Each effect in the Motion Effect Generator is listed here along with details about the effect's associated controls.
•Bars
•Fire
•Hold
•None
•Text
•Wave
Archimedes Spiral
•Palette Repeat - If the value of this slider is 1, then one spiral arm will be drawn for each color selected. Setting this value to 2 doubles the number of arms, 3 triples the number of arms, etc.
•Arm Width - The value of this slider determines the thickness of each arm.
•Arm Length - The value of this slider controls the length of the spiral arms. A value of 100 will usually cover the entire drawing area.
•Speed - The value of this slider determines how fast the spiral rotates. A negative value rotates in one direction and a positive value rotates in the opposite direction. A value of 0 will stop the rotation.
•Reverse Spiral - When this box is unchecked, the spirals are drawn in a clockwise direction from the center. When the box is checked, the spirals are drawn in a counter-clockwise direction.
•Highlight - if this box is checked, then a thin white line is drawn between each arm.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the spiral along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the spiral along the vertical axis.
Audio
•Style - This controls how the audio is displayed.
o"Spectrum" shows a spectrogram, similar to an audio equalizer display.
o"Wave Outline" displays a continuous outline of the waveform.
o"Wave Fill" is similar to "Wave Outline" except that the waveform is filled in.
o"Color Organ Freq" uses data from the spectrogram to control the intensity of rows or columns.
o"Color Organ Pitch" is similar, but uses data from the spectrogram with pitch detection.
o"Color Intensity" displays a color blend of the chosen palette colors and varies the intensity of the blend based on the intensity of sound in the selected frequency range.
o"Color Selector" displays a single color chosen from the range defined by the selected palette colors; the color choice is based on the intensity of sound in the selected frequency range.
•Baseline - This selects the orientation of the selected display style. Note that the baseline can be altered using the "Flip Vertical" and "Flip Horizontal" boxes.
•Color varies - When multiple colors are selected, this controls whether the resulting color blend runs horizontally or vertically.
•Scale - This controls how sensitive the display is to the music.
•Freq Range (Hz) - This controls the range of frequencies used in controlling the display. Many times you may want the full frequency range, which is the default. However, if you just want it to respond to percussion, change the range to 40-100 Hz or so.
•Flip Vertical - Checking this box flips the display top to bottom.
•Flip Horizontal - Checking this box flips the display left to right.
Bars
•Direction - This setting controls the direction of the bars. Selecting "default" moves the bars along the longest axis.
•Palette Repeat - If the value of this slider is 1, then one bar will be drawn for each color selected. Setting this value to 2 doubles the number of bars, 3 triples the number of bars, etc.
•Speed - The value of this slider determines how fast the bars move. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Center - If the direction is set to expand or compress, this slider controls the center of the expansion or compression. A value of 0 places the center in the middle of the prop.
•Highlight - control hows the leading edge of each bar is drawn:
o"none" - no highlight. Leading edge is the same as the rest of the bar.
o"white" - the leading edge is white.
o"use last selected color" - the last (right-most) selected color in the palette is used to draw the leading edge.
•Show 3D - If checked, then the trailing edge of each bar fades to black.
Blended Bars
•Direction - This setting controls the direction of the bars. Selecting "default" moves the bars along the longest axis.
•Bar Width - The value of this slider controls the width of each bar.
•Speed - The value of this slider determines how fast the bars move. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Center - If the direction is set to expand or compress, this slider controls the center of the expansion or compression. A value of 0 places the center in the middle of the prop.
Butterfly
•Style - This selects the overall style of the effect: linear (shown above), radial, blocks, or corner.
•Colors - This selects whether colors should be generated automatically (rainbow), or chosen from the user-selected colors (palette).
•Chunks - When the value of this slider is greater than 1, empty areas are created in the patter. The greater the number, the more empty areas are created.
•Skip - When chunks is greater than 1, the value of this slider alters which areas are empty.
•Direction - When speed is greater than 0, you can use this setting to reverse the direction of motion.
•Corner - This setting controls the orientation of the effect.
•Hue Shift - The value of this slider will alter all colors displayed in the effect.
•Speed - The value of this slider determines how fast the effect moves. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
Color Wash
•Mode - This selects the overall style of the effect.
o"single color" displays the first selected color on the palette across the entire prop.
o"dither" displays all selected palette colors in a pattern. The top left pixel is assigned the first color, the pixel to its right is assigned the second color, etc.
o"horizontal gradient" displays all selected palette colors as a smooth gradient from left to right.
o"vertical gradient" displays all selected palette colors as a smooth gradient from bottom to top.
o"diagonal down gradient" displays all selected palette colors as a smooth gradient from top left to bottom right.
o"diagonal up gradient" displays all selected palette colors as a smooth gradient from bottom left to top right.
o"color cycle" starts with the first selected color, then smoothly transitions to the next color, then the next, until all selected colors have been displayed.
o"color cycle return" is similar to "color cycle" except that there is a final transition back to the first color.
•Horizontal Fade - This selects how the color fades out on the horizontal axis.
•Vertical Fade - This selects how the color fades out on the vertical axis.
Countdown
Decrements the count once per second. Make sure the effect is at least as long as the "Seconds To Count" parameter. If the effect is exactly as long as the "Seconds To Count", then 0 will not be displayed.
•Seconds To Count - The number of seconds to count down.
•Time Format - The format of the displayed numbers: either total seconds, or "mm:ss" (where "mm" is the number of minutes and "ss" is the number of seconds).
•Font Name - The font used to display the numbers. The fonts listed will depend on the fonts that are installed on your system.
•Font Size - The size of the font used to display the numbers. A value of 100 uses the full height of the prop.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the number along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the number along the vertical axis.
•Smooth - If enabled, then the text is drawn with some pixels partially on to make it look smoother (anti-aliased).
Curtain
•Curtain Edge - This specifies where the curtain edge is located. Values of Left, Center, and Right create horizontal movement. Values of Bottom, Middle, and Top create vertical movement.
•Movement - This specifies whether the curtain should open, close, open and then close, or close and then open. The "chase" option moves both edges of the curtain in the same direction. This works particularly well for leaping arches.
•Swag Width - The value of this slider controls the size of the swag at the bottom. A value of 0 causes the curtain to be displayed with no swag.
•Repeat Mode - This setting determines whether the effect repeats. "Once fit to duration" means that the speed of the curtain movement is automatically calculated based on the length of the effect.
