Action Improvements (What's New in 2022)

Improved Z-Depth map, Selective improvements, customizable default layout, and more...

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Camera Analysis

You can now access the new Camera Analysis node, a powerful 3D tracking solution, from Action.

Customizing Default Setups

This improvement is also available in Image and GMask Tracer.

Whenever you add a new Action node in Batch, or an Action FX in Timeline, it loads a default setup. You can now customize this default setup.

To create and save the default Action setup:

Create a new Action FX or node.
In Action, create your setup.
Click Set Current as Default to create the new default.
- In Batch: Node Prefs Objects & Maps Default Setup
- In TimelineFX: Setup Objects & Maps Default Setup

New Actions now use this default setup.

Note: Widgets and Selective options set in Preferences

Action are ignored when a default setup has been set.

To discard a default setup:

Do one of the following:
- Set Current as Default another layout. You can only have one custom setup for TimelineFX and another one for Batch and Tools.
- Click Revert to Factory.
  - In Batch: Node Prefs Objects & Maps Default Setup
  - In TimelineFX: Setup Objects & Maps Default Setup

These default setups are saved per Flame user.

Lighting Improvement

This improvement is also available in Image.

Add Light: On macOS, the keystroke assigned to the Action Create Light as Camera Position keyboard shortcut is now Command+L in the Smoke Classic user profile. This is to avoid conflicting with the Show/Hide Media Panel keyboard shortcut.

Z-Depth Map Improvements

The following improvements are also available in Image.

Z-Depth Map improvement: You can now easily set the position of the sky to the far end of the Z-depth map: Analysis Motion Parallax Sky is Far. Sky is Far sets the sky region at a depth value of 1.

Better Z-Depth map: When a Z-Depth map is created, gaps in the mapping can create holes in the map. These holes are now filled, and should ensure smoother transition between depths.

Selective Improvements

The following improvements are also available in Image.

Standardized Selective name: To standardize the Selective object with other Action objects, the Custom Name field has been removed. You now use the regular Object Name field. In addition, how the Selective HUD displays its information changes:

If you renamed the Selective (using the Object Name field), the HUD now displays the name you entered.
If you do not rename the Selective, the HUD now displays the currently active keyer.

Note: Custom names set in previous versions will still be displayed, but they can no longer be edited.

Next or Previous Selective without selection: You can now use the Select Previous Selective and Select Next Selective shortcuts even when there is no object selected in the scene.

Select what the overlay overlays: The overlay displayed in the Selective Input Object view can now be displayed over the white part (Inside) of black part (Outside) of the Selective's matte. The "Show Overlay" button has been changed to a drop-down buttons containing three modes: No Overlay, Overlay Inside, and Overlay Outside. It is possible to cycle through the 3 modes using the Cycle Overlay Mode in Selective view shortcuts.

GMask auto-attaches to Selectives: Adding a GMask always adds it under the Selective object, no matter what node under the Selective is currently selected.

Cycle GMasks: You can now use keyboard shortcuts or a Tangent panel to cycle through the GMask objects connected under a Selective: Select Previous Selective GMask and Select Next Selective GMask. You must use Flame menu Keyboard Shortcuts to set a key sequence.

Delete children: Nodes connected to a Selective are now also deleted when the Selective itself is deleted.

Tangent Panel context: You can modify a the settings of a Selective (and any parented MasterGrade, Axis or GMask) from the same Tangent panel context.

General Improvements

The following improvements are also available in Image and GMask Tracer.

Visible Axis plane: You can now display the plane of an Axis. Enable Display Plane Active. You can set the plane to be vertical (Plane Orientation XY) or horizontal (Plane Orientation XZ). The plane is useful when combined with the Camera Analysis to position objects on 3D space.

Rename from more places: You can now use the context menu on Objects, the Selective HUD, and the Tabs to rename a node.

-box names in schematic: The name of the current shader is now displayed inside the Matchbox and Lightbox nodes displayed in the Schematic view. Matchbox or Lightbox is displayed when the node has no loaded shader.

Remembering the last view: Object and Selective views now remember what view was previously displayed when you come back.

Better layout: Nodes added to the Schematic are no longer positioned over existing nodes.

Deleting a node selects the parent:Deleting a node results in the node's parent to become the selected node. If the deleted node is a GMask, it's target of the GMask Light link that becomes the current selection.

Changing colour space: You can change the colour space tag of a node or a Timeline FX output at any time with Setup/Node Prefs Rendering. This allows you to change the output colour space tag to match the tag of a colour file loaded in a Colour Mgmt Matchbox.

Select a surface with its edge. To select a surface object in a Viewport, you must now click its edge, not the surface itself. Because of this edge, you can now add a Selective from any Viewport, not only from the Schematic.

Hidden Matchbox remains available: The tab of a hidden Matchbox is no longer removed from the Object menu.