How to Apply FilmTouch 2.0                          FilmTouch 2's main help page

1. Drag FilmTouch 2.0 (the name, or a Vegas preset for it) -- or FilmTouch 2.0 Pro if you have that version --from the Vegas Video FX list onto any event or track in your Vegas timeline. Or, click the Event FX button on an event’s icon in the Vegas timeline, then choose FilmTouch 2.0 (or FilmTouch 2.0 Pro) in the Plug-In Chooser window. The FilmTouch OFX interface will then appear.
2. Click the Load a Pre-made Effect button at the top of FilmTouch 2.0 (as shown by the smiley in the below images) to open a large Effects Browser window to visually choose/compare FilmTouch 2.0 presets.

Tip: To preview the effect in Vegas real-time and interactively while adjusting controls, turn on the Loop play button at the bottom of the Vegas timeline, then double-click in the timeline the event with the FilmTouch 2.0 effect that you applied. Highly recommended!

Basics Within FilmTouch 2.0

FilmTouch 2.0 is an OFX plugin for Vegas. Thus it utilizes familiar interface elements that Vegas users have seen in many other video effects. See below for the basic steps to using our Vegas OFX plugin. In a few minutes of seeing the below and then experimenting with FilmTouch 2.0, you will have much of its creative power at hand for your Vegas projects.

FilmTouch Presets

FilmTouch has three types of presets -- Effect Browser presets, Vegas presets, and (in FilmTouch Pro only) Section presets.

Effects Browser presets

This is the most powerful and visual way to access presets and is where HUNDREDS of film look effects presets are located. (There are 200+ presets in FilmTouch 2.0, or 500+ in the Pro version.) Click the Load a Pre-made Effect button at the top of FilmTouch 2.0 (as shown by the smiley in the above images) to open a large Effects Browser window to visually choose/compare pre-made effects. The Effects Browser is shown below. To save your own custom presets in the Effects Browser, use FilmTouch controls to set up the desired look, then click the Save to Effects Browser button.

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 a following method can be faster... To see recently chosen Effects Browser presets, Ctrl-click the Load a Pre-made Effect button. For a drop-down menu of Effects Browser presets, Shift-click the button. To use a standard Open file dialog box, Alt-click the button.

Handy tips while working within the Effects Browser:
• If your Vegas project properties Pixel format is "32-bit floating point (full range)" and Compositing gamma is "1.000 (linear)" the Effects Browser images will appear dark. Use the Vegas Gamma button at the bottom of the Effects Browser to compensate for this. Also note that if Vegas project properties View transform is "On" the colors in Effects Browser images will not exactly match the Vegas preview.

• To scroll through presets in a folder while keeping your eye on the top preview image for comparison, click in the right panel then use left or right arrow keys.
• 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 here. To temporarily view the folder's hidden presets, which can be handy if you just want to momentarily browse them, choose Temporary show hidden presets.
• To toggle between viewing the source file image and the FilmTouch preset, click the top large preview image in the Effects Browser.

 

 

Vegas Presets

If you prefer, you can save favorite Effects Browser presets and/or custom presets in Vegas's usual place, although using our Effects Browser is much more visual and easier to compare choices. The one advantage of the usual Vegas way is you can apply a favorite preset quickly without entering the FilmTouch 2.0 interface at all.

Section presets (FilmTouch Pro only)

Unlike the Effect Browser presets or Vegas presets, these change ONLY the controls in ONE section of FilmTouch Pro. Mixing presets from several sections is a quick and easy way to try hundreds of fresh film look effects and variations. Just click any section's Section Presets button. To choose a section preset visually instead of from a list, Shift-click the button.

Detailed Help on Each FilmTouch 2.0 Pro Control

 

Note: FilmTouch 2.0 'regular' version has Mid Contrast, Gamma, and Mix with Original controls only -- the three most useful ways to tweak existing film look presets.

IMPORTANT: As noted in the above section, to quickly try common settings in any section of FilmTouch 2.0 Pro, click the Section Presets button at the section's top. To vary a control over time, click its Stopwatch icon (if available) to set keyframes using the standard Vegas keyframe controls.

Basics

Adjust midtone contrast, brightness, or saturation -- the most common overall ways to fine-tune a film look.