•Speed - If "Repeat Mode" is set to a value other than "Once fit to duration", then the value of this slider determines how fast the effect moves. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Progress - If "Repeat Mode" is set to "Once fit to duration", then this controls the the timing of the transition. For example, if this is set to vary with the music, the curtain will open and close in time with the music volume.
Fire
Fire effect with the style set to "original"
•Style - choose between the original fire style (shown in the picture above) and "fire2".
•Height - The value of this slider controls the height of the flames.
•Hue Shift - The value of this slider will alter all colors displayed in the effect.
•Hue Variation - The value of this slider will alter the range of colors displayed in the effect. A value of 0 will produce fire with a single hue; larger values will result in fire with a wider range of hues. Values near the default value of 4 result in a pleasant looking fire.
•Base Saturation - The value of this slider controls the saturation of colors near the base of the fire. Smaller values will result in whiter, washed out tones; larger values will result in more vivid/pure tones.
•Sides - This controls which sides the flames emanate from.
Fireworks
•Explosion Rate - The value of this slider controls how fast explosions occur.
•Rate Change - This setting controls whether the explosions occur randomly or all at the beginning of the effect.
•Particles In Explosion - The value of this slider controls how many particles are in each explosion.
•Particle Velocity - The value of this slider controls how fast the particles move.
•Particle Fade - The value of this slider controls how fast the particles fade out.
•Explosion Pattern - This setting controls the pattern of the explosion - normal, cross, or ring.
Garland
•Garland Type - The value of this slider selects the shape of the falling garland. A value of 0 specifies a straight line.
•Garland Fill - This specifies the direction from which the garlands fill the space.
•Spacing - The value of this slider controls the spacing between each falling garland.
•Repeat Mode - This setting determines whether the effect repeats. "Once fit to duration" means that the speed is automatically calculated based on the length of the effect.
•Speed - If "Repeat Mode" is set to a value other than "Once fit to duration", then the value of this slider determines how fast the garlands fall. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
Hatch Pattern
•Pattern - The selected pattern is displayed using the first palette color. Each one of the 52 patterns is based on an 8-by-8 matrix of alternating on/off pixels.
•Invert - If checked, this inverts the selected pattern.
•Horizontal Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the pattern moves left and right. Negative values move the pattern left. Positive values move the pattern right.
•Vertical Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the pattern moves up and down. Negative values move the pattern up. Positive values move the pattern down.
Hold
•When used in the sequence grid, this effect freezes the effect that immediately precedes it.
•If the same effect precedes and follows the Hold, the Hold effect can appear to stop motion. Some effects will start over after a Hold; these include the Movie effect and effects that are "fit to duration".
•A Hold effect that does not immediately follow another effect will not turn on any lights.
Lightning
•Start Position - The value of this slider controls where the bolt originates from (left to right).
•End Position - The value of this slider controls where the bolt finishes (left to right).
•Number Of Strikes - The value of this slider controls the number of lightning strikes.
•Strike Speed - The value of this slider controls the amount of time it takes the bolt to travel from the top to the bottom of the prop.
•Thickness - The value of this slider controls the width of the lightning bolts.
•Flash Brightness - The value of this slider controls the brightness of the flash that occurs when the bolt reaches the bottom of the prop.
Marquee
•Spacing - The value of this slider controls the distance between lights in the marquee.
•Filled Space - The value of this slider controls how much of the space between marquee lights is filled in. A value of 100 means completely filled in.
•Size - The value of this slider controls the thickness of the marquee. It starts on the outside and grow towards the middle as the size increases.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the lights in the marquee move around the prop.
•Sides - This controls which sides of the marquee the lights appear on.
•Fill Corners - This controls whether lights are displayed in the corners of the marquee.
Meteors
•Color Scheme - This selects whether colors should be generated automatically (rainbow), or to treat the user-selected colors as specifying the end-points of a range, or to only use the user-selected colors (palette).
•Meteor Count - The value of this slider controls the number of new meteors that get created.
•Tail Length - The value of this slider controls the length of each meteor's tail.
•Tail Width - The value of this slider controls the width of each meteor's tail.
•Meteors Effect - This selection controls the direction the meteors move. Setting this to "Icicles" causes the body of the meteor to be gray, and only the head of the meteor takes on a color.
•Drop Mode - This selection controls the pattern of meteor drops.
•Swirl Intensity - The value of this slider controls how much the meteors swirl.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate at which the meteors fall.
•Speed Mode - "Pixel Rate" means that, for a given speed, the meteor will fall across the same number of pixels over a given time regardless of prop size. "Scaled Rate" means that speed is relative to the size of the prop. "Scaled Rate" is recommended for effects that get applied to props of varying sizes, or in sequences that will be shared with others.
Morph
In the Motion Effect Generator, this effect is listed in the SuperStar section at the bottom of the list.
In the Morph effect, you specify a start line and an end line. The effect smoothly moves the line from the start position to the end position. The effect is always "fit to duration". The moving line is referred to as the head. As the head moves, it can display a tail. In the picture above the head is red, the tail start color (the part of the tail closest to the head) is white, and the tail end color (the part of the tail farthest from the head) is transparent.
The head is displayed using the first palette color. If the first color is a transition, then the color of the head will change over the course of the effect. If there is only 1 color selected, the tail will be the same color as the head. Otherwise the tail will be the second color selected.
If the second color is a transition, the start color will apply to the part of the tail closest to the head, and the end color will apply to the part farthest from the head. The tail colors won't change over the course of the effect. To get a fading tail, set the end color of the transition to transparent.
Setting The Start And End Lines
A diagram of the line movement is shown on the left. The numeric values expressed as percentages are shown on the right -- the X value is the first column, and the Y value is the second column.
The green line between points A and B is the start line. The red line between points C and D is the end line.
The start and end lines can be changed in several ways:
•from the numeric entry boxes
•by dragging the A, B, C, and D letters around on the diagram.
•create a new start line by dragging with the left mouse button
•create a new end line by dragging with the left mouse button while holding down the shift key
•some additional options are available by right-clicking on the diagram, such as preset paths and swapping points.
Other Settings
•Head Length - The value of this slider controls the size of the head. A value of 0 means no head is displayed. A value of 1 will always result in a head size of at least 1 pixel. By default, this slider is unlocked (the start and end values are set independently). To lock the start and end values together, double-click on it.
•Show Entire Head At Start - if this value is unchecked, the head will gradually appear at the start of the effect. If the box is checked, the head will appear all at once.
