Arkaos VJ:

QuickTime provides a variety of real-time effects that can be used on any standard ArKaos VJ visual (image, movie, and streaming video). These effects include transitions, distortions, colors, and generators (effects that produce animations without using an associated visual). All of these effects are easily accessible via the "Video" tab of the Effects window.

Proper QuickTime Installation

During QuickTime installation, you must select “Recommended” as the "Installation Type" if you want the QuickTime Effects to be installed properly. You may also choose "Custom" and select only the components you want. (If you installed QuickTime with the default option of “Minimum,” QuickTime Effects may not be installed.) Though the following screenshots are taken from a Mac computer, QuickTime does work on both Macs and PCs.

Usage

The ArKaos "QuickTime Effects" setup dialog allows you to control the duration of the effect and to apply transparency on the effect rendering (the resulting image is blended with the current one).

Click "Call QuickTime Set-Up" to open the QuickTime Effect selection window.

As you can see at the top left of the window, available effects are categorized by family. To display all the effects in a given category, click on the "+" button to expand it. To select an effect, simply click on it, and then configure it via the menu at right. The bottom left corner of the window gives you a preview of the effect applied on a basic image using the parameters you set up. You can also load and save your custom effects in the QuickTime FX (.qfx) format, by clicking on buttons located below the preview.

Here is an example of how to select and configure an Emboss effect:

The result of the above configuration applied to a static image can be seen below.

Speed

Some effects may be too slow to run on some machines, particularly when used in high resolutions or full screen mode. Likewise, some effects are difficult to use on animated visuals like movies or streaming videos unless you have an extremely fast CPU. For example, "General Convolution" or "Edge Detection" filters run slowly—even using a low resolution—but can be used to generate some great results on static images.

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