Silhouette 4 What’s New

Silhouette 4.5 What’s New

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2 • About this Guide
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ABOUT THIS GUIDE
Copyright
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
for any purpose without the express written consent of SilhouetteFX, LLC.
Copyright © SilhouetteFX, LLC 2011. All Rights Reserved

November 9, 2012

About Us
SilhouetteFX brings together the unbeatable combination of superior software
designers and visual effects veterans. Add an Academy Award for Scientific
and Technical Achievement, 3 Emmy Awards and experience in creating visual
effects for hundreds of feature films, commercials and television shows and you
have a recipe for success.

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• Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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What’s New in 4.5.4 • 3
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WHAT’S NEW IN 4.5.4
Features
Allow Brush Size To Be Less Than One Pixel
Allow brush size to go down to 0.1 in size. Internally, this multiplies the brush
profile values by the size < 1 to simulate being smaller by adjusting the opacity.

Keyframe Motion Blur

The Motion Blur Shutter Angle and Shutter Phase can now be keyframed.

New Nuke 6.2+ Exporter Features

An alternate mode of the “Embed each layer in its own node” Input/Output >
Nuke 6.2+ Shapes preference has been added. The “Embed each layer in its
own node fully baked” mode bakes all shape control points on every frame of
the work range. While this creates larger files, it works around a known Nuke
motion blur problem.

A check box has also been added to the Input/Output > Nuke 6.2+ Shapes
preferences which instructs the exporter to connect layers together using
Merge nodes. However, if you set a layer in Silhouette to Subtract for example,
you will have to manually adjust the corresponding Merge node in Nuke to
Minus.
Note: Connecting of nodes with Merge nodes in Nuke is only supported in the layer
based export modes: “Embed each layer in its own node” and “Embed each layer in its
own node fully baked”.

Scripting
Added flush() in stdout and stderr
When writing to stdout or stderr from a script, if the last character is a newline,
the output will be flushed. Also, fx_console now contains a flush() method, so
scripts can call it directly if necessary. This only changes behavior when
running scripts from within the Silhouette user interface. When running in the
command-line renderer, normal iostream flushing will occur.

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Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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4 • What’s New in 4.5.4
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Added Variable Expansion To Output “Filename” Field
Added variable expansion to the Filename field to allow adding the version
number after the specified view.

Changes
Bézier Tangent Manipulation Stereo
You can no now manipulate a Bézier tangent on two linked shapes
simultaneously.

gMask Exporter
• Shapes now carry through the names they had in Silhouette with the exception of
illegal characters which are replaced with underscores.
• Axis and Shape node pairs are now assigned a position on the Schematic View so
that they do not overlap as before. The position scheme is a simple one, tiling the
Axis and Shape node pairs horizontally to the right.

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What’s New in 4.5.4 • 5
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Fixed Bugs
Brush Squeezed in Anamorphic Session
If you set the session to an aspect ratio of 2 for anamorphic, the brush was
squeezed horizontally like the image.

Cineon/DPX Round-off Error

Cineon and DPX had a slight round-off error on save.

JPEG Module
The JPEG module was modified to load a broader range of images.

Layer Position Editing Broken When Nested

When moving a layer that was inside another layer, the transform was not
calculated correctly.

Linux Tablet Issues

Tablet pressure sensitivity was not working under some Linux distributions.
Upgrading our user interface toolkit version solved this problem.

Nuke Export and Large Frame Numbers

Very large frame numbers were getting written in scientific notation.

Paint Shoots Across Screen - Left/Right View

In a stereo project with Left/Right view on, paint will shoot across the screen if
you paint on the left side image and the stroke hits the far right of the image.

Planar Tracker > Points Outside of the Selection

The Planar Tracker was not setting the error properly for features that were
“lost” and generated points outside of the selection.

Render Suffix Preferences Had No Effect

The Render Suffix Preferences had no effect on the filename.

Roto Motion Blur Problem

The motion blur would not blend properly if some of the samples started out off-
screen.

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Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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6 • What’s New in 4.5.4
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Scripting
Script Path Fixes
Added another script path that gets searched before the other paths:
SFX_SCRIPT_PATH. This is useful for a site-wide scripting location. Also fixed
an issue where if back slashes were used in environment variables, Python
would not import from that location.

