How to Use This Help System                          CreativEase plugins main help page

This help guide includes basic info, tutorials, and tips. To access this help while using CreativEase plugin, Click the Fx Help or ? button.

Contents

•How to Apply CreativEase Plugin in Adobe After Effects
•Basics Within CreativEase
•CreativEase Saved Settings and Presets
•Detailed CreativEase Help and Tutorials
•Pixelan custom interface

NOTE: Presets section, Effects Browser and Pixelan custom interface are not available in StepMotion and StepTime.

In Adobe After Effects (CS6 or any CC version):

1. From the Pixelan folder of the Effects and Presets panel of After Effects, drag a CreativEase effects plugin onto a timeline layer.
2. Within AE's Effect Controls panel, click the Click here to load a preset... custom button at the top of the plugin to open our large visual Effects Browser to compare and choose an effects preset.

3. Adjust the plugin's controls as desired to customize the look to your needs. (For detailed help per control, see below on this page.) Note that the top of each section of controls has its own Section Presets menu to speed your work. Use the menu to quickly explore and combine settings from different sections.

Click here to visually choose from a HUGE range of pre-made effects presets (plus saved favorites) in an animated Effects Browser window. Click Recent to quickly load a recently used preset. Click Menu to quickly load an effect via a pop-up menu. Or Open for an Open dialog box. The loaded pre-made effect will instantly configure ALL CONTROLS into a cool effect. Several subfolders are included, organized by style.
To create a new effect or to modify a preset...
(1) To quickly try pre-made settings, click the Choose Section Presets button -- a Pixelan exclusive! Section Presets will instantly configure controls IN THAT SECTION into a powerful combination.
(2) Adjust the controls in the main effect sections. For detailed help per control, see below on this web page.
(3) If needed, untwirl other sections of the effect to fine-tune further.

Most CreativEase plugins has two or three types of presets -- Effects Browser presets, Section presets and Spice Library presets (in some plugins only). After Effects additionally can create Animation presets in its Effects & Presets panel.

• Effects Browser presets

This is the most powerful and visual way to access presets and is where HUNDREDS of presets are located. Click the Click here to load a preset... button at the top of CreativEase (as shown by the smiley in the above illustration) to open a wonderful large Effects Browser window to visually choose/compare from many pre-made presets (including those you have made and saved for future re-use) To save your own custom presets in the Effects Browser, use effect controls to set up the desired look, then click the Save button in the main effect control area.

Time-saving tips to load presets faster:
The Effects Browser is fast, but sometimes you may already know which preset you want to use, such as when you are applying the same preset repeatedly in a project. In that situation, selecting a preset by one of the following methods can be faster...

To see recently chosen Effects Browser presets, click the Recent button. For a drop-down menu of Effects Browser presets, click the Menu button. To use a standard Open file dialog box, click the Open button.

• Section presets

Unlike the most Effect Browser presets, these change ONLY some or all controls in ONE section. Mixing presets from several sections is a quick and easy way to try hundreds of fresh effect variations. Click the Section Presets button at the top of any control section to instantly change ONLY the controls in that section via handy presets we have developed. Use this to quickly and easily make hundreds of new effect variations.

• Spice Library presets

Each 'spice' is a specially-designed grayscale map that guides the effect. It's simple in concept but incredibly flexible and organic in its creative possibilities compared to the usual hard-edged, limited-adjustment, standard algorithmic effects.
Click the large Choose Spice File button located in Spice section (if present) to open a Spice Library window and visually choose/compare from 600+ spices.

Click a subfolder in the Library's left pane, as shown below. Thumbnail-size previews of available effects will then play in the right pane so you can visually compare and choose the best effect design for your segment.
Double-click a thumbnail in the Library's right pane to select the effect and close the Library.
To choose a spice but bypass the Library, Alt-click the Choose Spice File button to get a standard Open dialog box. Then navigate to and select the file. This is how you can load an image you have created.
Shift-click the Choose Spice button to quickly load a spice via a multi-level menu. Ctrl-click the Choose Spice button to quickly load a recently used spice.

Handy tips while working within the Effects Browser and Spice Library:
• To scroll through presets in a folder while keeping your eye on the top preview image for comparison, hold the mouse pointer over the right panel then use arrow keys or the mouse wheel.
• To increase/decrease the thumbnail image size, use the Size button at the bottom of the Effects Browser.
• To copy a favorite preset into the My Favorites folder located atop the left column of preset folders, right-click any preset image and choose Copy to My Favorites. To copy the preset into a subfolder within that folder (such as if you want to organize presets per project or per client), right-click the preset and choose Copy to My Favorites >> [new subfolder]. You can then name the subfolder as desired. After the subfolder is created, it will also appear in the right-click menu.
• To rename a preset that is in the My Favorites folder, right-click the preset there and choose Rename this preset. To remove a My Favorites preset, right-click and choose Delete this preset.
• To hide any preset, right-click the preset and choose Hide this preset. To show all hidden presets in a folder, right-click any preset in that folder and choose Restore all hidden presets from this folder. To temporarily view the folder's hidden presets, which can be handy if you just want to momentarily browse them, choose Temporarily show hidden presets.
• To toggle between viewing the source file image and the CreativEase preset, click the top large preview image in the Effects Browser.

• AE Animation presets

If you prefer, you can save plugin presets as animation presets within After Effects, by selecting the plugin, then choosing Save Animation Preset from the Animation menu in After Effects or from the Effects & Presets panel menu.

