Color Separation Settings group

Color Separation simulates a red/blue or red/green separation of the image, similar to what you would see in a bad TV transmission. Among other features, you can choose the amount of separation between the hologram and the R/G/B color versions.

In this group, the main parameters are % Chance of Color Separation, a choice of Colors, and Amount of Separation. All other parameters are placed in an Advanced section for the power user. You can play around with the separation effect quite a bit, so let's look at how.

At left, the Color Separation settings. At right, the Color Separation checkbox.

At left, with Color Separation. In middle, without Color Separation. At right, without Holomatrix. Original footage courtesy of www.allbetsareoff.com

% Chance of Color Separation

Determines how likely the colors are to separate at any given frame. Default setting is 25%. Value range is 0 to 100 and measured in percentage. Higher values mean the separation is more likely to happen.

Colors

This popup sets whether the color separation will be Red/Blue or Red/Green. Set to Red/Blue by default. Only two ghosts are created; you cannot choose Red/Green/Blue and there is not a Blue/Green option.

At left, Colors at Red/Blue (default). At right, Colors at Red/Green.

Amount of Separation

Determines the distance between the separated colors. Default setting is 7. Value range is -100 to 100 and measured in pixels.

High positive values (like 80) and low negative values (like -80) move the colors further from their source image. Positive values move the Red to the left, and the Blue or Green to the right; negative values do the opposite. A value of 0 does not separate the colors, but they still appear over the image, altering its colors slightly.

Left to right, Amount at -30, 7 (default), 20.

Advanced Parameters: How Random Positioning Works

The Color Separation group has a group of Random Position parameters. Let's talk a little about how they work.

Chance of Random X and Y affect how likely the Color Separation is going to happen. The parameters do this by setting a random value to the likeliness. Random X and Y Min and Max determine how far, measured in pixels, the separation can occur from the source image.

For instance, if the Random X Max value is 100, then the color can’t be more than 100 pixels away from the source image horizontally. If the Random X Max value is 1,000, then the color can’t be more than 1,000 pixels away from the source image horizontally. With X Min/Max at 100/1,000, the color separation is a value that is randomly chosen between 100 and 1,000 pixels distance from the source.

Now let's look at the details of the Position controls.

CS - Chance of Random X Position

Determines how likely the Color Separation will be offset on the X axis. Default setting is 0%. Value range is 0 to 100 and measured in percentage. Higher values mean the X axis separation is more likely to happen.

If Random X Position is at 0, then Random X Min and Random X Max will have no effect on the separation. The color will not have horizontal movement.

CS - Random X Position Min

Determines the minimum possible offset value, in pixels, for the Random X Position. Random X Min moves the colors along the X axis, to the left and right of the source image.

Default setting is -200. Value range is -2,000 to 2,000. Higher values move the colors to the right. Lower values move the colors to the left.

CS - Random X Position Max

Determines the maximum possible offset value, in pixels, for the Random X Position. Random X Max moves the colors along the X axis, to the left and right of the source image.

Default setting is 200. Value range is -2,000 to 2,000. Higher values move the colors to the right. Lower values move the colors to the left.

Random X parameters let the separation move horizontally.

CS - Chance of Random Y Position

Determines how likely the Color Separation will be offset on the Y axis. Default setting is 15%. Value range is 0 to 100 and measured in percentage. Higher values mean the Y axis separation is more likely to happen.

If Random Y Position is at 0, then Random Y Min and Random Y Max will have no effect on the separation. The color will not have vertical movement.

CS - Random Y Position Min

Determines the minimum possible offset value, in pixels, for the Random Y Position. Random Y Min moves the colors along the Y axis, up and down from the source image.

Default setting is -200. Value range is -2,000 to 2,000. Higher/positive values move the colors upwards. Lower/negative values move the colors downwards.

CS - Random Y Position Max

Determines the maximum possible offset value, in pixels, for the Random Y Position. Random Y Max moves the colors along the Y axis, up and down from the source image.

Default setting is 200. Value range is -2,000 to 2,000. Higher/positive values move the colors upwards. Lower/negative values move the colors downwards.

Set value to 0: Random Y Max is an important parameter because it can save your project from looking fake. (Since we all know holograms are real!) If Random Y Max is set to 0, then the separation image can't go lower then the bottom of the source image. This keeps the hologram image from appearing to move lower than the floor line.

Random Y parameters let the separation move vertically.
At left, Random Y Max at 0 keeps the separation at/above the floor line.
At right, Random Y Max at 100 lets the separation go below the floorline.