Twixtor Fusion Examples.

NOTE: You need Twixtor 5.0 or later for these examples. You also need Fusion 5.1 or later.

This directory contains several projects to help explain features of Twixtor.

Important: These tutorials assume you have read the manual that was put on your disk with the plugin upon installation.


1_Make4xInDuration 

This sample project show you how to take footage, with fields, and make the footage four times as long. Twixtor is not allowed to make a clip longer so note that the input loader has been set up so that the last frame of the sequence is extended. The original clip is 30 frames long, so the the Hold Last Frame for the loader has been set to 90, so the entire clip will appear 120 frames to Twixtor, which is our desired final duration.

The Speed has been set to 25%, so the Twixtored footage will play at 1/4 the speed of the original.

In the node labeled "Twixtor4InterlacedOut", the Process Mode in the Output Controls Format tab has been set to the default of Auto. Since the input is interlaced the output is interlaced.

In the node labeled "Twixtor4ProgressiveOut", the Process Momde in the Output Controls Format tab has been set to Full Frames. So Twixtor slows down the footage and converts to progressive frames for the output sequence.


2_KeyFrameRemap

This sample project shows how you might keyframe the time remapping for a more dynamic effect. Note that in the node Twixtor4RemapSpeed that the Retime Method setting is set to Speed and we animate the Speed setting. In the node Twixtor4RemapFrame note that the Retime Method setting is set to Frame and that the Frame setting has been animated.


3_TrackingProblem

This sample project shows how you might provide keyframes for the Tracking Quality parameter when there problematic frames for Twixtor. We apply Twixtor to a sequence and time stretch it by a factor of 3. In "Twixtor4ProblemShown" you can see that the hand coming across the face drags around parts of the face that shouldn't be warped. Also, the hand is not tracked properly because of the face behind it and inappropriately stutters upon retiming. So we demonstrate how to fix the problem using 2 different methods:

  1. In the node "Twixtor4KeyMotionVecto Quality":The sequence starts with Tracking Quality set to Best, but there is a section where the hand comes across the face that is problematic for Twixtor. We have animated Tracking Quality setting and set it to No Motion Vectors for the problematic area, keeping Frame Interp set to Blend. This effectively turns off motion tracking and warping and produces results that defaults to simple frame blending (just like AE does by default). We set Tracking Quality back to Best when the problematic area is exited.
  2. In the node "Twixtor4LowerMotionSensitivity": Instead of explicitly turning off the motion estimation as we did in example 1, we adjust it down by setting Motion Sensitivity to 20 (down from 70). This reduces the amount of movement each pixel can make (and it's influence on surrounding pixels), effectively eliminating the "gloop" (however, the background face and head does not track nearly as well).

4_SmartBlend

This sample project shows the difference of using the Warping setting of Inverse W/Smart Blend (instead of just Inverse) on a sequence with significant movement at the edges of a moving sequence. With Inverse W/Smart Blend turned off we see significant smearing at the edges when one of the frames is warped to match the other. With Smart Blend turned on we see this problem disappear.

Rule of thumb: turn Warping to Inverse W/Smart Blend on when there is significant motion at the edge of the frame. You can try setting Warping to Forward if you are doing a slowmotion of speed less than 50% and you see significant sliding.


5_WorkingWithEdits

    This sample project has a piece of footage that is being slowed down by a factor of 5. Note that there is a hard cut in the source footage and a dissolve transition. In the node "Twixtor4ProblemShown" you can see the problem of interpolating between the frames of the hard cut. You can also see tracking problems in the retiming of the dissolve (you can see flickering movement that shouldn't occur). It's "obvious" that these transitions should be marked so that Twixtor does not interpolate inappropriately across the transitions.

    In the node "Twixtor4MarkSegments", switch the Display setting to Source. You'll see that the Mark Segments setting now appears.

    In the node Mark Segments you'll see that we've marked the start of the first cut by setting Twixtor's Mark Segments to Cut A. Then we've animated the Mark Segments menu setting and set it to Cut B at the start of the cut between the first and second segments. No motion interpolation or color blending between frames is used when Twixtor creates a retimed output frame that is between Cut A and Cut B. For the dissolve transition we'd like Twixtor to create dissolved (blended color) inbetween frames, but with no motion interpolation (many times when working on a dissolve or other transition in the source footage, the tracking within Twixor can behave poorly). Retimed output frames created from dissolve transition can be created this way by setting Mark Segments to No MV: Frame Blend.

