1 Tutorials About the Tutorial Exercises

Transcription

1 1 Tutorials About the Tutorial Exercises Getting Started Exercise 1: Animating a 3D Model Using Keyframes Importing a 3D Model Adding a Gradient Background Naming Tracks Animating the 3D Model Shape Working with Bézier Curves An Introduction to Shaders Saving Settings Exercise 2: Creating a Star Field Effect Creating a Particle Track Changing Particle Media Creating a Background Exercise 3: Creating and Animating Masks About Masks Beginning the Effect Adding an Image Processor Shader Creating a Mask Track Creating a Spline Mask Creating a Custom Wipe Creating a Title Mask Reversing a Mask Exercise 4: Creating a 3D Type-On Title Effect Creating a Moving Cloud Background Creating a Type-On Title Placing the Type-On Title on a Motion Path Exercise 5: Converting a Bitmap Graphic to a Vector Graphic Creating the Vector Graphic Extruding and Adding Material Shaders Placing the Vector Graphic in an Environment

2 2 About the Tutorial Exercises The following tutorial exercises provide step-by-step instructions for creating various kinds of effects, while exploring many aspects of the Boris Blue user interface and functionality. The exercises are a good starting point if you re unfamiliar with Boris Blue. Each tutorial builds on the steps and techniques introduced in the tutorial that precedes it. For this reason, new users should begin with the first tutorial and perform the tutorials in order. More advanced users, as well as users of Boris Red, should look over the tutorial topics and choose tutorials that are applicable to their skill level. These exercises assume you are using the default settings and preferences. You can reset all preferences to the default settings by deleting your Boris preferences file. Controls window Composite window Timeline window

3 Tutorials 3 Getting Started To complete the tutorial exercises, you need Boris Blue installed on your computer. If you have not already installed Boris Blue, you can do so by following the instructions in the Installation Guide that is included with your software. To launch Boris Blue, double-click the Boris Blue icon. Boris Blue s interface consists of four main elements: the Controls window, the Composite window, the Project window and the Timeline window. Exercise 1: Animating a 3D Model Using Keyframes In this tutorial, you will use keyframes to animate a single track in 3D space. This tutorial also covers basic interpolation settings and file management. This tutorial uses media from PlanIT3d. To complete the tutorial you can use your own 3D model or download the model used in the tutorial from Importing a 3D Model 1. Launch Boris Blue. The Project tab of the Preferences window appears. 2. The Project menu should be set to the default, 720 x 486 NTSC D1. If it is not set to the default project size, choose 720 x 486 NTSC D1 from the menu. If you work in PAL, choose 720 x 576 PAL D1 DV from the menu. 3. Set the Duration of your effect to 180 (frames). 4. (Optional) Deselect Show Options at Launch to prevent the Preferences window from appearing the next time that you launch Blue. 5. Click OK. The Blue interface appears.

4 4 6. In the Timeline window, click the Add Model button. 7. A dialog box lets you navigate to the file s location. Highlight the 3D model file and click Open. The image appears in the Composite window and tracks appear in the timeline. 8. Click the Visibility icon on the Imported Model track to hide that track. The taxi disappears from the Composite window. 9. Click the Visibility icon again to restore the taxi s visibility. Visibility icon Adding a Gradient Background In this part of the tutorial you will add a gradient background to make your effect more interesting. 1. In the Timeline window, click the Add Gradient Media button. A Gradient track appears in the timeline and gradient media appears in the Composite window. 2. Drag the Gradient track below the Imported Media track. This ensures that the gradient appears behind the imported model. Your tracks should look like the example at right. 3. (Optional) Select the Material track nested in the Gradient track and adjust the gradient in the Controls window. Disclosure triangle

