The illustrations above show the effects of each separately. You can, of course,
blend them in any combination to create ripples with spiral-like patterns.
Radius determines the radius of the full strength ripple. Points that are less than “radius”
pixels from the Center Point will experience the full-strength ripple. The ripple waves
decay as you move beyond the range of the radius, and points more than two times the
radius from the center are not affected at all by the ripple.
The Waveforms pop-up lets you choose the shape of the wave. These choices fall into
two categories, the Shape waveforms and the Spectrum waveforms. The Shapes include
Sine, Triangle, Square, Sawtooth, Circle, Semi-Circle, Uncircle, Noise, Smooth Noise, and
Half Sine, although these names do not refer to the shape of the wave itself. Rather, they
indicate the shape you will see repeating on a graph which plots the displacement of
each pointin the wave on the Y-axis, and the distance of each point to the center on the
X-axis.
Triangle Waveform Square Waveform

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Sawtooth Waveform Semi-circle Waveform
The Spectrum Waveforms offer a more natural-looking alternative to the Sine waveform,
which produces a very smooth wave but can look almost too perfect to represent an
actual ripple; and the other artificial Shape waveforms which are produced
mathematically and are not intended to look natural. Some fo the Spectrum waveforms
are slightly modified versions of the sine wave, and others are more extreme.
Experiment to see what you like—you may wish to increase Wave Width when using
some of the more complex Spectrum waveforms.
Note that you can also access these waveforms from the Chaos Tab.
The Pin Mode and Antialias pop-up menus have the same function as the corresponding
controls in the Bulge Filter (see page 137).
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Time/Space Tab
The Time/Space tab contains parameters that affect the motion and shape of the ripple.
Speed and Phase control the motion of the ripple waves as they move out from the
center of the ripple. If you look at any one peak in the ripple, Speed controls the rate at
which the peak moves, and Phase controls the position of the peak.
The default setting of Speed is 10, which causes the ripple to move out by one wave
width per second. A negative value for Speed will cause the ripples to move in toward
the center. A 0 valuefor Speed will cause the ripple to be stationary, unless Phase is
interpolating to a different value in the course of the effect.
There are three recommended ways to use the Phase control. To control the precise
point in the wave at which the Ripple starts, set a Hold keyframe for Phase at the start
of the track, and adjust the Phase. To precisely animate the motion of the Ripple over
time, set Speed to 0, and set as many Phase keyframes as desired throughout the effect.
To create a static distortion, set the Speed to 0, and set a Hold keyframe for Phase at the
start of the track.
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In addition, you are not restricted to circular ripples. You can stretch or squeeze the area
affected by the ripple in any direction by using the Stretch slider and Stretch Angle dial.
Positive values of the slider stretch the image, and negative values squeeze it. The
Stretch Angle is the angle that the stretch direction takes relative to the horizontal axis.
Original Stretched
The Twirl pop-up affects the behavior of the angular part of the wave. This is set by the
Angle Height control, and will have no effect if Angle Height is 0.
Unfiltered Image
Twirl Off Twirl Hyper

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If Twirl is Off, the angular part of the wave creates the same amount of displacement in
the center as it does at the edges. However, if Twirl is On, the displacement caused by
the Angle Height goes up as you move away from the center. The difference can be quite
subtle, so you should try both and see which you prefer.
For more outrageous twirling effects, try Super and Hyper which exaggerate the angular
motion as you move away from the center of the ripple.
The Intensity pop-up has three settings, Low, Normal, and High. Normal is suitable for
the majority of applications. Using Low scales down the values of Height and Angle
Height by a factor of 10, which can be useful if you are working with small ripples and
want fine control of the parameters. High multiplies these parameter values by a factor
of 10 and can produce very striking and unnatural-looking ripple effects.
Chaos Tab
The Chaos Blend and Chaos controls give you access to the fourteen Specturm
waveforms found in the Waveforms pop-up in the Basic tab, and also let you animate
the wave over these waveforms.
The default Chaos setting of 10 uses the Spectrum 1 waveform, a setting of 20 uses
Spectrum 2, and so on. Settings of Chaos Wave that are between two multiples of 10 give
you a mix of two adjacent Spectrum waves.
Chaos Blend controls the mix of the selected wave with the Chaos wave. A value of 0
gives you only the Waveform wave, and a value of 100 gives you only the Chaos Wave.
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Use the Chaos wave by itself or mixed with the Sine wave if you want a waveform that is
less regular and more natural than the Sine wave. You will probably need to experiment
with the settings to find the ones that are best for the look you wish to achieve.
Sine Sine w/Chaos
You can also try “freezing” the ripple by setting Speed to 0 and animating Chaos Blend
and/or Chaos instead.
Distortion distorts the shape of the wave, changing the displacement of points that are
not at zero points (for positive values) or peaks (for negative values) of the wave. Positive
values of Distortion increase the displacement, and negative values decrease it.
Inside Radius determines the radius of a circle at the center of the ripple within which
no distortion takes place.
Ripple with Inside Radius 0 Ripple with Inside Radius 250
Falloff controls the rate at which the wave height drops off outside this region.
Increasing the value of Falloff causes the wave height to decrease more slowly, and
decreasing it makes the wave height decrease more abruptly.
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Light Tab
Color sets the color of the applied light. Certain combinations of Color and Apply Mode,
such as using White with Darken, or Black with Lighten, will cause the light to have no
effect.
Level sets the intensity of the light source.
Width determines the width of the light source.
Focus provides a control for tweaking the shape of the light over each wave. Increasing
focus causes the light to appear wider, but the effect is somewhat different from that of
increasing width.
Elevation determines the height of the light above the image plane. If Elevation is 0, the
light appears evenly in all directions, and the Angle control, which determines the angle
of the incoming light, is ignored. As elevation increases you can use the Angle control to
make the light appear more directional.
The Apply Mode pop-up offers various ways to apply the lighting effects to the ripple.
This is explained in detail under “Spray Paint Noise Filter” on page 183
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Wave Filter
Original With Wave
The wave filter is very similar to the Ripple filter, and most of the description of the
Ripple distortion applies to Wave as well. The difference is that Wave creates parallel
waves instead of waves radiating from a point like waves rolling in to a straight stretch
of beach rather than spreading from a center point).
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Basics Tab
Height and Transverse Height in the Wave Filter are similar to the Height and Angular
Height parameters in the Ripple Filter. Height controls the amount of displacement
along the direction of motion of the wave, and Transverse Height controls the amount
of displacement perpendicular to the direction of motion.
The Angle Control sets the angle that the direction of motion of the wave makes with the
horizontal axis.
For explanations of the other Basic Tab parameters, see the “Ripple Filter” section on
page 141
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Advanced Tab
The Wave controls under the Advanced tab function in the same way as the
corresponding controls in Ripple. See the “Ripple Filter” section on page 141 for an
explanation of these parameters.
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Decay Tab
The Decay tab allows you to control the decay of the wave from its highest location to
its lowest location.
Peak X and Peak Y let you select a point at which the wave is at its highest level; Decay
X and Decay Y let you select a point at which the wave is at its lowest level. A Lock icon
lets you lock the two values together into one Level control for both the Peak and Decay
points. The Decay setting sets the ratio of the wave height at the Decay point to the
height at the Peak point.
If Decay is 100, the wave does not decay, and the point settings have no effect. If decay
is between 0 to 100, the wave decays in a line that runs from the Peak Point to the Decay
Point. If Decay is negative, the wave decays to 0 along this line and then rises again. (In
other words, anegative wave is just a positive wave that is out of phase.)
If you reduce Decay from its default value of 100, the default setting of the decay points
will cause the wave to decay as it moves across the image from left to right.
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Light Tab
The Light controls under the Light tab function in the same way as the corresponding
controls in Ripple. See the “Ripple Filter” section on page 141 for an explanation of these
parameters.
Keying Filters
Boris FX includes three Linear Keys (Linear Luma Key, Linear Color Key, and Two Way
Color Key); Chroma Key for working with blue-screen, red-screen, and green-screen
footage; Matte Cleanup for detailed matte adjustments; Make Alpha Key, a versatile
filter that can create keys based on many different aspects of the source image; and RGB
Difference, Luma Key, Luma Darker Key, and Premultiplied Alpha. These are used to
make part of an image transparent when it is layered over another image.
Viewing Your Matte

You can view a matte you have made by clicking on the monitor icon in the Track to
which you have applied the key. This bringsup up a preview monitor which displays the
individual color and alpha channel of the image. Select Alpha from the Preview Controls
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button at the base of this monitor. In a well-made matte, all transparent regions show
up as white, and all opaque regions show up as black, while semi-transparent regions
(such as smoke, glass or hair) appear as grayscale.
Viewing the alpha channel this way helps you find and eliminate gray areas in the
foreground image that can cause the backing color to leak through. Leave this window
open as you fine-tune your parameters in order to simulatneously see changes to the
matte itself and to the output image.
Invert Key
Many of these filters feature an Invert Key checkbox, which simply reverses the of range
the existing alpha channel, causing foreground objects to be keyed out while the
background color or image remains visible.
Many common keying applications maintain constant parameters throughout an effect.
You may want to set the default keyframe interpolation to Hold (in the Preferences box)
while using the keying filters.
Binary Keys, Linear Keys, and Chroma Keys