•Acceleration - A value of 0 means the head moves at a constant velocity over the course the effect. Negative values will cause the head to decelerate toward the end of the effect. Positive values will cause the head to accelerate toward the end of the effect.
•Tail Length (sec) - The value of this slider controls the length of the tail.
•Tail Style - The tail can be displayed:
onormal - without shimmer or twinkle
oshimmer - pixels in the tail flicker between the tail color and off/black.
otwinkle - the red, green, and blue channels in the tail are randomly turned on and off. A twinkle can result in multiple colors being displayed in the tail.
•Tail Shimmer Speed - The value of this slider controls the flicker rate when the tail style is set to shimmer.
•Tail Twinkle Speed - The value of this slider controls the flicker rate when the tail style is set to twinkle.
•Tail Start: use head color - If checked, the tail start will be displayed using the head color. If the head color is a transition, the tail start will transition with it.
•Tail End: use head color - If checked, the tail end will be displayed using the head color. If the head color is a transition, the tail end will transition with it.
Movie
Image from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/grinch-character-christmas-5849048/
•Movie File - Click the "Choose" button to select the movie file. AVI and WMV formats are supported, although certain variants cannot be read and you will receive a message if the file you have selected falls into this category.
Movie files often have much higher resolution than needed and can cause slowdowns when using the Sequencer. For example, a full HD movie (1080p) has a resolution of 1920 x 1080, whereas a 16 strand ribbon tree is often just 16 x 50 pixels. There are many programs available (some free) that will reduce the resolution of a video. Using such a tool to reduce the resolution of your movie file to 320 x 240 or less will improve the performance of the Sequencer and not affect the look on your pixels. Finally, if your video conversion program has an option to change the frame rate, changing it to 20 frames per second (fps) will slightly improve how your video looks on your pixels.
•Scale Image - When enabled, this option scales the movie frames to fit the prop.
•Repeat - If this option is selected and the movie clip is shorter than the effect, the movie is repeated as necessary to fill the effect.
•Movie Length Matches Sequence Length - If this option is selected, then the timing of the movie will match the timing of the sequence. For example, if the movie effect starts at 10.0 seconds and ends at 20.0 seconds in the sequence, then the frames in the movie clip from 10 to 20 seconds will play in the effect. If you copy that effect and paste it such that the new movie effect starts at 40.0 seconds and ends at 50.0 seconds, then the frames in the movie clip from 40 to 50 seconds will play in the effect.
Moving Shapes
•Shape - Sets the shape used in the effect.
•Movement -
oRandom Bounce - the shapes move in random directions and bounce when they reach the edge.
oRandom Wrap - the shapes move in random directions and wrap when they go off-screen.
oDirectional Wrap - shapes start in a random position and move according to the Direction slider.
oPolka Dots - shapes are arranged in a polka dot pattern and move according to the Direction slider.
•Color Mode -
o"Rainbow" assigns random colors to shapes.
o"Palette" assigns the selected palette colors to the shapes.
o"Metaball banded" - every shape is drawn using all selected palette colors. Colors are drawn in bands around the shape: the left-most color is used for the outside band.
o"Metaball blend" - every shape is drawn using all selected palette colors. Colors are blended from the center to the outside of the shape: the left-most color is used for the outside edge.
•Style - Sets how the shapes are drawn - solid, highlighted, outline, etc.
•Count - The value of this slider controls how many shapes are visible. When movement is set to polka dots, the count is approximate; for other modes the count is an exact figure.
•Size - The value of this slider controls the size of every shape.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the shapes move.
•Direction - The value of this slider controls which direction the shapes move. Doesn't apply to Random Bounce.
•Tail Length - The value of this slider controls the length of the shape's tail. Does not apply when movement is set to polka dots.
•Tail Taper - The value of this slider controls how much the end of the tail tapers off. When all of the way to the left, the tail is the same size as the head (no taper). When all of the way to the right, the tail tapers to a point. Does not apply when movement is set to polka dots.
•Metaball Edge - When the Color Mode is set to "Metaball Banded" or "Metaball Blend", the value of this slider controls the edge of each shape. A value of 0 results in a hard, rough edge. A value of 100 results in soft edges.
•Rotation Mode - not enabled if the shape is a circle.
oNone - shapes don't rotate
oWobble - shapes wobble as they move
oManual Rotation - shapes rotate according to the Rotation/Wobble Amount slider
oContinuous Rotation - shapes rotate continuously according to the Rotation/Wobble Speed slider
•Rotation/Wobble Amount - In Wobble mode, this slider controls the amount of wobble. In Manual Rotation mode, this slider controls the amount of rotation.
•Rotation/Wobble Speed - In Wobble mode, this slider controls the wobble speed. In Continuous Rotation mode, this slider controls the speed of rotation.
•Synchronized Rotation - If unchecked, shapes wobble or rotate individually. If checked, shapes wobble or rotate in unison.When movement is set to polka dots, wobble or rotate is always in unison.
Mystify
•Polygons - The value of this slider controls how many polygons are drawn (not including history).
•Corners - The value of this slider controls how many corners each polygon has.
•History - The value of this slider controls the number of prior locations of the polygon that are drawn.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the polygons move.
•Smooth - when unchecked, the lines are drawn with jagged edges.
•Fade - when checked, the polygon's prior locations fade out over time.
None
•This effect leaves all of the pixels off. When creating effects that use just one side of the Motion Effect Generator, the effect on the other side should be set to "None".
Picture
Files used by the Picture effect can exist as a stand-alone file, or can be stored within the sequence file (i.e. embedded). You can move picture files from stand-alone files to embedded, or vice versa by selecting Sequence > Manage Picture Effects from the menu. Storing them inside the sequence file makes sequences easier to move to another computer and share with other users.
Because JPG files are a "lossy format", areas that appear black on your computer screen may actually light up dimly on real lights. Therefore, PNG files (which are loss-less) are preferred over JPG images.
Images look best when your prop is set to use the "Pixel Curve" dimming curve in Prop Definition
•Picture File - Click the "Select File" button to select a picture file stored on your computer. PNG, BMP, JPG, GIF, and TIFF formats are supported. GIF files may contain a single image or an animation. Click "Embedded Picture" to select an image that is embedded in any sequence that is currently open.
•Numbered Sequence - Some programs can separate movie files and GIF animations into their individual frames, resulting in an "image sequence". An image sequence has a separate file for each frame, and a numeric suffix in the file name to indicate the frame number. Enable this box if you are using the effect for an image sequence.