5 Tutorials 5 4. Click the disclosure triangle next to the Gradient track to hide the tracks nested within it. Naming Tracks By default, tracks are named by their media type. For example, if you change a track s media to Still Image File, the track is automatically assigned the file name. However, once you explicitly name a track, the track retains that name, even if you change the track s media type. 1. Select the Imported Model track and choose Track > Rename Track. 2. Type Taxi and press Enter. The track is renamed Taxi. You can also rename the track using the following shortcut. Select the track and press Enter. Type Taxi and press Enter. Animating the 3D Model Shape You can assign each track in the timeline one of nine 3D shapes by pressing the Shape icon for that track. Note that each shape has a different icon. Shape icon Selecting a track displays the parameters for that type of track in the Controls window. Parameters can be animated using keyframes. A keyframe sets specific parameter values for a track at a certain point in the timeline. When you place multiple keyframes on the timeline, the program interpolates, or computes intermediate values, between keyframe values. Blue includes two types of keyframes, master keyframes and parameter keyframes. Master keyframes appear on the Shape and Container tracks. Parameter keyframes appear on the Transformations tracks nested inside the Shape and Container tracks. You can associate multiple parameter keyframes with each master keyframe. When you create a parameter keyframe, the corresponding master keyframe is automatically created. In this section, you will set keyframes in the timeline to animate several parameters. 1. Click to select the Taxi track. The track already has keyframes placed at the start and end. Because both keyframes contain the default parameter values for the track, the effect is static (not animated).

6 6 Time Field Current Time Indicator (CTI) Keyframes 2. Move the Current Time Indicator (CTI) to frame 20 (Time 00:00:00:20). The CTI determines which frame of the effect displays in the Composite window. As you move the CTI around the timeline, the Composite window updates to display the frame at the new CTI location. Because the taxi is a still image, all the frames are the same. You can either drag the CTI to the new location or type the timecode of the new location in the Time field in the Timeline window and press Enter. Make sure that the first keyframe is not selected after you drag the CTI. Selected keyframes are red. To deselect a keyframe, click in the track on the right side of the timeline. 3. If it is not already displayed, click the Position tab in the Controls window. 4. Change the Scale X value to 150 by dragging the slider to the right. (The three Scale values are locked by default, so the Scale Y and Scale Z settings also update.) You can also scrub the numerical field or click the numerical field, type 150, and press Enter. Lock Numerical Field Slider

7 Tutorials 7 A new keyframe is automatically created at frame 20, and the taxi image is scaled to 150% of its original size. The keyframe uses the default interpolation, Ease In/Out. 5. Click to select the new keyframe at frame 20. Selected keyframes are red. 6. Press the Interpolation field in the Scale X controls. Choose Hold from the menu. Interpolation Field 7. In the Controls window, set Spin Y to 0 rotations, 180 by typing 180 and pressing Enter. 8. Press the Interpolation field in the Spin Y controls. Choose Hold from the menu. 9. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, either by dragging the CTI to the beginning or by pressing the Home key. 10. Play the sequence by clicking the Play button in the Composite window or by pressing the Space bar. The taxi starts full size and facing outward, spins around and increases to 150% size by frame 20, then holds at that size and orientation for the remainder of the effect. Playback loops until you press the Space bar or Play button again. Now, you will add animation to move the taxi off-screen. 11. Select the Taxi track. Rotations Degrees 12. You should see red, green and blue OpenGL interactors in your Composite window. If you don t, press the G key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactor > Show Interactor. The interactors should display arrows at their ends to indicate that you are in Translation mode. If they don t, press the W key or choose Preview > OpenGL Interactor > Translation Interactor. 13. Expand the Taxi track by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the track name, then expand the Transformations track. Expand the Position track to reveal tracks that correspond to each parameter in the Position tab in the Controls window. The keyframes you set earlier in the exercise appear in the Scale X, Scale Y, Scale Z and Spin Y tracks as shown in the following example.

8 8 Disclosure triangle 14. Move the CTI to frame 20 (Time 00:00:00:20). 15. Select the Position X track, then choose Track > New Keyframe or type Control-N. A parameter keyframe appears in the Position X track at the CTI s current position (Time 00:00:00:20). Use the same steps to create a new keyframe at that point in the Position Y and Position Z tracks. Because the keyframes use Ease In/Out interpolation, they appear as an X in the timeline. Your timeline should now appear similar to the following illustration. 16. Move the CTI to the last frame in your effect (Time 00:00:06:00) and click the final keyframe for the Taxi track. The keyframe turns red to show that it is selected. You may need to scroll up. 17. Click the green interactor in the Composite window. The green interactor moves the image on the Y-axis. Make sure you click the interactor and not the taxi image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected.