There are three types of filters that can be used to separate a foreground object from its
background based on color (chroma) information: Binary Keys, Linear Keys and Chroma
Key.
The Binary Keys examine each pixel and decide whether it is part of the foreground or
background image. Foreground pixels become completely opaque, and background
pixels become completely transparent. The edges are usually feathered for a smoother
look. Binary keys can be used with computer generated graphics but will not work well
with live footage. These filters cannot handle semi-transparent foregrounds or shadows.
The Linear Keys create mattes (alpha channels) that contain the full range of densities
from transparent to opaque. The mattes define how pixels are keyed. Pixels whose color
matches the key criteria are keyed out (made completely transparent); pixels that don’t
match the key criteria are left opaque; and pixels that partly match appear partly
transparent. The Linear Keys also composite the alpha channel with any existing alpha
channel in the layer. You can create a complex key by applying two or more consecutive
Linear Keys. Linear Keys are useful for creative compositing, particularly when you are
trying to create an artistic composite with footage that was not shot on blue- or green-
screen. Because Linear Keys do not alter the colors of the source image, they are not
ideal for working with blue- or green-screen footage. A blue-screen shot will almost
always have areas such as hair or smoke where the foreground is semi-transparent. In
these areas, the linear key will show a blue fringe, because modifying the transparency
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does not alter the color values of the pixel. The Linear Keys provide a sophisticated
region of interest (garbage matte) feature to allow the creation of complex keys that
require multiple passes.
The Chroma Key filter creates a matte and modifies the color channels of the
foreground. This removes the background color from semi-transparent areas. Chroma
Key also deals with spill and flare, which can cause some regions of the foreground to
pick up a background cast.
Chroma Key Filter

This filter is best suited for compositing a blue- or green-screen camera shot over a new
background. It creates a transparency matte based on the color information in the
foreground image. It is designed to deal with impure backing color and should be able
to preserve a shadow cast by the foreground object as well as transparent areas of the
foreground such as smoke, glass or hair.
Original Composited over Background
Below are some guidelines for creating and fine-tuning a Chroma Key effect, which take
you through the Matte Control, Flare Suppression and Garbage Matte tabs.
TWe recommend that if you are working in draft quality or at low resolution, that you
periodically switch to full resolution in the Preview menu to obtain more accurate
results.
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Matte Control Tab
The Matte Control tab contains the basic controls you need to make a matte for your
keying effect, which can then be adjusted or corrected using the other tabs.
The first step is to select a sample of the backing color. Do this by using the color swatch,
the eyedropper, or by entering values numerically in the Color control. Once the right
backing color is selected, most of the matte will be “pulled” and you will see the
foreground composited over the background. Adjust the color controls until most of the
backing color has been replaced by your new background image.
It is likely that you will needto make additional adjustments in order to make the
foreground opaque to avoid a “print-through” of the background color on the
foreground image. If the foreground is not yet opaque, try adjusting the Density
parameter. Increasing the density will make foreground more opaque at the expense of
semi-transparent detail such as hair or smoke.
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Next try adjusting the Lightness parameter. This affects the transparent areas of the
matte and also can help to adjust the shadow which the foreground drops on the
backing. Adjusting Balance will help to reduce the print-through in dark areas of the
image. The Red, Green and Blue controls adjust the weight of each color channel and
may help to improve the color in some areas of the composite.
Remember that you can view the alpha channel any time by clicking on the monitor
icon in the Track to which you have applied the Chroma Key filter. See “Viewing Your
Matte” at the beginning of the Keying Filters section, page 154
Flare Suppression Tab
Flare suppression allows the removal of unwanted background color tint on foreground
subjects.
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Once you are satisfied with the matte, set the Output pop-up menu to Composite and
check the image for background color spill. Chroma Key attempts to remove spill for an
average shot, but adjustment may still be needed. If a spill is present you can
substantially reduce it by modifying Spill Ratio, Tone Mix, and Tone Range in the Flare
Suppression tab. It is best to adjust the controls in the order described.
Spill Ratio controls the amount of backing color that is removed from the foreground
image. Lowering it to a value of zero will create a magenta (for a green key color) or red
(for a blue key) tint on the foreground. Increasing it to a value of 200 will keep the
original foreground color, with no adjustment for spill. The first step in spill removal is
to adjust Spill Ratio until most of the backing color is out.
Tone Mix has the opposite effect. For example, if you are working with a green-screen
image, you can increase Tone Mix to compensate for the red introduced by Spill Ratio.
Increasing Tone Range boosts the range of the foreground color mix, which can also help
restore the original color to the flesh areas.
You may want to further tune spill removal by making a second round of small
adjustments to each parameter.
Garbage Matte Tab

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This tab allows you to create a rectangle around the foreground image which makes
everything outside the selected region fully transparent. This is useful for removing
unwanted objects from the foreground. For instance, suppose the cameraman’s finger
comes into the frame as he is adjusting the focus, and cannot be keyed out. Using a
garbage matte will “throw away” all the foreground imagery outisde its range, leaving
only the intended subject remaining.
The controls for the Garbage Matte tab are very straightforward. Left, Right, Top, and
Bottom select the respective sides of the rectangle used to frame the foreground subject.
These parameters are locked by default, which means that moving any slider will affect
all the parameters and preserve the shape and position of the rectangle as it changes in
size. Unlock these tracks by clicking on the Lock icon. This allows you to adjust each
parameter independently.
Clean Up Alpha Filter

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The Clean Up Alpha filter provides choking, blending and transparency level adjustment
for any matte you create. It can be used to clean up an imperfect matte or purposely
blur or feather the edges of a matte.
The Choke feature will enlarge or shrink the matted area in both the horizontal and
vertical direction. It can be used for cleaning up the border area or for completely
removing a hole in the matte. The side effect of choking out is pixelation which can be
reduced by adjusting Level and Blend.
Blend is essentially a customized version of a blur filter applied to the alpha channel
alone. Use it to feather matte edges or to make blurring title effects.
Level adjustment improves imperfect mattes by making transparent areas more
transparent, and opaque areas more opaque, while at the same time preserving the
smooth (semi-transparent) edges.
Black and White controls provide thresholds for transparent and opaque areas. Spread
and Gain allow better preservation the edges by specifying the maximum spread (size)
of the edge area and the maximum variance in alpha value in that area.
The Area tab allows you choose a rectangular region in which to apply the filter. This is
useful for cleaning up small problem areas in the matte without affecting the entire
image.
Clean Up Alpha processing is done in the following order: level adjustment, blending,
choking. If you need to change the order, apply this filter several times using just one
parameter each time.
Linear Luma Key, Linear Color Key, and Two Way Key
The linear keys create mattes by a process of color matching, meaning that the filter keys
out pixels whose color matches the key color. The Linear Luma Key match is based on
luminance, the Two Way Key match is based on RGB colors, and the Linear Color Key
match is based on either RGB colors, Hue, Saturation, and Lightness (HSL), chroma or
hue values.
Combining Linear Keys

You can create more complex mattes by combining two or more Linear Keys, or by using
a Linear Key on an existing alpha channel. A Linear Key applied to a source with an
existing alpha channel adds transparency to the image. The new alpha channel is
composited with the previous alpha.
You can also use Linear Color Key with Keep Color to restore opacity to an area of the
image that was keyed out with an earlier key. You should not do this after a Chroma Key
filter, as Chroma Key modifies the layer’s RGB channels.
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Post Blur blurs the complete matte, not just the area created by the current filter. If you
only want to blur a section of a complex matte, create that section in the first keying
effect in the Effect Controls window. If you want to blur the entire matte, use Post Blur
in the last keying effect.
Region of Interest Tab
The Linear Keys allow you to define a Region of Interest or garbage matte in any of the
three Linear Keys. The filter then creates a matte for the specified region only. The
Region pop-up menu selects the shape (Rectangle or Oval) of the region and determines
whether the points of interest are the points inside the shape or outside the shape. The
Left, Top, Right and Bottom parameters select the borders of the garbage matte.
The Elsewhere pop-up menu controls the processing of points outside the defined
region. The default setting, Transparent, clears the alpha channel for these points. Use
Transparent if you selected a region that includes all of the desired foreground (opaque)
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pixels. The Opaque setting leaves these points unprocessed. Use this setting if you
selected a region that includes all of the desired background pixels, or if you are using
the filter to modify a previously defined alpha channel.
Remember that you can view the alpha channel any time by clicking on the monitor
icon in the Track to which you have applied the Chroma Key filter. See “Viewing Your
Matte” at the beginning of the Keying Filters section, page 154
The Color parameter lets you select the color to be keyed out using the color swatch, the
eyedropper, or by entering numerical RGB values. Similarity then controls the sensitivity
of the of the key to changes in color and selects the portion of the color space (the Key
Color Region) that is affected by the filter. The Similarity value determines the number
of units away from the key color that will still be keyed out.
Softness and Post Blur create transitions between the transparent and opaque areas of
the matte. A completely hard matte (with all pixels fully transparent or fully opaque)
almost always appears unrealistic. Softness and Post Blur soften the matte by creating
partially transparent pixels.
Softness softens the matte in color space by boosting the alpha channel for pixels that
are close to the borders of the Key Color Region. You can use Softness to soften the matte
edges when the colors of the layer change gradually from point to point, and to create
artistic blended mattes in which the layer gradually becomes transparent as you move
into the Key Color Region.
Post Blur blurs the alpha channel after the matte is created. Use Post Blur to soften the
edges of the matte for sources with highly contrasting edges.
Softness does not increase rendering time, while Post Blur increases it substantially. If
you can’t get the desired result from Softness and Post Blur, you can also adjust the
matte with the Matte Cleanup filter.
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Linear Luma Key Filter

Linear Luma Key creates a key from a single channel of the source, usually from the
image’s luminance channel, but individual RGB channels can be used as well. You
should examine the individual channels of the source and use a channel in which the
area you want to key stands out from the rest of the image.
Original Linear Luma Key

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Key Tab
Linear Luma Key produces different kinds of keys; the type is selected with the Key Type
pop-up menu. Key Out Brighter keys out pixels that are brighter than the value of
Threshold level, which uses a value from 0 to 255. Key Out Darker keys out pixels that
are darker than the value of Threshold Level. The Similarity setting is ignored for these
Key Types.
Key Out Similar keys out pixels whose brightness is close to the value of the Threshold
Level. Similarity controls the width of the range of luminances for which the pixels are
keyed out. Key Out Dissimilar keys out pixels whose luminances are outside this range.
Key Out Similar and Dissimilar can create mattes that go from opaque to transparent to
opaque as Luminance goes from black to white.
The Key From pop-up allows you to choose which of the RGB or luminance channels to
use in making the matte.
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This tab is common to all Linear Keys. See “Region of Interest Tab” at the beginning of
this section on page 162
Linear Color Key Filter

Linear Color Key creates a linear key based on the difference between the color of each
pixel and the Key Color. The color comparison can be done in RGB color space or in HSL
color space. The relative importance of each RGB channel can be adjusted with the
channel Weight parameters.
Original Linear Color Key

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Linear Color Key can also restore opacity to a transparent region of the source. This
feature is useful when the foreground has an isolated region that is similar in color to
the background (for example, a person shot on a blue-screen background wearing a
shirt with a blue stripe). Use a Linear Color Key to key out the background, and apply a
second Linear Color Key with the value of Output set to Keep Color. Define a Region of
Interest that includes the region that needs opacity restored, select the color, and adjust
the other parameters.
Key Tab
The Color parameter lets you select the color to be keyed out using the color swatch, the
eyedropper, or by entering numerical RGB values. Similarity then controls the sensitivity
of the of the key to changes in color and selects the portion of the color space (the Key
Color Region) that is affected by the filter. The Similarity value determines the number
of units away from the key color that will still be keyed out. Therefore, a Similarity
setting of 0 causes nothing to be keyed out, and a setting of 100 causes everything to be
keyed out.
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The Color Match pop-up menu gives you additional control over color matching. At the
default setting of Color Matching by RGB the filter does color matching based on the RGB
color values of each pixel, and gives equal weight to each of the RGB color channels.
The other Color Match options match colors in the HSL color space. They compute the
Hue, Saturation, and Lightness of each pixel, and compare them with the HSL values of
the Key Color. HSL matching uses all of the HSL values. Chroma matching uses hue and
saturation and ignores Lightness. Hue matching uses only hue.
Your best approach to a difficult keying problem is to try RGB color matching first. Then
try HSL matching if you don’t get the desired results. You can also create the key in
stages, by defining a region of interest around each area that you want to key.
These color matching options require considerably more rendering time than RGB color
matching. Chroma and Hue matching often key out pixels that look quite different from
the key color, because they ignore one or two channels of each pixel.
The Output pop-up menu controls how the output of the filter renders. Composite, the
default setting, uses the alpha channel created by the filter to make the keyed areas of
the layer partly or completely transparent when composited over the background. Keep
Color (in Linear Color Key) is used only when the image already has an alpha channel. It
restores opacity to regions that were made transparent by a previous keying filter.
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RGB Weights Tab
Red Weight, Green Weight and Blue Weight control the relative importance of each
channel in RGB color matching. Increasing the weight for a channel makes the color
matching more sensitive to differences between the channel values of the pixel and the
key color, and makes it less sensitive to differences for the other channels. In Color
Space, it narrows the Key Color Region for the channel whose weight is increased, and
widens it for the other channels.
There are no clear guidelines for this process. If you are trying to pull a difficult range of
colors, you may need to experiment with different combinations of settings to get the
effect that you need. If may be easier to pull the key in two or more stages.

This tab is common to all Linear Keys. See “Region of Interest Tab” at the beginning of
this section on page 162
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Two Way Key Filter
The Two Way Key creates a color key based on Key Color and Similarity, and then restores
opacity based on Keep Color and Keep Similarity. The effect is similar to that of applying
two consecutive Linear Color Keys, one with Output set to Composite, followed by one
with Output set to Keep Color. (Refer to the preceding section on the Linear Color Key
Filter for an explanation of these parameters.)
However, Two Way Key will not restore opacity to areas that were made transparent by
a previous keying operation. Keep Color and Keep Similarity only affect the key that the
filter makes.
Use Two Way Key when you want to key out a range of colors, but also want to keep one
specific color in the range.
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Luma Key Filter
The Luma key is similar to the RGB Difference key in that it looks at the difference
between the color of each pixel and the selected color. However, the Luma key looks at
only luminance data. Use Luma Key to key out or key in all points in your image whose
brightness level is similar to the brightness level of a selected point. Use the Invert Mask
check box to achieve the opposite keying effect. Setting Similarity to 0 will key out none
of the image, and setting similarity to 100 will key out the entire image.
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Luma Darker Filter
The Luma Darker key is even simpler. It compares the brightness of each pixel with the
brightness of the selected color and keys out all points which are darker. Use the Invert
Mask check box to achieve a Luma Lighter key effect.
Make Alpha Filter

The Make Alpha filter generates an Alpha Channel from a color channel in the image,
and then applies a Levels/Gamma operation to the channel. Use the Show Mask button
to preview the alpha channel in the Filter Panel.
Original With Make Alpha

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Make Alpha Tab
The Alpha From pop-up lets you choose the source for the alpha channel, as described
in the Shift Channels section on page 134.
The Input Alpha pop-up selects the value used fof pixels not chosen by the PixelChooser.
The Input Black and Input White controls let you set the color levels in the source that
will become black and white in the filtered image. If you have a washed-out source, you
can bring up the Input Black setting until the dark areas of the image appear black. If
you have an underexposed source, you can bring down Input White until the light areas
appear white. Shooting in low light often produces images with a lot of noise in the
darker areas. Bringing up Input Black will push these noisy areas to black.
Output Black and Output White control the color levels in the filtered image for source
pixels darker than Input Black and lighter than Input White. If you do not want the
output to include the full range of color values, you can bring up Output Black and/or
bring down Output White. You may want to do this to avoid NTSC-illegal blacks and
whites.
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Gamma controls the slope of the curve used to interpolate pixels whose color values are
between Input Black and Input White. Increasing Gamma from the default of 100
lightens the image and tends to make it less contrasty, and decreasing Gamma darkens
the image and tends to make it more contrasty.
The most basic application for the Make Alpha filter is to key in only the light or dark
parts of the image. To key in the light parts of an image, set the Alpha From pop-up to
Luminance, and bring up the Input Black setting until the parts of the image that you
want slightly opaque become visible. Bring down the Input White setting until all of the
pixels that you want fully opaque appear fully opaque. If you make these adjustments
with Show Mask checked, you will see the fully opaque pixels as white and the fully
transparent pixels as black.
You can control the smoothness of the transition from transparent to opaque by
adjusting the difference between the Input White and Input Black controls, and by
adjusting the Gamma control. These controls affect the smoothness in color space, not
in position, so they will not smooth the mask where the image has a sudden transition
from black to white. You can adjust the minimum and maximum opacity of the mask
with the Output Black and Output White controls.
You can also try making the mask from the red, green, or blue color channel. Using the
dominant color channel in the image often gives a better results than using luminance.
This kind of semi-transparent keying is not an exact science, so you will have to
experiment with the controls until you get what you want.
To key in the dark parts of the image, follow the same procedure, but set the Alpha From
pop-up to Luma Inv or Red, Green, or Blue Inv), instead of Luminance.
PixelChooser Tab
Using the PixelChooser with Make Alpha can produce a wide variety of keying effects and
wipes. For more information on using the PixelChooser, see “PixelChooser Tab” on
page 110.
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Premultiplied Alpha Filter
The Premultiplied Alpha key is designed for use with still images or rendered animation
that use a premultiplied alpha channel. The color channels of these images were
composited (premultiplied) with a color (most commonly black or white), when they
were created. Boris FX needs to know the color that was used in the premultiply
operation in order to precisely composite the image.
If you are in doubt as to whether an image is premultiplied, or the color that was used,
add a premultiplied alpha key, and compare the composite previews using this filter,
and with this filter off. Try setting the color to black and to white, and compare these
previews. The best looking preview will most likely produce the best rendered output.
Animating the premultiplied color is not recommended.
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RGB Difference Filter
RGB Difference keys out colors that are similar to the Color that you select using the color
swatch, the eyedropper, or by entering numerical RGB values. Similarity then controls
the sensitivity of the of the key to changes in color and selects the portion of the color
space (the Key Color Region) that is affected by the filter. The Similarity value determines
the number of units away from the key color that will still be keyed out. Therefore, a
Similarity setting of 0 causes nothing to be keyed out, and a setting of 100 causes
everything to be keyed out.
Noise Filters
Boris FX includes the following noise filters: Alpha Pixel Noise, Spray Paint Noise, Luma
Pixel Noise, and RGB Pixel Noise.
Noise is created in an image by randomly selecting pixels and altering their color,
luminance or alpha levels. Noise filters can subtly soften a selection by adding pixels
that blend the selection into surrounding pixels. They can also be used to remove
problem areas from an image, such as dust or scratches or to create unusual textures,
such as making an image appear as if it were shot on high-speed film.
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These filters apply noise to the image one pixel at a time, and therefore the percentage
of pixels that are affected and the amount of noise applied to each affected pixel can be
controlled independently. Also, the PixelChooser allows you to apply noise to selected
regions or channels of the image while leaving the rest of the image unaltered. For more
information on how to use the PixelChooser, see “PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
Alpha Pixel Noise Filter

This noise filter applies the alpha channel. This filter can be used with the PixelChooser
to create pixelated composites and transitions.
Original Alpha Pixel Noise

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Noise Tab
Pixel % sets the percentage of pixels affected by the noise. The Noise parameter sets the
percentage of noise applied to each affected pixel, with a value from 0 to 100.
Offset is a value added to the alpha channel of each pixel processed which determines
the degree of transparency of the affected pixels. A setting of -255 makes these pixels
completely transparent, while a value of 255 makes them opaque.
To create a pixelated transition between two images, set Offset to -255 and then animate
Pixel % from 0 to 100. The first frame of the animation will consist of the unaffected
source image, then the noise pixels will increase until then entire screen is transparent
and only the underlying image is visible.
The Seed setting controls the value of the random number generator used by Noise.
Generally, a user sets Noise and then adjusts this value to achieve the desired effect.
Animating this parameter creates noise that varies from frame to frame, because the
filter will affect a different randomly selected group of pixels in each consecutive frame.
Holding this parameter creates static noise that retains its appearance from frame to
frame.
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The Noise Action pop-up controls the non-offset part of the noise. Opacity - causes the
pixels to become more transparent, Opacity + causes them to become more opaque,
and Both allows them to become either more opaque or more transparent. If you are
starting with a fully opaque image, use Opacity -, if you are starting with a fully
transparent image, use Opacity +.
PixelChooser Tab
information, see“PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
Luma Pixel Noise Filter

Luma Pixel Noise applies noise to the image luminance without changing the color.
Original Luma Pixel Noise

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Noise Tab
Pixel % sets the percentage of pixels affected by the noise.The Noise parameter sets the
percentage of noise applied to each affected pixel, with a value from 0 to 100.
frame.
When the Clip to Output checkbox is on (the recommended setting) the noise and
luminance value clips between 0-255. If it is off, overflow creates a wrap. For example,
a pixel with a value of 256 wraps to 0, - 1 wraps to 255. This creates a more incoherent
look.
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PixelChooser Tab
RGB Pixel Noise Filter

RGB Pixel noise applies noise independently to the RGB channels.
Original RGB Pixel Noise

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Noise Tab
Red, Green and Blue control the amount of noise in each channel. A Lock icon appears
on the Noise parameters. If the lock is on, only one slider appears to control all three
channels. If the lock is off, the individual RGB sliders appear.
Pixel % sets the percentage of pixels affected by the noise.
frame.
When the Clip to Output checkbox is on (recommended) the noise and luminance values
clip between 0- 255. If it is off, overflow creates a wrap. For example, 256 wraps to 0, - 1
wraps to 255. This creates an even more incoherent look.
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When the Link Noise Ratio checkbox is on, the ratio between the noise in each channel
is linked. The color of every pixel that is affected by the noise will be displaced in the
same ‘direction” in color space. This reduces the number of distinct colors in the noisy
pixels.
PixelChooser Tab
Spray Paint Noise Filter

The Spray Paint Noise filter applies ink of a fixed color to the image. If Pixel Percentage
is 100, and Minimum and Maximum opacity are also set at 100, the entire image will be
the ink color.
Original Spray Paint Noise

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Noise Tab
Ink Color lets you select the color you want to apply to the image. You can do this by
clicking on the color swatch and choosing the color with the mouse, typing in numerical
values for Red, Green, and Blue, or selecting a color from the screen using the
eyedropper icon.
Min Opac (Minimum Opacity) and Max Opac (Maximum Opacity) are used to set the
range of opacity with which the ink color is applied to affected pixels. You can set these
to the same value to achieve a consistent degree of transparency in all the noise pixels.
You can choose to set them to different values in order to achieve a range of opacity in
the ink color pixels, thereby creating a look that more closely resembles applying a layer
of spray paint to an image. In this case a third random number determines the opacity
of each pixel within this range. If the minimum value is set higher than the maximum
value, the Maximum Opacity value will be used for all the ink color pixels.
Pixel % sets the percentage of pixels affected by the noise.
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frame.
Apply Mode
Apply Mode allows you to select a Photoshop-style drawing mode to apply the effect.
When using Apply Mode it is helpful to think of the effects in terms of the following three
colors:
• Source color is the original color in the image.
• Ink color is the new color being applied by the filter.
• Result color is the color resulting from the blend of the source and the ink color.
The following modes are available.
• Normal Mode applies the ink directly to the source; i. e. the ink color pixels replace
pixels in the source image.
• Lighten Mode uses the lighter of the original color and the ink color for each RGB
channel. If a pure red pixel is applied to a pure blue pixel using Lighten Mode, the result
color will be pure magenta.
• Darken Mode uses the darker of the original color and the ink color for each RGB
channel. If a pure red pixel is applied to a pure blue pixel with Darken, the result will be
black.
• Multiply Mode applies the ink to the channel as though it were transparency placed
over the source. The resulting image is darker than either the ink or source. For example,
if a pure red pixel is applied to a pure blue pixel with Multiply, the result will be black.
If a 50% gray pixel is applied to another 50% gray pixel, the result will be 25% gray.
• Screen Mode applies the ink to the track as though a photographic double image were
taken of the ink and the track. The resulting image is lighter than either the ink or
source. If a pure red pixel is applied to a pure blue pixel with Screen, the result will be
magenta. If a 50% gray pixel is applied to another 50% gray pixel, the result will be 75%
gray.
• Difference Mode sets the output for each channel as the difference between the ink
color and the source color.
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• Lighter Mode selects the lighter of the source and ink colors for each pixel and uses
all of its channels. Note this distinction from Lighten Mode, which takes the lighter
values from each individual RGB channel in creating the output color. If a dark green
pixel is applied to a light red pixel using Lighter, the result will be light red.
• Darker Mode selects the darker of the source and ink colors for each pixel and uses
all of its channels. Again, note the difference between this mode and the Darken mode,
which selects the darker value for each RGB channel separately. If a dark green pixel is
applied to a light red pixel using Darker, the result will be dark green.
• Scale Multiply is a variation on Multiply that produces an even brighter image.
• Scale Screen is a variation on Screen that produces a darker and less washed out
image.
• DifferenceX2 is a variation on Difference that produces a more intense effect.
• DifferenceX4 is a variation on Difference that produces an even more intense effect.
These enhanced Difference Modes can be particularly effective in creating glows with
the blur effects.
• Add adds noise to the source, clipping the resulting colors at white.
• Subtract removes noise from the source.
PixelChooser Tab
Particle Filters
Boris FX offers three particle filters: 2D Particles, Advanced 2D Particles, and Scatterize.
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2D Particles and Advanced 2D Particles

The 2D Particles and Advanced 2D Particles filters allow you to create an effect that
breaks an image into pieces, causes it to fall apart or reform, or moves it into (or away
from) a point. You can use the Advanced 2D Particles filter to create an animated paint
stroke effect. The parameters control the particles’s shapes, sizes, speed, and velocity
and can be animated to achieve scatter effects.
Original Particles Filter

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Particles Tab
The Count and Particle X parameters determine the number of particles the image is
divided into. Setting Count adjusts the number of particles you start with, and then this
number is multiplied by the Particle X setting, which is simply a scaling factor. For
example, setting Count to 9 and Particle X to 1 produces nine fairly large particles.
Changing Particle X to 1000 creates 9,000 small particles (particle size is inversely
proportional to the total number of particles). Keep in mind that increasing the number
of particles significantly increases rendering time.
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Count 9, Particle X 1 Count 9, Particle X 10
Scatter is the only parameter that you need to animate for most effects. For ease of use,
you may want to set your default interpolation to Hold when creating a particle effect.
For information on setting interpolation for parameters, see“Setting the Interpolation
Method Between Keyframes” on page 55.
A Scatter setting of 0 does not apply a scatter effect, a Scatter of 1 applies the effect
without moving anything, and a setting greater than 1 determines how far through the
effect the particles move. All the other parameters determine the way in which the
image scatters. For standard effects you may not want to animate any parameters other
than Scatter and optionally Opacity, using the other parameters as properties of the
effect. While all other value parameters can be animated, their results may be
unpredictable.
Scatter 100 Scatter 500

