QI)%!!

'!$'

Uvhy

Er!

Copyright 2000 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved

This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. AUTODESK, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THESE MATERIALS AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC. BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF PURCHASE OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC., REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN. Autodesk, Inc. reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of this product at the time of its publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.AUTODESK TRADEMARKS

Discreet is a division of Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk and the Autodesk logo, 3D Studio MAX are registered trademarks, and Discreet, combustion, Render Queue, Real-Time Roto, edit, effect, flint, flame, and inferno are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the USA and/or other countries.THIRD PARTY TRADEMARKS

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Apple, Mac, Macintosh, and QuickTime are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.; Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Adobe, After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.GOVERNMENT USE

The Software {and Documentation} is provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication or disclosure by the United States Government or any agency, department or instrumentality thereof is subject to the restrictions set forth in the Commercial Computer Software -- Restricted Rights clause at FAR 52.227-19 or the Commercial Computer Software -- Licensing clause at NASA FAR Supplement 1852.227-86.TUTORIALS MEDIA

Any form of reproduction, sale, loan, rental, or public exhibition of the tutorials media is strictly prohibited without written authorization from Autodesk. Additional images courtesy of La Fabrique dImages.

Title: Version Date:

combustion Tutorials 1. June 2000

tocTable of ContentsGetting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7This chapter includes essential information for setting up your tutorial session.

1

Welcome to combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15

Exercise: Tour a combustion Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16This lesson is your introduction to combustion. Open a workspace and explore the options for viewing the composite. Play the clip in real time by rendering it to the RAM cache. Tour the Workspace panel and learn about layers and operators. Render the result clip as a QuickTime file.

2

Creating Basic Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43

Exercise: Create an Animated Composite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Import footage for a composite. Examine an alpha channel by choosing viewport views and view modes. Apply an alpha channel as a matte to an image and then animate its position and scale. Use the Timeline to modify the motion path of a layer.

3

Creating Composites in 3D Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

71

Exercise: Build and Animate a Cube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Build a 3D cube from 2D layers. Create 12 layers and parent them to make 6 sides. Use hinging to join the six sides. Replace one layer of each side with footage. Assign visibility to the 12 layers to view individual sides. Rotate the hinged squares to make a closed cube. Animate the sides of the cube to turn it inside out.

3

toc Table of Contents

4

Animating Composites in 3D Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Exercise 1: Bounce the Cube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102Animate the cube you created in Lesson 3 to make it bounce off the floor. Modify the shape of the motion path to make the animation more realistic.

Exercise 2: Add Motion Blur and Light to the Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Nest the composite as a single layer in another composite. Add a Motion Blur operator to blur the motion of the layers of the cube and customize the effect. Set the reflectivity of the floor, turn on shading, and set the lighting for the scene.

5

Tracking and Stabilizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Exercise 1: Apply Tracking Data to a Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Use a rectangular mask and a polygon mask to composite a clip of a sailboat on a new background. Use tracking to make the polygon mask follow the motion of the sailboat. Animate the shape of the polygon mask to fit the shape of the sail.

Exercise 2: Stabilize a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172Use the Tracker and a Stabilize 1 Point operator to stabilize a jittery clip. Use the RAM Player to compare the stabilized clip to the original jittery clip.

6

Precision Keying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Exercise: Create a Composite Using the Keyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Use the Discreet Keyer to pull a key from a green-screen clip using the Channel and YUV Keyer modes. Remap the luminance of the matte using the histogram. Suppress the color spill and soften the edges of the key. Add a blur effect to match the focus of the front and back clips.

7

Color Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Exercise 1: Color Correct Using Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Use the histograms in the Discreet Color Corrector to analyze color channels in an image. Adjust gamma and gain using the Basics controls. Use the Compare tool to compare the color-corrected image to a reference image as you make the corrections.

Exercise 2: Color Correct Using the Curves Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Use the Curves controls in the Discreet Color Corrector to analyze color and make corrections to a problematic image.

4

Table of Contents

8

Using Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Exercise 1: Draw and Animate Basic Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240Create the face of a cartoon character using basic Paint objects and animate their position. Import an audio file and slip it to sync with the video.

Exercise 2: Retouch a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Remove a wire from a clip using Paint objects and cloning techniques. Use the Tracker to make the Paint objects follow the camera pan in the clip.

9

Working with Paint Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287Exercise 1: Apply Effects to Selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Use selection objects to isolate parts of a clip for applying color correction and effects. Animate the selection objects to follow the camera pan in the clip.

Exercise 2: Stacking Selections with Paint Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Create a composite within Paint to become familiar with the effects of moving selections and Paint objects in the Timeline stack.

10

Using Text in Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Exercise 1: Animating Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320Use the Text tool to add a title to a clip. Animate the opacity of the text to create a fade-in and fade-out. Animate the scaling to make the letters appear to spin.

Exercise 2: Working with Text Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336Use draw modes to add artistic text to a clip. Animate the control points of the text. Use text selections to create text using an imported source image.

11

Using Scenes from 3D Studio MAX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Exercise 1: Working with 3D Scenes in a Single Layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356 Import rich pixel footage rendered in 3D Studio MAX featuring a TV set andexamine the extra data channels in the footage. Use 3D Post operators to replace the test pattern on the TV screen with other footage.

Exercise 2: Working with Multiple Layer 3D Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375Composite video footage with rich pixel footage rendered in 3D Studio MAX.

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

5

toc Table of Contents

6

Getting Started

Welcome to the tutorials for combustion. The lessons in this book introduce you to the combustion compositing and paint tools. Once you complete the lessons, you will be able to use these tools and experiment with others to create composites of your own. Before starting the first lesson, read through this introduction to ensure the tutorials media is installed, to set the required preferences, and to become familiar with typographical conventions used in the text. The only prerequisite for using these tutorials is that you are familiar with the Windows or Macintosh operating system.

7

Getting Started

Installing the Tutorials MediaThe tutorials media is automatically installed if you used the default installation settings. From the desktop, check to see that the tutorials media has been installed:

If you are using combustion on a PC, the default path for the tutorials media is.

If you are using combustion on an edit workstation (also a PC), you may have elected to installcombustion in . This is the same path where you would have installed edit.

If you are using combustion on a Macintosh, the tutorials media is found in the folder where the combustion folder is at the top level of the hard drive you selected for software installation. If the Tutorials folder does not appear in the combustion folder, you can install the tutorials media without overwriting the software files by performing a Custom install from the software CD. For instructions, see the combustion Installation Guide. Once the tutorials media is installed, you will find everything you need in the Tutorials folder, including the footage, the required workspace files, and the sample .avi files for each lesson.

Conventions and TerminologyThe following conventions and terminology are used in these tutorials.

Menu SelectionsMenu selections are indicated by dividing vertical lines. For example, if you are instructed to choose Operators | Keying | Discreet Keyer, click Operators on the menu bar at the top of the screen, then choose the Keying sub-menu, and finally choose Discreet Keyer.

Hot Keyscombustion uses a wide array of hot keys: keyboard shortcuts that accelerate operations. For a complete list of hot keys, see the combustion Hot Key Card included in the product box. In these tutorials, hot keys appear in BOLD, SMALL CAPS TYPE. For example: 1. In the Toolbar, click the Arrow tool (or press TAB). In cases where there is a difference between hot key assignments on Windows and Macintosh operating systems, both are given. For example: 1. Choose File | Save, or press CTRL+S (Windows) or +S (Macintosh), to save the workspace.

Once this convention has been introduced in a lesson, it is shortened as follows: 1. Press CTRL+S / +S to save the workspace.

8

Getting Started

ToolsWhen a tool is referred to in an instruction, it is shown in the left margin. For example: 1. In the Toolbar, click the Arrow tool (TAB).

Set the PreferencesThe combustion user interface can be customized. To ensure that the user interface elements and general behavior match those illustrated in these tutorials, you should set your preferences according to the following instructions. 1. Launch the software:

If you are using combustion on a PC, click the Start menu button and choosePrograms | Discreet | combustion. (If you made a shortcut to the software on the desktop, this is another way to launch the software.)

If you are using combustion on a Macintosh, use the Finder to locate the combustion icon andthen double-click the icon to launch the software. (If you made an alias on the desktop or added combustion to the Launcher items, this is another way to launch the software.) 2. Choose File | Preferences to open the Preferences dialog. 3. You can display the frames of a clip using frame numbers (starting from 0 or 1) or timecode. For the tutorials, use frame numbers starting from 1:a) Click the General category under the Host heading to view the General preferences.

b) From the Display Time As list, select Frames (From 1).

