FxFactory Pro lets you inspect and modify the contents of any Pro FxPack on your system. When you open an FxPack (e.g. via the plug-in management window), you will be presented the FxPack editing window:

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The default toolbar buttons let you:

  • Create a new plug-in from scratch, or from an existing composition.
  • Organize assets that are stored inside the FxPack (e.g. image and movie files, PDFs)
  • Set the FxPack compatibility options (e.g. what version of the operating system is required to run the plug-ins)

On the left-hand side of the window, you will find the Groups and Plug-ins view. The plug-ins you see under these listings will appear under the same group and with the same name in all supported hosts:

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The example above displays the group and plug-ins contained in the FxFactory Pro pack. You can organize plug-ins any way you prefer, simply by assigning new group and/or plug-in names. You can move plug-ins from one group to another via drag and drop.

Plug-ins may be disabled via the checkbox control that appears next to their name. This is a finer control than the one given by the plug-in management window, since it lets you disable only certain plug-ins within an FxPack.

On the right-hand side of the window, you can find the most important options available for plug-in development. All FxFactory plug-ins are based on a Quartz composition, a powerful node-based representation of the plug-in rendering process.

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  • The Edit button lets you edit the composition used by the plug-in using Quartz Composer.
  • The Replace button lets you choose a new composition file to be used by the plug-in. The “Replace” button can only be accessed while the Option key is down.
  • The Save As button lets you save the composition used by the plug-in back to a Quartz Composer document. The “Save As” button can only be accessed while the Option key is down.

The Plug-in type popup menu lets you choose among the three types of plug-ins: Generator, Filter and Transition. Choose the Generator type if the Quartz composition generates an output image but requires no inputs. Choose the Filter type if the Quartz composition is designed to accept one image input and generate an output image that derives from that input. Choose the Transition type if the Quartz composition is designed to take two image inputs and transition from the first image to the next according to a time value that falls between 0 and 1.

All other options are accessed via tabbed views:

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Each tab view is covered in a separate section: