Quick Lighting Controls
Lighting
Use this checkbox to turn on or off lighting in the FX. Turning off lighting will eliminate the realistic shading, but will speed up rendering.
Light Direction
Use the dial to change the direction of the light in the scene. You can create interesting results by having light come from the bottom of the screen instead of the top. Light Direction affects the shading, shine, and shadows of 3D objects in an FX.
Shadows
Use this checkbox to turn on or off shadows in the FX. Turning off shadows will speed up rendering. Having shadows on can add a sense of 3D realism to an FX. Shadows can be controlled in more detail using Shadow Type, Opacity, Distance and Softness.
Shadow Type
These radio buttons control the type of shadow that is generated.
· Cast:
Cast shadows treat the backdrop image like a piece of paper that all other objects cast shadows onto. The closer an object is to the backdrop, the closer its shadow is to the object.
· Drop:
When drop shadows are selected, shadows are always drawn at a specified distance from an object.
· Full:
Turn on full scene shadowing. With this option objects shadow themselves and each other for the most realistic look.
Opacity
This slider controls the darkness of the shadows. The higher the value, the darker and more opaque the shadows are. The lower the value, the more transparent the shadows are. Generally a value from 30% to 50% produces a very realistic shadow.
Distance
This slider controls the distance of shadows from their objects. The greater the distance, the farther the shadow is drawn from the object. This slider is particularly useful for Drop shadows. Remember, the direction of the shadow is controlled by the Light Direction dial.
Softness
Hollywood FX lets you create soft-edged shadows. Simply increase the softness value to create a softer shadow. Note however, that the higher the softness value, the greater the rendering time.
Shine
Many FX have a glossy shine on the 3D objects that fly on or off screen. This checkbox controls shine. Clear this checkbox to turn off the glossy shine.
You can also control the brightness of the shine and the size of the shine spot using the sliders.
Motion Blur
This checkbox will turn on realistic motion blur for an FX. Motion blur mimics the blur that is seen when objects move quickly across a camera’s view. When motion blur is turned on, you can control the specific look of the blur using the Length and Count. Note: Motion blur can greatly increase rendering time.
Distance
This determines how far the blur “smearsâ€. This value is the percent of the total distance from one frame to another in the FX. The higher the value, the longer the smear. Hollywood FX always renders an accurate intraframe blur, unlike other products which simply create a fixed distance blur.
Count
This determines how many copies of the object are drawn to create the blur. The higher the number the smoother the blur appears. Increasing this number also greatly increases rendering time.
Trails
Checking this will turn on trails. Any moving objects will leave trails behind them as they move.
Trail Count
Determines the number of trails that are drawn behind each object when trails are turned on.
Render
You can change the 3D rendering of the FX:
· Smooth
is the normal setting. Curved surfaces will have a realistic smooth appearance.
· Flat
will render all surfaces as flat polygons. Surfaces that are normally smooth will have a faceted appearance.
· Wire
will render all 3D objects as wireframes rather than solid surfaces.
Antialiasing
Some FX will exhibit aliasing (blocky stair stepping along the edge of a 3D object). Turn on antialiasing to reduce aliasing.
· Off:
No antialiasing is used. Fastest option.
· Web/CD:
Antialiasing is slower, but provides good results for all FX.
· Video:
Highest level of antialiasing, slowest rendering.
· Hardware:
Good results and very fast if you have a graphics display card that supports hardware based anti-aliasing.
Best Quality
Turning on this feature will cause the rendering engine to render at the highest possible quality.
Pixel Blending
Turning on this feature will cause the rendering engine to perform advanced pixel blending, smoothing out images in the FX. This feature is especially useful when you “zoom†in on a piece of video. Pixel Blending will eliminate the normal blockiness of the zoom.