When using this option, set the file name to the first image in the sequence. It detects number suffixes in 3 formats:
1.the first image ends in 0, e.g. "Image_0" or "Image 0" or "Image0"
2.the first image ends in 0000, e.g. "Image_0000" or "Image 0000" or "Image0000"
3.the first image ends in -1, e.g. "Image-1"
In this mode there is no speed adjustment. Images in the sequence will be played at 20 frames per second.
•Movement - This selection indicates whether the picture will move, and if so, in what direction. The "peek-a-boo" options designate from which side the image will enter, and the "Peek-A-Boo Hold Time" and "Peek-A-Boo Exit" parameters further refine that movement.
•Repeat - This setting determines whether the effect repeats. "Once fit to duration" means that the speed of the image movement is automatically calculated based on the length of the effect.
•Pre-scale Image - This setting determines whether an initial scaling operation is applied before Scale Width and Scale Height are applied. This is very useful with higher resolution pictures so that Scale Width and Scale Height give you finer grain control.
•Scale Width - The value of this slider adjusts the width of the image - after the Pre-scale setting has been applied. A value of 100 leaves the width unchanged.
•Scale Height - The value of this slider adjusts the height of the image - after the Pre-scale setting has been applied. A value of 100 leaves the height unchanged.
•Speed - If "Repeat" is set to a value other than "Once fit to duration", then the value of this slider determines how fast the effect moves. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Position Offset - The value of this slider controls the position of the picture orthogonal to the direction of movement.
•Peek-A-Boo Hold Time - If "Movement" is set to one of the peek-a-boo settings, then the value of this slider will control how long the picture remains in the center of the prop, and also how long it remains hidden.
•Peek-A-Boo Exit - If "Movement" is set to one of the peek-a-boo settings, then the value of this slider will control on which side the image will exit.
•Flip Horizontal - flips the picture horizontally.
•Flip Vertical - flips the picture vertically.
•Red Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the red tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the red tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Green Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the green tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the green tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Blue Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the blue tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the blue tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Opacity - The value of this slider adjusts the transparency of the picture. A value of 100 keeps the picture's original transparency. Moving the slider closer to 0 increases the transparency.
Picture XY
Because JPG files are a "lossy format", areas that appear black on your computer screen may actually light up dimly on real lights. Therefore, PNG files (which are loss-less) are preferred over JPG images.
Images look best when your prop is set to use the "Pixel Curve" dimming curve in Prop Definition
This effect is always "fit to duration", meaning any movement is always scaled to the effect's duration.
•Picture File - Click the "Select File" button to select a picture file stored on your computer. PNG, BMP, JPG, GIF, and TIFF formats are supported. GIF files may contain a single image or an animation. Click "Embedded Picture" to select an image that is embedded in any sequence that is currently open..
•Width - The value of this slider adjusts the width of the image. A value of 100 means the image is scaled to exactly fit the width of the prop.
•Height - The value of this slider adjusts the height of the image. A value of 100 means the image is scaled to exactly fit the height of the prop.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the position of the picture along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the position of the picture along the vertical axis.
•Rotation angle - The value of this slider controls the rotation of the image. The value is the rotation in degrees. 0 is no rotation. The center of rotation is controlled by the Anchor setting.
•Anchor - This setting controls how the image stretches when width and height are changed. It also controls the center of rotation.
oIf "L" is checked but not "R", then adjusting the width moves the right edge of the image. The center of rotation will be on the left side.
oIf "L" is not checked but "R" is, then adjusting the width moves the left edge of the image .The center of rotation will be on the right side.
oIf "L" and "R" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the width moves the both the left and right edges of the image, but the center of the image does not change. The center of rotation will be the center of the image.
oIf "Top" is checked but not "Bottom", then adjusting the height moves the bottom edge of the image. The center of rotation will be on the top edge.
oIf "Top" is not checked but "Bottom" is, then adjusting the height moves the top edge of the image. The center of rotation will be on the bottom edge.
oIf "Top" and "Bottom" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the height moves the both the top and bottom edges of the image, but the middle of the image does not change. The center of rotation will be the middle of the image.
•Flip Horizontal - flips the picture horizontally.
•Flip Vertical - flips the picture vertically.
•Red Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the red tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the red tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Green Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the green tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the green tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Blue Level - Adjusting this slider can increase or decrease the blue tones in the picture. A value of 100 keeps the blue tones at the same level they were in the original picture.
•Opacity - The value of this slider adjusts the transparency of the picture. A value of 100 keeps the picture's original transparency. Moving the slider closer to 0 increases the transparency.
Pinwheel
•Number of Arms - The value of this slider controls the number of arms in the pinwheel.
•Arm Width - The value of this slider controls the width of each arm.
•Arm Length - The value of this slider controls the length of each arm.
•Arm Bend - The value of this slider controls how much each arm bends.
•Curvature - The value of this slider controls the sharpness of the arm bend.
•Color Mode - This select specifies how colors are to be used when drawing the pinwheel.
•CCW - When unchecked, the pinwheel spins in a clockwise direction. When checked, in spins in a counter-clockwise direction.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate at which the pinwheel spins.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the pinwheel along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the pinwheel along the vertical axis.
Plasma
•Color Mode
oSingle - uses only the first selected color on the palette.
oDual - uses the first 2 selected colors on the palette.
oBlended - blends all of the selected colors into the effect.
•Style - The value of this slider controls the way the plasma pattern moves.
•Density - The value of this slider controls the number of color transitions across the prop -- the higher the number, the more color transitions there are.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate at which the plasma pattern changes.
Ripple
•Shape - This selects the shape of the ripple.
•Repeat Count - The value of this slider controls how many ripples are created during the course of the effect. Moving the slider all the way to the right will generate continuous ripples.
•Ring Width - The value of this slider controls the width of each ripple.
•Spacing - The value of this slider controls the spacing between each ripple.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate at which the ripples move out from the center.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the ripple along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the ripple along the vertical axis.
•Highlight Angle - The value of this slider controls the direction of a highlight across the ripples. A value of 0 turns off highlighting.
•Outer Limit - When the ripples move outward, the value of this slider controls where the ripples disappear. When moving inward, this controls where the ripples start. Note that this slider can be set well outside the visible bounds of the prop.
•Inward - This controls the direction of the ripples: outward or inward.
Scanner
•Pattern - This sets the scanner pattern.
•Size - The value of this slider controls the size of the bar (height when moving horizontally, width when moving vertically).