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Particles X is the scaling factor by which Count is measured. It is easier to use a scaling
factor and a magnitude than to try to reach, for example 9 on a slider that goes from 1
to 100,000. For example, set the Count to 90 and the Particles X to 1000 to create an
effect with 90,000 particles.
Opacity determines the opacity or transparency of the particles, making it easy to create
particles that scatter and then dissolve.
XY Ratio allows you to change the dimensions of the particles. A positive XY Ratio creates
tall, thin particles, and a negative XY Ratio creates wide, thin particles. An XY Ratio near
zero creates particles whose dimensions are close to that of the original image.
Shape allows you to choose the shape of each particle. These shapes are much easier to
see and more useful when there are fewer particles. The options are Rectangular, Circle
Blur, Diamond, Scalene (triangle), Paint 1, Paint 2, Splat, Heart and Star.
Original Star Shape
Seed determines the random seed for the effect. If you like the effect but want a slightly
different random motion, adjust the Seed. You can also animate the Seed while keeping
other parameters constant to create a randomly shifting effect.
The Alpha Only checkbox allows you to apply the effect only to the alpha channel. The
particles are used as a mask; the image itself does not fall apart, but the view of it will.
The Keep Orig checkbox puts the original image behind the particle effects so that the
particles reveal the image behind them, rather than creating an alpha channel. This is
useful for mixing up the image a little without tearing it apart.
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Move Tab
Speed determines the average rate at which the particles move. If your effect does not
complete in time, increase the Speed.
Variance determines the amount of variability in the particle speeds. A Variance of 0 will
cause all particles to move at the same speed. A higher Variance will cause the image to
break up more by varying the speed that the particles scatter.
Velocity Type is one of the most important parameters in determining the look of the
effect. When you choose a Velocity Type from the pop-up menu, specific controls appear
in the tab. There are 6 Velocity Types: Random, Straight, Centripetal, Centrifugal, Spiral
CW, Spiral CCW:
• Random moves the particles in random directions. With a sufficiently high Speed, all
particles leave the screen eventually. No additional controls appear in the tab when
you choose this Velocity Type.
• Straight moves the particles in one direction. A Direction dial lets you set this
direction. The image moves as one, but will nevertheless split into particles as long
as the Variance and the number of particles are greater than 1.
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• Centripetal moves the particles toward a center point. The parameters Center X and
Center Y let you choose this point. A Centering icon lets you automatically position
this point in the center of the screen. When the Stop At Center button is selected, all
particles passing through this center point disappear into the center instead of
passing through it.
• Centrifugal moves the particles away from a center point. The parameters Center X
and Center Y let you choose this point. A Centering icon lets you automatically
position this point in the center of the screen.
• Spiral CW (Spiral Clockwise) or Spiral CCW (Spiral Counter-Clockwise) cause the
particles to circle the center point. Power determines how strong the spiralling force
is, and Radius allows you to move the spiralling particles closer to or further from the
center point.
Gravity Tab
Gravity determines the amount of gravity or acceleration, that is applied to the particles
in addition to their velocity.
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Gravity Type works much like Velocity Type, only it is applied as an additional
acceleration force. The only options that Gravity Type does not include are spiral
movement and Stop at Center. See the Velocity Type descriptions above for information
on how to use Gravity Type.
Options Tab
Size Tweak allows you to change the sizes of the particles without changing the number.
For example, you can use this parameter if you want to displace the particles slightly but
don’t want holes in the image (or you want holes to appear slowly). This happens
because when you increase Size Tweak, your particles overlap more often.
Scatter Wipe allows you to create an effect where the image doesn’t break up all at once,
but is torn apart or unwinds in a wipe-like fashion. The effect starts on one side of the
image and moves toward the other. The Scatter Wipe choices are Off, From Left, From
Right, From Top and From Bottom. The amount of the image which is broken up at a
given point is affected by both the number of particles and the Scatter amount.
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Apply Mode allows you to select a Photoshop-style drawing mode to create a paint
effect. For more information on Apply Mode, see the description under “Apply Mode” on
page 185.
Z-Order determines which particles are drawn first. Normal and Reversed create effects
with certain parts of the image definitely in front of other parts. Random creates effects
where the particles are randomly distributed between being in front and behind the
other particles. Z-Order has no affect in draft mode.
PixelChooser
The standard PixelChooser is available for use with the 2D Particles and Advanced 2D
Particles filters. Particles that break up will fall in front of the rest of the image. For more
information on the PixelChooser, see “PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
2D Particles Filter Tutorial

The 2D Particles filter includes a lot of parameters, but don’t let that discourage you. You
don’t have to use them all. A few parameters provide the most important controls while
the others are simply for fine tuning the effect. This tutorial goes over all of the
parameters in turn, starting with the most important controls for creating a simple
effect, and then exploring the more advanced possibilities.
Basic Particle Effect

By far, the two most important parameters are Scatter and Particle X.
Scatter is probably the only parameter that should be animated; it determines how far
into the effect we are (it’s like time elapsed, but of course, it can also be animated
backwards). All other parameters should use Hold as their interpolation type. For the
most ease of use, set your default interpolation to Hold by choosing Preferences from
the Edit menu and changing the default interpolation. Then make sure you set Scatter
to Linear interpolation. This is very important concept for learning to use Particles.
If you animate Scatter from 0 to 3,000, the image starts whole and then scatters apart,
revealing the image beneath. This creates a very basic explosion type of effect. Of course,
you can also animate Scatter from 3,000 to 0 to create the reverse type of effect.
* Particle X determines the general number of particles. If it is set to 1, the particle(s) are
large and blocky and each will look like a part of the original image. If it is set to 1000,
the effect will includes lots of tiny particles, which will look more like dots of color than
pieces of an image.
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Tweaking the Effect

Simply using the Scatter and Particle X parameters may not create the effect you need.
There are various ways of tweaking the effect to create what you want. Count allows you
to create a more precise number of particles. The actual number of particles is exactly
Count multiplied by Particle X. Keep in mind that the number of particles is the main
factor in determining render time.
You can use Opacity if you want your particles to fade away while scattering. For
example, if you want the image to scatter and fade, animate the opacity from 100 to 0
in your effect.
XY Ratio allows you to change the dimensions of the particles. A larger XY Ratio breaks
the image into taller, thinner particles, and a lower XY Ratio breaks it into wider
particles. An XY Ratio near 0 breaks the image up into particles with a dimension close
to your media (3x4, for example). To create near-equal dimensions, set the value to
around 500 (this is the default).
The Move Tab

The Move tab lets you control how the image falls apart. So you know that there will be
particles flying all over the place, but what do we mean by “all over the place”?
Speed controls how fast the particles move. A greater Speed makes the particles leave
the screen earlier (at a lower value of Scatter). Variance controls the difference between
the speeds of each particle. A higher Variance creates a greater mix of high-speed and
slower particles. A Variance of 0 makes all particles move at the same speed.
Velocity Type is the last parameter on the Move tab. This parameter determines how the
particles move. When you change the type, more controls appear in the tab.
Velocity Type defaults to Random, which moves the particles in random directions.
However, five other types of movement are available.
Straight velocity moves the particles in a straight line. Set Velocity Type to Straight. Turn
the Variance up to 10 and then animate Scatter from 0 to 3,000. The image should break
up and slide off the screen to the right. Of course, you can change the Angle control to
make it slide in any direction you want. For fun, you can even change the Variance to 0
and have the image slide off the screen without breaking up at all.
Centripetal velocity moves the particles toward a center point. Set Velocity Type to
Centripetal. Now if you animate the effect (as always, animating Scatter only), the
particles splash through that point and then fly off the screen. Make sure your Variance
is around 5-10 if you want a particalized effect. If you check Stop At Center, the particles
are pulled into that point without passing through it, as if they were vacuumed in. You
can also choose your center point using the center point (CenterX/CenterY) parameter.
Try animating the point itself. Though less conventional, it can create interesting effects.
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The Centrifuge velocity option moves the particles away from the center point instead
of toward it. This creates an effect almost like fireworks especially when used with
Gravity, which is explained below. This parameter is similar to Centripetal, except that
the particles move in the opposite direction.
The Spiral CW (Spiral Clockwise) and Spiral CCW (Spiral Counter-Clockwise) options move
the particles around a center point. The effects are identical except that they move
particles in opposite directions. Set Velocity Type to Spiral CW. If you animate this effect,
your image swirls into a round mass of random particles, an interesting but not
necessarily useful effect. Spiral Velocity includes two extra parameters: Radius and
Power. You can animate the Radius, along with Scatter if you want the particles to spiral
closer together or further apart. You could even set Scatter to around 500, set the
interpolation to Hold, and animate the center point, creating a sort of swirling, screen-
saver-like effect. Power determines how strong the spiral motion is. If you want a subtle
spiral, you might want to turn the Power down. However, if you want the spiralling to
continue for a long time and want a majority to be the “round mass of random particles”
phase, you might want to increase the Power.
The Gravity Tab (Advanced 2D Particles)

