Working with the Presets Browser

Presets are designed to make the following tasks easier for you:

• Applying one of the effect configurations included with the plug-in
• Saving current effect configuration to a file
• Loading effect configuration from a file
• Sharing effect configuration across different video applications

Most plug-ins offer only one parameter in the inspector to work with presets. The features may vary from one effect to the next. This document describes the basic functionality of a presets browser.

Applying a Built-in Preset

Bring up the presets browser by clicking the Browse button in the inspector:

Access the presets browser through the inspector

When the browser window appears, select the desired preset and click the Apply button to proceed:

Filtering the visible presets by title

When looking for a specific preset, enter its title in the Search box to filter the contents of the browser accordingly:

Filtering the visible presets by title

Saving a Preset

The fastest way to save current effect configuration to a file is to click the Save button that appears in the inspector, to the right of the popup menu:

The Save button lets you save current effect configuration to a file

When you first ask the plug-in to save a new preset file, the location on disk will default to a special Presets folder located under your Home:

The default location for user-created presets

If you allow the preset file to be saved at that location, it will automatically appear in the presets browser, for quick access:

Presets saved in the default location are listed first

The above demonstrates the advantage of saving your own preset files at this pre-defined location:

Home → Library → Application Support → FxFactory → Presets

Any presets located in that folder will automatically show up in the presets browser. This is not a requirement, since presets can be saved anywhere on disk, shared with other users, or moved to a different system simply by copying the file.

A Shortcut for Final Cut Pro and Motion Users

Hold down the Option ⌥ key to temporarily turn the Save button into an Open button. This allows you to load a preset file anywhere on your system without going through the preset browser window.

A popup menu sits next to the Browse button. It provides for faster access to both built-in presets and those you have created yourself:

Quick access button

The menu shows built-in presets in categories of their own:

Quick access menu

If you have created presets of your own, they are displayed in the very first category:

Accessing your own presets

The Reveal in Finder command will open a Finder window at the location where all your presets are stored, so that you may back up or copy to a different system, if needed.