•Offset - The value of this slider controls the position of the bar orthogonal to its movement.
•Tail Length - The value of this slider controls the length of the bar's tail.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate at which the bars move from side to side.
•Solid Color - If this box is checked, then the effect will be displayed as a solid color, rather than with a tail that fades out.
Sketch
A sketch effect consists of paths and groups A path is a collection of points that are connected by lines. The lines connecting the path points can be straight or curved, or a mix of both. A group is a collection of 0 or more paths. Sketch groups can only contain paths (a group cannot contain a group). You can draw and edit the points in a path; however, colors, dashes, morphing, etc. are set at the group level.
The controls for the sketch effect are divided into 5 sections:
1.Controls for the position, scale, and rotation of the overall sketch. These apply to all groups.
2.A canvas where you can draw and edit the paths
3.A toolbar that has a menu and buttons that allow you to manipulate the sketch
4.A tree listing all of the groups and the paths they contain
5.Controls to change the selected group's color, line properties, animation, and fill.
This makes for are a lot of controls! If you maximize the Motion Effect Generator window on a 1080p monitor (windows scaling set to 100%), the drawing canvas, toolbar, and tree will move side-by-side, reducing the amount of scrolling required to access the controls. Maximizing the Motion Effect Generator on an even larger monitor (e.g. a 1440p aka 2K aka QHD) will cause the group settings to move along side the canvas and the tree, reducing the need to scroll even more.
Starting a new sketch
There are 4 ways to start a sketch:
1.Click the 
icon on the toolbar to enter drawing mode, then click on the canvas to add points on your new path. As you add points, your path will turn into a smooth curve. Don't drag the mouse - just click to add more points. To finish your path, click the End on the toolbar (or use the escape key or space bar) to leave the path open (the start and end points are in separate locations). Or you can click the close button (or return key) to close your path.
2.From the toolbar menu you can import a shape - any of the shapes available in the Simple Shapes and Moving Shapes effects.
3.From the toolbar menu you can import a character from any font on your system. You can select any letter, number, or symbol - even from fun fonts like Wingdings.
4.From the toolbar menu you can import an SVG file. SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics - learn more on the SVG Wikipedia page. It's best to use simple graphics as most pixel props are low resolution. A good source of free SVG files is SVG Repo.
Controls for the position, scale, and rotation of the overall sketch
•Width - The value of this slider adjusts the width of the overall sketch. A value of 100 scales the sketch to the width of the prop..
•Height - The value of this slider adjusts the height of the overall sketch. A value of 100 scales the sketch to the height of the prop.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the position of the sketch along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the position of the sketch along the vertical axis.
•Rotation angle - The value of this slider controls the rotation of the overall sketch. The value is the rotation in degrees. 0 is no rotation. The center of rotation is controlled by the Anchor setting.
•Anchor - This setting controls how the sketch stretches when width and height are changed. It also controls the center of rotation.
oIf "L" is checked but not "R", then adjusting the width moves the right edge of the sketch. The center of rotation will be on the left side.
oIf "L" is not checked but "R" is, then adjusting the width moves the left edge of the sketch .The center of rotation will be on the right side.
oIf "L" and "R" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the width moves the both the left and right edges of the sketch, but the center of the sketch does not change. The center of rotation will be the center of the sketch.
oIf "Top" is checked but not "Bottom", then adjusting the height moves the bottom edge of the sketch. The center of rotation will be on the top edge.
oIf "Top" is not checked but "Bottom" is, then adjusting the height moves the top edge of the sketch. The center of rotation will be on the bottom edge.
oIf "Top" and "Bottom" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the height moves the both the top and bottom edges of the sketch, but the middle of the sketch does not change. The center of rotation will be the middle of the sketch.
Sketch canvas
The sketch canvas is where you can draw and modify paths.
There are 3 types of paths: smooth (default), straight lines, and mixed (curves and lines). You can change the type of path that will be drawn by clicking the down arrow next to the icon. Make your selection before you start to draw.
If a single path is selected in the tree, then individual points on the path will be highlighted and can be moved. The first point is green and the last point is red. For closed paths, only the start point is shown. Control points for curves in mixed paths are blue.
A mixed path with 3 segments: a straight line, followed by a curve with 1 control point, followed by a curve with 2 control points
If more than one path is selected, then selected paths will be shown in black (without points) and unselected paths will be gray.
Adding a new path
•Click the down arrow next to the icon and pick the desired type for the new path from the menu (optional).
•Click the icon on the toolbar to enter drawing mode.
•A new path under the selected group will be created. If no group exists, a new group is automatically created.
•The End and Close buttons on the toolbar will be enabled.
•Now click on the canvas to add points on your new path. When drawing a mixed path: a plain click will add a line, a shift-click will add a curve with one control point, and control-click will add a curve with 2 control points.
•To finish your path, click the End button on the toolbar (or use the escape key or space bar) to leave the path open (the start and end points are in separate locations). Or you can click the close button (or return key) to close your path.
Extending an existing path
•Select a path in the tree (only one)
•Click the down arrow to the of the icon and select Extend from the menu.
•Click to add more points.
•Finish drawing the path the same way you would when drawing a new path.
Moving individual points
•Select a single path in the tree.
•Move your mouse cursor over a point. This can be a regular point or a control point. The cursor should change to a 4-way arrow, similar to this: 
•Press the left mouse button and drag the point.
Inserting and deleting points
•Select a path in the tree (only one)
•Move your mouse cursor over a point on that path (not a control point). The cursor should change to a 4-way arrow, similar to this:
•Click the right mouse button and select the desired action from the menu.
Moving the selected path (or group of paths)
•In the tree, select one or more paths or groups to be moved. Click on the first item in the tree, then Ctrl-click or Shift-click to select additional items.
•Drag your mouse across the canvas to move the items. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
Sketch Toolbar
On the Sketch toolbar from left to right are:
•The menu button (details below)
•The start drawing button. The down arrow to its right opens the drawing menu.
•The End and Close buttons to finish drawing a path
•The Undo and Redo buttons - undo or redo the last operation.
The menu contains the following items:
•Add shape - allows you to select one of the shapes available in the Simple Shapes and Moving Shapes effects, and imports that shape into the sketch.
•Add character or symbol from font - allows you to select a character from any font on your system. You can select any letter, number, or symbol - even from fun fonts like Wingdings.
•Add SVG - allows you to import an SVG file into your sketch. SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics - learn more on the SVG Wikipedia page. It's best to use simple graphics as most pixel props are low resolution. A good source of free SVG files is SVG Repo.