Pixelan Custom Interface

Preferences Settings -- In the Pixelan Custom Interface ONLY

In the Preferences settings, you can customize CreativEase significantly to your video editing system's power and your working style. At right are the default Preferences Settings. Four Preferences options in particular may be handy for you to change (all shown with an adjacent red triangle). If you have very fast video editing hardware, consider turning off "Drop frames to maintain preview pacing." If you also have a high-resolution monitor and are editing with HD or larger footage, consider turning ON "Use largest available preview" which will use the largest preview size in CreativEase that can fit in your monitor while still leaving sufficient room for controls. Note that your choice for this setting will appear the next time you open effects window.

After you become more familiar with CreativEase, consider turning off "Show pop-up text and help text." That will leave more vertical space for the section controls and also reduce any distraction from the ever-changing help text. Last but not least, you can easily set a new default effect. Set up the effect control's as desired, then go into the Preferences dialog and choose "Make current effect the default."

Keyframing in CreativEase

To VARY a control over time, use CreativEase's powerful but easy-to-use keyframing. Follow the simple process below.

1. Go to the frame where you want a control's value to BEGIN to vary over time during the effect. There are several ways to do this: use CreativEase's built-in Preview Controls, or enter a frame time in the Current Time/Frame box. Or click the stopwatch icon next to the control to open the Keyframes Window, then drag the blue vertical frame marker left or right.

The Keyframes Window graph vertically shows the control's value plotted over time (horizontally, from 0% to 100% of the effect's duration). In this example, the Progress is linear from 0% to 100%.

2. Adjust the control's value in the main CreativEase window. In the graph, if a keyframe already exists at the current frame, the adjustment will raise or lower that keyframe. If a keyframe doesn't exist, the adjustment will insert a new keyframe in the graph, as shown at right.

Changing the control's value adds a new keyframe, if not already present. TIPS: To hold/freeze the effects's progress, horizontally flatten all or part of the line. To experiment and revert if needed to earlier keyframing, use the Undo/Redo buttons ("B") in the main CreativEase window. Note you can adjust keyframing while previewing plays.

HANDY TIPS: Another way to add a new keyframe is to click ON an empty segment of the keyframe LINE, then drag that new keyframe wherever desired. As you drag, coordinates will appear and the preview will update. To move a keyframe only horizontally or vertically in the graph, Shift-drag it. To fine-tune the position, click the Zoom (+) button in the graph's top-left corner to zoom in, then drag as needed. (Repeat to zoom further.) To precisely position a keyframe, right-click it in the graph and choose Enter coordinates.To delete a keyframe, right-click it in the graph and choose Delete keyframe. Or click the Delete Key (-) button above the Keyframes window. To delete ALL keyframes for a control, right-click the control's stopwatch icon. To delete ALL keyframes for a control AND revert to the control's default value, right-click in the graph's gray background and choose Revert to default.

More Keyframing Tips

• To hide/show the Keyframes Window, click the Keyframes Window button ("M") below the preview's bottom right corner. Note that each keyframable control has its own keyframes graph. To see the keyframes graph for a particular control, click the stopwatch icon at the left of that control. Or click in the turquoise color bar that is above the keyframes graph.

• To jump to a keyframe, click it in the keyframes graph. But among tightly clustered keyframes, sometimes that can be difficult. Or you may want to activate a keyframe without accidentally changing its position. The solution is to use the button bar above the top right corner of the graph. For example, to activate the next or previous keyframe, click the Next Key or Prior Key button.

• To copy and paste an ENTIRE keyframe line into another control, right-click the Keyframes graph background and choose Copy or Paste. Note that if copied values do not fit within the parameters of the paste location, they will be modified. To match ONE keyframe's value to another keyframe, right-click the keyframe that has the desired value, then choose Copy value. Then right-click the other keyframe and choose Paste value.

• To adjust an ENTIRE complex keyframe line you've created, right-click the graph's background and choose an option to invert or flip the keyframe line, or Scale/Move to scale its peaks larger/smaller or shift its timing ahead/back -- a great timesaver over manual adjustment.

• To customize the Keyframes graph display, right-click the Keyframes graph background to access four Appearance options, such as to show/hide the graph's grid lines or scroll bars. Any change will be remembered. Save window position opens the Keyframes window at a consistent screen location. Attach to main window keeps the Keyframes window attached if you move the main window.

• To stay at a frame while adjusting keyframes elsewhere, right-click the graph's gray background and deselect Sync preview. This can be handy, for example, to adjust a bezier curve while seeing how it alters an earlier or later frame's look.

• To snap a keyframe to the vertical playback marker position (when Sync preview is off; see above), position the vertical playback marker where desired, then right-click the keyframe you want to move and choose Snap to Time. If the marker's position is not possible because it is beyond an adjacent keyframe, the command will not be available.

• To zoom in, Alt-drag in the graph where you want to zoom. To zoom in vertically to the range where keyframes exist, right-click the graph's gray background, then choose Fit graph to keyframes. This can help you to fine-tune values in relatively flat keyframe lines. Other ways to zoom in vertically are: drag inward the vertical scroll bar, or Shift-click the Zoom In (+) button. Shift-click the Zoom Out (-) button to vertically zoom out. To bring the blue vertical playback marker into the zoomed region, click in the numerical scale above the graph.