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Key with ScreenPlay

How do I use the Luma Key with my Applied Magic's ScreenPlay?

This product will provide Luma Key functionality to Applied Magic Nonlinear Video Editing Systems as well as sample keyable video clips from RAB-BYTE Computer Graphics, Inc.

Obtaining Your Activation Code:
     To install Luma Key on your system, you will need to obtain an activation code. In order to do this you must first get your System I.D. number from your ScreenPlay or Sequel:

• Start your system and wait for the Editor screen to appear.

• Right mouse click in the preview screen.

• Select About ScreenPlay from the menu.

• 
  An information box will appear.

• 
  Your System I.D. number will be the last line on this box. This number will be thirteen characters in length and will contain both numbers, 0-9, and letters, A-F. Use the boxes below to fill in your System I.D. number.

• Once you have the System I.D. number, call 1-888-624-4255 or email register@applied- magic.com to obtain the activation code you will need to activate the Luma Key software. Your activation code will be sixteen characters in length and will be a series of letters, A-P. Use the boxes below to fill in your activation code.

Installing Luma Key:

• Place the software disk in the CD compartment on the front of the unit.

• A software installation menu will appear. Click on Install Luma Key.

• Another installation menu will appear. Highlight Luma Key by clicking on it, then click on Install.

• The system will begin to install the software. Once it is finished installing, the system will bring you back to the original installation box.

Activating Luma Key:

• Click on Activate Luma Key.

• The system will prompt you to enter your activation code. After you have done this, the system will resume installation of the Luma Key software.

• The system will finish installing the Luma Key software and bring you back to the original installation menu.

• Click Finished.

• You will need to restart the system for the changes to take effect.

• Once your system has been restarted, the Luma Key transitions will be in the bottom of your transitions bin. 

Installing the RAB-BYTE Keyable Video Clips:

• Place the Showtime Effects CD in the CD compartment on the front of the unit.

• When the installation menu appears on-screen, click on Install Showtime Effects.

• This will bring up another installation menu. You may click on the effects you wish to install and click on Install, or you may choose to install all of the effects by clicking on Install All.

• The system will begin to install the RAB-BYTE video clips.

• When the installation process is completed, the system will bring you back to the installation menu. Click Finished.

• The RAB-BYTE video clips will be located in your clips bin.

• Repeat the process for all the RAB-BYTE video clips CDs, or simply add these effects as needed.

Using Luma Key:

All ScreenPlay/Sequel luma keys involve two clips: background video of your choice, and the key channel video (like the RAB-BYTE video clips). The key channel video consists of black regions (or optionally white) that will be replaced by the background video. This allows for spinning logos or animated transitions over video.

Adding a Luma Key:

To add a luma key, drag a clip from the Clips bin to the storyboard. Next, drag a keyable video clip and place it next to the original video clip. Next, drag another video clip and place it after the the keyable video clip.

Go to the Transitions Bin and drag down the ‘lumaIN’ transition and place it between the first clip and the keyable video clip. The arrow on the transition will be pointing to the video that is to be keyed. To transition from a Luma Key back into video, drag the ‘lumaOUT’ transition and place it between the keyable video clip and the last clip. The arrow on the transition will be pointing to the video that is to be keyed.

TIME SAVING HINT: Before dragging the ‘lumaIN’ and ‘lumaOUT’ transitions to the storyboard, change the duration time on both to play as long as possible. When they are later dropped into the storyboard, they will automatically adjust to video clips around them.

Scrubbing a Luma Key:

To see how the video will look, you can scrub through the storyboard, using the cursor. This will show a preview of how the video will look using the luma key transitions.

Setting the Black Level or the ‘Key Threshold’ of a Luma Key:

The ‘Key Threshold’ adjusts the level of black that is to be replaced with the video clip. To adjust this, click on the ‘lumaIN’ or ‘lumaOUT’ transition and go to the Details screen.

You can adjust the level by dragging the bar right or left. NOTE: The RAB-BYTE animation effects will work fine with their default settings.

Luma Keying to White:

Luma keying to white gives you the ability to key your video to white. To do this, click on the ‘lumaIN’ or ‘lumaOUT’ transition, then go to your Details screen. Under Key Threshold, click on the white square. Your video will now replace any area of white.

Adjusting the Soft Edge Width:

The Soft Edge Width tool will allow you to adjust the smoothness of the keying and can be found in the Details screen. While the default setting of 1 works best for most images, you may choose to adjust this level if the edges of the keying are too sharp. To change the default setting, drag the bar right or left. The higher the number, the softer the edges will become.

Envelope Control (for ScreenPlay systems only):

Envelope control for the luma key will allow you to fade in and out logos, animated transitions, etc. To use envelope control, click on the ‘lumaIN’ or ‘lumaOUT’ transition, then go to your Details screen. Scroll down to the envelope control tool.

You can set the fade in and fade out points from here by dragging the points up or down. The further down the point is dragged to the bottom of the envelope control tool, the more transparent the animation will be. If the point remains at the top of the envelope control tool, the animation will be completely solid.

Merging a Luma Key for Playback:

Before you can playback your clips, you will need to merge both ‘lumaIN’ and ‘lumaOUT’ transitions. To do this, click on the ‘lumaIN’ transition, right mouse click, and click on Merge. Repeat this process for the ‘lumaOUT’ transition. You will now be ready to playback your clips.

Using the RAB-BYTE Animation Clips:

In this software package there are twenty-four sample RAB-BYTE animation clips. Several of these keyable video clips have three parts: In, Middle, and Out. For example, the Wedding To Remember RAB-BYTE animation effect has three clips. To use these three clips, first drag a video clip and place it on the Storyboard.

Next, drag Wedding2RemIn and place it next to the video clip. Then drag Wedding2RemMid and place it next to Wedding2RemIn. Next, drag Wedding2RemOut and place it next to Wedding2RemMid. Finally, place another video clip after Wedding2RemOut.

You can scrub through the storyboard to see how the RAB-BYTE animation effects work. Then merge the two luma key transitions. You are ready to playback the clips.

Some of the RAB-BYTE animation effects samples do not have an in or out clip. In this instance you can use the envelope control tool (for ScreenPlay systems only) to fade in and out of the RAB-BYTE animation clips.

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