New to FxFactory 2, the Feed image info to popup menu lets you select among one of the structure inputs published by the Quartz composition. The value fed to the selected input is a dictionary with the following keys and values which express properties of the media currently assigned to the image well:
- pixelsWide and pixelsHigh contain the image dimensions (in pixels)
- pixelAspect contains the pixel aspect of the image (e.g. 0.9 for a full frame of NTSC DV footage shot at 4:3; 0.44 for a single field of NTSC DV footage shot at 4:3)
- displayAspect the aspect ratio at which the image is ultimately displayed to the viewer (usually 4:3, 19:9).
- fieldOrder a numeric value which is equal to 0 if the image source is progressive, 1 if the image source is interlaced and the upper field comes first, 2 if the image source is interlaced and the lower field comes first.
- field a value which is equal to 0 if the image contains progressive data, 1 if the image represents the upper field, 2 if the image represents the lower field.
- pixelFormat a value which represents the pixel format of the image: 0 for RGB + alpha images, 1 for YUV + alpha (Y'CbCr) images. (Please note that the plug-in must be YUV-capable for the pixel format to be YUV + alpha.)
- startFrame a value which represents the start time (in frames) of the image source.
- endFrame a value which represents the end time (in frame) of the image source
- duration a value which represents the total duration (in frames) of the image source
The startFrame, endFrame and duration properties are represented by an integer value if the image source is progressive (1, 2, 3, etc.) or by a fractional value if the image source is interlaced (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, etc.). The fractional component, if present, is always equal to 0.5 and it represents the first field in a given frame (e.g. 2.5 represents the first field in the 3 frame).
IMPORTANT: This structure is guaranteed to contain meaningful values only when running plug-ins inside Final Cut Studio 2 applications, and Final Cut Express.
The When no media is assigned option lets you decide whether the image well should feed an image to the Quartz composition when no media has been assigned by the user. To feed no images unless they have been assigned by the user, choose the Leave image blank option. To feed an embedded graphic to the Quartz composition if no media has been assigned by the user, choose the Use embedded graphic option.
The Embedded graphic popup menu lets you select one of the graphics files (images and movies) currently embedded in the FxPack. To import additional graphics files, click the button labeled with a plus sign.
The Scale to frame size option lets you decide whether embedded graphics are scaled to match the project’s frame size.