October 2007 - Pro-apps-dev

Re: Forcing a render in response to custom parameter push
by Hugh Denman 07 Oct '07

07 Oct '07

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Video of FxPlug talk available
by Darrin Cardani 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

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Re: Custom param text box in fcp
by Dave Howell 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Dave On Oct 5, 2007, at 8:37 AM, Benjamin Kent wrote: Hi, Cheers Ben _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… Have you referred to the Example "ScrollingRichText?" That's a good reference. As far as rearranging text, hopefully that's just a bug in your use of NSTextView. If not, please let us know what's going on. For resizing, it is not clear to me that subsequent FCP controls will move up and down correctly if you programmatically change your view's height. You may need to just choose some size big enough to accommodate a vertical scrollbar, and recommend copy-and-paste for larger text selections. I'm trying to make a custom parameter text box using fxplug on fcp. The strings I'll need to put in may vary in length quite considerably. Using NSTextView at the moment, the result seems a little flaky - as you click around it, the displayed text occasionally seems to rearrange itself. Also, I can't figure out how to make it resize automatically to the length of the string. Is there a more sensible way to do this? This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Custom param text box in fcp
by Benjamin Kent 05 Oct '07

05 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com User-agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.0 (Macintosh/20070326) Hi, Cheers Ben _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… I'm trying to make a custom parameter text box using fxplug on fcp. The strings I'll need to put in may vary in length quite considerably. Using NSTextView at the moment, the result seems a little flaky - as you click around it, the displayed text occasionally seems to rearrange itself. Also, I can't figure out how to make it resize automatically to the length of the string. Is there a more sensible way to do this? This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: parameter getting/setting problems with FxPlug on FCP
by Benjamin Kent 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com User-agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.0 (Macintosh/20070326) Hi, Ben, - Paul On Oct 4, 2007, at 11:31 AM, Benjamin Kent wrote: Hi, I'm having some problems getting and setting parameters on FCP. Cheers Ben _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… Paul Schneider wrote: The first problem is that it seems like I can only get the correct value for a parameter if I ask for its value at the current frame. Is this the expected behaviour outside of the renderOutput function? This is a known limitation of Final Cut 6.0.1. See the FxPlug release notes: Remaining Issues in Final Cut Pro 6 Some APIs Available Only During Render In Final Cut Pro 6, the FxTimingAPI and FxTemporalImageAPI only work correctly if called during one of the following selectors: ■ -getOutputWidth: height: ■ -frameSetup ■ -renderOutput ■ -frameCleanup As well, sampling keyframed parameters at arbitrary times only works during these selectors. We plan to address this problem in an upcoming release. Ah, thanks - missed that one. Do you have any idea when this release will be? I realise you probably can't put an exact date on it, but do you know if we're talking weeks or months? The second problem is more general I think. It appears that setting keyframes only works if the user has already clicked the keyframe button for the parameter in the ui, otherwise it just changes the value of the parameter over the entire time range. This is especially a problem when trying to set keyframes on hidden parameters, as the user can't even click the keyframe button. Is there a way to do this automatically? We don't have a way to support that in Final Cut today. The user turns on keyframing for parameters with the green button; there's no way for a plugin to do this programmatically. This would be useful, particularly for hidden parameters, but we don't have that support today. Another slight problem is as follows, though I'd imagine this is an FCP specific bug. If you add this code to the plugin, click the keyframe button on the size parameter in the ui, then go to frame 20 it will set a keyframe as expected. Then jump to frame 50 on the timeline - again it will set a keyframe as expected. But now if you go to frames in between, it seems sporadic as to whether it actually sets the keyframe. We're not expecting you to change parameter values from within -renderOutput. Doing so will trigger another render, which will start a cycle that confuses Final Cut. I've seen a fair amount of problems when plugins change parameter values, or hide and show parameters, from within -renderOutput. I recommend doing this inside -parameterChanged instead. I imagine you're doing this