9

Getting Started

4. In combustion, many of the properties you set when you build a composite can be animated. Set the default interpolation method for animations to Bezier:a) Click the Animation category under the Host heading to view the Animation preferences. b) From the Default Keyframe Interpolation list, select Bezier.

Learn more about animation, keyframes, and interpolation methods in Lessons 2, 3, and 4. 5. When you import a still image into a composite branch, it is automatically assigned a duration equal to the length of the clip. However, when you open a still image as a Paint, Keyer, or Color Corrector branch, the image is assigned a duration according to the Preferences dialog. Set the Default Still Image Duration to 30 frames:a) Click the General category under the Footage heading to view the Footage preferences. b) Click the Default Still Image Duration field to highlight the value, type 30, and then press ENTER.

10

Getting Started

6. (Optional) combustion provides two color schemes: Charcoal and Platinum. Because the Charcoal interface (the default setting) is too dark for printing illustrations, the Platinum color scheme is used in these tutorials. However, the Charcoal interface is recommended because it improves color perception of video content. If you want to change the user interface to Platinum:a) Click the Colors category under the Host heading to view the Colors preferences.

b) From the Color Scheme

list, select Platinum.

Hint: You can customize the color used in the user interface using the color boxes in the Pen Colors group of controls. 7. Click OK to apply the changes you made in the Preferences dialog. Note: The screenshots in this book are from combustion on a PC running the Windows NT operating system. On a Macintosh, the combustion user interface is the same. Also, monitors were set to 1280 x 1154. Monitor resolution affects the size of the clips in the viewports, so some screenshots may not match your screen exactly.

11

Getting Started

Relinking MediaWorkspaces link to their footage using absolute pathnames. Depending on where you install the tutorials media, combustion may prompt you to relink footage it cannot find. For example, if you install the tutorials media on a drive other than the C: drive, you will have to relink the footage in some lessons. To relink footage, use the following procedure on both Windows and Macintosh platforms. 1. If combustion cannot locate the footage used by the workspace you try to open, the following message appears. Click Yes to open the Open dialog.

2. combustion is trying to find the Letter_s1.png file in the ~\Lesson03 folder on the C: drive, but the folder must have been installed to another location on the C: drive, or to another drive entirely. Use the file browser to locate the ~\Lesson03 folder.

3. The Letter_s1.png file is listed in the folders contents. Click Open to relink the footage to this new destination. The other files whose pathnames match those of the Letter_s1.png files are automatically relinked. The workspace file is updated, so you do not have to save the workspace to keep the updated path. You may proceed with the lesson.

12

Getting Started

Playing MoviesThe tutorials media includes .avi movies of the expected results for each lesson. If you do not have enough RAM to view the result clip in real time in the viewport, play the provided movie.

If you are using a PC, double-click the .avi file icon in the lesson folder to view the movie usingWindows Media Player.

If you are using a Macintosh, double-click the .avi file icon in the lesson folder to view the movie usingthe QuickTime Movie Player. You are now ready to proceed with the first lesson.

Getting More HelpFor a comprehensive reference to all of the software features, see the combustion Users Guide. You can also use the Online Help system for topic-based information as well as reference information about the main interface elements. For more training and tutorials materials visit the Services page at www.discreet.com. For answers to FAQs, Technical News, and access to the Support Knowledge Base, visit the Support page.

13

Getting Started

14

Welcome to combustionLes s on 1

Welcome to combustion, a powerful compositing and vector-based paint program. In this lesson, learn the basic concepts of combustion by exploring its interface.

15

1 Welcome to combustion

OverviewWith combustion you create composites and Paint branches in workspaces. You can use up to four independent viewports to view your clips in different contexts. Use the menus and controls to apply effects to clips and to build animated composites. Time to complete this lesson: 40 minutes.

Exercise: Tour a combustion WorkspaceThe workspace for Lesson 1 contains a three-layer composite. Use this workspace to get familiar with the interface and to view how the layers of a composite are typically put together. In this lesson:

Open a workspace with a composite. Explore the viewports. Play a clip in real time by rendering it to the RAM cache. Tour the Workspace panel. Learn about layers and operators. Render the composite.

Open the WorkspaceStart combustion and open the workspace for this lesson. 1. From the desktop, click Start and then choose Programs | Discreet | combustion (Windows) or locate the combustion program icon and double-click it to launch the software (Macintosh). 2. Check the combustion preferences. For instructions, see Set the Preferences on page 9. 3. Choose File | Open Workspace, or press CTRL+SHIFT+O (Windows) or to display the Open Workspace dialog. +SHIFT+O (Macintosh),

The Open Workspace dialog is a file browser with integrated search, file filtering, and display options.

16

Welcome to combustion

4. To open or close a folder, click the black triangle next to its name. Navigate the folder hierarchy to view the workspace files for the tutorial lessons. Use the file browser to locate and open the Lesson01 folder. This folder contains the starter workspace file for Lesson 1. Workspace files use the file extension .cws.

Note: If the dialog is in List View mode, the files and folders in the list on the right appear as text. To switch between Thumbnails and List View mode, click the appropriate button.

Hint: In combustion, you also can open projects from paint* and effect* 2.0 and 2.1. For more information, see the Opening paint* and effect* Projects tips box.

17

1 Welcome to combustion

5. Click L01_start.cws to select it and then click OK to open the workspace file. The composite appears in the viewport(s). Because the number of viewports depends on the viewport layout used in the previous combustion session, what you see on your screen may not match the illustration.

The Workspace panel displays a graphical representation of how the layers of the composite are put together. Learn more about the Workspace panel on page 26.

Opening paint* and effect* ProjectsUse the Open Workspace dialog to open Discreet paint* and effect* projects from versions 2.0 and 2.1. To restrict your search in the browser to these kinds of files, select paint* 2.0 Project or effect* 2.0 Project from the Format list.

18

Welcome to combustion

Explore the Viewport LayoutsYou can display one, two, or four viewports to view your result clips in different zoom factors and perspectives. You can also assign different contexts to viewports. Learn more about this in Lesson 4. For the moment, try out the different viewport layout options. 1. From the Viewport Layout list, select to view a single viewport.

A single, large viewport appears with a default zoom factor of 100%. The zoom factor appears at the top of the viewport. 2. From the Viewport Layout list, select to view two viewports.

The single viewport is replaced by two smaller viewports. Notice, however, that the zoom factor remains 100%. When a smaller viewport displays the same image with the same zoom factor, it shows less of the image. Notice the left viewport is highlighted, making it the active viewport.

19

1 Welcome to combustion

3. Each viewport has its own zoom factor. Click the Zoom Out button twice to view the entire image in the active viewport.

The left viewport displays the image at 50% of its actual size (360 x 243 instead of 720 x 486 pixels).Hint: You can also zoom in on an image using the Zoom In button

.

4. From the Viewport Layout list, select

to view four viewports.

The image now appears in four viewports. Notice the zoomed out viewport occupies the top left of the interface. The zoom factor is still 50%, but the viewport is smaller.

Note: If you are familiar with 3D modeling applications, this layout probably looks familiar. However, the four viewports are independent displays. Although you could set them up to display 3D orthogonal views (front, left, and top), there are many other possibilities to suit your workflow needs. Learn more about viewport views in subsequent lessons.

5. From the Viewport Layout list, select

to view four viewports laid out differently.

There are still four viewports, but now three are small and one is large. Notice the zoomed out viewport occupies the top left position. Again, the zoom factor of the viewport is unchanged, but

20

Welcome to combustion

you see even less of the image because of the smaller viewport. However, in the large viewport, you can view more of the image in greater detail.

6. Return to single-viewport layout and restore the zoom factor:a) From the Viewport Layout list, select

.

b) Click Home to return to 100% zoom factor.

Clicking Home cycles the viewport display between a centered image with a 100% zoom factor, an image fit to the viewport, and the most recent custom zoom and pan settings.

21

1 Welcome to combustion

7. To the right of the viewport is the filmstrip. By default, the filmstrip displays every frame of the image sequence vertically.Note: If you do not see a filmstrip, choose Window | Palette | Show Filmstrip.

Navigate the clip using the filmstrip:a) Click the minus sign button to view only every second frame.

Viewing frames at larger intervals makes it faster to navigate long clips.b) Use the scroll bar to scroll the image sequence. c) Click any frame in the filmstrip to view that frame in the viewport(s),

making it the current frame. The current frame is highlighted in the filmstrip, and a red line marks its position along the scroll bar. You can also change the current frame by moving the red line.Hint: There are other filmstrip display options that you can access by clicking the filmstrip menu button . For more information, see the combustion Users Guide.