9 Tutorials Drag the interactor down until the taxi goes offscreen. In the Controls window, the value for Position Y updates. Stop dragging at a Position Y value of approximately Most likely you ll need to reduce the size of the preview scale to drag the interactor as far as needed. Choose a smaller scale from the Scale menu located in the Composite window. 19. Click the red interactor and drag to the left until the taxi image is offscreen. Make sure you click the interactor and not the taxi image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected. In the Controls window, the value for Position X updates. Stop dragging at a Position X value of approximately Click the blue interactor and drag downward until the taxi image disappears. Make sure you click the interactor and not the taxi image. The shaft of the interactor turns yellow to indicate that it is selected. In the Controls window, the value for Position Z updates. Stop dragging at a Position Z value of approximately If you prefer, you can adjust the parameters in the Controls window by setting Position X to -600, Position Y to 1500, and Position Z to with the default Ease In/Out interpolation. 22. Return the CTI to the beginning of the effect, and play the effect. The taxi now spins around and increases to 150% size by frame 20, and moves off screen by frame 180. Time 00:00:00:00 Time 00:00:00:20 Time 00:00:02: Complete the steps in the next section to finetune your animation.

10 10 Working with Bézier Curves The Ease In/Out interpolation (the default interpolation type) allows you to work with bézier curves to finetune the motion of the effect. Keyframes that use the Ease In/Out interpolation are displayed as an X in the timeline. This section describes two ways of using the bézier controls to smooth transitions at keyframe points. 1. In the timeline, select the keyframe at frame 20 (Time 00:00:00:20). 2. Expand the Position X track to reveal the Value curve controls for that parameter. Value curve controls Bézier handle Value curve Red bézier curve handles appear at each keyframe point on the Value curve in the timeline. If you do not see bézier handles in the value curve, press the interpolation field in the Position X controls and choose Ease In/Out from the menu. 3. Drag either of the handles to move them up or down or lengthen them. The left handle controls the curve going into the keyframe, and the right handle controls the curve going out of the keyframe. 4. To manipulate the direction of each bézier handle independently, press the Alt key as you drag the handle. 5. After adjusting the bézier handles, play your effect to see the affect of the adjustments. Bézier handle

11 Tutorials 11 An Introduction to Shaders Shaders simulate different types of surfaces on each face of your 3D shape. Shaders calculate effects on a per-pixel basis, allowing you to create complex, realistic scenes in real time. Shaders provide unprecedented control for determining the lighting, shading, and color of each individual pixel, allowing you to create unique surface effects. For more information, see Chapter 7, Working with Shaders. This example applies an Image Processor Shader to the 3D Container track in your effect. 1. Select the 3D Container track in your timeline. 2. Choose Shaders > Image Processors > Invert Solarize. The Shader is applied and the Composite window updates. An Invert Solarize Image Processor track appears in the timeline. 3. Play your effect. The Shader does not need to be rendered. 4. In the Controls window, choose Invert/Solarize Saturation from the Type menu. Your effect updates with an altered Shader. Experiment with some of the other menu choices. 5. Boris Blue also makes it easy to change to a different Shader. Simply press the Shader icon to choose a different Shader from the menu. In the following example, a Scan Lines Shader has replaced the Invert Solarize Shader. 6. Again, experiment with different Shaders and make changes to them in the Controls window. Shader icon

12 12 Saving Settings Use the Render Queue to render your effect. You can also save the settings file and open it later to render it. In this case, you will save the effect you created to the Project window and also in the Boris Library Browser so that you can reuse it later. The Project window is useful if you want to experiment with multiple versions of an effect. You can save the composition to the Project window and then continue adjusting parameters. Later, if you decide that you like the earlier version, you can open that version in the timeline. 1. Choose Composition > Save Composition Copy. A copy of your effect appears in the Project window. 2. Click the Composition copy and rename it First Effect by pressing Enter, typing the name and pressing Enter again. When you finish, your Project window should look like the following example. 3. Choose File > Save Project Copy to Library. A dialog box lets you name and save a copy of the effect. 4. Click the New Folder button to create a new folder. Name the folder My Effects and press Enter. 5. Open the My Effects folder. 6. Click to select the With Thumbnail Previews checkbox. 7. Name your effect and click Save.

