Damage User 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:
<!—DEFX Param XML Configurator 1.0—>
<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.
Damage Artifact
‘Artifact’ is the term used when some sort of defect can be seen in a video stream. Since almost all modern video is digital (and all broadcast services will be digital very soon if your local service is not already), most of the artifacts a viewer sees on a daily basis are based on digital errors. Typically these errors are caused by data lost along the signal path due to weather interrupting a digital satellite feed somewhere, or perhaps the content has some encoding errors or file corruption that are causing the decoding process to choke. In any event, these errors are becoming familiar to anyone who watches video in nearly any circumstance, whether it is on free broadcast, cable, satellite, or even video content delivered through the internet.
Artifact is an effect designed to simulate these errors, and it does so very convincingly. (Warn your clients before they watch your finished product or they may think you’re trying to sell them corrupt files!) MPEG errors such as hanging frames and blacked out frames (data packet loss) and DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform, which means…uh….well, let’s just say it’s the blocks…) errors such as misplaced content blocks and missing color information all contribute to an effect that will have many uses, not the least of which might be just driving your favorite digital video engineer nuts…
DE_Artifact Parameters
Reset
changes the properties in Artifact back to their default state.
Options
will be the link to click to register your copy of Digieffects Damage, if no valid registration information is found on your system. Otherwise, it will function just like “About”
About
will show you the version of the software you are running
Digieffects
In the twirl-down menu labeled “Digieffects” is the Digieffects preset bar.
Source Blend
Controls how much of the original, unaltered image is blended in the final image. A value of zero shows no original image, a high value of near 100…90 for example…will leave very little effect visible and a value of 100 will show only the original image and no effect, but the rendering will be zippy…
Random Seed
The Random Seed controls the way the “randomness” of the effect is implemented over time. While the property range runs from 0-32000, the value doesn’t represent the ‘amount’ of randomness so much as simply different randomness. Note that this value can be used in multiple cases with the same value and the results will be predictable and similar in cases where consistent use of the effect is required in several instances. If the results you are getting starts looking too predictable, simply change the Random Seed.
Operation Type
There are six different operations to choose from inside of Artifact:
Normal
This mode uses all the operations available inside Artifact in combination to create an effect similar to a digital VTR with dirty heads or a failing digital feed of some kind.
Burst Mode
Burst uses the same combination of operations as Normal mode, but applies them in much higher density. Using keyframing within your host application, you can use burst mode to bring a clip in from complete digital distortion…or keyframe the effect in at the end of a clip to represent a lost digital feed.
JPG Noise
JPG Noise consists of visual artifacts made up solely of multi-color blocks with varying detail inside of them…simulating improperly decoded picture information. This operation can be used to simulate MPEG-2 macroblock glitches, such as those seen when a scratched DVD is played.
Blackout
Choosing Blackout will make the areas of the image affected by Artifact be simply black. There will be no colors or detail inside the affected areas, only black
Recolor
Recolor creates affected areas with simply random color change. The defects will show only as tinted areas.
Shifter
Shifter is useful for creating the look of a digital image defect without having as busy a pattern as you might have when you use Normal or JPG Noise modes. Shifter simply moves image content out of place into the affected areas to create a somewhat more subtle but still disconcerting image problem.
Codec Artifacting
Use the properties under this heading to set the intensity, frequency and duration of the defective episodes and to choose the amount of freezing “frame stutter” or some might call it a “frame dropping” look…
Artifact Amountx
Surprisingly, this property controls how intensely (the amount) the defect is generated on your clip. The scale is 0-100 with zero disabling the effect altogether. Extended range of 0-200 is available by typing in the value, or dragging the value field. If you adjust this property to a very low value, your effect may not be visible in the frame you have paused. It’s best to scrub or preview the clip to ensure you have the effect you want.
Artifact Frequency
Another surprise, this property controls how often the defect repeats itself. Again, value range is 0-100 with 0 being never repeating and 100 and above being never…uh…notrepeating.
Average Duration
Adjusting Average Duration values affects how long each repeating defect ‘attack’ actually lasts…on average. 0-100 range running from no duration at all to a nearly solid, constant stream of the effect
Freezing
Often, if a digital transmission is failing in some fashion, the receiving device will just hold frames in a frame buffer until it can again, receive packets. This results in what appears to be intermittent freeze frames in the midst of all these other failures. Adjusting the Freezing property controls how often the clip freezes as if it has lost it’s connection.