Note that SVG files sometimes have elements that have a black background. Such elements will be displayed on the sketch canvas but will be invisible on your lights or in the preview. To fix this, click on the groups in the tree one by one and look to see if the selected color in group settings is black. If it is, then un-check the black color box - this should make it visible in the preview.
•Add group - prompts for the new group's name and then adds an empty group to the sketch tree.
•Duplicate - makes a copy of the selected path or group
•Rename - allows you to rename the selected path or group
•Delete - deletes the selected path(s) or group(s). Click the Undo button if you mistakenly delete an item.
•Format - opens a sub-menu that allows you align and equally space items (similar to the format menu in Preview Design).
•Scale & Rotate - opens a pop-up window that allows you to scale and rotate the selected items.
•Stagger Groups - if you have groups that perform morphs or chases, you can use this command to stagger when those actions happen over the course of the effect. Note that Stagger modifies the Progress setting for each group.
•Convert to - converts the selected paths to a different path type. You can convert paths to straight lines or curves, but not mixed.
•Temp Background - allows you to put a background image on the canvas so that you can use it as a guide for drawing paths. You can also use this menu item to dim the image if needed. Note that the background image is temporary, and not saved with the sketch.
•Clear all - deletes all groups, clearing the sketch. Select this when you want to start over. Note that you cannot Undo this action.
Path and Group Tree
Groups reside at the first level of the tree, and paths reside under a group. Groups are listed with their name, and then their Combine Paths option in parentheses.Paths are list with their name, then their path type in parentheses.
You can select multiple paths or groups in the tree using Ctrl-click or Shift-click. All selected items must have a common parent in the tree. You can move things around in the tree using drag/drop with your mouse.
After selecting one or more items in the tree, you can right-click on the selection to view a menu of quick actions: Duplicate, Rename, Delete.
Note that the sketch is rendered from top to bottom as shown in the tree. So the first path in the first group is the bottom layer. This is important if you have paths that overlap.
A sketch imported from an SVG file with the right-click menu open
Group Settings
The controls in the Group Settings section allow you to change how the paths in the selected group are rendered. If a path is selected in the tree, group settings are applied to the group that is the parent of the selected path. You can only alter the settings for one group at a time.
•Color Palette - this works just like the regular color palette, except there are only 3 colors and the color selection only applies to the selected group. One other difference is that you can't rearrange the color order here by dragging the color boxes.
•Color Pattern - if more than one color is selected, this controls how the colors are used to draw or fill the path.
oNone - the path is drawn with the first selected color. Any additional colors are ignored.
oRadial - the first selected color is used to draw the center of the path, and then it transitions to the other selected colors in a circular pattern.
oRadial Mirror - the first selected color is used to draw the center and outer part of the path, and the other selected colors are used to fill in between in a circular pattern.
oLinear - the first selected color is used to draw the start of the path, and then it transitions to the other selected colors towards the end of the path.
oLinear Mirror - the first selected color is used to draw the start and end of the path, and the other selected colors are used to fill in between.
oSweep - colors sweep around the center and vary by angle.
•Pen width - controls the width of the path. A width of 0 draws a line 1 pixel wide. This setting does not apply to filled paths.
•Dash on size / off size / speed - use these controls to create a dashed path. With a non-zero speed, the dashes will be move.If you select multiple colors, the dashes will incorporate them. If the "on size" is 0, then the result depends on the pen width and line cap:
oRound line cap: dashes will be round circles, with the size of the circle dependent on the pen width.
oSquare line cap: dashes will be squares, with the size of the square dependent on the pen width.
oButt line cap: no dashes will be drawn - the path will not be visible.
A sketch that uses dashed paths
•Chase type - this controls how much of the path is visible during the course of the effect. The timing of the chase is affected by the Progress control, meaning the chase will finish when the Progress control reaches 100%. Chase works with any kind of path: open, closed or filled.
oNone - the entire path is always drawn. Chase length has no effect.
oFill start to end - the path fills in from the starting point to the end.
oFill end to start - the path fills in from the ending point to the start.
oFill inside out - the path fills in from the mid-point to the ends.
oFill outside in - the path fills in from the ends to the mid-point.
oChase start to end - the path fills in from the starting point to the end, and then erases itself from the starting point to the end.
oChase end to start - the path fills in from the ending point to the start, and then erases itself from the ending point to the start.
oChase inside out - the path fills in from the mid-point to the ends, and then erases itself from the mid-point to the ends.
oChase outside in - the path fills in from the ends to the mid-point, and then erases itself from the ends to the mid-point.
•Chase length - this controls how much of the path is visible during a chase. 50% means that, at most, half of the path will be visible at any time (less than half will be visible at the beginning and end of the effect).
•Blur - this blurs the path. The higher the blur value, the fuzzier the path.
•Progress - this controls the progression of chases and morphs. By default, this is a linear transition from 0% to 100%, and should be left this way for most effects. Running the stagger function on the toolbar menu will modify this setting.
•Combine Paths - this controls how paths within a group are treated. It has no effect if there is only 1 path in the group.
oNone - all paths are independent. When applying a chase, the chase will be run simultaneously on all paths in the group.
oMorph - paths morph from one to the other over the course of the effect. This can be applied to any path: open, closed, or filled. Morph could be something simple like having the path move from one place to another within the sketch, or it could be more complex, like have a circle morph into a star. The timing of the morph is controlled by the Progress setting.
oAppend - this treats all paths in the group as one long path. For example, a chase will start on the first path, then go on to the second path, one after the other.
•Line cap - this controls how the ends of the path are drawn.
•Miter limit - this control is important when you are drawing straight lines with sharp corners.
The red M has a miter limit of 0 - notice the chopped off corners. The blue M has a miter limit of 4 so the corners are fully formed.
•Fill - this will fill the path rather than drawing it's contour. Dash and pen width controls don't apply to a filled path. For purposes of filling unclosed paths, a straight line is assumed to exist between the start and end points of the contours.
It is possible to carve a "hole" out of your filled shape. For this to work:
oThe outer shape (the one to be filled) should be the first shape in the group
oEnable Fill for the group
oSet Combine Paths to "Append"
oAdd the path that will serve as the hole. If this doesn't produce a hole, the points need to be reversed by selecting Format > Reverse from the toolbar menu.
