• Introduction
• General information & recommendations
• Getting started
• The Main tab
• The Video tab
• Interim video files
• Video Options
• MOV Settings
• AVI Settings
• DV Settings
• FLC Settings
• Image Sequence Settings
• Mpeg 4 Settings
• Conclusion

Before beginning here are a few general recommendations. Most of these issues will be explained more below.

• Make sure you have the complete "Recommended" install of the free Quicktime player to output video. If you do not have the full install you will not be able to export video.
• Remember that in Wild FX Pro you can use any codec you have installed that runs through the Quicktime system on your computer.
• Export the best quality video you possibly can at the highest quality settings available (codec, image quality, bitrate, keyframe rate, etc.)
• Match the image dimensions and video framerate of the project you are going to import your titles into.
• Make your effect framerate a factor of your video framerate (a factor is a number that can be divided evenly into another number without a remainder - so, for instance, if your video framerate is 30fps, make your effect framerate 10, 15, or 30 fps).
• If you want to bring your titles into a video editing software and make the background transparent, you will have to use a solid image background color (preferably black or white) without any gradient or image fill to use the alpha channel setting.
• Wild FX Pro outputs standard video files that work with any non-linear editing software that imports standard video files.

When exporting to video, the type of effect selected affects the output in the following ways:

• Standard effects generate faster than Dynamic or Custom effects.
• When using a Dynamic or Custom effect, the duration of the effect must be adjusted. This is because the Dynamic and Custom effects actually take up fewer frames to create the effect than are required when exporting to video. Consequently, you will have to adjust the duration of your effects to ensure that the entire animation plays through to the end. You can adjust the duration in the Video tab using the "Insert __ frames at end" option, and there is also an option to have Wild FX Pro automatically "Estimate the actual duration" also in the Video tab.

The Video tab contains a number of export options:

• Export: Here you can select one of the supported output video formats from the drop down list: AVI (.avi), DV Stream (.dv), FLC, Image Sequence, Mpeg4 (.mp4), and Quicktime movie (.mov). You can also export DV files as .avi or .mov. Once you have selected a format you still need to select a codec to use, or use uncompressed video. A codec is an algorithm used to COmpress and DECompress video to make files sizes smaller.
• Use: Here you can select a preset for the video output. (You can also change any of these settings by opening the "Options" dialogue box. The preset options are: Default Settings: These are the default settings which are for uncompressed video. Most Recent Settings: These are the last settings you used.
• Options: Selecting this will open the Movie Settings dialogue box which will allow you to set the export options that are available for your video depending on the format and codec you have selected. The settings that may be available include codec, framerate, quality, keyframing options, bitrate, and filters. See below for more detail.
• Use these dimensions: Checking this box will allow you to use the preset dimensions options that are available. Selecting this option will override and disable the dimensions settings you may have set in the Main tab. The preset dimensions that are available are: 320x240, 640x480, 720x480, 720x576, 768x576. You do not have to use these settings and you may select any dimensions that you want. If you are planning on bringing your Wild FX Pro output into another project, you will want to match the dimensions of your project.
• Use this framerate: Checking this box will allow you to use the preset effect framerate options that are available. Selecting this option will override and disable the effect framerate setting you may have set in the Main tab. The preset effect framerates that are available are 15 fps for 30 fps video (NTSC) and 12 fps for 25 fps video (PAL). Keep in mind that the effect framerate is not the same thing as the video framerate you use to export your video. It represents the number of distinct frames per second in the effect. While you can set any effect framerate when creating video, you will get the best results by selecting an effect framerate that is a factor of the video framerate (so if your video framerate is 30, it would be good to use an effect framerate of 10, 15 or 30 - which divide evenly into 30). If your video output uses a fractional framerate (such as 29.97) just round the effect framerate up to the nearest whole number. You do not have to use these settings and you may select any effect and video framerates that you want. If you are planning on bringing your Wild FX Pro output into another project, you will want to match the framerate of your project.
• Show Title Safe area: Selecting this option will cause a "title safe" border to be displayed in the video preview. Title safe is the area covering 80% of the area of the frame out from the center and is meant to ensure that titles will be displayed in their entirety on any television. You can use the color picker to select what color you want to use to display the title safe area border.
• Use Safe Colors: Selecting this option will attempt to filter the colors selected in the effect output so they fall in the "safe color" range for video.
  
  Broadcast video imposes its own limitations on color, which are tied to the limits set by the NTSC video standard which is unable to handle some colors, especially very saturated ones. Colors that fall outside these limits are considered not broadcast safe, or "illegal" colors. They will typically look bad on TV. While you can use this option in Wild FX Pro to make your output colors fall into the "color safe" range, the only way to be completely certain a video image contains only broadcast safe colors is to run it through a broadcast waveform monitor, a device designed for this purpose. Advanced non-linear editing software programs such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere include a software version of waveform monitors. While this is not 100% as dependable as hardware scopes, it should give you a pretty close idea of whether your colors are NTSC legal or not. You can also color correct a video after it's done using this type of software. NOTE: you cannot preview the color safe option, so the only way to see it is to export the video.
  
• Transparent Background: Selecting this option will activate the straight alpha channel setting in the graphics mode of your output video which can enable you to use the alpha channel setting if you use an output codec that supports the use of alpha channels. We advise using Quicktime MOV output with a codec that supports transparency, such as Indeo, for this.
  
  Images represented on video are composed of three grayscale images called channels—one red, one green, one blue - or RGB images. An alpha channel is a fourth channel in an RGB image that defines what parts of the image are transparent or semi-transparent. An alpha channel can be either straight or premultiplied, depending on the program that created the image. Wild FX Pro uses the straight alpha channel. When an image contains a straight alpha channel, the transparency information is stored only in the alpha channel.
  
  Many of the effects in Wild FX Pro have elements in them which can appear on the first frame of the output and throw off the alpha channel setting. Consequently, Wild FX Pro automatically adds a single frame to the beginning of the output if you have selected the transparent background option. If you do not want to have this extra frame added, you can select the "Remove extra frame from transparent output" in the Options window.
  
  You will need to use a solid image background color (preferably black or white) without any gradient or image fill to use the alpha channel setting.
  
  Only a limited number of codecs support the use of alpha channel. If a codec which does not support alpha channel is used, the alpha channel will be lost in the final output. By adding an alpha channel, you can bring the video into a video editing software that supports alpha channel to make the background transparent.
  
  The Indeo video codec is one such codec that supports the use of an alpha channel. For more information on Indeo codecs, check out: http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm.
  
  Other methods for making backgrounds transparent: Depending on the non-linear editing software you are using, there are many other methods for keying out the background. Perhaps the most popular key method is known as "chroma key", a process which lets you select a specific color in a video clip to be transparent. The other methods for keying out a background color work in similar ways. To use one of these methods, just make sure to use a solid color for the background of your title.
  
  Many people want to create video titles with transparent backgrounds so they can then import them into their non-linear editing system and overlay the titles onto existing video. For more information on that check out the tutorial "How to make the background transparent in your Wild FX Pro video titles".
  
• Bilinear Filter: Selecting this option doubles the size of the movie then scales the output back down to the correct size using bilinear scaling to help smooth out the edges of your text. This can result in smoother looking text.
• Insert ___ frames at start: When selected, this option will add the specified number of frames to the beginning of your effect. Many Wild FX Pro effects begin on frame 1 of the effect, and you may want to add a delay. That is what this option is for. This can also be useful if you want to leave room for a fade in at the beginning of an effect.
• Insert ___ frames at end: When selected, this option will add the specified number of frames to the end of your effect. Wild FX Pro's Dynamic and Custom effects are dynamically created, so the actual number of frames in an effect may be fewer than the total number of frames required to display the animation once it is converted to video. By adding frames to the end of an effect, you can be sure that the entire effect will display. This can also be useful if you want to leave room for a fade out at the end of an effect.
• Estimate actual duration: This option is available if you have selected a Dynamic or Custom effect. Because of the way Dynamic and Custom effects are generated (they actually take up fewer frames to create the effect than are required when exporting to video) you will likely have to adjust the duration of your effects to ensure that the entire animation plays through to the end when converted to video. When selected, this option will cause Wild FX Pro to estimate the actual number of frames required to completely display the selected effect. The number of frames will then be automatically added to the "Insert __ frames at end" field. If you have selected this option the "Insert __ frames at end" field will be grayed out.
• Fade In ___ frames: When selected, this option will add an image fade in of the specified number of frames to the beginning of your effect.
  