Damage Blockade
Blockade’s main role is simulating low fidelity camera feeds from maybe a cel phone…or PDA. The effect places random blocks of slightly tinted color around your image, which creates the impression that these areas are not being faithfully color sampled, which is a common occurrence in many of the low resolution video cameras in phones as the video has to be highly compressed to be transmitted over the cellular phone…and then stored in as small a file as is practical.
DE_Blockade Properties
Reset
changes the properties in Artifact back to their default state.
Options
will be the link to click to register your copy of Digieffects Damage.
About
will show you the version of the software you are running
Digieffects
In the twirl-down menu labeled “Digieffects” is the Digieffects preset bar.
Random Seed
The Random Seed controls the way the “randomness” of the effect is implemented over time. While the property range runs from 0-32000, the value doesn’t represent the ‘amount’ of randomness so much as simply different randomness. Note that this value can be used in multiple cases with the same value and the results will be predictable and similar in cases where consistent use of the effect is required in several instances.
Freeze
The Freeze properties affect how the processed clip will infrequently “hang” on a frame, simulating a possible interruption in data transmission.
Freeze Recurrence
Recurrence controls how frequently the video will freeze. A higher value here will result in less moving video in your affected clip and a greater amount of time spent “hanging” on a frame. More frequent freezes might represent a less reliable video source, or a more distant or strained transmission…
Freeze Duration
The duration controls how long the video stays frozen during each occurrence. The higher the value, the longer the freeze duration. The frames that would normally occur during the freeze will not be shown, the video will continue at the point it resumes playback. This value represents the number of frames of freeze duration, but note that it is affected by the Random Seed, Freeze Recurrence and Freeze Duration Variance values.
Freeze Duration Variance
A completely predictable pattern of freeze occurrence and duration doesn’t look like a defect so much as a video strobe (which wasn’t the most compelling effect, even in the late 1980’s when for some reason it was inexplicably popular), so some variation can help sell the “unintendedness” of the effect. Increasing this value will vary the Freeze Duration +/- in increasing amounts as the value increases.
Stutter
Stutter properties make your clip seem to jump around in time, as if some data was lost and the clip is trying to go back and play a small bit over again, or is skipping over some temporal data that is lost, making the video “jump ahead” in time.
Stutter Recurrence
Recurrence controls how frequently the video will stutter. A higher value here will result in more skipping around moving video in your affected clip and a greater amount of time spent “hanging” on a frame. More frequent freezes might represent a less reliable video source, or a more distant or strained transmission…
Stutter Duration
The duration controls the length of the segments that stutter out place during each occurrence. The higher the value, the longer the stutter segment duration. This value represents the number of frames of stutter duration, but note that it is affected by the Random Seed, Stutter Recurrence and Stutter Duration Variance values.
Stutter Dur. Variance
Predictable patterns of any of these properties are best avoided to better sell the effect as a “defect.” Variations in the duration of the Stutter property can help sell the effect. Increasing this value will vary the Stutter segment Duration +/- in increasing amounts as the value increases.
Timing
The Timing parameters control the temporal properties of the namesake blocks in “Blockade”
Blockiness Recurrence
Recurrence controls how frequently blocks will appear. A higher value here will result in more frequent blocks in your affected clip. More frequent and intense blocks might represent a more aggressively compressed video source, or a more primitive camera system.
Blockiness Duration
The duration controls the length of each occurrence of blockiness. The higher the value, the longer each block occurrence is on screen. This value represents the number of frames of stutter duration, but note that it is affected by the Random Seed, Blockiness Recurrence and Blockiness Duration Variance values.
Blockiness Dur. Variance
Variability of all the factors inside the Blockade effect help to portray the results as unintended defects. Increasing this value will vary the Blockiness Duration +/- from occurrence to occurrence in increasing amounts as the value increases.
Blockiness Speed
Blockiness Speed controls how quickly the blocks change form. This effect tends to look more like a cel phone, PDA, or web camera when the speed is set for relatively fast changes.
Sizing
These parameters have control over the size of the blocks and the size of the area they occupy.
Block Amount
The Block Amount parameter controls the amount of picture affected by the Blockade effect. For a simulation of crude palettes evident in aggressively compressed video from hand held devices, a very high value which covers the entire frame works very well.
Block Size
This parameter controls the vertical size of the blocks in your image.
Striping
The Striping parameters control the horizontal aspect of the block artifacts in your image.
Stripe Length
The Stripe Length parameters control the horizontal size of the block artifacts in your image.
