

                        Imagine Global FX Documentation
                        ===============================
                        Imagine 3.1 (update) Global FX

                          Rev 1.0 09-13-94 S.Kirvan
                 Copyright 1994 Impulse Inc., Mpls, MN 55444




SCOPE
=====

This text documents and attempts to explain the basic use of the new global fx
modules that are being included with the Imagine 3.1 update.  It is beyond the
scope of this text to explain Imagine's use of FX in animations. - If you have
further questions, please refer to the manual or call tech support.  Hope you
enjoy them.

BASICS
======

I don't know if the use of Imagine's global fx modules is documented anywhere,
so here it is in brief.

In the Action Editor, each actor has room for four FX.  The global actor is
used to control the world environment and global FX modules are designed to be
applied in the FX bars of the global actor.  Global FX are, basically, post
production FX modules that can modify the image created by the renderer - the
only difference between Global FX and standard post production techniques is
that the FX modules know about the Imagine rendering world (frame numbers,
object positions, object geometry, etc.) and can use this information to
direct the post production.

GLOBAL F/X
==========


Global Lens Flare (GlblFlar.ifx)

Synopsis:

This FX emmulates the artifacting that occurs when a bright light reflects
around inside of a real-world camera lens.  This artifacting is affected by
imperfections in the lenses, the shape of the camera's iris, and by the
different coatings on the lenses.


Requester:

Halo Around Light Sources       :   This flag lets the effect put a fuzzy
                                    halo around the light in the image.  The
                                    size of the halo is set by the light's Z
                                    axis size.  This emulates the
                                    imperfections or dirt/fog on the first
                                    lens of the camera.

Number of Round Lenses          :   This sets the number of round shaped
                                    flares that will be created by each light
                                    (although, all the flares may not be
                                    visable because they are being cast
                                    outside of the film plane).  This flare is
                                    what would be caused by a camera with a
                                    perfect iris.  There are some cameras that
                                    have enough parts in them that they
                                    approach a nearly circular iris.

Number of Octagonal Lenses      :   This sets the number of octagon shaped
                                    flares that will be created by each light
                                    (although, all the flares may not be
                                    visable because they are being cast
                                    outside of the film plane).  Octagon
                                    shaped flares are created by cameras with
                                    octagonal iris'.

Min/Max Flare Intensity (0..1)  :   These parameters set the the range of
                                    intensities for the flares.  An intensity
                                    of 1.0 means that the imagine will be
                                    totally occluded by the flare.

Min/Max Flare Size (0..1)       :   These parameters set the range of sizes
                                    for the flares.  The numbers represent the
                                    flare size as a fraction of the image
                                    width.

Flare Spacing Adjustment        :   This parameter adjusts how close to the
                                    center of the image the flares will be
                                    packed (sort of a position control).

Fraction w/o Edges (0..1)       :   In a real camera, the complex of lenses
                                    often consists of both concave and convex
                                    lenses.  The idea is that convex lenses
                                    create flares with "hotter" (more intense)
                                    centers, and that concave lenses have
                                    hotter edges (I may have these turned
                                    around, but the idea is the same).  Flares
                                    w/o Edges are flare with hot centers and
                                    flares with edges are flares with hot
                                    edges.  The intensities themselves come
                                    from the ranges allowed by the Min/Max
                                    Flare Intensity parameters.

Random Number Seed              :   This seed value allows you to effectively
                                    change lenses without having to change all
                                    the other parameters you've set up.

Restrict to far/near side of center :   These flags are used to say, "I only
                                    want lens flares to show up between the
                                    lightsource and the center of the
                                    screen."  Some lenses appear to do this,
                                    so these flags let you control it.


Things to keep in mind to get the most out of this FX:

Lights that are behind the camera will not flare.  Lights will flare when
they are beyond the field of view of the camera, but once they are behind
the camera, there is no way they could cast light directly into a lens and
therefore, stop flaring.

A real camera has an iris with only one shape to it.  The flares take on the
shape of the iris, so using both round and octagonal flare together may look
"fakey" to a purist.  If you're shooting for photo realism with lens flare,
stick to just round or just octagonal lenses.

