Known Issues with Holomatrix

This page documents technical issues that Red Giant is currently working to improve, or has already found a solution for.

Conflict with AE's Time Remapping

Holomatrix is affected by a bug in After Effects' Time Remapping function and audio files. If an audio file is inserted into the Timeline below a layer containing Holomatrix, then Holomatrix will temporarily disable itself. To re-enable it, there are two solutions.
Solution 1: Change the Layer's blending mode from Add to another mode (such as Normal or Screen), and then switch the mode back to the Add mode again. As soon as you change the blending mode, Holomatrix will go back to working perfectly.

Solution 2: Select the layer containing Holomatrix, and from the Holomatrix palette choose the Apply Holomatrix button. You will get a warning that the layer already contains Holomatrix. The effect will not be applied a second time, but Holomatrix will work again as usual.

Important note: This issue only appears when an audio layer is taken from the project panel and inserted into the Timeline below a Holomatrix layer. If an audio layer already exists in the comp and is moved below the Holomatrix layer, this problem will not be seen. Also, a video containing audio will not cause the same problem.

Nesting and Pre-composing

Since Holomatrix uses several expressions connected from different pre-comps, you should not pre-compose your Holomatrix layer by choosing Layer >Pre-compose. Doing so will break the connections between the controls and their expressions, and Holomatrix will no longer work. (Chose Edit >Undo if this happens.)

Solution: Take the composition containing the Holomatrix layer, and nest it into a new composition.

Naming and Renaming

You can't change the comp name of the composition containing the Holomatrix effect. Once you've added Holomatrix to a layer, if you change the name of the comp that Holomatrix is sitting in, this renaming breaks the expressions. This issue is a curent limitation of the software because all of its components are connected.

We have three workaround methods for now. Be assured that we are looking for a way to make this workflow easier.

Solution 1: Consider the main comp a pre-comp, and place (nest) the main comp in another comp. That nested pre-comp can be used as many times as you want.

Solution 2: Keep your footage in a pre-comp and apply Holomatrix there. Then nest that pre-comp in any other comp in your project. You can always rename the layer in your main comp.

Solution 3: Temporarily remove the Holomatrix effect and rename the comp. Then re-add the Holomatrix effect. If you are using special settings, first save a preset with your settings and then remove and reapply.