SpiceMaster 2.5 Help and Tutorials
SpiceMaster 2.5 Technical Support FAQs
1. Can I learn about SpiceMaster 2.5 when I'm not using it? SpiceMaster has a complete built-in visual help system. Please click the ? button in the top right corner of the SpiceMaster window, then anywhere in the interface. Please look there first for answers to common situations and techniques.
2. How do I install SpiceMaster 2.5 in two different versions of Premiere Pro or After Effects? First install in your latest version of Premiere Pro or After Effects, which the SpiceMaster installer will likely recognize and find automatically. Then run the installer again, but use the Browse button that will appear (in the next installer panel after you enter your Name and Serial number info) to select the MAIN folder of your earlier Premiere Pro or After Effects version, such as c:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.
3. Chroma shifts appear during an effect. With shots that exceed broadcast specs for black levels or chroma, slight chroma shifts may appear during a SpiceMaster effect, depending on your video hardware. Sometimes it may be slightly noticeable when the rendered SpiceMaster effect is compressed while the surrounding video is not. It is not actually a SpiceMaster problem, but a problem with any rendered visual effect, built-in or from other third-parties. Besides shooting properly, one way to typically solve the shift is to apply a dummy (non-acting) effect to incoming and outgoing clips of the SpiceMaster transition, causing the entire segment to be compressed, but not otherwise changed.
4. [Sony Vegas version] The SpiceMaster 2.5 transition works correctly, but my SpiceMaster video fx are not animating in Vegas (or shows a black preview). After applying the SpiceMaster video fx to a clip in the Vegas timeline, turn off the "Hide Video Event FX window" in the Prefs pane of SpiceMaster, then click the "Apply" button to make the Video Event FX window in Vegas always visible. (You only need to do this once and the effect will then remember it for future instances.) Now look in the Vegas keyframer controls not SpiceMaster's keyframer. (If the Vegas keyframer is not already visible, click the Animate button at the bottom of the Video Event FX window to make it appear.) Do you see a second keyframe at the end of the event? If not, please do the following:
-- Make sure you have the Sync Cursor option in the Vegas keyframer turned OFF.
-- Manually add a second keyframe at the end of the event in the Vegas keyframer.
-- Select the first keyframe in the Vegas keyframer (click it or click the First Keyframe button there).
How to Apply SpiceMaster 2.5 in Adobe Premiere (Windows)
In Adobe Premiere Pro (Windows; any CS version or CC Creative Cloud version):
• As a transition:
1. From the Effects panel (Video Transitions > Pixelan folder) of Premiere Pro, drag SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a cut point between two OVERLAPPED clips in the SAME timeline track, or onto the head or tail of a single non-overlapped clip.
2. In the Premiere Pro timeline, click the SpiceMaster transition you applied to activate it. Drag the transition's edge to adjust its duration as desired.
3. In the Effect Controls panel of Premiere Pro, click the Custom button for SpiceMaster. The SpiceMaster window will then appear. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
• As a video effect:
1. From the Effects panel (Video Effects > Pixelan folder), drag SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a clip. The SpiceMaster window will then appear. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page. Applied as a video effect, SpiceMaster will softly/organically reveal ANY content in LOWER tracks. Applying a SpiceMaster transition to the head or tail of a single non-overlapped clip also will do that.
In Adobe Premiere Elements 11 or later (Windows):
NOTE: If you are using Premiere Elements 12, make sure you first turn on its Expert view to see all available effects and transitions, including plug-ins.
• As a transition:
1. From the Transitions tab at the bottom of Premiere Elements 11 or later, choose Pixelan in the tab's top menu. Then drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a cut point between two clips in a video track, or onto the beginning or end of a single clip.
2. In the Transitions Adjustments panel that will appear, adjust duration and alignment as desired, then click the small More button at the bottom of the panel. That will reveal a Custom button.
3. Click the Custom button to open the SpiceMaster window. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
• As a video effect:
1. From the Effects tab at the bottom of Premiere Elements, choose Pixelan in the tab's top menu. Then drag-and-drop the SpiceMaster effect onto a clip.