The lens flares that occur in real cameras tend to be much smaller the the
default values in this FX.  These defaults in this FX are set up so that the
flares can be easily spotted while testing.  Some lenses do give very large
flares, but you may want to make the effect a bit subtler by making them
smaller and less intense.

The size, position, and color of the lens flares is only barely
controllable by the user.  You are able to set limits on the size and
intensities of the flares, you are able to control how tightly packed the
flares are and where they are with reference to the center of the image, and
you can approximately control the colors of the flares by using colored light
sources.  All the specifics about what each individual flare looks like is
determined randomly within the FX, and the only control you've got is by
changing the random number.  When a photographer purposly wants to use flare
for dramatic effect, the only control he/she has over the look of the flares
is done with filters and by changing whole lenses.  By changing the random
number, you are effectively changing to a new lens that may have the
coatings and lens types you need to get just the right effect.


==================================
Global Haze

Synopsis:

This FX will key off of a specific color in an image and blend that color
outward from wherever is is found.  The idea is that bright objects can be
given an apparent glow or halo by telling the FX to look for the color of
the bright object.  The Start and End values in this FX allow it to animate,
so you can make something flare up during an animation.  The speed of this
FX is very dependant upon image size and upon the radii set in the
requester.  It will slow way down if you choose to have large radii on a big
image.


Requester:

Start/End Haze Radius           :   This sets how far the halo emminates
                                    from the edges of the key color it picks
                                    up.  The radius is measured in pixels,
                                    but more specifically, it is actually
                                    measured in pixel widths (this may be
                                    important to those using output devices
                                    with eccentric aspect ratios).  The
                                    Start/End values let you animate the
                                    radius size during the progress of the
                                    animation.

Start/End Haze Intensity        :   This sets the maximum intensity that the
                                    halo will have in pixels adjacent to the
                                    key colored pixels.  The Start/End
                                    values let you animate the intensity
                                    during the progress of the animation.

Haze Key Color Red/Green/Blue   :   These are the Red, Green, and Blue color
                                    gun values that the effect will look for
                                    and haze outwards from.


Things to keep in mind to get the most out of this FX:

The radii of the haze in this effect is measured in pixels - not image size.
It is not resolution independant, and will not look the same on two
different size images unless you change the radius of the FX in the new
image.  If you get an effect you like, and do another picture that is twice
as wide (in pixels), you have to make the Start/End radii twice as big as
you did to get the same effect you did in your first image.

The effect keys specifically off of the color in the Red/Green/Blue
parameters.  On the edges of objects, pixels are antialiased and the FX may
not exactly pick up the outer edge of the bright object you're lookin for.
This is more noticable in lower resolution images and if objects get very
small.


=====================
Cepiatone FX (Cepia)
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

Cepiatone is an effect that would be recognized as the look of an old, faded,
black and white or tin type picture.  The process is currently done in black
and white photography by first bleaching and then staining photographs.  This
FX allows you to blend an animation into or out of a cepiatoned animation.

Requester:

Cepiatone Color:            These parameters set up the color of the dye that
is added in to stain the final image.  For example, you can turn a black and
white image into more of a brown and white image.

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs from
a non-cepiatoned look to the cepiatoned look.  This flag reverses this timing
so that the morph is from full effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.

=====================
Contrast FX
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

This FX allows you to alter the contrast of a final image, and to animate the
contrast effect as it transitions.

Requester:

Contrast Adjust:            This parameter adjust how much to turn up the
contrast.  Note that this can take negative values which have the effect of
reducing the contrast.

Intensity threshold:        This parameter sets an intensity threshold that
the contrast effect keys off of.  With a positive contrast adjust, the
resulting colors will be pushed out away from the threshold value - With a
negative contrast adjust, the resulting colors are all pushed closer to the
threshold value.

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs from
a no contrast effect to the full contrast effect.  This flag reverses this
timing so that the morph is from full effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.


=====================
Fade to Black FX (FadeBlak)
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

This FX allows you to do an animated fade in/out to any solid color.

