Damage Manual

Damage Banner UI / Presets

We've developed a custom user interface component for Digieffects plugin products. At Digieffects we support an extensive range of host applications and each one has its own, proprietary method of storing saved preset information. For our customers who use our plugin products on more than one of the host applications we support, transferring their custom settings between host applications has been a time-consuming, manual operation...until now.

Using the capability of the Digieffects Banner UI, you can store your preset information in XML files that can be accessed by all of your compatible host applications and shared with other users as well.

First, the “Digieffects” logo area, when clicked, acts as the “About” button.

The Blue Button

...is an especially fun feature we like to call the 'Randomizer'...which oddly, randomizes all sliders and buttons, for showing some interesting possibilities. A great tool for brainstorming. Keep clicking...you'll find an extensive selection of starting points for your work.

Buttons 1 – 4, and the Red Button:

Often, users find that they tend to re-use 2-3 effect settings again and again as a starting point, but they don't require a full library system of presets, which are usually specific to each host application. Not to mention the actual preset files are in some binary, proprietary format such that it's impossible to view or edit the settings unless things are running.

In our scheme, we show 4 buttons labeled '1' to '4', and each acts just like a reset switch, except that it lets you reset to a different starting point. So, think of this as having 4 reset buttons or having 4 preset starting points. The scheme is designed to work across all the compatible host applications on your machine (that have Digieffects Damage installed of course). The setting you use in After Effects is the same as in Final Cut Pro...or Combustion.

The Red Button is our “record” button. It takes a “snapshot” of the current parameter settings for later recall. We store all our preset data as XML files, which can be viewed or edited as normal text files. There is no limit on the number of XML files you can store, but there is a naming convention you will want to follow to access them from the Digieffects Banner UI.

To edit existing preset information, or create your own:

The preset files are stored under

“/Applications/Digieffects/presets” in OSX, or

in Windows, in the C: Drive:

“Program Files\Digieffects\presets”

You will see filenames that are formatted like this:

preset_DE_Artifact_p0001.xml

The number just before the '.xml' represents which button it corresponds to. If you open this file, you will see something like this:

<module> DE_Artifact </module>
<Source_Blend> 1.000000 </Source_Blend>
<Random_Seed> 0.000000 </Random_Seed>

That is, some numerical value is sandwiched between a tag pair. Go ahead and modify these to your taste, even while the program is running. The next time you click on that numbered button, the effect updates with those values as contained in the xml file.

Now, when you click on the “record” button while working in the Artifact plugin, there will be a new file called

preset_DE_Artifact_p_mypreset.xml

You can rename this to

preset_DE_Artifact_p0003.xml

so that it can be accessed by Button 3 in the Digieffects Banner UI inside the Artifact plugin in your host application.