Stripe Len. Variance
Increasing this value will vary the Stripe Length +/- from occurrence to occurrence in increasing amounts as the value increases.
Coloring
The Coloring parameters control the color properties of the Blockade effect.
Block Color
The color palette here defines the color of mosaicing / color-blocking. To what degree the color chosen here is implemented in your clip is controlled by the ‘Color Conformance’ slider.
Color Conformance
At the highest Color Conformance values, the blocks take on the color as defined in the palette. At the lowest Color Conformance values, the blocks take on either the source image colors or more random color (mainly primary colors such as full-red, full-green, or yellow, which is full-red plus full-green).
Color Change
The Color Change parameter determines whether the blocks take more of the source colors (at the lowest Color Change values). High values here causes at least one channel of the blocks to take on the maximum value (e.g. 255 in red channel at 8 bits per pixel), so you will tend to see more primary-colored blocks as a result.
Color Change Weight
The Color Change Weight parameter at lower values allow the blocks to have a mixture of source image colors as well as a partially-blown channel, so the effect seems like a wash of transparent color blocks. On the other hand, high Color Change Weight values cause less of the original source image to modulate the block colors, so the effect looks like solid-color blocks replacing the source.
Transparent Blocks
This parameter controls the balance between square mosaicing and more rectangular bands of rectanbles. At minimum values, the effect is mostly mosaicing, while higher values result in layering of transparently colored blocks.
Alpha Handling
Don’t Preserve Alpha. Blockade will affect the entire frame without regard for any alpha channel transparency information.
Mostly Preserve Alpha
Blockade will use the alpha channel as input for its computation, but will not necessarily confine its operation to the opacity defined by the alpha channel.
Completely Preserve Alpha
Blockade will only function where the affected clip is opaque and blocks will appear at a transparency level that corresponds to the target clip’s alpha transparency.
Damage Interference
Interference is a unique effect inside Digieffects Damage because of its ability to give the impression that your video clip is interlaced and being displayed on a Cathode Ray Tube monitor. Most television signals used in broadcasting have traditionally been interlaced. This system of scanning two ‘fields’ of horizontal lines (each field made up of every other line in the image, usually referred to as “Upper/Lower”, “Odd/Even”, or even “A/B”) to make each ‘frame’ of video is both a form of analog video compression, and the reason why interlaced video motion looks smoother than progressive video or film motion. It’s also the reason why a ‘freeze’ frame of high motion interlaced video shows ‘sawtoothed’ edges as motion occurring between the instant of scanning the first field and the second field creates two different half-pictures being blended into a single ‘frame.’
This effect will be particularly useful for effects you want to specifically portray inexpensive television receivers or stereotypical industrial video camera signals. Each field’s attributes can be handled individually, simulating an image that’s created electronically from scan lines.
DE_Interference Parameters
Reset
changes the properties in Artifact back to their default state.
Options
will be the link to click to register your copy of Digieffects Damage, if no valid registration information is found on your system. Otherwise, it will function just like “About”
About
will show you the version of the software you are running
Digieffects
In the twirl-down menu labeled “Digieffects” is the Digieffects preset bar.
Source Blend
Controls how much of the original, unaltered image is blended in the final image. A value of zero shows no original image, a high value of near 100…90 for example…will leave very little effect visible and a value of 100 will show only the original image and no effect, but the rendering will be zippy…
Random Seed
The Random Seed controls the way the “randomness” of the effect is implemented over time. While the property range runs from 0-32000, the value doesn’t represent the ‘amount’ of randomness so much as simply different randomness. Note that this value can be used in multiple cases with the same value and the results will be predictable and similar in cases where consistent use of the effect is required in several instances. If the results you are getting starts looking too predictable, simply change the Random Seed.
Note: In Interference, the vast majority of the parameters are independently for each field of video that the effect creates. The parameters each have twin settings, one for (E) which applies to the ‘even field’ and the (O) setting for the ‘odd field.’ The most effective looks for the Interference effect will utilize these settings to create differences between each field.
Fields Setup
Size
Set the vertical size for each ‘field’ here. A very effective way to utilize this parameter is to set one field for a height of one and set its Luminance setting relatively dark creating the ‘border’ between the ‘scanlines’, while using the other ‘field’ for your picture content with a size setting of 2-4.
Process Input
While the Source Blend value controls the overall ratio between the unaffected source image vs. the effect-processed image, the Process Input controls how much of the source image gets processed in each of the two pipelines (one for E and one for O).