Requester:

Fade Out Color:             This is the color the animation will fade out/in
to (depending an the timing flags).

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, fades the
animation to the solid color. This flag reverses this timing so that the
animation fades in from the solid color.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.


=====================
Melt FX
Type:  Animatable/Warp (modifies pixel color/position).

This FX takes an animation, makes it look real liquidy, and then slides if off
the screen.

Requester:

Slide/Run/Collapse:         These three flags set the type of melt to do.  A
Slide causes the image to fall off the bottom of the screen first, a Run
pretty much causes the whole image to fall off the screen at once, and in a
Collapse, the top of the screen collapses onto the top of the bottom of the
image before falling completely off the screen.

Horiz/Vert Frequency:       These parameters adjust the size of the "chunks"
in the melt.  This number sort of tells you how many chunks there will be
going across the screen.

Background color:           This is the color that is revealed when the melt
removes the image from the screen.

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, melts the
animation off of the screen. This flag reverses this timing so that the
animation melts onto the screen.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the melt go from anim-on-screen
to anim-off-screen to anim-on-screen (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the effect is reversed).


=====================
Negative FX
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

This FX allows you to turn an Imagine image or animation into a negative
(reverse image), and to animate the transition of the effect.

Requester:

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs from
the normal images to negative images.  This flag reverses this timing so that
the morph is from full effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.

=====================
New Lens Flare FX (NewFlare)
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

This FX emulates the artifacting that occurs when a bright light reflects
around inside of a real-world camera lens.  This artifacting is affected by
imperfections in the lenses, the shape of the camera's iris, and by the
different coatings on the lenses.  This version of Lens Flare operates exactly
the same as the older version (GlblFlar.ifx), except that this flare IS
blocked by objects and is sensitive to transparent objects whereas the other
flare wasn't.

Requester:

Halo Around Light Sources:  This flag lets the effect put a fuzzy halo around
the light in the image.  The size of the halo is set by the light's Z axis
size.  This emulates the imperfections or dirt/fog on the first lens of the
camera.

Round Lenses:               This sets the number of round shaped flares that
will be created by each light (although, all the flares may not be visible
because they are being cast outside of the film plane).  This flare is what
would be caused by a camera with a perfect iris.

Octagonal Lenses:           This sets the number of octagon shaped flares that
will be created by each light (although, all the flares may not be visible
because they are being cast outside of the film plane).  Octagon shaped flares
are created by cameras with octagonal iris'.

Flare Intensity:            These parameters set the range of intensities
for the flares.  An intensity of 1.0 means that the image will be totally
occluded by the flare.

Flare Size:                 These parameters set the range of sizes for the
flares.  The numbers represent the flare size as a fraction of the image width.

Flare Spacing Adjustment:   This parameter adjusts how close to the center of
the image the flares will be packed (sort of a position control).

Fraction w/o Edges:         In a real camera, the complex lens often consists
of both concave and convex lenses.  The idea is that convex lenses create
flares with "hotter" (more intense) centers, and that concave lenses have
hotter edges (I may have these turned around, but the idea is the same).
Flares w/o Edges are flare with hot centers and Flares w/ Edges are flares
with hot edges.  The intensities themselves come from the ranges allowed by
the Min/Max Flare Intensity parameters.

Random Number Seed:         This seed value allows you to effectively change
lenses without having to change all the other parameters you've set up.

Restrict to far/near side:  These flags are used to say, "I only want lens
flares to show up between the light source and the center of the screen."  Some
lenses appear to do this, so these flags let you control it.


Things to keep in mind to get the most out of this FX:

Lights that are behind the camera will not flare.  Lights will flare when
they are beyond the plane of the camera, but once they are behind the camera,
there is no way they could cast light directly into a lens and therefore,
they stop flaring.

A real camera has an iris with only one shape to it.  The flares take on the
shape of the iris, so using both round and octagonal flare together may look
"fakey" to a purist.  If you're shooting for photo realism with lens flare,
stick to just round or just octagonal lenses.