2. In the Applied Effects panel of Premiere Elements, click the Setup (gear icon) button to the right of the SpiceMaster name. The plugin's window will then appear. Then see the Basics within SpiceMaster section below. Applied as a video effect, SpiceMaster will softly/organically reveal ANY content in LOWER tracks. Applying a SpiceMaster transition to the head or tail of a single non-overlapped clip also will do that.
In Adobe Premiere Elements 10 or earlier (Windows):
• As a transition:
1. From the Edit panel (Transitions section) of Premiere Elements, scroll down to the Pixelan listing and drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a cut point between two clips in a Video track, or onto the beginning or end of a single clip.
2. Click the applied transition in the Premiere timeline to activate it. Drag the transition's edge to adjust its duration as desired.
3. At the bottom of the Edit panel in Premiere Elements, click the small Edit Transitions button to open the SpiceMaster window. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
• As a video effect:
1. From the Edit panel (Effects section) of Premiere Elements, scroll down to the Pixelan listing and drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a clip in the timeline.
2. With the video clip active, click the small Edit Effects button at the bottom of the Edit panel. To the far right of the SpiceMaster effect listing that will appear in the Edit panel, click the small Setup button to open the SpiceMaster window. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page. Applied as a video effect, SpiceMaster will softly/organically reveal ANY content in LOWER tracks. Applying a SpiceMaster transition to the head or tail of a single non-overlapped clip also will do that.
How to Apply SpiceMaster 2.5 in Sony Vegas
In Sony Vegas Pro (any version) or Vegas Movie Studio (version 6 or later):
• As a transition:
1. Overlap two events in the SAME video track of your Vegas timeline, automatically creating a crossfade transition.
2. Drag SpiceMaster 2.5 (the name, or a Vegas preset for it) from the Vegas Transitions list onto the crossfade. Or right-click the crossfade and choose Transition Properties, then double-click SpiceMaster 2.5.
3. In the Event FX window for SpiceMaster, click the Click Here button to have the SpiceMaster window then appear. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
• As a video fx:
1. Drag and drop SpiceMaster 2.5 from the Video FX (or Plug-Ins) window/panel of Vegas onto any event in your Vegas timeline. Or, click the Event FX button in an event’s timeline icon, then choose SpiceMaster 2.5 in the Plug-In Chooser dialog.
2. In the Event FX window for SpiceMaster, click the Click Here button to have the SpiceMaster window then appear. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
How to Apply SpiceMaster 2.5 in Adobe After Effects (Windows)
In Adobe After Effects (any CS version or CC Creative Cloud version):
1. Drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 Pro onto a timeline layer, from the Pixelan folder of the Effects and Presets panel of After Effects. All SpiceMaster controls will appear as native effect controls within the After Effects interface.
How to Apply SpiceMaster 2.5 in Cyberlink PowerDirector
In Cyberlink PowerDirector (version 12 or later):
1. In the Transitions Room tab of PowerDirector, drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 from the Pixelan section onto the transition overlap between two video clips in a track of the timeline.
2. Click the Modify button above the timeline (or right-click the transition and choose Modify) -- then click the Stand-Alone effect button in the transition controls panel of PowerDirector -- to open the SpiceMaster main window. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below.
NOTE: Cyberlink PowerDirector currently does not allow transitions to be applied directly to titles in its Title track. One way to solve this is to create your titles as a .png file with an alpha channel — in an external program, such as Photoshop Elements. After that title image is imported, SpiceMaster can be applied directly to it in your PowerDirector timeline. However, there is also another method that can be faster for simple titles but doesn’t always produce correct output (due to current PowerDirector plugin architecture limitations): Drag your PowerDirector title into a Video track instead of the Title track. Then apply SpiceMaster directly to it.
How to Apply SpiceMaster 2.5in Magix Movie Edit Pro/Video Edit Pro X
In Magix Movie Edit Pro (v18 or later) or Video Edit Pro X (X4 or later):
1. In the Fades tab of the Media Pool panel, click Additional fades, then drag-and-drop SpiceMaster 2.5 onto a simple crossfade between two video tracks in the same track, or onto a separate track between two overlapped clips in adjacent higher and lower tracks. Drag the right or left edge of the transition, if needed, to adjust its duration.
2. Right-click the small A/B icon in the transition (or anywhere in the transition if it is on a separate track), then choose Settings... to open the SpiceMaster main window. Then see the Basics Within SpiceMaster section below on this page.