  NOTE on using fade in with .swf output: If you are using the fade features with .swf output you need to keep in mind that combining fades with the text stroke, text gradient fill or text image fill options will disable the transparency of the background of the output .swf file.
• Fade Out ___ frames: When selected, this option will add an image fade out of the specified number of frames to the end of your effect.
  
  NOTE on using fade out with .swf output: If you are using the fade features with .swf output you need to keep in mind that combining fades with the text stroke, text gradient fill or text image fill options will disable the transparency of the background of the output .swf file.

When you export video using a Dynamic or Custom effect, Wild FX Pro must create an intermediate scratch file (Dynamic and Custom effects actually take up fewer frames to create the effect than are required when exporting to video). By default, Wild FX Pro will generate this intermediate file as an uncompressed video which will use no compression and result in the best quality. However, uncompressed video files can be very large so you will need plenty of free disk space available.

If you don't have enough free disk space available there are a couple of options that you can specify in the Options window (View>Options):

• The uncompressed interim file is saved to a scratch disk folder. The default folder is your temporary directory. However, you can specify another hard drive and/or folder on your system using the "Scratch Disk Folder" option.
• While we strongly recommend that you leave this interim file in the uncompressed format you can change it using the "Video Options" option. To change the interim file codec, select the "Change" button. This will open the Movie Settings window where you can change the codec of the interim file. If you have changed the codec and wish to revert to uncompressed video, select the "Reset" button.

Depending on the codec you select, there are also various controls for quality, framerate, keyframing, and bitrate.

• Quality: The Quality slider lets you set the output video quality. Better quality equals larger file size. We recommend using the "Best" setting.
• Frames per second: this determines the output video framerate. Remember that this is not the same thing as the effect framerate that is set in the Main tab. (As a general rule you want your effect framerate to be a factor of your video framerate. So, for instance, if your video framerate is 30fps, you will probably want to set your effect framerate to 10, 15, or 30.) If you are planning on bringing your Wild FX Pro output into another project, you will want to match the framerate of your project.
• Key frames: Compressed video frames are defined as "interframes" or "intraframes". Interframe means many frames are described based on their difference from the preceding frame. Intraframe means each frame is compressed separately and independent of surrounding frames (for example, JPEG is an intraframe codec). If you use an interframe codec it will utilize intraframes, which are the "keyframes", or reference frames, that are used to generate the interframes. For working with Wild FX Pro, you will probably want the best quality and you will want every frame to be a keyframe, so you leave it unchecked, or set a value of 1. Higher values result in fewer keyframes and lower file sizes.
• Limit data rate to: Here you can set the bitrate of your output video. For working with Wild FX Pro, you will probably want the best quality and you will not want to set a limit to your data rate so you will leave this unchecked or set a very high number. Higher values result in larger file sizes.
  
  Depending on the codec you have selected, there may also be an "Options" button:

And you can also set the:

• Color depth: The color depth of an image represents the number of bits of color information per pixel and determines the number of colors used to display an image. The higher the number the greater the color information. We recommend using the highest setting.
• Quality: The Quality slider lets you set the output video quality. Better quality equals larger file size. We recommend using the "Best" setting.
• Frames per second: this determines the output video framerate. Remember that this is not the same thing as the effect framerate that is set in the Main tab. (As a general rule you want your effect framerate to be a factor of your video framerate. So, for instance, if your video framerate is 30fps, you will probably want to set your effect framerate to 10, 15, or 30.) If you are planning on bringing your Wild FX Pro output into another project, you will want to match the framerate of your project.
• Key frames: Compressed video frames are defined as "interframes" or "intraframes". Interframe means many frames are described based on their difference from the preceding frame. Intraframe means each frame is compressed separately and independent of surrounding frames (for example, JPEG is an intraframe codec). If you use an interframe codec it will utilize intraframes, which are the "keyframes", or reference frames, that are used to generate the interframes. For working with Wild FX Pro, you will probably want the best quality and you will want every frame to be a keyframe, so you leave it unchecked, or set a value of 1. Higher values result in fewer keyframes and lower file sizes.
• Limit data rate to: Here you can set the bitrate of your output video. For working with Wild FX Pro, you will probably want the best quality and you will not want to set a limit to your data rate so you will leave this unchecked or set a very high number. Higher values result in larger file sizes.
  
  Depending on the codec you have selected, there may also be an "Options" button: