Hold Morph effect

[poporacer]

I have a morph effect where it spirals up a MegaTree. the problem is that the effect fades out as soon as it scrolls up. I would like the effect to "hold" the effect for a while and I can't figure that out. My morph effect is 13 seconds in length, but it completes the effect in 5 seconds and then is blank for the remainder of the effect. I have played with the settings but can't seem to find the one.

Thanks for your help

[Gilrock]

That sounds like the render buffer is larger than the actual tree.  Are you using a Per Preview render buffer.  A morph can never leave the buffer its rendering on that fast unless the effect is masked by another effect.

[poporacer]

I am using the default render method. I tried a couple other Render Methods and they didn't work. There is no other effect on the model. I attached a video that shows the model preview and the render method. You can see that as soon as the spiral reaches the top of the tree that it immediately starts fading away and then you get approximately 8 seconds of a blank model. What I would like to happen is for the spiral to reach the top of the tree and then remain there for a while before it starts to fade away. There is a video that shows how to freeze an effect but the problem with this is that when the spiral reaches the top, the bottom part of the spiral is already fading away. I probably have some setting wrong, but not sure where. What other settings can I show you to help out?

Thanks for your help!

[Gilrock]

I can't really help without the actual sequence.  I do see you have a Blur of "3" so maybe you blurred it out of existence.

[poporacer]

LOL,
I changed the blur and it didn't change the issue I was having. Here is the sequence.

[keithsw1111]

http://videos.xlights.org/xlights-freeze-an-effect-part-way-through_4c384dc6d.html


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gilrock]

Ok I don't even have xLights with me but I looked up that one effect you pointed out and below are its settings.  I notice you do have a custom sub-buffer defined which is the yellow box inside the that black area in the Layer Settings panel but the numbers are close to normal.  Just double-click inside that black area to reset it.  I'm not sure why you have Blur in almost every effect because that slows down rendering big time.

Finally the main problem is this is not a standard morph effect.  You have a repeat count of 40, skip of 8, and a stagger of 17.  With a Mega Tree that only has 32 strands you are probably only getting the morph on 3 strands with a skip count of 8 and even those aren't going to go up at the same time due to the stagger.  You really need to go back and just use default values if you don't understand what all those parameters do.

B_CUSTOM_SubBuffer=0.00x0.00x100.02x100.23
B_SLIDER_Blur=3
E_CHECKBOX_Morph_End_Link=0
E_CHECKBOX_Morph_Start_Link=0
E_CHECKBOX_ShowHeadAtStart=0
E_NOTEBOOK_Morph=Options
E_SLIDER_MorphAccel=0
E_SLIDER_MorphDuration=22
E_SLIDER_MorphEndLength=1
E_SLIDER_MorphStartLength=1
E_SLIDER_Morph_End_X1=0
E_SLIDER_Morph_End_X2=100
E_SLIDER_Morph_End_Y1=34
E_SLIDER_Morph_End_Y2=0
E_SLIDER_Morph_Repeat_Count=40
E_SLIDER_Morph_Repeat_Skip=8
E_SLIDER_Morph_Stagger=17
E_SLIDER_Morph_Start_X1=100
E_SLIDER_Morph_Start_X2=100
E_SLIDER_Morph_Start_Y1=0
E_SLIDER_Morph_Start_Y2=0

[poporacer]

@Keith,
That was the video that I mentioned that I had watched. The problem is that when the spiral reaches the top of the tree and I try to freeze it there, the bottom of the spiral has already started to fade out. I would like to have the spiral on the whole tree. If I could get the morph effect to delay the fading out for just a fraction of a second, then that technique will work.

[Gilrock]

Delete the morph you have.  Click on any effect that is not a morph.  Then drop down a brand new morph effect so that you get default values.  Then set it to Full Sweep Up in the quick settings combo box.

[poporacer]

@Gilrock
Thanks for the help, yes, I don't quite understand all of the settings. Some I can understand and I have watched several videos but I guess I am missing something.  I just tweak the settings until it looks like something I want. In regards to the blur, I am just starting to learn and experimenting with the different settings to see what they do. It is good to know about the rendering aspect. It would be nice if there were a manual that identified each setting and what they do. I am trying to learn, and there are a TON of very useful videos to watch and I have watched several and some I have watched several times. I will go back to the default setting and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for everything you guys do.

[Gilrock]

Sounds like your homework is to go find the user manual because it is written down.  Even if its out of date everything in it is still quite relevant especially since I added the Morph a few years ago.

[poporacer]

LOL,
I feel so dumb. I have read the user manual several times and when I got to the Advanced Features section, I stopped reading because I wasn't ready for the advanced stuff and I didn't realize that there was another chapter after that. DOH! I am going to work on my sequence when I get back home.
And thanks again for all that you guys do and I know how much work it takes to implement and maintain a program like this and it is very much appreciated!

[Gilrock]

I actually don't know what's in the manual it was created by other users that wanted to help out.