The star cuts a hole in the outer circle
Sketch Keyboard Shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts can be used in a sketch:
Shortcut |
Action |
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Selects all groups |
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Moves the selected paths by a small amount |
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Makes the selected items larger. Hold the keys down longer to engage the keyboard auto-repeat if needed. |
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Makes the selected items smaller. Hold the keys down longer to engage the keyboard auto-repeat if needed. |
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Rotates the selected paths counterclockwise |
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Rotates the selected paths clockwise |
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undo the last operation |
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redo the last operation |
Simple Shape
•Use Picture - If checked then use a picture file, otherwise draw a shape.
•Shape - This selects the shape that will be drawn (if Use Picture is unchecked).
•Select File - If Use Picture is checked, then click the "Select File" button to select a picture file stored on your computer. PNG, BMP, JPG, GIF, and TIFF formats are supported. GIF files may contain a single image or an animation. Click "Embedded Picture" to select an image that is embedded in any sequence that is currently open.
•Color Mode - This controls how color is applied to the shape. "fade inner outer" is shown in the example above.
•Width - The value of this slider controls the width of the shape. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Height - The value of this slider controls the height of the shape. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Rotation Mode - This can be set to manual or continuous, and changes what the Rotation Angle/Speed setting does.
•Rotation angle/speed - When Rotation Mode is set to manual, the value of this slider controls the rotation angle of the shape. When Rotation Mode is set to continuous, the value of this slider controls the rotation speed of the shape.
•Horiz Count - The value of this slider controls the number times the shape will be repeated horizontally.
•Vert Count - The value of this slider controls the number times the shape will be repeated vertically.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the shape along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the shape along the vertical axis.
•No Flicker - If the shape moves during the effect (e.g. Left/Right transitions from one value to another), then in some cases flickering can occur during the movement. This is most pronounced when the Color Mode is set to outline. In this case, enabling the No Flicker option will solve the issue. It is best to leave No Flicker off unless you notice a problem.
Single Block
The single block effect draws a rectangle that is divided into 3 sections: head, body, and tail. The head is the leading section and its color fades in (green in the picture below). The body is the middle section and has a solid color (blue in the picture below). The tail is the trailing section and its color fades out (white in the picture below). You have control over the size of each section.
The speed of the block is always "fit to duration" - meaning that its speed is dependent on the length the effect. The block will reach its final position at exactly the time the effect ends.
•Direction - This setting controls the direction of the block. Selecting "default" moves the block along the longest axis.
•Color Mode - This setting controls how colors on the palette are applied to the block.
•Head Length - The value of this slider controls the size of the head section. A value of 0 eliminates the head section.
•Body Length - The value of this slider controls the size of the body section. A value of 0 eliminates the body section.
•Tail Length - The value of this slider controls the size of the tail section. A value of 0 eliminates the tail section.
•Position - If the Direction is set to "vertical" or "horizontal", then the value of this slider controls the movement of the block.
•Size - The value of this slider controls the size of the block (height when moving horizontally, width when moving vertically).
•Offset - The value of this slider controls the position of the block orthogonal to its movement.
Snowflakes
The Snowflake effect uses at most 2 colors: 1 for the inner part of the flake and 1 for the outer part.
•Snowflake Count - The value of this slider controls the number of snowflakes that fall.
•Snowflake Type - The value of this slider controls the shape of the snowflakes that fall. The last value creates a mix of all of the other types.
•Direction - The value of this slider controls the direction that snowflakes are blown: 0 is straight down (no wind), negative values blow to the left, and positive values blow to the right.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the snowflakes fall.
•Accumulation - The value of this slider controls how much snow is allowed to accumulate at the bottom. A value of 0 prevents any snow from accumulating.
Spin Fade
The number of arcs drawn to create the spinner is set by the number of colors selected on the palette. In the picture below, 2 colors have been selected (white and blue).
•Style - This selection determines how the spinner is drawn: with wedges, circles, or spheres.
•Inner Radius - The value of this slider controls the inner radius of the spinner.
•Speed / Rotation - The value of this slider controls the rate of rotation, unless Style is set to "sweep arc", in which case it sets the angle of rotation.
•Arc Width - The value of this slider controls the length of each arc used to draw the spinner.
•Fade Steps - The value of this slider controls how many steps are used to draw each arc.
•Reverse Fade - Enabling this option reverses the order of the fade steps.
•Width - The value of this slider controls the width of the shape. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Height - The value of this slider controls the height of the shape. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the shape along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the shape along the vertical axis.
Spinner
•Style - This selection determines how the spinner is drawn.
•Color Mode - This setting controls how colors on the palette are applied to the spinner.
•Number of Arms - The value of this slider controls the number of arms in the spinner.
•Arm Width - The value of this slider controls the width of each arm.
•Inner Radius - The value of this slider controls the inner radius of the spinner.
•Arm Bend - The value of this slider controls how much each arm bends. This setting only applies to the pinwheel styles.
•Curvature - The value of this slider controls the sharpness of the arm bend. This setting only applies to the pinwheel 1 and 2 styles.
•Speed / Rotation - The value of this slider controls the rate of rotation, unless Style is set to "sweep arc", in which case it sets the angle of rotation.
•Width - The value of this slider controls the width of the spinner. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Height - The value of this slider controls the height of the spinner. A value of 100 should fill the prop.
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the center of the spinner along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the center of the spinner along the vertical axis.
Spirals
•Palette Repeat - If the value of this slider is 1, then one spiral arm will be drawn for each color selected. Setting this value to 2 doubles the number of arms, 3 triples the number of arms, etc.
•Direction - This sets the direction of spin.
•Rotation - The value of this slider controls the tightness of the spirals. When applied to a pixel tree, it controls how many times the spiral wraps around the tree.
•Thickness - The value of this slider controls the thickness of each arm.
•Thickness Change - The value of this slider controls variations in the thickness of each arm. A value of 0 creates no variation.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls the rate of rotation.
•Show 3D - This selects whether the arms fade out.
•Blend - If enabled, the selected colors will be blended vertically, rather than being applied to each arm of the spiral.
Starfield
•Shape - Sets the shape of the stars.
•Pattern - Controls where new stars are placed, along with the New Star Location parameter.
•Color Mode - "Rainbow" assigns random colors to stars. "Palette" assigns the selected palette colors to the stars.
•Style - Sets how the stars are drawn.
•Density - The value of this slider controls how many stars are visible.
•Growth Rate - The value of this slider controls how fast the stars grow and sets their maximum size when they exit the field of view.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the stars accelerate towards you.
•Tail Length - The value of this slider controls the length of every star's tail.
•Arms - When the Pattern parameter is set to "arms continuous" or "arms once", the value of this slider controls the number of arms in the star field.
•Rotation - The value of this slider controls how fast the star field rotates about the center. Values greater that zero cause the stars to rotate in a clockwise direction. Values less than zero cause rotation in the counter-clockwise direction.
•New Star Location - The value of this slider controls how far from the center new stars are created. When the Pattern parameter is set to "random", this sets the minimum distance from the center.
Straight Lines
•Direction - This setting controls the direction of movement of the lines. Selecting "default" moves the lines along the longest axis.
•Line Count - The value of this slider controls how many lines are created during the course of the effect. Moving the slider all the way to the right will generate continuous lines.
•Spacing - The value of this slider controls the spacing between each line.
•Filled Space - The value of this slider controls how much of the space between lines is filled in. A value of 100 means completely filled in.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the lines move.
Text
•Text - The text to be displayed is entered into a box where you can control the font and color of each character. You can also make characters bold, underline, or italic.
•Font Size - The value of this slider controls the size of the text.
•Movement - This selection indicates whether the text will move, and if so, in what direction. The "peek-a-boo" options designate from which side the text will enter, and the "Peek-A-Boo Hold Time" and "Peek-A-Boo Exit" parameters further refine that movement.
•Speed - If "Repeat" is set to a value other than "Once fit to duration", then the value of this slider determines how fast the text moves. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Position Offset - The value of this slider controls the position of the text orthogonal to the direction of movement.
•Peek-A-Boo Hold Time - If "Movement" is set to one of the peek-a-boo settings, then the value of this slider will control how long the text remains in the center of the prop, and also how long it remains hidden.
•Peek-A-Boo Exit - If "Movement" is set to one of the peek-a-boo settings, then the value of this slider will control on which side the text will exit.
•Repeat - This setting determines whether the effect repeats. "Once fit to duration" means that the speed of the text movement is automatically calculated based on the length of the effect.
•Wrap Text - If enabled and the text is wider than the prop, then the text is wrapped to fit the available width.
•Smooth - If enabled, then the text is drawn with some pixels partially on to make it look smoother (anti-aliased).
Text PE
This effect works exactly like the Text effect in the S4 Pixel Editor. It is included for backward compatibility.
•Text - The text to be displayed is entered into a box where you can control the font and color of each character. You can also make characters bold, underline, or italic.
•Font Size - The value of this slider controls the size of the text.
•Movement - This selection indicates whether the text will move, and if so, in what direction. The "peek-a-boo" options designate from which side the text will enter and exit, and the "Peek-A-Boo Hold Time" further refines that movement.
•Speed - The value of this slider determines how fast the text moves. A value of 0 will stop the movement.
•Position Offset - The value of this slider controls the position of the text orthogonal to the direction of movement.
•Peek-A-Boo Hold Time - If "Movement" is set to one of the peek-a-boo settings, then the value of this slider will control how long the text remains in the center of the prop, and also how long it remains hidden.
•Bounce - The value of this slider controls how much the text bounces as it moves. A value of 0 prevents any bouncing.
•Repeat - If the enabled, the text repeats its movement until the effect ends.
TextXY
This effect gives you complete control over the size, placement, and rotation of text. Whereas the Text effect allows you to choose between smooth or jagged text, the text in this effect is always smooth.
This effect is always "fit to duration", meaning any movement is always scaled to the effect's duration.
•Text - The text to be displayed is entered into a box where you can control the font and color of each character. You can also make characters bold, underline, or italic.
•Width - The value of this slider adjusts the width of the text. A value of 100 leaves the width unchanged.
•Height - The value of this slider adjusts the height of the text. A value of 100 leaves the height unchanged - which should be about the height of the prop (varies slightly depending on the font used).
•Left / Right - The value of this slider controls the position of the text along the horizontal axis.
•Top / Bottom - The value of this slider controls the position of the text along the vertical axis.
•Rotation angle - The value of this slider controls the rotation of the text. The value is the rotation in degrees. 0 is no rotation. The center of rotation is controlled by the Anchor setting.
•Anchor - This setting controls how the text stretches when width and height are changed. It also controls the center of rotation.
oIf "L" is checked but not "R", then adjusting the width moves the right edge of the text. The center of rotation will be on the left side.
oIf "L" is not checked but "R" is, then adjusting the width moves the left edge of the text .The center of rotation will be on the right side.
oIf "L" and "R" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the width moves the both the left and right edges of the text, but the center of the text does not change. The center of rotation will be the center of the text.
oIf "Top" is checked but not "Bottom", then adjusting the height moves the bottom edge of the text. The center of rotation will be on the top edge.
oIf "Top" is not checked but "Bottom" is, then adjusting the height moves the top edge of the text. The center of rotation will be on the bottom edge.
oIf "Top" and "Bottom" are both checked or both unchecked, then adjusting the height moves the both the top and bottom edges of the text, but the middle of the text does not change. The center of rotation will be the middle of the text.
•Wrap Text - If enabled and the text is wider than the prop, then the text is wrapped to fit the available width.
Twinkle
•Density - The value of this slider controls how many pixels are twinkling at any given time.
•Rate - The value of this slider controls how fast the pixels turn on and off for each twinkle.
•Mode - This controls how the pixels twinkle or flash.
•Layout - This sets whether the pixels that twinkle are at random positions, or at fixed intervals.
•Min Intensity - The value of this slider controls the minimum intensity of the twinkles.
•Max Intensity - The value of this slider controls the maximum intensity of the twinkles.
Wave
•Wave Shape - Sets the wave shape: sine, triangle, square, or sawtooth.
•Direction - This setting controls the direction the wave moves.
•Change Colors - This setting controls how colors are applied to the wave.
•Color Mode - This selects whether colors should be generated automatically (rainbow), or taken from the selected palette colors.
•Wave Count - This sets how many waves should be drawn.
•Repeat Mode - Sets whether the wave moves according to the speed setting or fits the duration off the effect.
•Amplitude - The value of this slider controls how tall the waves are.
•Frequency - The value of this slider controls how close together the wave peaks are.
•Phase Shift - The value of this slider controls the phase of the wave when the effect starts.
•Position - The value of this slider controls the position of the wave orthogonal to the direction of movement.
•Thickness - The value of this slider controls the thickness of the waves.
•Speed - The value of this slider controls how fast the wave moves when the Repeat Mode is "Repeat at Speed".