8. Choose Window | Palettes | Hide Filmstrip to close the filmstrip. With the filmstrip closed, the viewport is larger. 9. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (Macintosh) the viewport and choose Show Safe Zones to view Safe Action and Safe Title zones. A check mark appears next to a menu item when it is enabled. Because broadcast video usually crops the edges of a frame, the Safe Zones define safe areas for action and titles.

22

Welcome to combustion

Play the Composite in the ViewportThe viewports in combustion provide real-time playback of the composite at each stage of its development. Real-time playback of a clip is limited by the amount of RAM installed on your workstation. Learn how to use the playback controls to view a clip in real time. The playback controls are below the viewport. 1. ClickCurrent frame

(or press HOME) to go to the first frame of the clip.Total duration

For information on the playback controls, see the Using the Playback Controls tips box. 2. In the playback controls, click the play mode button to select Ping Pong mode.

The play mode button cycles between Play Once

, Loop

, and Ping Pong

.

Hint: It is also possible to view only a defined range of the clip during playback. For more information, see the Playback In and Out Points tips box.

Using the Playback ControlsThe playback controls have the following functions: Go to First Frame Play Reverse Go 1 Frame Forward Go to Next Keyframe

Go to Previous Keyframe

Go 1 Frame Backward

Play Forward

Go to Last Frame

23

1 Welcome to combustion

3. Click

(or press SPACEBAR) to play the clip.

The clip plays slowly at first while each frame is rendered to RAM. However, once it reaches the last frame and reverses direction, the playback rate increases to real time. In this case, you view the entire clip in Ping Pong mode. Frames are stored in RAM for real-time playback and are overwritten when you change them and play the clip again. You can view how much RAM is used by the system at any moment by looking at the RAM gauge in the lower right corner of the screen.

For more information on real-time playback and the RAM cache, see the combustion Users Guide. 4. Click 5. Click (SPACEBAR) to stop the clip. (HOME) to go to the first frame of the clip.

Playback In and Out PointsUse the playback in point (green) and out point (red) to define the range of the clip viewed when you play the clip. Drag the playback in and out points along the time bar to set the playback range. When you press play, the clip plays only between the in and out points. If you play the clip in Loop or Ping Pong mode, you view the region between the in and out points repeatedly.

In Point

Out Point

24

Welcome to combustion

Examine the Workspace PanelNow that you are familiar with the viewports and the playback controls, examine the panels below the viewport. On the left side, you access the Workspace panel and the Toolbar. In the middle, you access the Controls panel and the Timeline. Click the tabs to switch between panels.

Workspace panel

Controls panel

The Controls panel is context sensitive, which means that it always shows the controls for the operator selected in the Workspace panel. As a result, the name on the tab for the Controls panel changes depending on which operator is selected. The tab for the Controls panel currently reads Composite Controls because the composite operator is selected in the Workspace panel. When an operator is selected in the Workspace panel, an arrow appears to the right of its name.

25

1 Welcome to combustion

1. Click the Workspace tab (or press F3).

The Workspace panel represents branches in the workspace. Although you can have multiple branches in a single workspace, this workspace contains only one composite branch. The composite consists of three layers:

The Fruit layer is the top layer. The Solid layer is below the Fruit layer, giving it a white highlight. The Flowers layer is the bottom layer. It is the background for the composite.2. Also situated in the Workspace panel is the Footage Library, which lists all footage used in all branches in the workspace. Click the triangle next to the Footage Library to view its contents.

The Footage Library lists the three footage items used in the composite. The Footage Library is an easy way to keep track of and access the footage you use.

26

Welcome to combustion

3. Click the icon next to the Fruit layers name to turn off the Fruit layer.

The layer is no longer visible. When a layers icon is highlighted, its visibility is on. When a layers icon is not highlighted, its visibility is off. 4. Turn off the other two layers:a) In the Workspace panel, click the Solid layer to select it.

b) Instead of clicking the layers icon, choose Object | Toggle Visibility (CTRL+T /

+T).

27

1 Welcome to combustion

Only the Flowers layer remains.

c) Turn off the Flowers layer.

No layers are visible. 5. Turn on all layers to view the composite again:a) In the Workspace panel, drag a selection box around the three layers. b) Choose Object | Toggle Visibility (CTRL+T /

+T).

Change the Position of the Fruit LayerThe current layer of a composite is the layer selected in the Workspace panelits name is highlighted. Controls for the current layer appear in the Controls panel. For more information, see the Controlling the Current Layer and the Composite tips box. 1. Go to the first frame (HOME). Notice the Fruit and Solid layers are not completely inside the Safe Action zone.

28

Welcome to combustion

2. Enable Feedback. Feedback has a check mark when enabled.

When Feedback is enabled, layers and objects in the viewports are redrawn while you change their settings interactively. When it is disabled, layers and objects in the viewports are redrawn only after the setting has been changed.

Controlling the Current Layer and the CompositeUse the top three buttons in the Composite Controls panel to access controls affecting the current layer of the composite: Click: To: View controls to set the position, rotation, scale, shear, and pivot point. View controls to set the shape, depth order, and to set visibility options. View controls to set the opacity, reflectivity, and specular surface properties. Use the bottom two composite control buttons to access controls affecting the entire composite: Click: To: View controls to set the camera from which the scene is viewed. View controls to set the output video format for the composite. In this lesson, you use the Transform controls. Use the others in later lessons.

29

1 Welcome to combustion

3. In the Workspace panel, select the Fruit layer to make it current:a) Because all three layers are currently selected, click the gray area to the right of the layer names to

deselect them.b) Select the Fruit layer to make it current.

The name of the current layer is highlighted and an arrow indicates that its controls are displayed. 4. Because you are going to change the animation keyframes of the Fruit layer, enable Animate. Animate is red when enabled.

5. Move the Fruit layer:a) Click the Composite Controls tab to view the Composite Controls panel (F7). b) Click Transform to view the Transform controls for the current layer.

c) Drag over the X Position field until the value is -120.

30

Welcome to combustion

The value is the number of pixels by which the layer is offset from the center along the X-axis. The Fruit layer is now inside the Safe Action zone.

Hint: To change values 10 times more quickly than normal, press SHIFT while dragging over the field. To change values 10 times more slowly than normal, press CTRL while dragging over the field.

6. Play the clip (SPACEBAR). Although the Fruit layer is inside the Safe Action zone, the Solid layer is not. 7. Move the Solid layer to the same X Position as the Fruit layer:a) Go to the first frame (HOME). b) In the Workspace panel, select the Solid layer.

c) In the current layers Transform controls, click the X Position field.

The field changes, highlighting the current value.d) Using the keyboard, enter -120, then press ENTER. Hint: You can also double-click the field to open the on-screen calculator, enter the value, then click OK.

When entering values throughout lessons, use any of the methods shown here.

31

1 Welcome to combustion

8. Play the clip (SPACEBAR). The Fruit and Solid layers move together inside the Safe Action zone.Hint: You can also link layers by parenting one layer to another. Applying changes to a parent affects all layers linked to it. Learn more about parenting layers in Lesson 3.

9. Choose Window | Show Safe Zones, or press (SINGLE QUOTE), to turn the safe zones off.

View the Operators on Each LayerUse the Workspace panel to view the operators applied to each layer. Operators are processes that build the composite. Any number of operators can be applied to a layer. 1. View the Controls panel for the Footage operator in the Fruit layer:a) Click the triangles next to each of the layers.

The layer headings expand, revealing the operators used in each layer.

Footage operator Box Blur operator Paint operator

b) Examine the layers in the composite and their operators. Layer Name Operators

Fruit Solid Flowers

A Footage operator that represents the imported footage as it is used in the composite. A Footage operator and a Box Blur operator. The Box Blur operator is an effect applied to the footage. A Footage operator and a Paint operator. The Paint operator controls the vector graphics added to the layer (in this case, the text).

32

Welcome to combustion

c) Select the Footage operator in the Fruit layer.

As you learned in an earlier step, when you select an operator in the Workspace panel, an arrow indicates that its controls appear in the Controls panel. The name of the panel changes to that of the selected operator (in this case, the Footage Controls). 2. Examine the Footage Details to the right of the controls.

Footage Details provides a summary of the footage properties. For example, the footage for this layer is a single Portable Network Graphic (*.png) image (Duration: 1), and its resolution is D-1 NTSC (720 x 486) with a frame rate of 30 fps. 3. In the Workspace panel, select the Solid footage operator in the Solid layer. Its controls appear in the Footage Controls panel.

The footage for the Solid layer is not a graphic image, but simply a white rectangle created using the Object | New | Composite/Paint/Solid Layer command. Use this command in Lesson 3. You can use the Footage Controls panel to change the size and color of a solid layer.