13 Tutorials 13 Exercise 2: Creating a Star Field Effect In this exercise you will create a star field using the Particle effect. This effect mimics the movement of an object through outer space. For more information on the Particle effect, see Working with the Particle Emitter Shape on page 227. Creating a Particle Track 1. Choose Composition > New Composition. The timeline clears and your last composition is saved in the Project window. 2. In the Timeline window set the Duration to 10 seconds. 3. Click the Add Particle Emitter button. A 3D Container with a nested Particle Emitter track appears in the timeline. 4. Click the Play button or press the Space bar to view the default Particle effect. 5. Click the Stop button or press the Space bar to stop playback of the effect. 6. Press the Alt key and drag in the Composite window. The effect plays with the cursor determining the location of the Particle Emitter. Changing Particle Media Like other shapes in Boris Blue, particles can have different types of media mapped to them. In this part of the tutorial you will change the default particle media to something more appropriate for our effect. 1. Click the disclosure triangle next to the Particle Emitter track. The track expands revealing the Shape and Media tracks. 2. Press the Media icon in the Texture track and choose Still Image File from the menu. Disclosure triangle Media icon

14 14 3. A window appears. Navigate to the Particles folder in the Boris Blue folder, select particle.bmp and click Open. To see what all of the particles in the Particles folder look like, choose Thumbnails from the View menu. 4. Play the effect with the new particle media. 5. (Optional) Repeat the above steps and choose different particle media. Make sure to return to the particle.bmp file when complete. 6. Click the disclosure triangle next to the particle.bmp track to simplify the timeline. Creating a Background In this part of the tutorial we create a black background for the stars. 1. Select the 3D Container track in the timeline and click the Add Color Media button. A Solid Color track appears above the Particle Emitter track. Because the Solid Color track is above the Particle Emitter track, the color media hides the particle media in the Composite window. 2. Drag the Solid Color track below the Particle Emitter track. Your timeline should appear as the example at right and you should see particles over a solid color background. 3. Select the Color track nested inside the Solid Color track.

15 Tutorials 15 The Attributes tab appears in the Controls window. 4. Choose Flat Color from the Type menu. Set an interpolation of Constant. 5. Click the eyedropper and drag it across the color ramp. When the color chip turns black, release the mouse button. You can also click the color chip to access the Color Ramp Color Chip RGB Values Eyedropper system color picker. Choose black and click OK. Or, you can enter RGB values into the numerical fields associated with the color control and then press Enter. 6. Play the effect. The particles now appear over a black background. 7. Click the disclosure triangle next to the Solid Color track to simplify the timeline.

16 16 Adjusting Particle Options Here you will work with four tabs that are specific to particle effects, the Particle Shape, Appearance, Movement and Emitter tabs. Working with the Particle Shape Tab 1. Select the particle.bmp track. The Particle Shape tab appears in the Control window. 2. From the Flat Shape Mode menu, choose 2D Small Sprites and then play the effect. The particles become smaller and much more numerous. 3. Change the Flat Shape Mode menu back to the default, 2D Rotating Shape. This choice is more customizable than 2D Small Sprites. 4. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. Select the first keyframe in the particle.bmp track. Selected keyframes are red. 5. Set the Birthrate Adjust parameter to 200 with an interpolation of Hold. Set the Particle Size parameter to 5 with an interpolation of Hold. The Birthrate Adjust parameter increases or decreases the number of particles created. The Particle Size parameter changes the size of the individual particles. 6. Play the effect. Particles stream out from a central point.

17 Tutorials 17 Working with the Appearance Tab 1. In the Controls window, click the Appearance tab. 2. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. Make sure the keyframe at time 0:00 next to the particle.bmp track is selected. 3. Select the Vary Color checkbox. 4. Click the Color 1 eyedropper and select a yellow color from the color ramp. Set the ColorVaryRange to 100. Vary Color varies the particle s color with the color set in Color 1. ColorVaryRange increases the color variation between the two colors. 5. Set the interpolation for Color 1 and ColorVaryRange to Hold. 6. Play the effect. Some of the stars are now yellow in color.

18 18 Working with the Movement Tab 1. In the Controls window, click the Movement tab. 2. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. Select the first keyframe on the particle.bmp track. 3. Choose Rotating from the Rotation Mode menu. This causes the particles to rotate. 4. Set Rotate Var to 100 and Rotate Speed to 50. Rotate Variation varies how individual particles rotate. Rotate Speed sets the rate at which individual particles rotate. 5. Set the interpolation for Rotate Var and Rotate Speed to Hold. 6. Select the Two Way Rotation checkbox if it is not already selected. Two Way Rotation allows individual particles to rotate both clockwise and counter-clockwise. 7. Play the effect. Because you haven t completed the final adjustments to the effect, you may not see the particle rotation.