Mid Contrast. Positive values increase the contrast in midtone areas. Negative values decrease.
Gamma. Positive values increase the proportion of brighter areas to darker areas. Negative values decrease.
Saturation. Positive values increase the intensity of colors. Negative values decrease.
Apply Saturation... Sets when the above saturation adjustment applies. After... is handy to easily saturate or desaturate the look no matter what other color adjustments occur below.
Split Preview. Easily compare the effect to your source clip’s original look. IMPORTANT: Be sure to turn this off before rendering to not include the split in your video.

Preserve in Source

Optionally leave untouched (from Basics and RGB section adjustments) an already “just right” color or luminance within your scene.

All pixels with... To define the Target area where the source clip's look will be preserved, select from Target’s color, Target’s luminance only, Target’s hue only, or Target’s hue & saturation only.
Target. In the preview, expand this control to click the eyedropper on the color area to keep it unchanged. Or use the color swatch to choose a color or luminance. For example, to preserve the white in a source clip’s clouds, click the Target eyedropper in the cloud and select Target’s luminance only. To preserve skin tones, click in the skin and choose Target’s color.
Range. Positive values preserve additional hue/luminance areas that are similar to the Target. Negative values reduce the range.
Falloff. Positive values increase the feathering around preserved colors. Negative values decrease.
Invert. Switch preserved and adjustable image areas. Handy when clicking an adjustable color is easier than clicking a color to preserve.
View the Mask. Turn on to clearly see the preserved region’s mask.

RGB Low/Mid/High

Fine-tune a film look by adjusting shadows, midtones, or highlights per color channel. Easily tint only shadows towards a desired color, for example.

Low R/G/B. Fine-tune shadows by brightening or darkening the red/green/blue channel.
Mid R/G/B. Fine-tune midtones by brightening or darkening the red/green/blue channel.
High R/G/B. Fine-tune highlights by brightening or darkening the red/green/blue channel.
Pin Black/White. On protects pure black or white areas from adjustments in this section.

 

RGB Gain/Offset/Gamma

Fine-tune the film look by adjusting the strength and brightness of a color channel.

Gain R/G/B. Fine-tune highlights by adjusting the red/green/blue channel’s gain.
Offset R/G/B. Fine-tune all image areas by adjusting the red/green/blue channel’s offset.
Gamma R/G/B. Fine-tune midtones by adjusting the red/green/blue channel’s gamma.

 

Diffusion

Optionally add realistic light diffusion to a film look.

Blur. Sets the blur strength.
Blend Mode. To fine-tune the blur, choose a Photoshop-like blend mode.
Blend Opacity. Set the opacity of the blend mode above. 100% is pure blending, 200% is pure blur. For unusual looks, enter values outside the 0-200% range.
Dark/Light Bias. Increase to shift the diffusion into darker areas.
Range. Increase to spread the diffusion effect. 100% is uniform diffusion over the entire scene.
Glow. Optionally add a glow to enhance the diffusion realism.
Glow Size. Increase to spread the glow further into darker areas.
Glow Color. In the preview, click the eyedropper to choose a glow color from your scene. Or use the color swatch to choose a glow color.

 

Vignette

Optionally add a realistic lens vignette to a film look.

Strength. Set how strongly the vignette conforms to the current shape.
Shape. Choose a shape from several options. Inverted choices brighten instead of darken the vignette.
Softness. Set the shape's edge softness.
Size. Set the shape's size.
Center. Position the shape within the image by dragging the center point. If Linear is selected, you can adjust its angle by moving the center point. For more precision, enter numerical values, such as to match the shape in two different film looks.
Style. Choose the vignette’s style, from standard to unique looks. Standard is a 'real world' lens vignette. Standard 2 is similar but treat colors in the vignette area differently. Color only vignettes only color adjustments (the RGB sections). Diffusion only vignettes only the diffusion section. Color and Diffusion vignettes just the Basics and RGB sections.

Mix with Original. To alter the film look effect’s overall strength, adjust its transparency with the source image. Positive values increase the source’s strength. Negative values can create unusual looks -- experiment! To fade in/out the entire film look effect, click the Stopwatch icon to set keyframes for this control.

go to FilmTouch 2.0's main help page