33

1 Welcome to combustion

4. Select the Box Blur operator in the Solid layer.

Its controls appear in the Box Blur Controls panel. 5. Operators are processes (in this case, a box blur effect) that are applied to footage. Soften the edge of the Solid layer by setting the Radius of the Box Blur operator to 25.

Hint: You can undo changes by pressing CTRL+Z / +Z. combustion has multiple levels of undo. To set the number of levels of undo, choose File | Preferences to open the Preferences dialog. In the General preferences, enter the number of levels of Undo in the Undo Levels field.

6. The Flowers layer has a Footage operator and a Paint operator. Examine the Footage operator:a) Select the Footage operator in the Flowers layer to view its controls.

Looking at the Footage Details, you can see that the footage for the Flowers layer is a 30-frame D-1 NTSC (720 x 486) PNG image sequence.b) Drag over the preview to scrub the clip.

34

Welcome to combustion

7. Click the Back button (CTRL+[ /

+[) to return to the Box Blur Controls panel.

The Forward and Back buttons are similar to the buttons in a web browser. Use these buttons to switch between recently accessed Controls panels. Learn more about the Forward and Back buttons in subsequent lessons as you continue to work with operators. 8. Go to the end of the clip (END) and look at the viewport. At the end of the clip, the Fruit and Solid layers move to the right side of the frame, revealing text painted on the Flowers layer. 9. Examine the Paint operator and its controls:a) In the Workspace panel, select the Paint operator.

b) Click the icon next to the Paint operators name to turn it off.

The text is no longer visible. As with layers, you can turn operators on and off.c) Turn the Paint operator on again to view the text.

35

1 Welcome to combustion

Render the Result CompositeSo far in this lesson, you viewed the composite in the viewports. Now, use the Render Queue to render the composite as a QuickTime file for viewing outside of combustion. 1. Choose File | Render (CTRL+R / +R) to open the Render Queue dialog.

The Render Queue dialog lists each output that you can render to a video clip or an image sequence. Currently, the dialog lists a single output: the final result of the composite you have been working with. You can add and queue multiple outputs from any branch in any workspace, making batch rendering sessions easy. For more information on setting multiple outputs, see the combustion Users Guide. In this lesson, render only a single output.

36

Welcome to combustion

2. In the Output list, select output1. The output box is highlighted when selected.

3. Set the Render Queue dialog to output a QuickTime movie of the composite:a) From the Format list, select QuickTime. b) From the Quality list, select Best.

c) From the Frame Size list, select Quarter to output a frame size of 180 x 121 pixels.

4. Set the compression settings for the QuickTime file:a) Click Options to open the Compression Settings dialog.

37

1 Welcome to combustion

b) In the Compressor group, select None and Millions of Colors.

c) Move the slider to Best quality.

d) From the Frames Per Second list, select 29.97.

e) Click OK. Hint: Depending on the specified file type, you can also define settings for the alpha channel and for video field interlacing. For more information, see the combustion Users Guide.

5. Set the destination for the QuickTime movie:a) Click Filename to open the Save dialog.

b) Use the file browser to set the desktop as the destination for the QuickTime movie. c) Change the name of the file to MyLesson01.mov and then click OK.

38

Welcome to combustion

6. In the Render Range group, check that the entire composite is set to be rendered. The duration bar represents the region of the composite set to be rendered.

Before rendering, you can also enable e-mail notification. For more information, see the Enable EMail Notification tips box.Hint: You can change the start and end points for the rendering process, as well as the frame step rate using the Start, End, and Frame Step fields. Click Max to reset the rendering process to the entire composite.

Enable E-Mail NotificationWhen you arrange long overnight batch rendering sessions, you can set combustion to notify you by e-mail when the rendering is done. 1. In the Render Queue dialog, click Preferences to open the Render Queue Preferences dialog.

2. In the Render Queue Preferences dialog, enter the required To and From addresses and the name of your mail server (SMTP server).

39

1 Welcome to combustion

7. Click Process to process the composite.

The render progress is represented by the Current Progress and Estimated Total Time bars. You can also watch each frame render in the preview window to the left of the Current Progress and Estimated Total Time bars. 8. When the rendering is complete, click Close. 9. Save and close the workspace:a) Press CTRL+SHIFT+S /

+SHIFT+S to open the Save Workspace dialog.

b) Set a file name and directory for the workspace, and then click OK. c) Press CTRL+W /

+W to close the workspace.

10.(Optional) Go to the desktop and view the QuickTime movie you just created in the QuickTime movie player.

40

Welcome to combustion

Things to Remember Choose from one of four viewport layout options. You can set zoom factors and other display optionsfor each viewport independently.

Play a clip once in the viewport to render it to the RAM cache. Once rendered, the clip plays in realtime until you apply further changes.

Real-time playback in the viewport is limited by the amount of RAM installed on your workstation.Use the RAM gauge to verify how much RAM is available.

View the workspace in the Workspace panel. A workspace can contain many branches, a compositebranch can contain many layers, and each layer can have many operators.

Operators are processes applied to footage. You can turn them on and off by clicking their icons inthe Workspace panel.

When you select a layer or operator in the Workspace panel, an arrow indicates that its controlsappear in the Controls panel.

Use the Render Queue to render any output from any workspace. You can choose from many videoformats, customize compression settings, and set the frame size.

41

1 Welcome to combustion

42

Creating Basic CompositesLes s on 2

In a composite, two or more layers are combined to produce a single image or clip. You can scale and animate layers to customize the composite further.

43

2 Creating Basic Composites

OverviewA composite is an image made by combining two or more layers. The easiest composites to build are from images with predefined alpha channels. An alpha channel is a grayscale version of the image that assigns transparency to regions of the image, revealing what is layered behind it. An alpha channel is normally associated with its own layers footage. In combustion, you can also apply the alpha channel of one layer as the matte for another. Time to complete this lesson: 40 minutes.

Exercise: Create an Animated CompositeAs you learned in Lesson 1, you can animate layer properties using the current layer controls. In this lesson, learn more about layer properties and animation channels. Need Help? If you need help completing this exercise, save and close your workspace, and then open the Lesson02.cws workspace as a reference.

Set Up the WorkspaceFirst, preview the result of this exercise. Next, create a branch and import footage to begin building the composite. 1. Check the combustion preferences. For instructions, see Set the Preferences on page 9. 2. Choose File | Open Workspace, or press CTRL+SHIFT+O (Windows) or +SHIFT+O (Macintosh), to open the Lesson02.cws workspace file in the Lesson02 folder. For instructions, see Open the Workspace on page 16. 3. Preview the result for this exercise:

Play the clip in the viewport to view the result. The clip plays slowly the first time while it cachesto RAM and then it plays in real time. For instructions, see Play the Composite in the Viewport on page 23.

If you do not have enough RAM to view the entire clip in real time, minimize combustion andplay Lesson02.avi using Media Player (Windows) or QuickTime (Macintosh). For instructions, see Playing Movies on page 13.

44

Creating Basic Composites

The composite consists of a background image of insects, an image of a lizard, and an animated logo.

4. Choose File | Close Workspace (CTRL+W / 5. Create a branch in the empty workspace:a) Choose File | New (CTRL+N /

+W) to close the Lesson02.cws workspace file.

+N) to open the New dialog.

b) Select composite as the branch type and then give the branch a name, for example,

MyLesson02.

c) Select NTSC D-1 as the composites resolution.

d) Set the duration to 60 frames.

e) Click OK.

45

2 Creating Basic Composites

6. View the images needed for the composite:a) Choose File | Import Footage (CTRL+I /

+I) to open the Import Footage dialog.

b) Use the file browser to go to the Lesson02 folder. c) Click Thumbnails to view thumbnails of the images in the selected folder.

When Thumbnails is enabled, images and clips in the current folder appear as thumbnail images, making it much easier to locate files.

46

Creating Basic Composites

The final composite has four layers. Bugs.png: This image is the background for the composite.

Lizard.png: This image is placed in front of the Bugs layer in the composite. The gray region of the thumbnail is the transparency defined by the alpha channel.

Texture.png: This texture is used to generate the logo in the upper right of the frame.

Logo.png: The alpha channel of this image is applied to the texture image to produce the textured logo.

In this exercise:

Use the Import Footage dialog to import the images for the composite. Examine the alpha channel of imported footage in the viewports. Use a Set Matte operator to apply the alpha channel of the Logo.png image to the Texture layer tocreate the textured logo.

Animate the position and scale of the Texture layer to animate the logo, and then use the Timelineto customize the animation.

47

2 Creating Basic Composites

Import the ImagesSince you are already in the Import Footage dialog, import the required files. 1. Press CTRL and click the Bugs.png and Lizard.png thumbnails to select them. As you click each thumbnail, it is highlighted and appears in the import queue. The selections in the import queue are imported with the first selection as the bottom layer of the composite and the last selection as the top layer. As you learn in this lesson, layers can be rearranged after you import them.