Luminance
This value influences the luminance level of each ‘field’ independently. Setting the two fields for different values will accentuate the ‘scanline’ look of your results.
Tint
Check the box to Tint your video to help create effects like simulated night vision.
Tint Color
Pick the color of your Tint using the eyedropper or pick from the palette from clicking on the color swatch.
Noise Level
Add noise to the effect by increasing this value.
Chroma Noise
Check the Chroma Noise to make your noise multicolored.
Decay Amount
Decay Amount controls the number of re-processing or feedback-loop of the effect. Higher value here means the processed image gets its color values ‘dirtied’ even further, where much of the information in the mid- to hi- range getting lost. Imagine running a photocopy of a photocopy again and again…or possibly a VHS dub of a dub. The effect is highly-dependent on source footage, but usually causes some blooming of mid- and highlights.
Smear
When Distorted image is present (see the Modulation section), it is fed back into the re-processing loop. The effect gets especially interesting when there are subtle, varying amounts of distortion at medium to high Decay Amount values.
Modulation
Distortion Method
There are several modes of distorting of image available.
Shift translates the entire ‘field’ (as defined by your E and O settings) to the right, that can be used to simulate transmission delay, for example.
Linear applies linearly-varying amounts of shift from the top of the screen to the bottom of the screen. Basically, you will see a diagonally stretched image.
Sawtooth mode applies a sawtooth-wave to vary the amount of left-right shifting of ‘scanlines’.
Noisy mode is very random, such that each scanline is translated left-right by highly random values.
Wave mode is similar to Sawtooth, except that the waveform is more rounded.
Horiz. Adj.
Controls the extent of left-right modulation, as defined by the mode above. High values here combined with high Influence result in the greatest distortion. Note: when a scanline is distorted and shifted ‘outside’ the screen area, the result is that scanline becomes black because there is nothing left.
Influence
Influence affects the Horizonal shifting as defined above, but depends on the Distortion Mode. At zero, there will be no shifting at all. Low Influence values mean the modulation effect will be subtle, even if the Horizontal Adjustment values are high. In some of these modes, you can think of Influence as the ‘Coarse’ value control with Horizontal Adjustment being the ‘Fine’ control.
In Shift Distortion mode, Influence amplifies the Horizontal Adjustment value, so a low value here counteracts Horizontal Adjustment value, while a high value exaggerates it.
Similarly in Linear Distortion mode, Influence adjusts the ‘slope’ of the diagonal stretching by interacting with the Horizontal Adjustment value.
Also, in Noisy Distortion mode, Influence tends to exaggerate the horizontal shifting by complementing the Horizontal Adjustment value.
In Wave and Sawtooth Distortion modes, Influence controls the up-and-down-ness of the waves.
Comb Filter Level
In signal processing, a comb filter is typically employed to combine a visual signal with a delayed version of itself to maximize perceived image quality through the construction of the two versions of the image while the destructive interference caused by the combining of the two tend to “smooth” out some details that aren’t always deemed visually desirable. The effect of the comb filters in Interference are controlled by this value. To maximize the horizontal scanline look, try to run one field’s comb filter at max value (20) and the other field at minimum (0).
Damage Skew
This effect takes its name from the control on many professional video tape recorders which would affect the tensioning of the ribbon of tape that wraps around the playback heads. Altering the skew control during playback of video would cause various undesirable artifacts including image shearing, visual noise (or what a viewer might call “static”), vertical and horizontal hold issues, and more…
We’ve taken all this a bit beyond simple tape playback malfunction and we’ve added enough properties to allow you to use Skew to create effects reminiscent of a range of analog badness from weak analog antenna signals to consumer VCR tracking glitches.
There are a variety of property values to adjust to create your own variations to create a nearly infinite range of variations.
DE_Skew Parameters
Reset
changes the properties in Artifact back to their default state.
Options
will be the link to click to register your copy of Digieffects Damage, if no valid registration information is found on your system. Otherwise, it will function the same as “About”
About
will show you the version of the software you are running
Digieffects
In the twirl-down menu labeled “Digieffects” is the Digieffects preset bar.
Source Blend
Controls how much of the original, unaltered image is blended in the final image. A value of zero shows no original image, a high value of near 100…90 for example…will leave very little effect visible and a value of 100 will show only the original image and no effect, but the rendering will be zippy…
Random Seed
The Random Seed controls the way the “randomness” of the effect is implemented over time. While the property range runs from 0-32000, the value doesn’t represent the ‘amount’ of randomness so much as simply different randomness. Note that this value can be used in multiple cases with the same value and the results will be predictable and similar in cases where consistent use of the effect is required in several instances. If the results you are getting starts looking too predictable, simply change the Random Seed.
Color
Tint Color
Using the eyedropper, or by clicking on the color swatch, you can set a color value to tint your video. Setting the value to white will have no discernible effect on your image as that is the ‘zero state’ of this property. Moving the color value toward gray or a saturated color will have a visible effect on the image.
Brightness Lift
Slide this property into positive values to brighten your image, or into negative values to darken your image.
Bright Variance
This control creates the range of deviation in the Brightness Lift value over time. More variability (the range is from 0-100) will create more erratic light and dark fluctuations in your image.
Contrast
The Contrast value setting is similar to contrast settings in other software you have probably encountered. The range is -50 to +50 with positive values increasing contrast, and negative values decreasing the contrast.
Contrast Variance
As with other Var (variable) controls in the Skew effect, this will determine the amount of variation in the contrast value allowed over time. The more color and brightness change is introduced in this section, the more it affects the color flickering of the effect.
Noise
Visual image noise is one of the typical symptoms of a defective analog video signal. There are a variety of noise generators in Skew that are capable of very convincing results.
Noise Max
Introducing noise into your image can be used to portray maladjusted VCR tracking or a weak analog tuner signal. Higher values create more noise. The maximum value of 100 will create an image that appears to be faintly showing through video “snow.”
Noise Variance
When the Noise Max setting is above zero, the Noise Variance control will create fluctuations in the value of the Noise Max value over time.
Micro Noise
This control differs from the Noise Max control in that the noise generated from this control will not form into ‘bands’. Micro noise will generate noise across the image evenly.
Noise Width
Noise Width can be used to introduce horizontal ‘smearing’ or ‘scratching’ type of noise defects, usually seen on old analog VTRs.
Noise Tempo
This is how often the noise will change. Larger numbers will cause the noise patterning to change LESS often (more frames between noise changes)
Distortion
There are 2 components to the distortion which are combined together to give a single horizontal displacement value. The first component is defined by “Max Distortion” and the Tempo parameters. The second component is defined using 2 sine waves added together with a random value added in. These second components are controlled by the Amplitude, Frequency, Speed and Offset Variance parameters.
Distortion Min
This defines the minimum amount of horizontal distortion allowed. Larger number create more left-right distortions.
Distortion Max
Similarly, the maximum amount is just that.
Note: the difference between the minimum and maximum value specifies the range of horizontal distortion allowed. Which means, if the two are identical, then the distortion will be very uniform. If the two are very different, then the distortions allowed can be any values in between to create a more natural effect.
Tempo Min
This is the minimum number of frames to hold a distortion phase. The distortion changes its value after a randomly selected number of frames between “Min Tempo” and “Max Tempo”. Larger values hold the distortion for a longer amount of time.
Max Tempo
This is the maximum number of frames to hold a distortion phase. The distortion changes its value after a randomly selected number of frames between ‘Min Tempo’ and ‘Max Tempo’. Larger values hold the distortion for a longer amount of time.
Amplitude 1
This controls the amplitude of the first sine-wave generator.
Amplitude 2
This controls the amplitude of the second sine-wave generator.
Frequency 1
This controls the frequency of the first sine-wave generator.
Frequency 2
This controls the frequency of the second sine-wave generator.
Speed 1
This controls the speed of the first sine-wave generator.
Speed 2
This controls the speed of the second sine-wave generator.
Offset Variance
This adds a random value to the sine wave amplitude.
Glow
Glow is intended to create a glow pattern around the video noise after it has been distorted which often occurs on older television receivers.
Glow Size
This defines the radius of the glow.
Glow Intensity
This controls the brightness of the glow.
Glow Threshold
This controls the minimum luminance value a pixel must have before it will begin to glow. Higher values prevent the darker portions of the image from glowing.
Ghosting
Ghosting creates a horizontal visual ‘echo’ that simulates reflections and interference patterns of electromagnetic energy as it is transmitted through space to its reception point. There are at most 3 ghost patterns, and you can define the maximum “sway” with the Ghost Offset parameters. The Weight parameters define the opacity of the particular ghost image. Note that it’s possible to over-weight the ghost images, which will make the image brighter than the original.
Ghost Offset 1
Defines the maximum horizontal movement per frame of this ghost image.