19 Tutorials 19 Working with the Emitter Tab 1. Select the Particle Emitter track. The Emitter tab appears in the Control window. 2. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. Select the first keyframe on the Particle Emitter track. 3. Set the Master Gravity to 0 with Hold interpolation. Gravity imparts a downward or upward force on the particles. When set to 0, no force is applied. 4. Choose Forward from the Spread Mode menu. Forward sends the particles directly toward the viewer. 5. Choose Ring from the Emitter Shape menu. 6. Play the effect. The effect needs a few more adjustments. 7. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. 8. Set the Radius parameter to 1 Hold interpolation. 9. Set the Thickness parameter to 100 with Hold interpolation. The Radius parameter increases or decreases the size of the ring. The Thickness parameter changes the width of the ring. 10. Play the effect. It should mimic an object moving through outer space. 11. (Optional) To make the effect more complex, duplicate the Shape track and change the media and particle options for the second track. This will give you two different types of particles in your effect. For media for the second Shape track, you might choose BfxSpriral.bmp from the Particles folder as it resembles a rotating galaxy.

20 20 Exercise 3: Creating and Animating Masks In this exercise, you will work with several different media types, each used as a mask. You will also continue to work with Shaders. This tutorial uses media from Art Beats. To complete the tutorial you should use your own media. About Masks A mask is a section of media that contains an alpha (transparent) channel, which is used to hide part of another image. When you apply a mask to an object, the object becomes transparent wherever the mask s alpha channel has a value of 0 and remains opaque wherever the mask s alpha channel s value is 255. Intermediate alpha channel values produce semi-transparent areas in the object. Mask tracks are not automatically created when an effect is started and must be enabled in order to be used. Mask tracks are enabled by highlighting a default Material Shader track and selecting the Enable Mask Track checkbox in the Attributes tab in the Controls window. Note that mask tracks are only available when using a default Material Shader. Preset Material Shaders, such as Velvet, Cartoon Metal and Gooch Lighting, do not give you the ability to create a mask track. Beginning the Effect We begin our effect by importing a movie file into Blue. This tutorial uses Quicktime media. You can import a movie with a different file format. Blue supports all Win32 DirectX and QuickTime-supported movie file formats. For a complete list, consult your Release Notes PDF. 1. Launch Blue. 2. If the Preferences window appears, click OK. The Blue interface appears. 3. In the Timeline window, click the Add Movie Media button. 4. Navigate to the location of your movie, select it, and click Open. Your movie appears in the Composite window and tracks appear in the timeline. 5. If not already selected, select the Material track in the timeline.

21 Tutorials In the Movie Media tab in the Controls window, note the duration of the imported movie in the Info section of the window. In our example, the movie s duration is 10: In the Timeline window set the Duration to a time equal to or a little shorter than the length of your imported movie. If you set a Duration greater than the length of the imported movie, the last part of your effect will be empty as the movie file will be shorter than your effect. In our example, we set the Duration to 10 seconds. 8. In the timeline, select the Shape track and choose Edit > Duplicate Track. The Shape track is duplicated. Your timeline should now look similar to the example at right. 9. Select the lower Shape track, press Enter and type a new name for the track, Movie with IP Shader, and then press Enter. Adding an Image Processor Shader In this part of the tutorial you will add an Image Processor Shader to the newly created Shape track. Image Processor Shaders are applied to Texture Map tracks. 1. Click the disclosure triangle next to the Texture track nested within the Movie with IP Shader track. The Texture Map track is revealed. Shape track Disclosure triangle 2. Select the Texture Map and choose Shaders > Image Processors > Noise. A Noise Image Processor is added to your effect and nested within the Texture Map track. Because of the Shape track above the Movie with IP Shader track, you don t see the Noise Shader applied to your movie in the Composite window. In the next sections of the exercise you ll use masks to allow the media on the Movie with IP Shader track to become visible in the Composite window.

22 22 3. Click the Visibility icon on the top Shape track. Visibility icon The media associated with the track is hidden; the media associated with the Movie with IP Shader track now appears in the Composite window. 4. In the timeline, select the Noise Image Processor track. The controls for the Image Processor appear in the Controls window. 5. Experiment with the choices in the Type menu to see the various types of noise that can be applied to your movie. 6. When you re done experimenting, choose Noise Luma from the Type menu. 7. Experiment with the parameters for Noise Luma, in particular the Scale X, Scale Y and Intensity parameters. Adjust the parameters until you find a look that you like. Our example sets Scale X to 3, Scale Y to 3 and Intensity to Click the disclosure triangle next to the Movie with IP Shader track. This simplifies the timeline and makes the effect easier to work with. 9. Click the Visibility icon for the top Shape track. The media associated with the top Shape track reappears, hiding the media on the Movie with IP Shader track.

23 Tutorials 23 Creating a Mask Track In your effect you want to make the top Shape track partially transparent so you can see some of the media from the lower Shape track. To do this, you need to create a mask track that s part of the top Shape track. 1. Select the Texture track nested in the top Shape track. The Attributes tab appears in the Controls window. 2. Select the Enable Mask Track checkbox. A mask track is created in the timeline. Your timeline should now look similar to the example at right. Creating a Spline Mask Spline media is the default media type for mask tracks. Here we ll use the Brush tool to create a spline-based mask. 1. Select the Mask track in the timeline. The Tool window appears. 2. Click the Brush tool in the Tool window. 3. In the Composite window, use the Brush tool to draw a rough circle shape. The circle becomes a mask and allows the media from the Movie with IP Shader track to be displayed.

24 24 4. Click the Hollow Arrow tool in the Tool window. The drawn circle is selected. 5. In the Controls window, click the Fill tab. 6. Click the Fill On checkbox in the Fill tab. The circle you ve created in the Composite window fills in. 7. Play the effect. 8. (Optional) Delete the circle by pressing the Backspace button. Experiment by creating other shapes using the Pencil, Pen, Oval and Rectangle tools. Creating a Custom Wipe In this portion of the tutorial we ll use a moving mask to create a custom wipe. 1. If you haven t already done so, delete the circle mask by selecting the circle with the Hollow Arrow tool and then pressing the Backspace button. 2. Because you need some extra screen real estate, set the Scale menu to 50%. 3. Click the Brush tool in the Tool window and draw your wipe. Create the edge of the wipe on the right side and complete the wipe by enclosing it. See the image at right for an example of what the wipe might look like. 4. In the Controls window, click the Fill tab. 5. Click the Fill On checkbox in the Fill tab. The mask you ve created in the Composite window fills in. 6. Place the CTI at the beginning of the effect and select the first keyframe in the Mask track. 7. In the Controls window, click the Animation tab. 8. Deselect the Static checkbox in the Animation tab.

25 Tutorials Click the Hollow Arrow tool to select the spline. Move the Arrow Tool over the spline. When the spline turns yellow, drag the spline to the left of your image. This is the starting point of the wipe. See the example at right for details. 10. You need to make the mask slightly larger than the image in the Composite window. Click the top midpoint of the bounding box and drag upward. The spline increases in size vertically. 11. Move the CTI to the end of the timeline and select the last keyframe in the Mask track. 12. Drag the spline to the right of the image as shown at right. This is the ending position of the wipe. Bottom midpoint of bounding box

26 Click and drag the left midpoint of the bounding box until the image in the Composite window is completely covered by the spline. You may need to drag the entire spline to the right to continue dragging the midpoint. When complete, the spline should look similar to the image below. Left midpoint of bounding box 14. Deselect the Mask track in the timeline to hide the bounding box and spline outline. 15. Play the effect. The wipe should move from left to right and completely cover the image by the end. Time 00:00:00:10 Time 00:00:00:23 Time 00:00:02:00 Creating a Title Mask Here you ll change your mask media from a spline to a title, allowing you to create a simple title fill. 1. Press the Media icon on the Mask track and choose Text from the menu that appears. The Text window appears. 2. Type in the text you want to use, choosing a font and a font size. Our example uses 194 point Century. 3. Click the Update button and close the Text window. Media icon

27 Tutorials The title mask appears in the Composite window, allowing the media on the Movie with IP Shader track to appear. 5. If the title mask doesn t appear as you want, double-click the Text track in the timeline. Change the text in the Text window and click Update again. When you re satisfied with the appearance of the title mask, close the Text window. 6. Deselect the Mask track to hide the wireframe around the title and click the Play button. Reversing a Mask To complete this tutorial, you ll reverse the title mask you just created. 1. In the timeline, select the keyframe at the beginning of the Texture track. The Attributes tab appears in the Controls window. 2. Set the Mask Strength to -100 with an Interpolation of Constant. The source material previously on the top layer becomes the masked material.

28 28 Exercise 4: Creating a 3D Type-On Title Effect In this exercise you ll create a type-on title effect. Because type-on titles auto-animate, keyframes are not needed to create motion in the title. 1. Launch Blue. 2. If the Preferences window appears, click OK. The Blue interface appears. Creating a Moving Cloud Background First, you ll add a background using a Generator Shader to make the effect more interesting. 1. In the Timeline window, click the Add Color Media button. A Color track appears in the timeline and black color media appears in the Composite window. 2. Click the disclosure triangle to expand the Texture track. 3. Select the nested Texture Map track. 4. Choose Shaders > Generators > Clouds. A Clouds track appears in the timeline and cloud media appears in the Composite window. 5. Press the Home key to move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. 6. Select the Cloud track s first keyframe. Selected keyframes are red. 7. In the Controls window, set Scale to.14 with an interpolation of Constant. This creates larger clouds. 8. Click the eyedropper for Cloud Color and drag it down to the color ramp. Click again on the white color at the upper left of the color ramp. This creates brighter clouds. Set the interpolation for this parameter to Constant also. Texture Map track

29 Tutorials Click the Noise tab in the Controls window. 10. Set Drift X to 1.00 with an interpolation of Constant. 11. Play the effect. The clouds drift across the screen from left to right. 12. Stop playback and click the disclosure triangle next to the 3D Container track to simplify your timeline. Creating a Type-On Title In this part of the exercise, we ll create our type-on title. 1. Deselect the 3D Container track if it s selected. 2. Click the Add Title Container button. A Title Container track appears above the 3D Container track in the timeline. 3. In the Controls window, choose Type On from the Animation Style menu. The Type On controls appear in the Controls window. 4. In the timeline, double-click the Title Container track. The Text window opens. 5. Type in the text you wish to use, choosing a font and a font size. Our example uses 144 point Century. 6. Click the Update button in the Text window. The text appears in the Composite window over the cloud background. 7. If the text doesn t appear as you want, change it and click Update again. When you re satisfied with the text, close the Text window.

30 30 8. Select the Reveal tab checkbox to enable the onscreen animation. 9. Choose Extruded from the Shape menu. The text is extruded. 10. Play the effect. The text remains stationary. 11. Set Fade to 0 and then play the effect. The text animates on. 12. Drag the Animation Time handle in the timeline to increase the animation time. Release the handle near the end of the effect. 13. Set Scale to 0 and then play the effect. The text both fades and scales on. 14. Set Overlap to 500 and then play the effect. The letters animate together instead of one appearing on screen after another. 15. Set Spin to 180º and then play the effect. The letters now rotate as they appear. Reveal tab checkbox Animation Time handle Placing the Type-On Title on a Motion Path In this part of the exercise, we ll further animate the type-on title by placing it on a motion path. 1. Press the Home key to move the CTI to the beginning of the effect. 2. Return Spin to 0º. 3. Choose Single Emitter from the Path menu. A position point appears in the Composite window. Position point

31 Tutorials Drag the position point to the lower right corner of the Composite window. A motion path is created. 5. Play the effect. The text begins in the lower right corner, follows the motion path and then stops in the middle of the screen. 6. To make the motion path more interesting, drag the red bézier handle to the upper right corner of the Composite window as shown at right. A curved motion path is created. 7. Play the effect. The text now appears in a more organic fashion. Time 00:00:01:15 Time 00:00:04:20 Time 00:00:06:15