The lens flares that occur in real cameras tend to be much smaller then the
default values in this FX.  These defaults in this FX are set up so that the
flares can be easily spotted while testing.  Some lenses do give very large
flares, but you may want to make the effect a bit subtler by making them
smaller and less intense.

The size, position, and color of the lens flares is only barely
controllable by the user.  You are able to set limits on the size and
intensities of the flares, you are able to control how tightly packed the
flares are and where they are with reference to the center of the image, and
you can approximately control the colors of the flares by using colored light
sources.  All the specifics about what each individual flare looks like is
determined randomly within the FX, and the only control you've got is by
changing the random number.  When a photographer purposely wants to use flare
for dramatic effect, the only control he/she has over the look of the flares
is done with filters and by changing whole lenses.  By changing the random
number, you are effectively changing to a new lens that may have the
coatings and lens types you need to get just the right effect.

=====================
Red/Green/Blue Mixer FX (RGBMix)
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

RGBMix allows you to effectively remap all of the colors in an image.  By
remapping the colors, you can convert a color image into a gray scale (not
only a gray scale, but a TV balanced black and white image - the default
params), change the intensity of a particular color, or create a false color
image (something an alien might see).

Requester:

Mixing Equations:           The first three lines in the requester let you put
constant factors in the equations that do the color mixing/remapping.

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs from
the image's original color mix to the color mix set up by the mixing
equations.  This flag reverses this timing so that the morph is from full
effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.


=====================
Solarize FX
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

Solarization is another photography "trick".  The idea in a black and white
image would be to leave dark areas dark, push mid-tones to white and push
light tones to black.  This FX does something along the same line, but in
color and results in a creepy, psychedelic look.  You can do a black and
white solarization by combining RGBMix.ifx and Solarize.ifx.

Requester:

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs
from the normal images to the solarized images.  This flag reverses this
timing so that the morph is from full effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.

=====================
Toon FX
Type:  Animatable/Photographic (modifies pixel color).

Toon is an FX that takes a typical raytraced, computer generated image and
turns it into something that can resemble a cartoon in the style of Yellow
Submarine.  This FX is a bit touchy, and an image with too much visual detail
can end up looking like a tire track in an ink blot.  Creative use of this FX
can however be used to soften up and give images a surreal, almost printed
effect.

Requester:

Draw Lines:                 This flag turns on the edge detection and line
drawing that Toon can do.

Line Color:                 These color values set the color to use for the
line drawing.

Blur Lines:                 In Toon, the lines are not anti-aliased, and can
be very jaggy.  Blurring the lines softens and widens the lines and this helps
to reduce the jaggy appearance.

Output Lines Only:          This parameter replaces the original picture with
a solid color so that you can use Toon to just generate edge detected line
drawings.

Background Color:           These color values set the solid color to be used
if output lines only is set.

Output Reduced Palette:     This flag tells Toon to create it's own reduced
palette that is used to fill in the spaces between the edge detection
produced lines.  The palette that is created is not based on the original
image colors, and the number of possible colors generated by this is set by
the palette reduction factor.

Palette reduction Factor:   This value sets the number of possible colors will
be in the final image.  The number of colors that the new palette will have is
actually this factor raised to the third power.  Since the palette being
generated is not based on the original image, it is not likely that all the
generated colors will be used.

Output Full Palette:        This flag tells Toon to leave the original image
in the background of the edge detected line drawing.

Reverse Timing:             This FX, as a default, while animated, morphs from
the normal images to the solarized images.  This flag reverses this timing so
that the morph is from full effect to no effect.

Return to Start:            This flag causes the timing of the morph to go
from no effect to effect to no effect (unless reverse timing is on, in which
case the morph is reversed).

Don't Tween FX:             This flag forces the effect full on with no
morphing.

FX Phase (Tween Factor):    When using "Don't Tween FX" this parameter sets
how far into the tween you want the FX morph to be locked.  For example,
setting it to 1.0 says "do 100% Toon", setting it to 0.5 says "blend 50% of
the original image with 50% of the Toon generated image."

- end -