RenderInfo.prefix
RenderInfo.prefix was not scriptable.

Problem With frameSet and Output Start Frame

Setting the renderInfo.frameSet attribute would not immediately update the
session state, so it would not kick in most of the time. In addition, there was no
way to set the output start frame from scripting. Added renderInfo.startFrame
attribute (read/write).

Shift View by Stereo Offset of Active Layer

The Right view is now shifted when in Left/Right and Align mode, but not just
when viewing the Right view. Shifting it helps line up the plates for another level
of checking.

Stereo Left/Right View and Shape Selection

The selection rectangle for the left side was being used for the right side.

TIFF Compression Support

Added compression on/off property to TIFF (like SGI).

Tracker Files Not Importing on Linux

Tracker files were not importing on Linux.

Tracker - Multiple File Import

You could not import multiple tracker files at once.

Viewer > Gamma and Gain Affected Alpha

Changing the Viewer > Gamma or Gain controls was also applied to the alpha.

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What’s New in 4.5.3 • 7
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WHAT’S NEW IN 4.5.3
Features
Composite Node - Add Background Color Parameter
Added a parameter to control the background color in the Composite node. It
allows the color to be changed and automatically clear the appropriate caches.
The Background Color for a new Composite node is automatically set to the
Composite > Background Color preference.

SFX_VALID_XML Environment Variable

Silhouette shape files are not valid XML. Now, shape files can be written as
valid XML by setting the SFX_VALID_XML environment variable to anything
(except 0, which will disable the option). When enabled, shape files will not
import into older versions of Silhouette.

Changes
Allow Valid XML Shape File I/O
The shape file format was not valid XML. We now support importing valid XML
and exporting (optional with an environment variable) valid XML.

Opening New Project Shows Timeline

If you are in one project and then open another, the Timeline is now displayed
by default. Previously, the Console would be displayed in some cases.

Show MultiFrame Timeline Bar in Red

When enabled, the MultiFrame Timeline bar is now red instead of blue.

Fixed Bugs
Alpha Display State Between Projects
If you opened a project, pressed Shift-A, opened another project and pressed
A to cycle the alpha, Silhouette would get into a state where scripting would not
accept the color value.

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Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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8 • What’s New in 4.5.3
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Demo Mode Watermark
Demo mode was missing the watermark logo. Instead, there was a black
square over the image.

Mouse Wheel in Timebar Caused Player to Get Out of Sync

Using the mouse wheel in the Timebar would trigger a continuous time change
to the current frame, which could conflict with other player operations.

MultiFrame Mode Bugs

• If editing a control point on a shape that was not a keyframe, the point did not
follow the pointer when in a transformed layer.
• Keyframes were getting added when they did not need to be.
• Modifying points (Linear, Corner, Cardinal) in the Reshape tool did not properly
obey the MultiFrame range.

Nudging Problem
Pressing and holding one of the arrow keys did not continuously move the
selected object.

Nuke Export and illegal Characters

It was possible for exported shape and layer names to contain what Nuke
considered illegal characters. They are now converted to underscores.

Render to Channels Only Inherited From Most Immediate Layer

When rendering to channels, a shape would only look to its most immediate
parent layer to see if the channel should be overridden. Now, it will walk all the
way up the tree until it hits an override.

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What’s New in 4.5.2 • 9
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WHAT’S NEW IN 4.5.2
Fixed Bugs
Drawing Rectangle or Circle into Transformed Layer Not in
Screen Space
Attempting to draw a rectangle or circle into a transformed layer had the
rectangle transformed, and it wasn’t in screen space.

EXR to 8 bit Corruption

EXR to 8 bit conversions were corrupting.

Tracking Preview Black with EXR's

The tracking preview window displayed black with EXR files.

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Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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10 •• What’s New in 4.5.1
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WHAT’S NEW IN 4.5.1
Changes
Updated OCIO Config
The OCIO config was updated by Sony.

Fixed Bugs
Missing Luts on Linux and Mac
Added missing luts to Linux and Mac resources folders.

Reshape Tool Nudge Not in Screen Space

The Reshape tool did not nudge correctly in transformed layers.

Shift-Alt Change
Shift-Alt instead of just Shift must now be held down to move keys in the
Timebar to work around possible accidental movement/selection of keyframes
in the Timeline.

