At the heart of each FxFactory plug-in lies a node-based composition created with Quartz Composer. Quartz compositions are visual representations of a series of rendering instructions. A composition will produce an output image given a number of inputs:
The main task of an FxFactory Pro plug-in developer is to create a Quartz composition, and to integrate it inside supported hosts by providing the appropriate parameter UI.
In the above diagram, a composition which performs a Zoom Blur on a single input image would best be represented by a filter. Filter plug-ins are applied to an existing clip on the timeline, and alter the images in that clip in some interesting way. (Generators are applied independently of any existing clips. Transitions are applied between two clips.)
The filter plug-in created with FxFactory Pro would pass the video frames from the source clip to the single image input in the composition. The plug-in would also display two parameters in the inspector window: a slider control to let the user set the amount of the Zoom Blur, and an on-screen point parameter to let the user set the center of the blur:
The plug-in editing interface available with FxFactory Pro lets you perform these tasks with ease, from the initial creation of the Quartz composition that powers your plug-in, to creating the parameter interface that will let you fine-tune the effect inside supported hosts.
For a hand-ons introduction to becoming a plug-in developer using FxFactory Pro, please consider the following tutorial:
Create Your First Plug-in
A full reference to the plug-in editing features of FxFactory Pro is also available:
Plug-in Editing Interface