03 - Setup

GENERAL

This sub menu allows you to manage shot framing parameters, stereo convergence, shot blending modes in the context of a multi-layered timeline and a series of parameters that determine the shot behavior in the SCRATCH color pipeline.

Note: The Reset button on the Player menu bar does not reset any of the framing of node properties on this sub menu. The framing parameters have their own Reset buttons.

SHOT FRAMING

The Shot Framing controls are available when you entered the Player with a timeline; framing is only valid and applied in the context of a timeline or nesting node. Shot Framing is made up of five parameters: X Scale, Y Scale, X Offset, Y Offset and Rotate. You can set these parameters manually by entering values into the Numerical Slates. These parameters can also be animated using the SCRATCH Animation tools.

FRAMING PULL-DOWN

The Shot Framing pull-down is a quick and easy way to create the most common framing situations.

No Scaling

The shot is centered in the frame at a 1-to-1 pixel relationship. If the shot’s resolution is smaller than the working resolution of the Construct, you will see black around the edges of the frame. If the shot’s resolution is larger than the working resolution, the image will extend beyond the border of the frame.

Fit Width

The shot is scaled so that the width of the shot matches the width of the working resolution. Both X and Y axes are scaled equally to maintain the aspect ratio of the original shot.

Fit Height

The shot is scaled so that the height of the shot matches the height of the working resolution. Both X and Y axes are scaled equally to maintain the aspect ratio of the original shot.

Custom

Custom scaling allows you to specify the exact X and Y scaling you require by entering a value into the Numerical Slates.

Note: Any of the framing parameters can be adjusted at any time. If the values are changed, the framing pull-down automatically switches to Custom.

Apply | All

The Apply option on the framing pull-down is used in conjunction with the All button, allowing you to apply the current framing values to all shots in the timeline.

To use Apply , set the framing on the current shot to the desired settings by using either the framing pull-down, or by manually setting the framing parameters. Activate the All button and then select Apply from the framing pull-down. The current framing values are applied to all shots in the current timeline.

Tip: This is a very quick way to bring a group of shots with mixed resolution all to the same viewing size. For example, if you have full-resolution elements that are 2048 x 1556, and mix those with low-resolution offline images that are 512 x 389, you can bring the low-resolution shots up to match the full-resolution shots. This is done by setting the framing controls to Fit Width, and then activating All and selecting Apply. Now all the shots will be the same size within the Construct; shots will not pop from one size to the other while playing back.

TRIM

The Trim option allows you to copy the adjustments to the scaling forward to all clips on the Construct after the current one. Only the adjustment (delta) will be applied forward, not the exact framing.

RESET

The Reset option will restore the default framing settings for the shot. The Reset will leave any of the other Source Transform settings untouched. For that you use the Reset button on the main menu bar of the Player.

STEREO OPTIONS

If the current node is a stereo node the Link and Convergence parameters become available. The framing on a stereo node is applied directly to the underlying left and right nodes.

STEREO LINK

Enabling this button will apply any framing control update to both the left and right eye shot. The changes are applied as a delta, meaning that if the initial values for right and left eye differed they will continue to differ.

CONVERGENCE

When the Stereo Link option is enabled, enabling this option will replicate Offset and Rotate changes in opposite direction.

STEREO SWAP L-R

This option swaps the two inputs of the current Stereo node - the current first input becomes the second and vice versa. 

STABILIZE

While in the Setup menu, the Stabilize button is available on the far right of the menu, above the animation controls. This button opens the Tracker module in SCRATCH, which is discussed in more detail in the next chapter. Stabilizing can result in an animation of the framing X/Y Offset values of the shot.

ORIENTATION

FLIP / FLOP

Perform a flip or flop on the image before it is processed in the color pipeline. Performing a flip or flop at this stage rather than later in the color pipeline has consequences in that any additional grading layers that might be applied are not aware of the changed orientation and as such will not change orientation when copied from one image to the next.

TRANSFER OPTIONS

Controls to set the opacity level of the shot, toggle whether to use the shot's alpha channel and set the RGB and alpha transfer modes. These settings only apply to shots being used on sub-tracks. For shots on the main timeline track these settings have no meaning and as such the controls are disabled. These controls are also available from the Editor module. The different transfer modes are described in detail in Chapter 8 - Layers.

COLOR PIPELINE

CLIP  LEVELS

When enabled - SCRATCH clips color values below 0 and above 1 after applying a Curve or LUT. When this option is off (default) those values will pass through the color pipeline untouched; no extrapolation or whatsoever is performed when applying the LUT / Curve.

ACES LOG

This setting controls whether the shot - when it is flagged as ACES colorspace - is automatically converted into one of the  ACES Log variants (ACEScc / ACEScct) or maintained as ACES linear. A ACES Log shot has a different response to the color control ACES linear. Note that this setting is actually a per shot override of the general ACES Log Project setting, as discussed Chapter 3 - Project Settings.