Highlighted selections

Images in the import queue

Hint: Once you add the selections from one folder to the import queue, you can use the browser to locate footage in another folder and add it to the import queue.

2. Click OK to import the queued images. The viewport displays the output of the composite.

48

Creating Basic Composites

3. Select two-viewport layout. 4. Zoom out both viewports to view the entire frame:a) Click the left viewport to make it active. b) Click Home to fit the frame to the viewport. c) Repeat steps a) and b) for the right viewport.

Examine an Alpha ChannelThe lizard image has a predefined alpha channel that is automatically enabled. The alpha channel is a channel belonging to the image file (in this case, lizard.png) that defines transparency in the image. As a result, you see the bugs behind the lizard. Examine the alpha channel for the lizard image. 1. In the Workspace panel (F3), CTRL-click the triangle next to the MyLesson02 branch to expand it.

2. View the Footage Controls panel for the Lizard layer:a) In the Workspace panel, click the Footage operator in the Lizard layer to view its controls. Hint: If the Footage Controls panel is not showing, click its tab, or press F7. b) Click Source to view the Source controls.

49

2 Creating Basic Composites

In the Footage Details, the Lizard.png image is listed as a 32-bit image. The image has four 8-bit channels: red, green, blue, and alpha. The red, green, and blue channels define the full color image and the alpha channel defines the transparent region of the image.

Because the footage is a 32-bit image, the Color+Alpha button is enabled, indicating that the red, green, blue, and alpha channels are enabled. 3. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (Macintosh) the left viewport and choose Layer. In Layer view, only the output of the current layer is visible, so you see the Lizard layer over a black background.

The right viewport, which is still in Camera view, shows the composite. In Camera view, you view the result composite through a virtual camera. The cameras position and field of view can be changed and animated. In this exercise, do not change the default camera settings. The current view appears in the upper left corner of the viewport. In the viewport, you can select from 10 views including Camera, Layer, and Perspective. Learn more about the Camera and Perspective views in Lesson 3.

50

Creating Basic Composites

4. In addition to the different views, you can also select from nine different view modes. Use view modes to monitor specific image channels. Right-click / CTRL-click the left viewport and choose View Mode | Alpha to view the alpha channel of the lizard image. The viewport displays the grayscale alpha channel of the lizard image. Black areas of the image represent complete transparency. Gray areas at the edges represent degrees of transparency. White areas of the image represent complete opacity.

The current view mode appears in the upper left corner of the viewport next to the zoom factor.

For more information on view modes, see the combustion Users Guide.Hint: To change view modes using the hot keys, press CTRL+SHIFT+. A view modes hot key number corresponds to its position in the menu. For example, press CTRL+SHIFT+8 to switch to Alpha view mode and CTRL+SHIFT+1 to return to Normal (Color + Alpha) view mode.

5. In addition to identifying which footage is used, the Footage operator controls how the footage is interpreted for the layer. For example, click Color to disable the alpha channel of the footage.

51

2 Creating Basic Composites

With Color enabled, the RGB color channels are displayed and the alpha channel for the footage is ignored. As a result, the right viewport (Normal view mode) displays the lizard image instead of the composite. The left viewport (Alpha view mode) displays a white frame (no transparency). This is the stored alpha channel for the layer. In combustion, an alpha channel is automatically stored for each layer. If you import an image that does not contain an embedded alpha channel, or if you disable the embedded alpha channel, the stored alpha channel is used. In later lessons, learn how to affect the stored alpha channel using the Mask and Keyer operators. 6. Reset the viewports and the Footage Controls for the Lizard layer to their initial state:a) Right-click / CTRL-click the left viewport and choose View Mode | Normal (CTRL+SHIFT+1).

The left and right viewports both display the lizard image.b) In the Footage Controls panel, click Guess.

Because Lizard.png is a 32-bit image, combustion guesses that all four channels (red, green, blue, and alpha) should be used. As a result, Color+Alpha is automatically enabled:

The left viewport, in Layer view, displays the Lizard layer only. The right viewport, in Camera view, displays the full composite.c) Right-click / CTRL-click the left viewport and choose Camera.

Both viewports display the full composite.

52

Creating Basic Composites

Move the Lizard LayerUsing the Transform controls in the Composite Controls panel, you can move, rotate, scale, and shear layers. Move the Lizard layer to the lower right of the frame. 1. Select single-viewport layout. 2. Disable Animate to disable keyframe animation. Animate is gray when disabled.

When Animate is disabled, any changes made to the properties of a layer or operator are constant for the duration of the clip. 3. In the Workspace panel, select the Lizard layer. 4. Move the Lizard layer:a) In the Composite Controls panel (F7), click Transform to view the Transform controls for the

Lizard layer.

b) Set X Position to 170.

c) Set Y Position to -120.

53

2 Creating Basic Composites

The lizard is now at the lower right of the frame.

Import Footage to Create Two More LayersSo far the composite has two layers. To complete the composite, you must import the footage for two more layers and then rearrange the layers in the Workspace panel. 1. Open the Import Footage dialog (CTRL+I / +I).

2. CTRL-click the Texture.png and Logo.png images (in this order) in the Lesson02 folder to add them to the import queue. 3. Click OK to import the selected images. 4. Examine the Workspace panel. Both imported images appear as new layers in the Workspace panel with the Logo layer above the Texture layer. The composite now has four layers.

54

Creating Basic Composites

5. Examine the viewport. The Logo.png image has a predefined alpha channel that defines the transparency of the layer. Behind it you see the Texture layer. The Lizard and Bugs layers are hidden behind the Texture layer.

6. You can rearrange the layer order of a composite by dragging layers in the Workspace panel. For example, change the layer order of the composite:a) In the Workspace panel, click the Lizard layer and drag the cursor over the Texture layer. b) Release the cursor when a line appears below the Logo layer.

55

2 Creating Basic Composites

The Workspace panel should look like this.

In the viewport, the lizard appears in front of the texture and behind the logo.

c) Drag the Lizard layer below the Texture layer again (it should still be above the Bugs layer).

7. In the Workspace panel, click the icon next to the Logo layer to turn it off. As you will see in the next steps, you use only the Logo layers alpha channel in the composite. For the moment, all you can see in the viewport is the Texture layer.

56

Creating Basic Composites

Set the Matte for the Texture LayerAlthough an alpha channel is associated with its own image, you can use the alpha channel of one image as a matte for another. A matte has the same function as an alpha channel (defines transparency), except it is not embedded in a specific image. Use a Set Matte operator to use the alpha channel of the Logo layer as the matte for the Texture layer, creating a logo with a texture. 1. In the Workspace panel, click the Texture layer to make it the current layer. 2. Click the triangle next to the Texture layer to view its contents. The Texture layer has a single Footage operator. 3. Choose Operators | Channel | Set Matte to add a Set Matte operator to the Texture layer. A Set Matte operator and its controls appear.

4. Although the Logo layer is off, its Footage operator is on, allowing its alpha channel to be applied to another layer as a matte. Set the Texture layer to use the alpha channel associated with the Logo footage:a) Click the Layer box to open the Operator Picker dialog.

57

2 Creating Basic Composites

b) Click the Footage operator for the Logo layer and then click OK.

Because Luminance is the selected input channel for the matte, the Texture layer is slightly transparent. 5. From the Input Channel list, select Alpha.

The alpha channel of the logo image sets the matte for the Texture layer. However, the logo image has been resized to fit the Texture layer.

58

Creating Basic Composites

6. Crop the footage in the Logo layer so it fits the composite properly:a) In the Workspace panel, click the triangle next to the Logo layer to view its Footage operator. b) Select the Footage operator for the Logo layer to view its controls. c) Click Output.

d) Set Cropping Top, Left, Right, and Bottom according to the following table. Set: To:

Top Left Right Bottom

-33 -208 208 33

These crop values increase the footage from a 304 x 420 image to a 720 x 486 image by adding empty space on all sides. As a result, the matte used by the Texture layer now has the correct proportions.

59

2 Creating Basic Composites

Animate the Texture LayerSo far, the layers in the composite do not move. You have changed the position of the Lizard layer, but all layers remain in the same position for the duration of the clip. Animate the Texture layers scale and position to animate the logo. 1. Enable Animate to enable keyframing.

When Animate is enabled (red), keyframes are set automatically when you change values at different frames in the composite. 2. If necessary, press HOME to go to the first frame. 3. Set the scale of the Texture layer at the first frame:a) In the Workspace panel, select the Texture layer. b) Click Transform to view the Transform controls for the Texture layer.

c) Enable Proportional to keep X, Y, and Z Scale equal. d) Set any of the Scale fields to 30%.