Ghost Offset 2
Defines the maximum horizontal movement per frame of this ghost image.
Ghost Offset 3
Defines the maximum horizontal movement per frame of this ghost image.
Primary Weight
This is the opacity of the source (un-ghosted) signal.
Ghost 1 Weight
Controls the opacity of this ghost image.
Ghost 2 Weight
Controls the opacity of this ghost image.
Ghost 3 Weight
Controls the opacity of this ghost image.
Bar
This creates a dark bar that runs vertically on an image when it’s refresh phase
is slightly different than the video capture device recording its screen. It’s a bit technical, but you can see the real-world effect easily yourself by recording a computer video monitor with a video camera.
Bar HeightControl the vertical size of your bars with this control.
Bar Ripple Frequency
The bars of distortion or black that roll through you footage have the ability to present an effect with many, small bars (lines really) in the picture, very close together. The higher the frequency value, the smaller and closer spaced the lines become.
Bar Darkness
This controls how dark the bar is. Larger values make a darker bar.
Vertical Hold
This simulates a malfunctioning vertical hold mechanism, or the loss of a vertical sync due to electromagnetic interference.
Roll Probability
This defines the chance per frame that a vertical hold malfunction “roll” will occur. If it occurs, Roll Length defines the maximum number of frames that the vertical hold malfunction will last.
Roll Length
Defines the maximum duration of a vertical hold malfunction, expressed in frames.
Roll Speed
This defines the maximum speed that a the vertical hold will ‘roll.’
Troubleshooting / FAQ for Damage
Digieffects Banner UI Troubleshooting/FAQ:
Q: Why doesn’t the numbered button hi-light?
A: The effect couldn’t find a valid preset file for that number.
Q: Why don’t the parameters change when I press the numbered buttons and they do hi-lite?
A: The preset files contain identical values.
Q: Can I use the preset file I created while in Final Cut Pro on one machine and use it in After Effects on the same machine, or email the file to my colleague so that he can use it on Combustion and have him modify the preset and email it back to me so that I can use it on my Boris?
A: You…have a lot of free time don’t you?...but yes, you can do any and all of those things.
Q: Help! I think I messed up my xml files!
A: No worries. We won’t crash. But you can re-install the preset files by themselves, or contact support and we will email you the default preset files.
Artifact Troubleshooting/FAQ:
Q: My clip has stopped all of a sudden, but my host application says it’s moving or rendering. What’s going on?
A: Most likely, the Freeze parameters are high, causing an image to be still for a long time.
Q: The parameter named _____ doesn’t seem to be affecting anything on the preview window. What’s wrong?
A: Many of the parameters in DE_Blockade work in combination with other parameters, and the effect is often visible only in motion.
Q: I’ve read your guide on using the Presets, and created my own preset files, but for some reason the Preset Recall won’t load my favorite color, pink.
A: Sorry, the Preset functions are unable to store the color information at this time, but it will be implemented in a future release. (...even for pink)
Q: How come I get solid-colored blocks even though I’ve assigned my favorite color, pink, in the Block Color?
A: Either you’ve chosen a low Color Conformance value, or chosen a terrible color.
Interference Troubleshooting/FAQ:
Q: My image has gone way too dark or pitch black. What happened?
A: It might be due to a few things. 1) Brightness boost is negative, 2) Modulation section of the effect had shifted your image outside the screen area, 3) the image is being tinted to a dark color
Skew Troubleshooting/FAQ:
Q: My image has turned to white!
A: It could be due to a few things. 1) Check Brightness Lift. 2) Check Glow Threshold to see if it’s too low.
Q: The effect flickers too much in brightness.
A: Try setting the Brightness and Contrast controls back to normal. Higher these settings are, the more striking and random the flickering.
Digieffects Damage Known Issues / Bugs:
· Custom GUI is currently not available inside Premiere Pro CS3 in OSX. Adobe is currently working on a bug-fix.
·Multiple instances of the same effect may cause the GUI button hi-lights to “sync”. This is only a display bug, and does not mean that the same settings are applied to all instances of the same effect.
·Different results maybe seen when rendering on one machine, as opposed to rendering on a render farm.
·Multi-frame-processing feature of After Effects CS3 may cause unexpected results on certain types of randomizing effects.
·Sometimes, changing bitdepth and/or composition size while the effect is “on” can cause a crash.
The Future:
·We are working on SmartFX support for After Effects, as well as multi-core support.