Zoom with Tablet - Linux

Zooming with the tablet was not working as expected on Linux.

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What’s New in 4.5 • 11
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WHAT’S NEW IN 4.5
Features
OpenColorIO Color Management
Silhouette now uses the OpenColorIO standard originally developed by Sony
Pictures Imageworks for it’s color management. You can load custom color
configuration files and custom LUTs, apply colorspace conversions, as well as
use other controls for fine tuning. Silhouette includes a set of preset color
profiles, plus you can configure and use your own by specifying one in the Color
Management > OCIO Configuration preference.

For a more detailed explanation of OpenColorIO, including generating LUT’s

and suggested workflows, please visit http://opencolorio.org/.

Color Management Preferences

There is a new Cineon/DPX Working Colorspace preference that controls
whether or not Cineon and DPX images are converted to linear. In addition, an
OCIO Configuration preference sets the path to a global configuration file. The
default is “$(OCIO)”. Silhouette will initially look for $SFX_OCIO and will use
that first. Otherwise, it will use whatever the configuration preference is set to
and finally it will check for $OCIO. If it still can't find a configuration, it will fall
back to the embedded configuration in the resources/ocio folder.

DPX INTERPRETATION Environment Variables

SFX_DPX_INTERPRETATION
Sets the default DPX interpretation for loading and saving to either log or linear.
This value only gets queried when media is first imported.

SFX_DPX_LOAD_INTERPRETATION
Sets the default DPX interpretation for loading to either auto, log, or linear.

SFX_DPX_SAVE_INTERPRETATION
Sets the default DPX interpretation for saving to either log or linear.

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Silhouette 4.5 What’s New
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OpenColor IO Environment Variables
SFX_CINEON_WORKING_SPACE
Set to either log or linear. This environment variable overrides the Color
Management > Cineon/DPX Working Colorspace preference.

SFX_OCIO_COLORSPACE
Sets the default Viewer > Display > Colorspace.

SFX_OCIO_DISPLAY
Sets the default Viewer > Display > Display.

SFX_OCIO_LUT
SFX_OCIO_LUT can be used to set the default LUT. This will get set when a
new session is first created. The value for this variable is the full path to the
LUT, including extension. The name is case sensitive. This environment
variable replaces the previous SFX_DEFAULT_LUT.

SFX_OCIO_VIEW
Sets the default Viewer > Display > View Xform.

Paint > Color Palette

The Color Wheel in Paint has been replaced with a HSV Color Palette. This
new palette is now color managed and properly displays float color values.

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What’s New in 4.5 • 13
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Changes
16 Bit Sessions Removed
16 Bit Sessions are no longer used. If you have 16 bit footage, it will be
promoted to float.

Cineon Conversion Bypass

The Cineon Conversion Bypass sequence option has been removed and
replaced by the Color Management > Cineon/DPX Working Colorspace
preference.

Input/Output Preference Removed

Float Conversion and Cineon/DPX preferences have been removed from the
Input/Output preference group. These preferences are no longer needed and
have been replaced by the Color Management > Cineon/DPX Working
Colorspace preference.

Paint Compatibility
Painted projects created in Silhouette v4.3 and below are not compatible with
Silhouette v4.5. Attempting to load a paint project from a previous version will
result in unexpected results because a different conversion method is being
used for certain files.

Silhouette v4.5 will install in it’s own folder allowing you to simultaneously run
v4.3 and v4.5. This will enable you to continue to open and work on older paint
projects if you need to.

Session Preference Removed

The Session preference group was removed. It is no longer needed.

Viewer Display Changes

• The Display Options controls have been removed and replaced with a new Color
Management toolbar which can remain on-screen as long as the Display Options
icon is enabled. This setting is remembered as a preference.
• Exposure, Gamma, Black, White, and LUT have been replaced with OpenColorIO
related controls for Colorspace, Display, View Xform, Gain (exposure), and
Gamma.

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• The Display control is used to specify what kind of monitor profile to use. This is
almost always sRGB but some OCIO configurations support more advanced
monitors.

Viewer > Display Gamma Preference

Since old-fashioned controls for display gamma are no longer used, Display
Gamma has been removed from the Viewer preference group.

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