60

Creating Basic Composites

4. Set the position of the Texture layer at the first frame:a) Set X Position to -240.

b) Set Y Position to -140.

5. Go to the last frame (END). 6. Set the scale and position of the Texture layer at the last frame:a) With Proportional enabled, set any of the Scale fields to 100%. b) Set X Position to 0. c) Set Y Position to 0.

Because Animate is enabled, setting different scale and position values for the Texture layer at the first and last frame of the clip creates an animation. combustion automatically calculates the intermediate values between the two keyframes (first and last) that you set. The motion path followed by the Texture layer appears in the viewport (as long as the Texture layer is selected in the Workspace panel).

7. Go to the first frame (HOME) and then play the clip (SPACEBAR) to view the animation.

61

2 Creating Basic Composites

View the TimelineView the Timeline to view graphical representations of the animated channels in your composite. 1. Go to the first frame (HOME). 2. View the Timeline:a) Click the Timeline tab (or press F4). b) Click Graph to enable Graph mode.

c) Enable Context to view the channels for the layer or operator selected in the Workspace panel.

A category can contain additional categories and channels. A category is indicated by a small black triangle and a channel is indicated by a key icon. In this case, the Timeline displays four categories: Transformation, Geometry, Surface, and Operators. 3. One of the channels you animated is the Y Position channel of the Texture layer, which belongs to the Transformation category. View the Y Position graph:a) In the Timeline, click the triangle next to the Transformation category to view its contents. b) Click the Y Position channel to view its curve.

c) Click Frame All to view the entire Y Position curve in the graph area of the Timeline.

62

Creating Basic Composites

4. Examine the Y Position curve. A keyframe is expressed using (x, y) coordinates, where x is the number of the frame (the horizontal axis of the graph) at which the value is set and y is the channel value (the vertical axis of the graph). The Y Position curve has two keyframes joined by the animation curve. The Current Frame indicator indicates the current frame.Current Frame indicator First keyframe Animation curve Second keyframe

(60, 0) Channel value (y)

(1, -140)

Frame number (x)

The process of calculating the values between keyframes to create the animation curve is called interpolation. This process is done automatically.Note: In this illustration, the curve uses Bezier interpolation (the default interpolation method selected in the Preferences).

63

2 Creating Basic Composites

5. Drag the Current Frame indicator and note the following:

The value next to the channel in the Timeline is updated. For example, when the Current Frameindicator is at frame 16, the Y Position value is -104.41.

All Current Frame indicators (in the playback controls and filmstrip) are updated. The clip is scrubbed in the viewport.Hint: Enable Feedback to view all layers of the composite while scrubbing. Disable Feedback to view outlines of the composites moving layers. For more information, see page 29.

Add a Keyframe to the Y Position CurveAdd a keyframe to customize the animation further. 1. Use the Go To Time dialog to go to frame 30:a) Choose Movie | Go To Time or press / (forward slash) to open the Go To Time dialog.

b) Enter 30 in the Frame field, and then click OK (ENTER). Hint: To go to a specific frame, you can also click the Current Frame field in the playback controls, enter the frame number, and then press ENTER.

64

Creating Basic Composites

2. Click Add Key to add a keyframe at frame 30.

A keyframe appears on the Y Position curve at frame 30.Hint: You can also add a keyframe at the current frame by dragging over the value next to the channel in the hierarchy. To add a keyframe at a frame other than the current frame, hold the cursor over the curve. When the cursor changes to a crosshair ( ), click the curve to add a keyframe.

3. Use one of three methods to set the Y Position value of the new keyframe to -20:

Click in the gray area above or below the curve to deselect the curve and then drag the keyframeat frame 30 to about -20. (If you do not deselect the curve first you move the entire curve at once because all keyframes are selected.)

Drag over the value next to the channel in the hierarchy until the value is about -20. Double-click the keyframe to open the Numerical Input dialog, enter -20, and then click OK.The animation curve should look like this.

Tangent handles

The motion path in the viewport changes according to the new shape of the Y Position curve.Hint: Changing the value of a keyframe in the Timeline is the same as changing a value using the Transform controls.

65

2 Creating Basic Composites

4. Play the clip (SPACEBAR). The Texture layer follows the modified motion path. 5. Go to the first frame (HOME). 6. Click Overview to change the timing of the animation without affecting the channel values.

When you added a keyframe to the Y Position channel, a keyframe was added to the X and Z Position channels at the same time because the three Position channels are linked. Although keyframes are added to the X and Z Position channels at frame 30, their values are unchanged. 7. Change the timing of the animation:a) Click the gray area in the Timeline below the keyframes to deselect all. b) Drag the Position keyframes you added to frame 50.

As you drag, the frame number and value appear in parentheses, making it easy to move the keyframe to the proper position. 8. In the Workspace panel, click the Texture layer. In the viewport, the shape of the motion path has not changed. However, the part of the motion path between the first two keyframes now represents the first 50 frames of the animation.

66

Creating Basic Composites

9. Play the clip (SPACEBAR). The logo moves more slowly between the first two keyframes of the motion path, and then moves more quickly between the last two.

Navigate the Channels in the TimelineWhen you open the Timeline, the categories and channels associated with the layer or operator selected in the Workspace panel are displayed. Navigate downwards by expanding categories and upwards using the controls to the right of the Timeline list. 1. Go to the first frame (HOME). 2. In the Timeline list, click the triangle next to the Transformation category to collapse it.

3. Click the up-arrow button to move up one level up in the channel hierarchy.

The Timeline list displays the categories for the composite, including the two layers, the Light, and Camera groups. In Overview mode, the duration of layers and operators is indicated by a gray bar. Use the scroll bar next to the list to view all categories and channels.

67

2 Creating Basic Composites

4. Click the navigation menu button and choose Top to go to the top level of the channel hierarchy.

At the top level of the workspace there is a single branch for the composite.

Hint: Choose Top when you want to access channels in other branches in the current workspace.

5. In the Workspace panel, click the Texture layer to view its channel categories only in the Timeline. 6. Save and close the workspace:a) Save the workspace (CTRL+S /

+S).

b) (Optional) Render the clip as a QuickTime movie. For instructions, see Render the Result

Composite on page 36.c) Close the workspace (CTRL+W /

+W).

68

Creating Basic Composites

Things to Remember Click Thumbnails in the Import Footage dialog to view thumbnails of image files while you browsefor footage.

CTRL-click multiple image files to add them to the import queue in the Import Footage dialog. Youcan add files from different folders in a single import session.

You can set viewports to display any of nine view modes. For example, choose Alpha view mode toview the grayscale alpha channel, or Normal view mode to view the full color image.

Click Graph in the Timeline to view the animation channels as curves on a graph. Use this mode toadd keyframes and set values.

Click Overview in the Timeline to view the timing of the animation. Use this mode to change thetiming of the animation without affecting the values set at each keyframe.

Although the Timeline initially displays the channels of the layer or operator selected in theWorkspace panel, you can navigate downward by clicking the triangles next to the categories, or upward using the up-arrow button and navigation menu to the right of the Timeline list.

Rearrange layers by dragging them in the Workspace panel. Use a Set Matte operator to use the alpha channel of the footage in one layer as the matte for anotherlayer.

69

2 Creating Basic Composites

70

Creating Composites in 3D SpaceLes s on 3

In combustion, all composites are built in 3D space. Although the layers you import or create are 2D surfaces, you can hinge them together and then arrange them to make 3D objects.

71

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

OverviewIn Lessons 1 and 2 you worked on composites with all layers at the same Z-position. In this lesson, build a 3D cube from 2D layers and then animate the sides of the cube. In combustion, you build composites by creating or importing 2D layers. However, because you build the composite in 3D space, you can hinge layers together to join them at their edges and then set the position and rotation values for the layers to give depth to the composite. You can then animate all transformation channels (for example, position and rotation) to build complex 3D scenes from simple 2D layers. Time to complete this lesson: 60 minutes.

Exercise: Build and Animate a CubeIn this exercise, build a cube by parenting and hinging solid and image layers. The front and back faces of each side of the cube are different. Animate the rotation channel of the sides of the cube to make it turn inside out. Need Help? If you need help completing this exercise, save and close the workspace, and then open the Lesson03.cws workspace as a reference.

Set Up the WorkspaceFirst, preview the result of this exercise. Next, create a branch to begin building the composite. 1. Check the combustion preferences. For instructions, see Set the Preferences on page 9. 2. Choose File | Open Workspace, or press CTRL+SHIFT+O (Windows) or +SHIFT+O (Macintosh), to open the Lesson03.cws workspace file in the Lesson03 folder. For instructions, see Open the Workspace on page 16.

72

Creating Composites in 3D Space

3. Preview the result for this exercise:

Play the clip in the viewport to view the result. For instructions, see Play the Composite in theViewport on page 23.

If you do not have enough RAM to view the entire clip in real time, minimize combustion andplay Lesson03.avi using Media Player (Windows) or QuickTime (Macintosh). For instructions, see Playing Movies on page 13. The clip features a cube that turns inside out.

In this exercise:

Create 12 layers and parent them to make 6 sides. Use hinging to join the six sides. Replace one layer of each side with footage. Assign visibility to the 12 layers to view individual sides. Rotate the hinged squares to make a closed cube. Animate the sides of the cube to turn it inside out.4. Choose File | Close Workspace (CTRL+W / 5. Choose File | New (CTRL+N / properties: +W) to close the Lesson03.cws workspace file.

+N) to open the New dialog and create a branch with the following

Type: composite Name: animated cube Format: NTSC Duration: 210 frames6. Select single-viewport layout.

73

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

Create the Six Sides of the CubeFirst, begin building a cube by creating 12 layerssix for the front and six for the back of each side. Next, make each side of the cube by parenting two layers. 1. In the Workspace panel (F3), CTRL-click the triangle next to the animated cube composite branch to view its contents as you create the layers. 2. Create a new solid layer:a) Choose Object | New | Composite/Paint/Solid Layer to open the New dialog. b) From the Type list, select Solid.

c) Leave the solid layer untitled.

d) From the Format Options list, select

Custom.

e) Set Width to 400 and Height to 400.

f) Enable No Fields. g) Click the Background Color box to open

the Pick Color dialog.

74

Creating Composites in 3D Space

3. Set the color for the new solid layer:

a) Set Red to 0%, Green to 0%,

and Blue to 100%.

b) Click OK to close the Pick Color dialog.

The blue color you selected appears in the Background Color box, indicating the color for the new solid layer.c) In the New dialog, click OK to create the new solid layer.

A blue square appears in the viewport. 4. Rather than using the same procedure to create five more layers, create five copies of the new layer:a) In the Workspace panel, click the triangle next to the new layer to view its contents.

75

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

b) In the Workspace panel, click the new layer to select it. c) Press CTRL+C / d) Press CTRL+V /

+C to copy the layer to the clipboard. +V five times to paste five copies of the layer in the Workspace panel.

The Workspace panel contains six layers, each of them named Layer, with a numerical tag to distinguish them. In the viewport, the new layers are at the same position.

5. These layers are for the front of the six sides. Change the names of the new layers:a) In the Workspace panel, select Layer (1) to view its controls. b) In the Composite Controls panel (F7), click the Name field, type Blue Front, and then press

ENTER.

Hint: Another way to rename a layer is to select the layer in the Workspace panel, click it again to open its Name field, type in the new name and then press ENTER. This procedure is not the same as double-clicking a layer in the Workspace panel, which changes the active viewport to Layer view. If you switch views accidentally, double-click the composite operator to return to Camera view. Note: The numerical tags update dynamically. When you renamed Layer (1), Layer (2) became Layer (1), Layer (3) became Layer (2), and so on.

76

Creating Composites in 3D Space

c) Repeat steps a) and b) to rename the other five layers. Change the Name of: To:

Layer (5) Layer (4) Layer (3) Layer (2) Layer (1)

Red Front Green Front Yellow Front Magenta Front Cyan Front

6. Change the color of the footage in each layer to match its name:a) Click the triangle next to the composite operator once to collapse its contents, and then

CTRL-click it again to expand all its contents.b) Click the Footage operator in the Red Front layer to view its controls.

c) Click the Color box to view the Pick Color dialog and then set the Red Front layer to red. d) Repeat steps b) and c) to change the colors of the Green Front, Yellow Front, Magenta Front, and

Cyan Front layers. For more information, see the Setting Colors in the Pick Color Dialog tips box. 7. The cube you are building uses different footage on the front and back of each side. Duplicate the six layers to make the back sides:a) In the Workspace panel, click the triangle next to the composite operator once to close it and then

a second time to view the layers. With this view you can drag a selection box around the six layers.

77

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

b) In the Workspace panel, drag a selection box around the six layers to select them.

Setting Colors in the Pick Color DialogTo select a color using the Pick Color dialog, you can either click anywhere in the color spectrum or use the Red, Green, and Blue fields to set channel values.

Use the table below to help you find the settings for the color you require. Result Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Red Value 100% 0% 100% 0% 0% 100% 100% 0% Green Value 100% 0% 0% 100% 0% 100% 0% 100% Blue Value 100% 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 100% 100%

78

Creating Composites in 3D Space

c) Press CTRL+C / d) Press CTRL+V /

+C to copy the layers to the clipboard. +V to paste the copied layers in the Workspace panel.

e) Rename the new layers (the top six layers in the Workspace panel) to contain the tag Back. For

example, change the name of the Blue Front (2) layer to Blue Back. For instructions, see step 5 on page 62. In the Workspace panel, the composite branch should look like this.

8. When layers are parented, changes applied to the parent, such as position and rotation values, are also applied to the child. To make the front and back for each side, parent the layer-pairs together:a) In the Workspace panel, select the Blue Back layer to view its controls. b) Select Blue Front from the Parent list.

The Blue Front layer is now the parent of the Blue Back layer.

79

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

c) Repeat step a) and b) to parent the five other pairs of layers. In the Workspace panel, select: Set Parent to:

Cyan Back Magenta Back Yellow Back Green Back Red Back

Cyan Front Magenta Front Yellow Front Green Front Red Front

Arrange and Hinge the Sides of the CubeCurrently, the six two-layer sides of the cube are stacked on top of each other in the order defined by the Workspace panel, from top to bottom. Move the sides next to each other and then hinge them so they can be folded together to create the cube. 1. Disable Animate to disable automatic keyframing. Animate is gray when disabled.

2. By default, you work in Camera viewthe view from which the composite is usually rendered. However, you can also work in Perspective view. Right-click (Windows) or CTRL-click (Macintosh) the viewport and choose Perspective. In Perspective view, you can view the composite from any point independent of the camera. 3. Use the Perspective Zoom tool to zoom out the viewport:a) Show the Toolbar (F2).

80

Creating Composites in 3D Space

The Toolbar always displays the tools for the current operator, which is indicated in the upper left corner of the viewport. In this case, you view the tools for the composite operator. The Toolbar also shows the current view in the View list.Hint: Although in the previous step you right-clicked (or CTRL-clicked) the viewport to change views, you can also select a view from the View list in the Toolbar. Only the active viewport is affected. b) The Perspective Zoom tool is a scrubbable tool. Click, hold, and drag over the Perspective

Zoom tool until the square is about one quarter its original size. (In subsequent instructions, you are asked to scrub tools with this behavior.)

As you zoom out a small white box appears. The white box is the camera, from which you view the composite in Camera view. The white star is the light, which is also visible in Camera view.Camera Light

81

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

4. Arrange the sides of the cube:a) In the Toolbar, click the Arrow tool.

b) In the viewport, click the Blue Front layer to select it.

The layer is highlighted when selected.

82

Creating Composites in 3D Space

c) Drag over the viewport to move the Blue Front layer to the left.

The Blue Front layer is the parent of the Blue Back layer, so moving the Blue Front layer moves both layers together.d) Click the Cyan Front layer to select it. e) Drag over the viewport to move the Cyan layer out of the way so you can move the layers

beneath it.f) Use the Arrow tool to select and then move the other layers to match the following illustration.

83

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

5. Reset the position of the Cyan Front layer:a) In the Workspace panel (F3), select the Cyan Front layer to view its controls. b) Click R to reset the X, Y, and Z Position fields for the Cyan Front layer.

Hint: Rather than trying to drag the layer back exactly to X, Y, and Z Position 0, clicking R is an easy way to reset the Position values.

The Cyan Front layer returns to its original position.

84

Creating Composites in 3D Space

6. Hinge the parent layers of the cube. Start by hinging the Blue Front layer to the Cyan Front layer:a) In the Workspace panel, select the Blue Front layer to view its controls.

b) Click Layer to view the Layer controls.

c) Click the Pick button and then use the cursor to pick the Cyan Front layer in the viewport.

Hinging layers is an easy way to create 3D objects that fold or open. When you hinge two layers, they are joined along their closest common edge. This shared edge becomes the new pivot point for the hinged layer, changing its center of rotation. This makes hinging different from parenting, where the pivot points of linked layers do not move.Default pivot point Hinged pivot point

85

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

In the viewport, the adjacent edges of the layers are hinged. The position of the back layer follows because of the parent-child relationship.

Hint: To hinge layers, you can also select a layer in the Workspace panel, view its Layer controls, and then select the layer to which you want it hinged from the Hinge list.

d) Repeat steps a) to c) to hinge the rest of the layers. Hinge: To:

Yellow Front Magenta Front Green Front Red Front

Cyan Front Cyan Front Cyan Front Green Front

86

Creating Composites in 3D Space

After hinging, the six sides of the cube are joined.

Replace the Footage for the Inside of the CubeSo far each side of the cube is made from two layers of a solid color. Use the Replace Footage option to replace one of the solid layers for each side with an image. 1. In the Workspace panel, click the triangle next to the Blue Front layer and then select its Footage operator to view the Footage Controls panel.

87

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

2. Replace the footage for the Blue Front layer:a) Click Replace to open the Replace Footage dialog.

The Replace Footage dialog is similar to the Import Footage dialog.b) Enable Thumbnails. c) Disable Collapse to view image sequences as separate icons. d) Use the file browser to go to the Lesson03 folder.

There are two files called Letter_s with a numerical tag. A numerical tag usually indicates an image sequence. In this case, because you disabled Collapse, you can import the Letter_s.png images separately.e) Select the Letter_s1.png image and then click OK.

88

Creating Composites in 3D Space

3. Examine the viewport. You still see the solid blue side because both the Blue Front and Blue Back layers have the same Z-position. When two opaque layers are at the same Z-position, the one that is higher in the Workspace panel is visible in the viewport. For example, in the composite, the Back layers are above the Front layers, so you see the Back layers in the viewports. In this composite, however, you want to see the Back layers only from the back, and see the Front layers only from the front. Changing their order in the Workspace panel will not work because if the Front layers are above the Back layers, you will always see the Front layers in the viewport, even when you view the composite from behind. To view the layers in the proper order, you must set their Front and Back visibility options to display the appropriate side only. For more information on depth processing of layers, see the combustion Users Guide.

Using the Toggle Footage ListUse the Toggle Footage list in the Footage Controls panel to select the footage used by the Footage operator.

Select: Main Proxy

To: Use the full-resolution footage images. Use low resolution proxies of the footage images for faster interaction and lower memory requirements. For information on generating proxies, see the combustion Users Guide. Replace the footage with solid color slates for the fastest interaction and lowest memory requirements.

Solid

89

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

4. Before changing the visibility, repeat step 2 to replace the footage for the remaining layers.Replace the Footage in: With:

Red Front Green Front Yellow Front Magenta Front Cyan Front

Letter_e.png Letter_d.png Letter_s2.png Letter_x.png Letter_i.png

For more information on replacing footage, see the Using the Toggle Footage List tips box. 5. Disable the Front visibility option of the Back layers:a) In the Workspace panel, click the black triangle next to the composite operator twice to view the

layers, but not their Footage operators.b) Select any layer to view the Composite Controls panel. c) Drag a selection box around all six Back layers.

You can now use the controls to apply changes to all selected layers at the same time.

90

Creating Composites in 3D Space

d) Click Surface to view the Surface controls for the selected layers.

e) By default, Front and Back visibility are enabled. Click Front to disable it (it is not highlighted

when disabled). The Front Layers are now visible from the front even though the Back layers are above the Front layers in the Workspace panel.

6. Disable the backs of the Front layers:a) In the Workspace panel, drag a selection box around the Front layers. b) In the Surface controls, click Back to disable the back visibility for the selected layers.

Before you completed this step, the Front layers were already visible because the fronts of the Back layers were invisible. By disabling the back visibility of the Front layers, the composites layers will always appear in the proper order regardless of the position they occupy in the Workspace panel.

91

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

7. View the composite from the other side:a) In the Workspace panel, click in the gray area to the right of the selected layers to deselect them. b) Show the Toolbar (F2). c) Scrub the Perspective Rotate tool to view the composite from the other side.

The Back layers of the composite are visible from this side.

92

Creating Composites in 3D Space

Rotate the Hinged Layers to Close the CubeTo close the cube, rotate the layers along their hinged edges. 1. Go to the first frame (HOME). 2. Enable Animate to enable keyframing.

3. Reset the perspective rotation to view the side of the composite with the letters:a) In the Toolbar, double-click the Perspective Rotate tool to open the Direction dialog. b) Click Reset.

4. Rotate the Yellow Front layer:a) In the Workspace panel (F3), select the Yellow Front layer to view its controls. b) Click Transform to view the Transform controls.

c) Set X Rotation to -90.

93

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

The Yellow Front layer folds forward.

5. Because the Perspective Rotate tool is still selected in the Toolbar, you can change the perspective rotation by dragging over the viewport. Drag over the viewport to get a good view of the cube while you arrange the rest of its sides.

94

Creating Composites in 3D Space

6. To form the cube, select each layer in the Workspace panel and then set its rotation value in the Transform controls as follows.Layer: Field: Value:

Magenta Front Blue Front Green Front Red Front

X Rotation Y Rotation Y Rotation Y Rotation

90 -90 90 90

In the viewport, the cube is closed, with its solid-layer sides exposed.

7. Drag over the viewport to view the cube from different angles.

95

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

Animate the CubeAnimate the hinged sides of the cube to turn it inside out. To do this, set Rotation keyframes at the end of the clip for each side of the cube. 1. Go to the last frame (END). 2. Reverse the rotation values for the sides of the cube using the following values.Layer: Field: Value:

Yellow Front Magenta Front Blue Front Green Front Red Front

X Rotation X Rotation Y Rotation Y Rotation Y Rotation

90 -90 90 -90 -90

The cube is inside out.

3. Go to the first frame (HOME) and play the clip (SPACEBAR). The cube begins closed with the solid sides out, breaks open, and closes with the letter sides out.Hint: If you do not have enough RAM to view the clip in real time, select Medium or Draft from the Display Quality list to the right of the playback controls.

96

Creating Composites in 3D Space

Set Up the Camera for the SceneSo far you have been working in Perspective view. Because you usually render the composite from the cameras point of view, switch to Camera view and then position the camera to view the composite from a good distance. 1. Go to the first frame (HOME). 2. Right-click / CTRL-click the viewport and choose Camera to switch to Camera view. Because the camera is so close to the cube, all you see in the viewport is the part of the red side of the cube that fills the frame. 3. View the Camera controls for the composite:a) In the Workspace panel, select the Camera.

b) Click Transform to view the Transform controls.

The position of the camera is 0 along the X- and Y-axes, and -680 along the Z-axis. For this composite, the camera is too close.

97

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

4. To get a better view of the cube in 3D space, move the camera back and then raise it above the cube:a) Right-click / CTRL-click the viewport and choose Show Safe Zones. b) Set Z Position to -3520 to move the camera back. c) Set Y Position to 500 to raise the camera.

The cube appears at the bottom of the frame, but inside the safe zones.

5. Press CTRL+S /

+S to save the workspace.

Use the result workspace you have just completed in the next lesson, where you animate the cube and then add lights, reflections, and a motion blur effect. 6. If you are not continuing with the next lesson immediately, press CTRL+W / workspace. +W to close the

98

Creating Composites in 3D Space

Things to Remember Choose Object | New | Composite/Paint/Solid Layer to create a layer of solid color. Right-click / CTRL-click the viewport and choose Perspective to switch to Perspective view. InPerspective view, you see the composite from any position, independent of the camera.

In Perspective view, use the Perspective Zoom and Perspective Rotate tools to change the perspectivefrom which you view the composite.

Use the Layer controls to hinge layers together. Hinging layers moves the pivot point from the centerof the layer to the side that joins it to its hinge partner.

Use the Parent list to set a layer as the parent of the current layer. Changes applied to the parent layerare also applied to its child.

Use the Replace Footage option in the Footage controls to use different footage in a layer. For example,work with solid layers to increase processing speed while you build the composite. When the composite is near completion, replace the solid layer with video footage.

By default, layers of a composite are visible from the front and back. Use the Surface controls to disableFront or Back visibility to make the selected layer visible only from one side.

Select the Camera in the Workspace panel and then use the Composite Controls to move the cameraand set its field of view.

99

3 Creating Composites in 3D Space

100

Animating Composites in 3D SpaceLes s on 4

Use the combustion animation tools to create realistic motion paths for objects. You can also apply a motion blur effect and add custom lights to enhance your animation.

101

4 Animating Composites in 3D Space

OverviewThis lesson consists of two exercises that continue building the composite that you began in Lesson 3. In this lesson, animate the cube, add a motion blur, and then set the lighting of the scene. In the first exe