Setting Gravity to any value greater than 0, applies a second force besides the particles’
movement, to the effect. The strength of this force is determined by the Gravity
parameter, and the way in which it acts is determined by the Gravity Type option. All of
the Gravity types are also Velocity types, so they behave in the same manner. However,
instead of moving the particles in those directions, Gravity accelerates them.
For the most predictable results, let’s experiment with Velocity Type set to Random. The
most common type of Gravity is Straight, because that’s the way gravity usually works
from our terrestrial perspective. First, create a normal Scatter effect and make sure it is
working the way you intended. To test your effect, try putting the CTI on the first
keyframe and dragging the Scatter control from left to right to watch it scatter. Make sure
to leave scatter on 0 afterward. Go to the last keyframe (putting the CTI on the last
keyframe, but keeping the first keyframe selected), and increase the Gravity until it
seems like the particles will end where you want. If you render or preview the effect, you
will see that besides falling apart, the image also accelerates downward, giving the effect
a much more natural feel. You could also use the Gravity to simulate wind by setting the
Angle to point in a different direction, or a magnet, if the direction is upwards. To create
more chaotic movements, try using Gravity Type Centripetal or Centerfuge and
animating the center point.
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Other Advanced Features (and Options Tab)

Scatter Wipe (Options tab) allows you to particalize/scatter the image from one side to
the other, creating an effect like a wipe transition. The greater the Speed (set in the Move
tab) of the particles, the quicker the image unwinds. With a low Speed, the image cracks
apart and then scatters, but with a higher Speed, the particles will fly away as quickly as
they can once they’ve broken free from the image (like an unwinding sweater). To test
it out, reset the filter, set the Speed to 1000, set Scatter Wipe to From Left and then
animate Scatter from 0 to 3,000. You should see the image unravel from left to right.
When experimenting with the number of particles in conjunction with Scatter Wipe, be
aware that the timing of the unraveling is affected by the number of particles. So you
may have to adjust your Speed/Scatter accordingly. For example, if you set Particle X to
10, then your effect doesn’t appear as a wipe, because the image is already completely
unraveled by the time Scatter reaches 60. In that case, you’ll want to animate Scatter
much less (from 0 to 250, for example), but increase your Speed (5,000 is good in this
particular case).
Shape (Particles tab) determines the shape of each particle. You can choose from various
preset shapes, for example, circle blur, scalene triangle, or diamond. The shapes of the
particles are much more obvious and look better when Particle X is small and thus the
particles themselves are rather large. You may notice that between a Scatter of 0 and
100, the particle transitions between a rectangle and their given shape. This allows the
particles to form a complete image when they move together since all the other shapes
are smaller than the rectangle. Otherwise there would be space between the particles.
Non-rectangular shapes also appear smaller (more transparent) when there are many of
them because they are, in fact, smaller. You can use the Size Tweak, explained below, to
increase their size however much you want.
Seed (Particles tab) is the random seed given to the effect. Different values will cause
different randomness. If you like the effect, but don’t like something particular about its
randomness, just change the Seed. In general you should not animate Seed because it
will cause jumps in the movement.
Alpha Only (Particles tab) is a checkbox that allows you to operate only on the image’s
alpha channel. This is very useful if you want a video stream to break apart as a
transition opposed to using it on something static such as text. Use Alpha Only if you
want the movement in the video to be recognizable as the image falls apart. Apply it to
any effect, and the view of the image seems to fall apart, but the image itself does not.
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Keep Orig (Particles tab) allows you to keep the original image in the background of the
particles. Don’t use it with Alpha Only or else nothing will happen. Keep Orig is useful
for creating images with particles that appear scattered, rather than to use them as a
transition. Applying a small amount of Scatter, changing the Shape of the particles, and
animating Seed can create an effect that looks like an animated painting.
Z-Order (Options tab) is the order in which the particles are drawn on top of each other.
This parameter has no effect in draft mode. It is particularly useful when using
Centripetal Velocity Type, to have more control over how the particles cross over each
other. “Normal” will have the Bottom-Right particles dominate, “Reversed” will let the
Top-Left particles dominate, and “Random” will create a random distribution so that no
particular part of the image dominates any other.
Apply Mode. (Options tab) These options are your basic Photoshop/After Effects drawing
modes, applied to particles. The best way to understand how they work with particles
is to try them.
The last feature on the Options tab is Size Tweak. The basic explanation is that this
parameter increases the size of each particle by a few pixels in each direction. Its use,
however, may be less obvious. When you enable it, you’ll notice that the default is 2. The
reason that it does not default to 1 is because when each particle is only exactly as large
as its piece of the image, the image falls apart too quickly. Therefore, the default is 1
pixel larger, making the particles overlap a little. This creates a better looking effect. You
may want to increase the Size Tweak when you are using the Shape parameter. Also note
that when you are working with thousands of particles, a large Size Tweak will
significantly increase render time.
Last, but not least, you can use the PixelChooser with Particles. This allows you to choose
which portion of the image is affected by the filter. Note that particles will scatter in
front of the rest of the image, not behind. You can use the PixelChooser in a Particle
effect the same way you would use it in a color effect. For more information, see
“PixelChooser™ Tab” on page 110.
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Scatterize Filter
Scatterize shuffles the pixels of an image/text so that it appears scattered. While the
Scatterize filter appears under the Particles submenu, it works on a pixels basis instead
of a particle basis and never creates an alpha channel.
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Scatterize Tab
Variance determines how scattered the image is.

Seed determines the random seed for the effect. You can animate the Seed while
keeping other parameters constant to create a random type of effect.
Apply Mode allows you to select a Photoshop-style drawing mode. For more
information, see the description under “Apply Mode” on page 185.
Scatter Style determines the style for the effect. The choices are Normal, Directional and
Radial.
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Appendix A
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcuts
• To toggle between Linear Interpolation and Hold Interpolation, Option-click
(Macintosh) or Alt-click (Windows) on the interpolation icon.
• Hold down the Shift key to constrain movement horizontally or vertically when
dragging an image in the Preview window. Option-Shift (Macintosh) or Alt-Shift
(Windows) to toggle horizontal and vertical constraint.
Keyboard Equivalents
Preview Settings
Operation Macintosh Windows
Start/Stop preview Spacebar Spacebar
Motion Path Command-I Control-I
Fast/Best Toggle Command-T Control-T
Wireframe Command-J Control-J
Refresh Sources Command-G Control-G
Preview on Monitor Command-P Control-P
Preview to RAM Command-0 (zero) Control-0 (zero)

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202 •• Appendix A
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Timeline CTI Control
CTI to start Home Home
CTI to end End End
CTI one frame right Right Arrow Right Arrow
CTI one frame left Left Arrow Left Arrow
CTI 10 frames right Shift-Right Arrow Shift-Right Arrow
CTI 10 frames left Shift-Left Arrow Shift-Left Arrow
CTI Next Keyframe Option-Arrow Right Alt-Arrow Right
CTI Previous Keyframe Option-Arrow Left Option-Arrow Left
Timeline Track Settings
New Track Command-K Control-K
Duplicate Track Command-D Control-D
Reset Track Command-R Control-R
Select Track Above Arrow Up Arrow Up
Select Track Below Arrow Down Arrow Down
Delete Track Delete Delete

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Keyframe Settings
New Keyframe Command-N Control-N
Cut Keyframe Command-X Control-X
Copy Keyframe Command-C Control-C
Paste Keyframe Command-V Control-V
Move Keyframe Left Command-Arrow Left Control-Arrow Left
Move Keyframe Right Command-Arrow-Right Control-Arrow-Right
Move Keyframe Left 10 Shift-Command-Arrow Left Shift-Control-Arrow Left
Move Keyframe Right 10 Shift-Command-Arrow-Right Shift-Control-Arrow-Right
Create a new keyframe Option-click motion path Alt-click motion path
Edit Fields
Up/Down 1 Up/Down Arrow1 Up/Down Arrow1
Up/Down 10 Shift-Up/Down Arrow Shift-Up/Down Arrow

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204 •• Appendix A
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Settings Files
Open Settings Command-O Control-O
Save Settings Command-S Control-S
Program Settings
Exit/Quit Command-Q Control-Q
Redo/Undo Command-Z Control-Z
Next active field Tab Tab

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Appendix B
Borix FX Preferences
General Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Default Interpolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
View Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Render Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Draft Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Multi-Processor Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Generate Color-Safe Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Use Host Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Project Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Width and Height (NTSC and PAL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
FPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Conform to 4:3 Ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Timeline Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Show Mask Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Show Transformation Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Preview Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Fast and Best Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Force Update with Option Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Grid Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Remember . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Window Size and Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
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206 •• Appendix B
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Boris FX Preferences Window
Enter the Preferences Settings by accessing the Edit Menu and selecting Preferences. It is
important that you begin your Boris FX work by ensuring that your preferences set to the
proper settings. Depending on your host application and hardware, The options may
vary.
Once you’ve made all necessary adjustments to your preferences, click OK to exit the
panel. If you do not want these changes to be implemented, click Cancel and the
preferences will not be saved.
General Options
Default Interpolation
This preference sets the default interpolation value for all parameters in all tools.
Interpolation is the term used to describe how parameter values change between
keyframes. After installation the default interpolation is set to Linear.
Example: You may choose to set the default interpolation to Hold when you are about
to create a simple keying effect with the Composite Tool. Chroma keying typically
involves sustaining parameter values for the entire effect rather than having the values
change over time.
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View Time
This feature enables you to display the frame counter three different ways:
• Absolute Timecode displays the frames as hours, minutes, seconds,
and frames, beginning at 00:00:00:00
• Absolute Frames displays the frame count only.
• Program Timecode displays the timecode information from the host
application’s program or timeline. This allows you to reference spe
cific points in your program most easily.
Render Options
Draft Render
Checking Draft Render allows you to render effects much faster, but at lower image
quality since anti-aliasing and sub-pixel interpolation are disabled. Unchecking the
check box restores Boris Effects to high quality rendering.
Recommendation: Use Draft Rendering for all stages of work until you have created the
final cut for your project. This will help the review process move quickly.
Rendering at draft quality affects only image quality and not timing. If the timing of an
effect is acceptable in draft quality, then it will be consistent in full quality rendering as
well. Re-render all transitions at high quality using your host application’s “Render All”
options before printing to tape.
Multi-Processor Enabled
This preference enables Boris FX to be optimized in Multi-processor computers.
Checking this option in non-MP machines will not affect rendering or any other
functions.
Boris FX, on average, renders effects 50% faster in dual-processor computers when MP
is enabled.
Example:
MP ModeRendering Time
Not enabled1:45
Enabled1:10
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Generate Color-Safe Output

This checkbox lets you enable a NTSC/PAL color safe filter so that only colors that are safe
for broadcast are used. Choose Preferences from the Boris FX Edit menu and select the
Generate Color Safe Output checkbox in the window that appears.
Use Host Settings

Transfers dimension settings from the Host application.
Depending on your host application, these settings may not be transferred.
Project Options
Width and Height (NTSC and PAL)
The Width and Height settings control the aspect ratio of media to suit the needs of your
project. For NTSC projects, set the aspect ratio to the default NTSC aspect ratio for your
host application; for PAL, set the aspect ratio to 768 x 576. For some video boards, other
NTSC/PAL aspect ratios are supported and should be entered in the preferences as
needed.
Note: The aspect ratio in Boris FX may be linked automatically to your project’s aspect
ratio in some Host Applications.
FPS
This preference enables NTSC, PAL, and Multimedia project frame rates to be met.
• For NTSC, set frames/second to 29.97
• For PAL set frames/second to 25
• For Multimedia use your specific project’s frame rate. For example,
a CD-ROM movie may be played at 15 frames per second.
Conform to 4:3 Ration

This option should remain selected to playback on a broadcast monitor for video
projects with both square and non-square pixel formats. When this option is deselected,
the processing is done as if the monitor uses the one to one ratio for width/height in
pixels (for example a D1 format adhering to the ITU-R 601 standard of 720x486). This
option is on by default.
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The Conform pop-up is displayed for file based media (movie and still files). The
Conform pop-up includes two choices: Conform to Pixel Aspect (possibly non-square)
and Never. The default is Conform to Pixel aspect. For more information, see
The Conform to Pixel Aspect option resizes each image in the horizontal dimension. This
compensates for the resizing that occurs when an image using non-square pixels is
displayed in square format. This option is turned on by default. It has no effect on
square pixel formats.
The Conform to Pixel Aspect option is only necessary when you import directly from
your hard drive while in the Media panel. Use this option to maintain the original aspect
ratio of any stills such as PICT files imported into Avid or other non-square pixel based
nonlinear editor. This option is not required for video that comes from the tracks of the
host system (for example Video 1 or Video 2); this media is already sized properly.
However, the Conform to Pixel Aspect option increases the processing time, even for
undistorted images, since resampling a large area is required. If you are concerned
about your rendering speed for still images, you can resize your image in Photoshop.
Then import the image into Boris FX with the Use as is option selected.
The Preferences window has a checkbox for Conform to 4:3 Ratio, which is on by default.
This option should remain selected to playback on a broadcast monitor for video
projects with both square and non-square pixel formats. When this option is deselected,
the processing is done as if the monitor uses the one to one ratio for width/height in
pixels (for example a D1 format adhering to the ITU-R 601 standard of 720x486).
Boris FX provides support for non-square pixel formats such as the D1 tape format.
When working with a DVE processor, you need to be aware of the pixel geometry in the
video format. Video formats can use square or non-square pixel ratios. Pixel ratio refers to
the shape of a single pixel. Most nonlinear editing systems use the NTSC and PAL video
standards that specify pixels with ratios of 0.9 and 1.07 respectively. Since both these
television standards use different horizontal and vertical resolutions, they use non-square
pixels. However, computer generated images such as graphic files often use square pixels
with a ration of 1.0. As a result, when you import images that use non-square pixels, such
as images created in a nonlinear editing systems, the image appears squeezed horizontally.
Take the example of a 640x486 NTSC format displayed on a 4:3 sized monitor. When a
720x486 image is displayed on the same monitor, each pixel is squeezed horizontally to
acquire a non-square shape. The Conform pop-up corrects this problem,
•
•
•
•
Timeline Options
Show Mask Tracks
If selected, Mask tracks appear in the Timeline.
Show Transformation Tracks

If selected, Transformation tracks appear in the Timeline.
Preview Options
Fast and Best Settings
In the Boris FX Preferences panel, you can configure Best and Fast Preview settings. This
lets you choose the optimal quality and speed combination for your particular system.
The available resolutions are Full, Half and Quarter and the available Quality settings
are Wireframe, Draft and High.
Force Update with Option Key

If selected, the preview window is updated when the CTI is moved only when the Option
key is pressed.
Grid Cells
You can customize the Grid spacing for better placement of elements. Enter the
appropriate grid values in the Horizontal and Vertical text fields.
Remember
Window Size and Position
If selected, your window sizes and position are maintained when you exit and re-open
Boris FX.
•
•
• 211
•
•
•
Appendix C
Borix FX Glossary
A/B Roll – A set-up comprised of two video streams coming from two independent
devices such as tape decks, used to produce a transitional effect from one clip to the
other.
Aliasing – A stepping effect seen on the edge of the image or type due to insufficient
filtering from one pixel to the next. Often seen on low quality DVEs.
Antialiasing – Reducing aliasing effects by filtering and other techniques.
Alpha Channel – A 4th layer of information in the image, in addition to 3 RGB channels.
Used to define transparency of the image.
Ambient Light – A lighting model when the object emits light (glows) by itself without
an external light source.
Artifact – Perceived degradation of image quality due to a particular technical limitation
of the processing system.
Aspect Ratio – The ratio of width to height.
Camera Position – Imaginary point in space where the viewer is positioned. Moving this
point creates an effect of moving around stationary object.
Channel – A stream of video or a still image. BE supports up to 6 channels per track.
Clip – A segment of video consisting of consecutive frames. Originates from film industry
where pieces of film were clipped at certain frames and subsequently spliced.
Compositing – The process of layering images on top of each other to produce a complex
scene.
CTI (Current Time Indicator) – Indicates the timecode of the current frame. By moving
the CTI you can preview various frames in the preview.
Cut – An instant switch from one video source to the next. The simplest (and most
seldom used) form of video transition.
Diffuse Light – A lighting model when the object is lit from a light source and light is
reflected evenly in all directions.
Dissolve – The most frequently used transition style.
Downstream Wipe – A wiping effect applied to an image after all other transformations
are performed.
•
•
212 •• Appendix C
•
•
Draft Rendering – Faster rendering method which can be used to speed up effect
editing. Final rendering must be done before printing video to tape.
DVE (Digital Video Effect) – An effect involving 3D or other type of image distortion;
usually produced by digitizing the image and manipulating individual pixels.
Effect Duration – The total number of frames in the effect. Displayed above timeline.
Field Rendering – The independant processing of each field of video. Important for a
smooth motion of the effect.
Frame Of Video – An image which occupys the screen for 1/30 of a second (NTSC).
Consists of two fields: odd and even.
FPS (Frames Per Second) – Rate at which frames are displayed in the video.
Generation Loss – Loss of image quality due to repeated re-rendering of effects.
Host Program (or Application) – Video editing software such as Adobe Premiere or Speed
Razor.
Interpolation – A process which defines intermediate values for parameters. Used to
compute parameter values at locations in between keyframes. BE supports several styles
of interpolation.
Keyframe – A point in time (a frame) at which parameters are set. Parameters are
interpolated from one keyframe to the next.
Keying – A selective layering of part of one image on top of the other (background).
Motion Path – imaginary line traced by the center of the image when changing its
position in the course of the effect.
NTSC Television Standard – NTSC (National Television Standard Committee); a broadcast
engineering advisory group produced standard for color television system used in USA,
Canada, Mexico and Japan. The size of the active screen is 640x480 pixels and refresh
rate is 30 frames per second.
Parameter – A numeric value which defines a particular feature of the effect, (e.g. border
width, rotation angle).
PAL Television standard – PAL (Phase Alternating Line), a color television system derived
from the NTSC standard, widely used in Europe and other parts of the world. The active
screen area is 768x576 pixels with refresh rate at 25 fps.
PICT Image Format – An image file format adopted by Apple for lossless compression
and storage of color images.
Picture In Picture (PIP) – A popular DVE effect in which a video stream is scaled down
and positioned over a background image.
Pivot Point – Imaginary point in space which is used as a center for rotation.
•
•
• 213
•
•
•
Pixel – Derived from “Picture cell”; it is a sample of image information. Can be thought
of as a dot on the screen of a specific color.
Plug-In – Plug-ins are software products which can be added to a main application to
enhance its functionality.
Rendering – A process of generating a media file which contains the completed effect.
Screen Mask – A mask applied to the image after all transformations are performed.
Settings File – A document containing a complete description of the effect. BE supports
saving/loading of settings files.
Source Wipe – A wipe effect applied to image before all other transformations are
performed.
Specular Light – A lighting model which simulates the look of a shiny surface lit by a
directed light source.
Spline – A curve with no abrupt change of direction. The term comes from the name of
a drawing tool used by draftsmen.
Sub-Pixel Interpolation – The computation of the image position between keyframes
accurate to a fraction of a pixel. Important for smooth motion of image and graphics.
Timeline – A collection of tracks.
Title Safe Area – Rectangular portion of NTSC screen which is guaranteed to be shown
by all conforming TV set brands.
Track – A layer of media that can be transformed over time. BE supports an unlimited
number of tracks in the Timeline.
Transition – An effect in which one video clip is gradually replaced by a second.
Upstream Wipe – A wiping effect applied to an image before other transformations are
performed.
Wire Frame – A method of representing images by drawing a white outline on black
background.
•
•
214 •• Appendix C
•
•
•
•
• 215
•
•
•
Appendix D
Boris FX Keyframe Library
Boris FX Keyframe Library - Preset Effect Settings
Boris FX comes with the Keyframe Library, which provides hundreds of preset effect
settings. The Keyframe Library is installed by default on your computer’s hard drive, in
the location described below.
Location of Keyframe Library, Windows