    Note: To reinforce that Mark Segments should be set and animated in the original timing of the clip being retimed, Mark Segments can only be set when Twixtor's Display setting is set to Source.

    NOTE: If you decide to animate the settings for Mark Segments (or any menu in Fusion), you should make sure to set the animation settings for all the keys to "Step In" and "Step Out", using Fusion's spline editor for animated settings, so that you don't inadvertantly get unwanted "inbetween" menu settings over the course of the animation.


    6_LayersExample

    This sample project shows how, with Twixtor, you can use a matte to separate foreground and background for even better results when an object in front passes other objects.

    Digital Fusion 4 users take note: it is not obvious by looking at the flow, but in the node "Twixtor4FGMaskUsed" the LayersFGMask clip has been connected to the TwixtorFG1Matte input mask setting that can be reached by right-clicking on the image in the viewer when the Twixtor node is selected (see the manual). This connection was accomplished by right-clicking in the viewer when the Twixtor node was selected and selecting "Bitmap" from the TwixtorFG1Matte submenu.Also note that the connected clip's controls show up in the Masks tab for Twixtor.

    Fusion 5 users: it should be obvious that the LayersFGMask clip has been connected to the TwixtorFG1Matte input mask. This was done by right-clicking in the viewer when the Twixtor node was selected and selecting "Bitmap" from the TwixtorFG1Matte submenu.


    7_ThreeLayersExample

    This sample project shows how, with Twixtor Pro, you can use multiple layer mattes to separate several foreground elements for even better results when an objects pass over each other.

    The node "No FG Mattes" exhibits what happens with regular Twixtor with no layer separation. Note that objects passing each other tend to gloop against each other.

    The node "2 FG Mattes Used" with Twixtor" exhibits how a better result can be obtained by supplying mattes for the two foreground objects.

    For you to do and notice:


    8_MotionVectorsIn

    This example shows how to use motion vectors as input to retime a sequence using input vectors to the Twixtor plugin.

    8MotionVectorsIn1

    1) Retime Using Vectors

    This flow shows how to hook up the Prev and Next motion vectors (that is, motion vetors from the current frame to the previous frame and motion vectors from the current frame to the next frame, respectively). Note that the Vector images are 16bpc.

    8MotionVectorsIn2

    2) Retime Layers Using Vectors.

    In this case motion was calculated for the two objects (hand and face) independently. The node labeled "Problem Shown" shows the tearing and smearing that can happen if you don't also provide Twixtor with a matte that shows where the foreground object is. "Layers Correct Usage" shows the improved results by supplying the plugin a foreground matte that delineates where the foreground object is at each frame.


    9_SplineGuidanceExample.comp

    This sample project show how, with Twixtor, you can get better results by guiding Twixtor with Fusion's splines.

    The node "TwixtorProblemShown" exhibits what happens with regular Twixtor is not supplied manual tracking help. Note that the result is very unsatisfactory (especially at the second frame).

    The node "TwixtorWithSplines" shows how you can guide Twixtor with Fusion's splines.

    For you to do and notice:


    10_SplinesAndLayers.comp

    This sample project show how, with Twixtor, you can get better results by guiding Twixtor with the use of a few judicial splines used in tandem with Twixtor's layer separation feature.

    The node "TwixtorProblemShown" exhibits what happens with Twixtor with layer separation, but no spline guidance . Note that the result is very unsatisfactory.

    The node "TwixtorSplinesAndLayers" shows how you can guide Twixtor in this case with 1 spline per layer.

    For you to do and notice:


    11_MoreSplinesAndLayers.comp

    This example shows a very complex example with 4 layers (3 foreground mattes supplied) and several splines, used on several layers, to guide Twixtor's tracking.

    The node "Problem Shown" exhibits what happens with Twixtor, even with layer separation. Note that the result is very unsatisfactory.

    For you to do and notice in the node named "TwixtorSplinesAndLayers":

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