Authoring Custom Effects in SWiSHmax
Enabling the Effect Authoring Option
1. In order to author new effects in SWiSHmax, you will first need to enable the option that allows you to do so. Open the preferences menu (Tools Menu | Preferences). Open the 'Effects' tab and select the option 'Allow effect authoring'.
Choosing a Base Effect
2. Different effects have different default settings. Effect authoring will allow you to manipulate those settings. Along with default settings, different effects allow for different animation options. For example, the 3D Wave effect has options that are not available in the 3D Spin effect. Choosing different effects to use as the base effect can produce some truly unique effects.
3. For this example, insert a Static text object and type in some text.
4. In the Timeline panel, insert a Vortex effect for the text object. If the effect settings window does not open automatically, then double-click on the effect in the Timeline. In the effect settings window, select the option 'Author' - this will enable the 'Author' and 'Custom' tabs.
Defining Custom Effect Variables
5. Open the 'Author' tab, you will notice that it is empty at this point. This page is where you will define the 'custom' settings.
6. First, decide one of the settings that you want to control. For this example, we will control: a) the ending alpha value; b) the ending scale value; c) the Z-Midpoint; and, d) the cascade order. So, let's get started!
7. In the 'Author' page, start by giving a title to the first custom option. Type in "Fade" in the first field underneath 'Prompt'. Next, we have to define a variable for this setting - the variable can be a single letter or several characters. For this example, simply type in "a" for the variable. Use the drop-down menu next to the variable and select "Slider". The Slider option will open the 'Min' and 'Max' settings. Since this is going to be used to control the alpha value - the only acceptable values are between 0 and 100. So, type in 0 for 'Min' and 100 for 'Max'.
Applying the Custom Variables to Various Settings
8. Next, we have to assign this variable to one of the effects' default settings. Open the Vortex tab. In the Transform settings at the bottom, right-click in the input field for the 'End Alpha' box (as shown below). Type in the custom variable "a" that we set in Step #7.
9. After defining what setting the variable will control, you can open the 'Custom' tab to see the new controls for this setting. At this point, you should see a slider bar with the title "Fade", and using the slider bar will adjust this setting between 0 (min) and 100 (max).
Creating More Custom Effect Settings
10. Follow the instructions outlined in Step #7 to create several more custom effect settings. Use the following details as a guide:
- Setting #2 - Scale ... Prompt: "Scale"; Variable: "b"; Type: Slider; Min: 0; Max: (any number greater than 0 - the scale option is defined as a percentage of the original scale).
- Setting #3 - Z-Midpoint ... Prompt: "Z-Midpoint"; Variable: "c"; Type: Slider; Min: (any negative number); Max: (any positive number).
- Setting #4 - Cascade Order ... Prompt: "Cascade Order"; Variable: "d"; Type: Slider; Min: 0; Max: 4 (there are only 4 cascade options).
11. Next, follow the instructions outlined in Step #8 - for each of these custom settings. To set the 'Scale', right-click in the 'End Scale' field on the Vortex tab and enter the variable "b". To set the Z-Midpoint, right-click in the Z-Midpoint field on the Vortex tab and enter the variable "c". To set the Cascade order, open the Cascade tab and right-click on any of the 4 cascade directional options and enter the variable "d" (as shown below).
Want to Control Even More Settings ?
12. In SWiSHmax, you can define up to 9 unique effect settings, and you can manipulate nearly every aspect of the effect. Try opening the 'Camera' tab and setting a variable for the "Cascade Camera" option. In the Author tab, you would select a "Check" type to enable or disable this option. Experiment - try various Min and Max values, choose different settings to manipulate, and most importantly - have fun!
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