Cool SpiceMaster Tips
How to animate other video effects within a SINGLE clip:
Sync two copies of the SAME clip in adjacent tracks — one clip directly above the other copy. Next, apply the video effect(s) you want to animate to just one clip copy. Then apply the SpiceMASTER 2.5 video effect (if available in your editing system) to the TOP clip. The effect(s) will then appear only where the SpiceMaster effect flows. Organically animating other effects (built-in or 3rd-party) is a VERY powerful feature of SpiceMaster. It expands the versatility of ALL of your video effects, which normally alter the entire image.
Additional Tips in Adobe Premiere Pro or Adobe Premiere Elements:
• To apply SpiceMaster to a title, drop SpiceMaster 2.5 onto the head or tail of a title clip, instead of between two overlapped clips like a usual transition.
Additional Tips in Sony Vegas Pro or Sony Vegas Movie Studio:
• To preview the transition in Vegas real-time and interactively, turn on the Loop play button at the bottom of the Vegas timeline, then double-click the SpiceMaster transition that you applied in the timeline. Highly recommended and very cool!
• To apply SpiceMaster to a title, drop a SpiceMaster video transition onto the head or tail of a title event. Or overlap a title event with an empty event (right-click in the track and choose Insert Empty Event), then apply SpiceMaster to the overlap.
Basics Within SpiceMaster
In the SpiceMaster window, first choose the effect's basic geometry by clicking the Choose Spice File button.
A separate Library window will then open. Click on any Spice subfolder in the Library's left pane (or any subfolder within the OrganicFX Spices folder, such as Climatics shown below), then double-click any spice playing in the right pane to load it into the main SpiceMaster window.
Then use other controls in SpiceMaster, such as the Softness slider or Mixer slider, to further modify and enhance the effect. To apply the effect, click the green "check mark" button in the lower right corner of SpiceMaster.
Note that SpiceMaster has 100+ levels of undo/redo available, so feel free to experiment. Click the buttons shown at right to access it, or tap Ctrl-Z / Ctrl-Y.
Also note that you can preview within SpiceMaster while making effect adjustments. Just click the blue Play button under the preview image.
SpiceMaster features powerful bezier curve keyframing so you can smoothly accelerate or decelerate any effect parameter. Each control with a round button to the left of the control's name is keyframable. To activate the keyframing for a control, click the round button -- it will show green. Then look in the Keyframes graph in the lower left corner of the SpiceMaster window. Simply drag the handle of a existing keyframe to curve the keyframe line. Or click on the keyframe line to add a new keyframe. Upward or downward re-positioning changes the control's value; left or right moves the keyframe earlier or later on a percentage basis within the transition's (or effect's) total 100% duration.
For more details and a keyframing tutorial, see the Learning More About SpiceMaster section below to access SpiceMaster's built-in context-sensitive help system. Just click the ? button on the Keyframes graph and you will go right to the keyframing help.
SpiceMaster Saved Settings & Presets
SpiceMaster has lots of ready-made effects you can apply instantly. In the purchased version, you can also modify any saved setting to create your own, or create new saved settings from scratch. To load a saved setting, click the blue Load Saved Settings button at the bottom black bar of the SpiceMaster window, as shown above, then choose any file within the Saved Settings folder that will appear. We have organized the saved settings into subfolders for your convenience.
But that's not all! Dozens of presets are also included for each section of controls (such as Softness, Border, Texture, etc.). Mix and match them with any chosen spice effect to form thousands of additional custom effects quickly! This is also a GREAT way to quickly experiment with different effect treatments. To access presets, click the 'light-bulb" button at the upper right corner of any effect section in SpiceMaster.
Learning More About SpiceMaster
For additional SpiceMaster techniques and tips, please see the context-sensitive visual online help. To access it, click the ? button in the top right corner of SpiceMaster (or tap the F1 key), then click any area of the SpiceMaster interface.
Also, the print-optimized Quick Start PDF file has many tips for starting quickly. It is in your Windows Start > All Programs > Pixelan > SpiceMaster 2.5 folder. Take a look -- it is very visual and helpful!
Click here for an Acrobat PDF version of the built-in online tutorials/help in SpiceMaster 2.5:
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