32 32 Exercise 5: Converting a Bitmap Graphic to a Vector Graphic In this exercise, you ll convert an imported bitmap graphic to a vector-based graphic, using the Bitmap to Vector Trace function. This gives you the ability to extrude the graphic and create a more sophisticated effect. In addition, you ll animate the graphic within an Environment map. Creating the Vector Graphic In this portion of the exercise, you import a still image graphic and convert it to a vector-based graphic. 1. Launch Blue. 2. If the Preferences window appears, click OK. The Blue interface appears. 3. In the Timeline window, click the Add Image Media button. 4. Navigate to the file you wish to import. Tracks appear in the timeline and the imported graphic appears in the Composite window. 5. Select the Shape track for the imported media and press the Add Spline Media button. Spline tracks are created above the imported media tracks. The Tool window also opens. 6. Select the Spline track, if it is not already selected. Spline Shape track Spline track Imported media Shape track

33 Tutorials Choose Window > Show Bitmap to Vector Palette. You may need to adjust the options in this palette to create your vector graphic. For information on the Bitmap to Vector options, see Converting Bitmaps to Vectors on page Select the Pencil tool in the Tool window. 9. Try each of the following methods for creating your vector, undoing after each one. When you ve tried all three methods, return to the method that works best for your graphic. Trace the outline of the graphic with the Pencil tool. Alt-drag the Pencil tool on each part of the imported graphic. This creates a separate Spline track for each part and allows you to animate and extrude each part separately. This choice is most useful when you trace letters of a title separately. Shift-Alt-click the Pencil tool on the imported graphic to create a spline in a single step. This creates a single Spline track for the graphic. Any animation and extrusion will affect the entire graphic. In our example, the vector was created by Shift-Alt-clicking, which is the simplest and fastest method. 10. If the vector isn t quite right, adjust the options in the Bitmap to Vector palette. In our example at right, the trace function didn t completely trace all of the title. We undid the trace, reduced the Trace Threshold to 10, and redid the trace (see below). 11. When you create the vector graphic that you want, close the Bitmap to Vector palette. 12. Select the Shape track for the imported graphic and press Backspace to delete it. You don't need the bitmap tracks any more, as you've created a vector-based version of the image.

34 34 Extruding and Adding Material Shaders In this part of the exercise, you'll extrude the vector graphic and apply Material Shaders. 1. Press the Shape icon in the top Spline track and choose Extrusion from the menu. Shape icon The graphic is extruded. 2. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect, if it is not already there. 3. Select the first keyframe for the top Spline Track. Selected keyframes are red. 4. In the Position tab in the Controls window, set Tumble X and Spin Y to 30º with an interpolation of Constant. The vector graphic tumbles and spins to better display the extrusion. 5. In the Controls window, click the Material tab. 6. Choose 2 from the Apply Material menu. This allows you to apply separate materials to the front of the image and to the extrusion. The front material is also applied to the bevel and to the back of the image.

35 Tutorials Click the Extrusion tab and increase the size of the extrusion by adjusting the Extrusion setting. Choose a Constant interpolation. In our example, we set Extrusion to In the timeline, click the disclosure triangles next to the Front Material and Extrusion Material tracks. 9. In the timeline, press the Material Shader icon in the Color track nested in the Front Material track. Choose a Material Shader from the menu. Try some different choices and choose the Shader you like best. 10. Repeat the previous step for the Color track nested in the Extrusion Material track. In our example, the Metallic Shader was chosen for the Front Material and the Glass Fragment Shader was chosen for the Extrusion Material. 11. (Optional) Select a Shader track and adjust Shader parameters in the Controls window. Material Shader icon

36 36 Placing the Vector Graphic in an Environment In this part of the exercise, you'll create an Environment map to surround the extruded graphic. You'll then animate the graphic and Environment map. 1. Select the 3D Container track in the timeline. 2. In the Controls window, click the Render tab. 3. Select the Make Environment Map Track checkbox. An Environment map appears behind the extruded graphic. and an Environment map track is created in the timeline. 4. Move the CTI to the beginning of the effect, if it is not already there. Select the keyframe at the beginning of the 3D Container track. 5. In the Controls window, click the Camera tab. 6. Choose Orbit from the Camera Model menu. 7. Set Spin to 1 rotation with an interpolation of Linear. 8. Play the effect. The extrusion and Environment map rotate in 3D space.

37 Tutorials Let's try a different Environment map. In the timeline, press the Media icon in the Environment Map track and choose Still Image File from the menu. Media icon 10. Navigate to Program Files > Boris FX, Inc > Boris BLUE 1.0 > Shaders > Images. Select Rough_Desert_uc.dds from the Images folder and click Open. 11. The default Environment map is replaced by a desert scene. 12. Play the effect.