because you can't get values at arbitrary times outside of -renderOutput? Hopefully that issue will be resolved soon. Cool, I'll make sure I don't set any values during renderOutput from now on. Basically, I'm trying to get and set keyframes on some parameters in a callback function in response to a custom widget pushbutton I've created. The first problem is that it seems like I can only get the correct value for a parameter if I ask for its value at the current frame. Is this the expected behaviour outside of the renderOutput function? The second problem is more general I think. It appears that setting keyframes only works if the user has already clicked the keyframe button for the parameter in the ui, otherwise it just changes the value of the parameter over the entire time range. This is especially a problem when trying to set keyframes on hidden parameters, as the user can't even click the keyframe button. Is there a way to do this automatically? This behaviour seems to manifest itself by adding the following code to the beginning of renderOutput in the ScrollingRichText example: id settingAPI = [_apiManager apiForProtocol:@protocol (FxParameterSettingAPI)]; [settingAPI setIntValue: renderInfo.frame toParm: kParamID_Size atTime: renderInfo.frame]; return YES; Another slight problem is as follows, though I'd imagine this is an FCP specific bug. If you add this code to the plugin, click the keyframe button on the size parameter in the ui, then go to frame 20 it will set a keyframe as expected. Then jump to frame 50 on the timeline - again it will set a keyframe as expected. But now if you go to frames in between, it seems sporadic as to whether it actually sets the keyframe. -- Ben Kent, Senior Software Engineer The Foundry, 1 Wardour Street, London, W1D 6PA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7434 0449 • Fax: +44 (0)20 7434 1550 • Web: www.thefoundry.co.uk <http://www.thefoundry.co.uk> The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd • Registered in England and Wales No: 4642027 _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com <mailto:Pro-apps-dev@lists.apple.com>) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/pschneider%40apple.com This email sent to pschneider(a)apple.com <mailto:pschneider@apple.com> This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: parameter getting/setting problems with FxPlug on FCP
by Paul Schneider 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: parameter getting/setting problems with FxPlug on FCP
by Dave Howell 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com Hi Benjamin. On Oct 4, 2007, at 8:31 AM, Benjamin Kent wrote: Hi, I'm having some problems getting and setting parameters on FCP. Cheers _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… Basically, I'm trying to get and set keyframes on some parameters in a callback function in response to a custom widget pushbutton I've created. The first problem is that it seems like I can only get the correct value for a parameter if I ask for its value at the current frame. Is this the expected behaviour outside of the renderOutput function? This should work. What's happening? (Do you get an incorrect value? Do the retrieval methods return NO? Are you unable to get the retrieval API object?) The second problem is more general I think. It appears that setting keyframes only works if the user has already clicked the keyframe button for the parameter in the ui, otherwise it just changes the value of the parameter over the entire time range. This is especially a problem when trying to set keyframes on hidden parameters, as the user can't even click the keyframe button. Is there a way to do this automatically? This behaviour seems to manifest itself by adding the following code to the beginning of renderOutput in the ScrollingRichText example: id settingAPI = [_apiManager apiForProtocol:@protocol (FxParameterSettingAPI)]; [settingAPI setIntValue: renderInfo.frame toParm: kParamID_Size atTime: renderInfo.frame]; return YES; I don't believe there's any way for you to create or remove keyframes programmatically. So you're right, you can't create keyframes for a hidden parameter. However, you can simulate this just by making your own animation data structure that stores its own keyframes. Another slight problem is as follows, though I'd imagine this is an FCP specific bug. If you add this code to the plugin, click the keyframe button on the size parameter in the ui, then go to frame 20 it will set a keyframe as expected. Then jump to frame 50 on the timeline - again it will set a keyframe as expected. But now if you go to frames in between, it seems sporadic as to whether it actually sets the keyframe. Yeah, I'm not sure what the FCP UI rules are there. I would expect it behave the same way as when you are editing the values manually, as a user, but I don't know offhand what that behavior is. Ben This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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parameter getting/setting problems with FxPlug on FCP
by Benjamin Kent 04 Oct '07