The Keyframe Library is installed by default during a Boris FX installation, in the
following directory:
C:\program files\Artel Software Inc.\Boris FX(tm)\Keyframe Library
Location of Keyframe Library, Macintosh

The Keyframe Library folder is located inside the folder called Boris FXtm on your hard
drive.
The Keyframe Library folder is also located on the Boris FX product CD-ROM.
Using the Keyframe Library

To open any of the Keyframe Library settings, select Open Settings in the File menu, and
open the preset effects file. You can also modify the preset effects, and save your
modified version for later use.
•
•
216 •• Appendix D
•
•
•
•
Index • 217
•
•
•
Index
Numerics Light 98
2D Particles 187 Color Balance Filter 122
3D container tracks 46 Color Correction Filter 123
3D containers 66 Color Filters, Overview 119
3D Shape Composite window 43
Border parameters 105 Controls windows 42
A Crop 103
Accelerate 55 Crop tab
Advanced 2D Particles 187 Sphere 78
Alpha 43 CTI (Current Time Indicator) 44
Alpha Pixel Noise Filter 177 Cube 47
Ambient Light 96 Cube Tab 75
Angle 100 Cylinder 47
Axial Displacement 83 Light tab 82
Cylinder parameters 82
B
Cylinder Tab 82
Blue 43
Cylinder, Position tab 81
Blur Filter 112
Border parameters 105 D
Boris FX Decelerate 55
preset keyframe library 215 Deleting
starting 42 Keyframes 53
User Interface 42 Depth 74
Brightness/Contrast Filter 121 Diffuse Light 98
Bulge Filter 137 Directional Blur Filter 113
Displace 76
C
Distance 89, 100
Camera 101
Distortion Filters 137
Camera X 102
downstream masks 64
Camera Y 102
Draft 43
Camera Z 102
dragging 45
Canned settings, see Keyframe library 215
Drop Shadow 99
Centering 88
Chroma Key Filter 156 E
Clean Up Alpha Filter 160 Ease In/Ease Out 55
Color 101 Edge Bevel Filter 140
Border 73
•
•
218 •• Index
•
•
F Cylinder 82
Face tracks 46 Sphere 77
Falloff 98 Light X 97
Filter tracks 46 Light Y 97
Filters 52, 110 Light Z 97
Flap Transparency 85 Light, Ambient 96
Flat 2D 47 Light, Diffuse 98
Flat 3D 47 Light, Specular 97
Full 43 Linear 55
G Linear Color Key 161
Gaussian Blur Filter 115 Linear Luma Key 161
Green 43 Luma Darker Filter 172
Luma Key Filter 171
H
Luma Pixel Noise Filter 186
Half 43
Hand tool 43 M
High 43 Magnifying glass 43
Hold 55 Make Alpha Filter 172
Hue/Saturation/Lightness Filter 125 Mask tracks 46
Masks 63
I
upstream and downstream 64
Intensity 100
Media
Interpolation Method
crop 103
setting default 56
Motion Path 43
Interpolation methods 55
Moving around
Invert/Solarize Filter 126
Preview window 43
K Timeline window 44
Keyframe library 215 Multiple images on a shape 48
Keyframes 53 MultiTone Filter 129
copying and pasting 54
N
creating 53
Noise Filters 176
Deleting 53
interpolation methods 55 O
moving 54 Offset 85
ripple moving 54 Opacity 72, 90
turning on and off 56 P
Keying Filters 154 Page Turn 47, 84
L Parameter tracks 46
Levels/Gamma Filter 127 Parameters
Light 96 Border tab 105
Light tab Camera tab 101
Crop tab 103
•
•
Index • 219
•
•
•
Cube 75 Shadow 99
Cylinder 82 Shape 43
Light tab 96 Shape tracks 46
Page Turn tab 84 M/S toggle 48
Pivot tab 93 Shapes
Position tab 86 in Timeline 47
Position tab, for Cylinder 81 Position Tab 86
Shadow tab 99 Shapes, Centering 88
Sphere 78 Shift Channels Filter 134
Particle Filters 186 Snap CTI to Keyframe 53
Perspective 78, 82 Softness 73, 100, 104
Pivot 93 Specular Light 97
PixelChooser 110 Sphere 47
Play 43 Crop tab 78
Position tab 86 Light tab 77
Position X 87 Sphere parameters 78
Position Y 87 Sphere Tab 78
Position Z 89 Spill, removing 158
Positon tab, Cylinder 81 Spin 91
Posterize Filter 131 Spray Paint Noise Filter 183
Premultiplied Alpha Filter 175 Starting Boris FX 42
Preset effects library 215 Stop 43
Preset library 215 T
Preview Window 43 Timeline Window
Previewing effect 43 Tracks 45
Q Timeline window 44
Quarter 43 moving around in 44
R Tint Filter 135
Radius 85 Tracks 45
Red 43 3D container tracks 46
RGB 43 adding 45
RGB Difference Filter 176 deleting 45
RGB Pixel Noise Filter 181 face tracks 46
Ripple Filter 141 filter 52
Rotate 92 filter tracks 46
Round Style 73, 106 hiding/showing 46
S mask tracks 46
Scale X 90 multiple surfaces
Scale Y 90 Tracks
Scatterize Filter 199 M/S toggle 48
•
•
220 •• Index
•
•
parameter tracks 46
renaming 45
shape tracks 46
transformation tracks 46
Trails 89
Transformation tracks 46
Tritone Filter 137
Tumble 91
Tutorial 3
Two Way Key 161
U
Unsharp Mask Filter 117
upstream masks 64
User Interface, Boris FX 42
V
Viewing angle, see Camera 101
W
Wave Filter 150
Width 72
Wifeframe 43
Windows
Composite window 43
Controls window 42
Preview window 43
Timeline window 44
Wrap 80, 83
Wrap % 79, 82
Z
Zoom in/out 43

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USER MANUAL

The material contained herein is protected by copyrights. Permission to use materials

Copyright 1999 by Boris FX All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Adding a Filter to the Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Chapter 2: Using Borix FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 3: Boris FX Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Camera Position Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Chapter 4: Boris FX Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Brightness Contrast Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Decay Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Apply Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Appendix A: Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Appendix B: Borix FX Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Appendix C: Borix FX Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Appendix D: Boris FX Keyframe Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

• Chapter 2 provides a description of Boris FX features, and the user interface.

• Appendix A provides a list of shortcut keys that can be used in Boris FX

Boris FX Keyframe Library - Preset Effect Settings

Host Application Experience

2 On the lower-left of the window, there is a Timeline Options area.

Previewing the Exercises

Moving Around the Timeline

Drag the vertical brown bar to adjust the location in

Current Time Indicator (CTI)

Shortcut Keys in The Timeline

If you want to move to. Press

the beginning of the effect the Home key

the end of the effect the End key

one frame forward Right arrow key

one frame backward Left arrow key

Creating a Picture-in-Picture Effect: Keyframes and Interpolation

Creating a New Effect

Drag the vertical bar to move the divider line

Scaling the Image

Changing the Interpolation Setting of a Keyframe

Linear Interpolation icon

Follow these steps to change the interpolation of the keyframe to Hold.

Tumbling the Image

Moving the Image Around

3 Set Position X to 150 and Position Y to 60.

Viewing an Outline of the Shape

A wireframe image appears outside of the screen area.

Viewing the Motion Path

Motion Path, Linear Interpolation

Using Ease In / Ease Out Interpolation to smooth motion

Motion Path, Ease In/ Ease Out Interpolation

Editing the Bezier Keyframes in a Motion Path

Click and drag and move the handles of a Bezier

Click and drag and lengthen or shorten the handles to

Option-click the motion path to create a new Bezier

Option-Shift drag a handle to adjust the velocity and

Creating a Video Cube: Changing Media and Applying Filters

Changing the Media for a Shape

Creating a Cube Shape

Changing the Video Image on a Side of a Cube

2 Select the “Right Face” track.

Changing the Depth of the Cube

The cube moves back, and then forward again.

Adding a Filter to the face of a cube

Previewing the Right Face Only