SpiceMaster Glass Help -- After Effects |
Welcome! SpiceMaster Glass is available as transition plugin and video effect plugin. This help guide holds everything you need to know about Pixelan SpiceMaster Glass -- transition. This help guide includes basic info, tutorials, and tips. To access this help while using SpiceMaster Glass, click FxHelp button at the top of the SpiceMaster Glass. |
How to Apply SpiceMaster Glass Plugin in After Effects |
SpiceMaster Glass is applied like any plugin effect in Adobe After Effects. Simply drag-and-drop it on a timeline layer, from the Pixelan folder of the Effects and Presets panel of After Effects. SpiceMaster Glass interface will appear in the Effect Controls panel of After Effects. See below for the basic steps to using this plugin. In a few minutes of seeing the below and then experimenting with the SpiceMaster Glass plugin, you will have much of the creative power of SpiceMaster Glass at hand for your projects. |
Basics Within SpiceMaster Glass |
SpiceMaster Glass's Easy Steps In After Effects
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Single-Layer Transition: (1) Set the transition's progress over time, using the Progress control. A typical linear transition is 100 to 0 at a layer's head, or 0 to 100 at the tall. To ease-In/out or hold the transition, add additional keyframes or select a handy preset in the Progress Presets menu. (2) Click Click here to load a preset... to visually choose from hundreds of pre-made transitions (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 standard Open dialog box. Transition Between Two Layers: If None is selected in the Layer menu, some features are not available and some presets will look complete only when applied between two layers. To create a transition between two layers choose which layer you are dissolving to or from, using the Layer menu, then proceed with steps 1-2. It can be any layer in the comp; Its Video switch can even be off. Pre-compose the layer at first if necessary*. To create a new effect or modify a preset, do the steps below...
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COOL TIP: To save time positioning section preset keys where two AE layers overlap: Make sure the Layer control in SpiceMaster Glass is set to your overlapping layer (i.e. the other half of the transition), then choose a Progress preset within SpiceMaster Glass. The Progress keys will automatically be placed in just the overlap. Thereafter, you can choose any other section preset and its keys will likewise be correctly placed within the Progress keys. To temporary turn off this feature, Ctrl-click a section preset.
COOL TIP: To organically animate/flow any other effect(s) applied to a SINGLE clip -- such as blurs, color changes, tonal changes, or third-party video effects plugins -- set the Layer control to the same layer SpiceMaster Glass is in and make sure "Source" is selected in Input Parameter menu to the right of the layer selection. That' is how you can easily reveal or fade video effects in a way that relates visually to your scene's content rather than the standard approach of ramping a video effect's strength uniformly over an image.
You’re done! To save the custom SpiceMaster Glass transition you've created for future use, click the Save button. A
standard Save dialog will appear. We recommend saving in the "My Favorites" subfolder provided.
* It may be necessary to pre-compose the second or both input layer(s) before applying SpiceMaster Glass if they have differentt sizes/positions, are text or 3D layers.
SpiceMaster Glass Presets |
SpiceMaster Glass has four types of presets -- Effects Browser presets, Spice Library presets, Section presets and AE Animation presets.
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Effects Browser presets |
Effects Browser |
| This is the most powerful and visual way to access presets and is where HUNDREDS of transition presets are located. Click the Click here to load a preset... button at the top of SpiceMaster Glass to open a wonderful large Effects Browser window to visually choose/compare from over 100 pre-made presets (including those you have made and saved for future re-use). To explore presets, click a folder in the left pane, then click a thumbnail image to see animated preview. Double-click to apply. To save your own custom presets in the Effects Browser, use SpiceMaster Glass controls to set up the desired look, then click the Save button in the main SpiceMaster Glass 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. |
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Spice Library presets |
Spice Library |
| Each 'spice' is a specially-designed grayscale map that guides SpiceMaster Glass. The SpiceMaster Glass effect will begin where blackest pixels reside (in the spice file's image, not your content), then proceed to where lighter grays reside, and finally end where the whitest pixels exist in the spice image. 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 of SpiceMaster Glass to open a Spice Library window and visually choose/compare from 1000+ 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 a gradient/alpha wipe or black & white matte 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. |
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• To scroll through presets in a folder while keeping your eye on the top preview image for comparison, click a thumbnail in the right pane then use 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 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.
Section presets
Unlike the Effect Browser presets, these change ONLY the controls in ONE section of SpiceMaster Glass controls. Mixing presets from several sections is a quick and easy way to try hundreds of fresh film transition variations. Within any section (aka "twirly") of controls, choose from the Preset menu.
AE Animation presets
If you prefer, you can save SpiceMaster Glass presets as animation presets in the usual place within After Effects, by selecting SpiceMaster Glass, then choosing Save Animation Preset from the Animation menu in After Effects or from the Effects & Presets panel menu.
Detailed SpiceMaster Glass Help and Tutorials |
Basic Steps
1. Choose a Spice File
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Learning More |
SpiceMaster Overview and Cool Example Movies Help & Technical SupportCopyright © 2022 by Transmutators EOOD. All rights reserved. Pixelan and SpiceMaster are trademarks of Transmutators EOOD. All other products mentioned are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. |