04 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com User-agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.0 (Macintosh/20070326) Hi, I'm having some problems getting and setting parameters on FCP. Cheers Ben The Foundry Visionmongers Ltd • Registered in England and Wales No: 4642027 _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… Basically, I'm trying to get and set keyframes on some parameters in a callback function in response to a custom widget pushbutton I've created. The first problem is that it seems like I can only get the correct value for a parameter if I ask for its value at the current frame. Is this the expected behaviour outside of the renderOutput function? The second problem is more general I think. It appears that setting keyframes only works if the user has already clicked the keyframe button for the parameter in the ui, otherwise it just changes the value of the parameter over the entire time range. This is especially a problem when trying to set keyframes on hidden parameters, as the user can't even click the keyframe button. Is there a way to do this automatically? This behaviour seems to manifest itself by adding the following code to the beginning of renderOutput in the ScrollingRichText example: id settingAPI = [_apiManager apiForProtocol:@protocol (FxParameterSettingAPI)]; [settingAPI setIntValue: renderInfo.frame toParm: kParamID_Size atTime: renderInfo.frame]; return YES; Another slight problem is as follows, though I'd imagine this is an FCP specific bug. If you add this code to the plugin, click the keyframe button on the size parameter in the ui, then go to frame 20 it will set a keyframe as expected. Then jump to frame 50 on the timeline - again it will set a keyframe as expected. But now if you go to frames in between, it seems sporadic as to whether it actually sets the keyframe. -- Ben Kent, Senior Software Engineer The Foundry, 1 Wardour Street, London, W1D 6PA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7434 0449 • Fax: +44 (0)20 7434 1550 • Web: www.thefoundry.co.uk This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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Re: Forcing a render in response to custom parameter push
by Matt Rhodes 02 Oct '07

02 Oct '07

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Re: inconsistent FxPlug color parameter behavior
by Steve Christensen 02 Oct '07

02 Oct '07

site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com Delivered-To: pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com steve On Oct 2, 2007, at 7:37 AM, Dave Howell wrote: Dave On Oct 2, 2007, at 6:45 AM, Steve Christensen wrote: On Oct 1, 2007, at 9:57 PM, Dave Howell wrote: Hi Steve, Dave On Oct 1, 2007, at 9:33 PM, Steve Christensen wrote: _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. Pro-apps-dev mailing list (Pro-apps-dev(a)lists.apple.com) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/pro-apps-dev/site_archiver%40lists.a… For now I've just decided to use a RGBA parameter with Motion and a RGB/slider pair for FCP. I may revisit this at some point in the future if FCP catches up and/or the SDK is updated so I know what's going on. Yeah good point. So you'd need to add the slider regardless, and just hide it if it is not needed. And you'd need to save (in a hidden custom parameter) an indicator of whether the correct alpha value is found in the RGBA parameter or in the slider. I guess this is not such a simple workaround! If I understand the documentation, parameter settings are saved in the project, tied to a parameter ID. If a user created a project using a version of FCP that doesn't support RGBA, later updated to one that did and opened the project under the new version, wouldn't the alpha value get lost if it was tied to a slider that is no longer added? Unlike Motion, FCP does not currently support RGBA color parameters. As a workaround, as you said, you could add a separate float alpha slider, but you would only want to do this in a host that doesn't support RGBA parameters. Unfortunately there's no flag in FxHostCapabilities.h that would tell you whether or not the host supports RGBA colors. If you assume that FCP doesn't support alpha, and you add a separate alpha slider to your plug-in, and then a new FCP adds alpha to its RGBA colors, you suddenly have two conflicting alphas and your users are confused. So, what to do? Here's an idea. I'm not sure if it will work though. In your addParameters method, you could add an RGBA parameter, and set its value to something with an interesting alpha. Then retrieve the value to see if the alpha value is correct. If it's right, then the host supports RGBA; if not, then only RGB (in which case you would add the alpha slider). Looking at FCP's FxPlug code, it appears that this may work, but I haven't tried it. There are some other things we could try, but this is most straightforward, if it works. In my plug-in, I have a color parameter that I added using - addColorParameterWithName:parmId:defaultRed:defaultGreen:defaultBlu e:defaultAlpha:parmFlags:. In Motion, the parameter shows up, as expected, with all four channels (RGBA) in the UI and clicking on the color swatch brings up a color panel that includes an alpha slider. In FCP, the parameter shows up as HSB and clicking on the color swatch brings up a color panel with only grays/RGB/CMYK/HSB selectable. This really seems like it's broken, certainly inconsistent. Can I hope that this will work as expected in the future or should I just assume that's the way it'll always be and create a separate alpha parameter? steve This email sent to site_archiver(a)lists.apple.com

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