Video Effects Plug-in for Autodesk Sparks
Boris Continuum Complete (BCC) V5 Sparks bring a total of 145 special effects plug-ins to Autodesk Discreet System users that want to get the most out of their Linux (or Irix) based compositing and finishing system. With over 10 years of research and development at their core, these Sparks are well thought out and render good clean results. Effects include volumetric lighting, lens flares, glint, depth blurring, 3D geometric shapes, film effects, bump mapping, glows, fast and easy keying, optical flow based time warping, natural effects such as snow, fire, caustics, and clouds, and fully automated organic wipe transitions. New Version 5 filter highlights include Optical Flow-based Motion Key for foreground object removal and Optical Stabilizer for smooth image stabilization.
More about Continuum Complete Sparks
The included effects are categorized into 9 different groups making them easy to find and load. Each of the effects that are included in the BCC V5 Sparks package include several key technologies that help them stand apart from the competition. For instance, every Spark includes a built-in pixel matte and region mask generation system that can be driven by the built-in motion tracker. Each Spark also includes a built-in preset load and save mechanism that can be used to access the thousands of factory built preset effect set-ups that are installed with the Sparks - each of which is completely user customizable. In addition, the effect set-ups can be shared with matching BCC effects on any host system into which the BCC product has been installed, ie, if you created a previz effect on an Avid, Adobe or Apple system and wanted to recreate the effect on an Autodesk finishing system, you simply load the set-up from the previz system into the same effect on the finishing system and you are done. Every Spark in the package also includes a built-in electronic help system.
Continuum Complete Sparks Features
Ease of use features
Technologies used
Infrastructure
Categorical Filter Listings
The BCC package is split into two volumes or sets of filters and each Volume is in turn broken down into 4 categories. The purpose of the categories is to make filter selection easier and faster. For instance, in Volume one, we have the following categories: Colors and Blurs, Effects, Lights, Wipe Transitions. If the operator knows in advance that they are going to need a blur filter, they know that it is contained in the Color and Blurs category, thereby reducing the amount of time and energy spent scrolling through the list of filters to find the Blur filter.
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Multiple Clip Inputs for every Filter
All filters in the BCC product feature multiple inputs, a separate input clip for the front, back and matte, making some compositing chores easy and fast. To achieve the same result would otherwise require several steps and renders.
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On-screen widgets with numeric read-outs for each filter
Each filter in BCC features on-screen controls, which are also known as widgets, which for instance can be used to position the pixelchooser or a light source, without having to take your eyes away from the image.
Below: examples of on-screen light widgets – observe alphanumeric position read-out in white text onimage to the top right of the position widget.
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OpenGL
In terms of technologies employed in the BCC product, there are several filters in the package that utilize native OpenGL hardware rendering, which was actually originally pioneered and developed by SGI, enabling the filters to render with very little overhead. The following filters feature OpenGl hardware assisted rendering, Glint, Glare, Glitter, Lens Flare, and Lens Flare Advanced. The Glint, Glitter and Glare filters each offer the ability to automatically move across the surface of the image to which they have been applied to emulate real-world scenes. The movement of these filter effects is based upon the luma values inherent in the image itself. For instance, when the Glint filter has been applied to a rippled or moving water surface, the Glints (star shaped specular highlights) move along with the water ripples.
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Optical Flow
A common effect in motion graphics is to adjust the speed of a clip, either by slowing it down or speeding it up. While this features is offered by several filter developers, most of the packages offered for Discreet Advanced Systems rely upon a technique known as frame blending, where several frames adjacent to the current frame are composited over each other and then blended together to create inter-frames thereby generating the impression of over-cranked cinematography or a slow-mo effect. BCC incorporates a technology called Optical Flow to re-synthesize completely new frames based upon the movement of pixels from one frame to the next. The result is that clips processed with this technology are always razor sharp and clean, as opposed to the blurred image that is generated with frame blending. Disable change tracking. The filters that feature this technology are BCC Optical Flow and BCC Motion Blur.
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Pixelchooser
Many filters in the BCC product also feature a totally unique built-in masking system, called the Pixelchooser. This easy to use system enables the operator to select an optional clip input, which is used by the filter to matte out part of the image thereby containing the filter effect to the areas of the image not covered by the matte. The pixel values of the matte input can be manipulated by the operator on the fly, which again makes short work of the process of adjusting the matte in a front room situation where the client is often present. The Pixelchooser also features a masking system that enables the user to augment the matte or alone with the matte feature disabled. The masking feature has horizontal and vertical masking and blending, as well as gradients and shapes for containing the effect to a square or oval area within the image.
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Motion Tracker
Most filters in the BCC product feature a built-in motion tracker, which can be used to control the position of the Pixelchooser mask or matte, or in the case of the filters in the lights category, the position of the light source of the filter effect. This makes attaching a light, for instance, to a moving object something that can be completed inside of the filter itself in one easy step as opposed to having the perform multiple renders and use the systems Action node to achieve the same result.
Preset looks for each Filter
Every filter in the BCC package includes a variety of presets, which enable the operator to quickly come up with several variations on the default filter settings. In addition to this, each filter features a built-in load and save mechanism that enables the operator to save the current state of the filter for future retrieval and reuse. The presets do not include any keyframe data and should be thought of as a way to save off static filter effects. These presets can be shared between hosts by copying the preset file to the target system, making it easy for a facility to replicate an effect in a finishing system that was generated in pre-viz on a low end or desktop compositing or editing application.
Below: examples of two different preset looks from the BCC Film Process filter applied to a clip – a Bleach Bypass simulation on the left and an effect simulating Fluorescent film shot in daylight on the right.
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Built-in electronic help system on every filter
All filters in the BCC package feature built-in electronic help files that are accessed by the click of a single button in the filter UI. The help pages are crossed linked so as to provide easy reference to functions such as the pixelchooser or motion tracker features.
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Multi-resolution support
All filters in the BCC package offer support for 8 or 16 bit color processing. This means that clips that have been imported into the host system at higher bit depths retain all of the high-level color information post processing by BCC filters.
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Unlimited undo-redo control for each filter
There are times when setting up an effect when the operator will make one or more moves and then decide to go back to a previous state of the filter. While in any of the filters or Sparks, Discreet Advanced Systems do not natively offer any facility to the operator that would enable them to trace back through changes they have made in the Sparks filter. With that in mind, each filter in the BCC package includes a custom-built undo-redo feature that enables the user to step back or forward as far as they need during the effects creation process to facilitate easier effects creation.
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Built-in web link to BorisFX.com for free updates
Software over time becomes obsolete, this is a fact-of-life that affects all software from every developer and with this in mind the BCC filter package comes not only with 30 days of free tech support but also free software updates. These updates and more can be found on our web site, which can be accessed via a single mouse click on the web link that is included in each filter.
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