Chromatic Abberations
31 Freeframe Plugins

Chromatic Abberations is a collection of Freeframe video effects plugins that are all to do with the manipulation of colours.

To install these demo plugins, copy the .dll files to the freeframe plugin folder for your VJ software, and the Syzygy Plugin Data folder to the directory the VJ software executable runs from.

SZ_LeaveColour

Desaturates the image to greyscale, apart from the parts that are close enough to a specific colour

Parameters
Target Red - Red component of colour to keep
Target Green - Green component of colour to keep
Target Blue - Blue Component of colour to keep
Tolerance - How similar a colour can be to the target colour in order to be kept
Tips

This plugin works best when there is a specific object that is a different colour to the rest of the scene.

Variation - SZ_LeaveHue
This version of the plugin allows you to select the colour by Hue and Saturation values.
SZ_SyzyStrobe

Repeatedly fades the video to black and back again

Parameters
Delay - The number of frames to display black
Attack - The number of frames to spend fading from black to the video
Sustain - The number of frames to display the video
Release - The number of frames to spend fading from the video to black
Tips

Experiment with combinations of the settings - you can achieve a variety of different effects

SZ_Curves

Provides control over the brightness curve of the video.

Parameters
The curve maps each input pixel to an output pixel. The extreme low and high ends of the input scale are fixed at black and white. Each parameter sets the position of one point on the brightness curve. Values in between the points are interpolated.
Tips

This version of the plugin is best for subtle corrections of the brightness curve. It is especially useful for correcting video that lacks contrast, such as live camera feeds.

Variation - SZ_Curves2
This version of the plugin does not fix the extreme ends of the the curve to black and white. This means that you don't get as much fine control over the brightness curve but you can achieve more extreme inversion effects.
Variation - SZ_CurvesRGB
This version of the plugin provides separate control over the red, green and blue channels.
SZ_ThresholdRamps

Performs a threshold operation on the video. Parts darker than the threshold display one black/colour gradient. Parts darker than the threshold display a different black/colour gradient.

Parameters
Threshold - The brightness at which the video is divided between the two gradients
Saturation - The saturation of the two gradients
Hue1 - The hue for the first gradient
Hue2 - The hue for the second gradient
Variation - SZ_ThresholdRampsH
In this version of the plugin, the gradients
SZ_TwoTone

Colorises the video using two hues - one for darker parts of the video and one for brighter parts.

Parameters
Midpoint - Sets the 'balance' point between the two hues.
Saturation - Sets the saturation for both hues
Hue1 - The hue for darker parts of the video
Hue2 - the hue for brighter parts of the video
Variation - SZ_TwoTone2
This version of the plugin just uses the pure tones set by the parameters rather than the original brightness of the video, for a more extreme effect.
SZ_ChanGains

Provides separate gain controls for the red, green and blue components of the video.

Parameters
Red Gain - Gain for the red channel
Green Gain - Gain for the green channel
Blue Gain - Gain for the blue channel
Midpoint - Changing this will give different colouration
Variation - SZ_ChanGains2
This version of the plugin is much more subtle, providing small adjustments to the red, green and blue channels and an overall gain control
Variation - SZ_ChanGains3
This version of the plugin adds or subtracts from the colour channels, providing relatively extreme colouration effects.
SZ_Greyscale

Converts the video to greyscale, with control over the contributions of the reg, green and blue channels to the brightness of the greyscale video.

Parameters
Red Weight - The amount of the red channel that contributes
Green Weight - The amount of the green channel that contributes
Blue Weight - The amount of the blue channel that contributes
Gain - Multiplies the brightness of the greyscale
SZ_BandInvert

Band Invert enables you to invert an adjustable band of your video based on the brightness of each pixel

Parameters
Center - Choose the centre of the band you wish to invert
Band Width - Choose the size of the band you wish to invert
Tips

By setting the centre to either end, this plugin can be used as a solarise plugin

False Colour

False Colour sets the palette of the video to a gradient defined in a .BMP file, stored in the Syzygy Plugins Data folder. Each palette is 1 pixel high and 768 wide and occupies one row of the image. Each palette is selectable using the first parameter. False Colour greyscales the video, and then assigns a new colour based on the palette selected, with the leftmost pixel being mapped to black, and the rightmost mapped to white. If you wish to create your own palette, simply save as palettes.bmp and place into the correct folder. We have supplied 5 False Colour plugins with sample palettes to give you a starting point. If you find that you would like more than 5 individual plugins let us know.

Parameters
Palette - Selects the palette from the palettes.bmp file. ` setting the parameter to a minimum value will select the bottommost line on your palettes.bmp file
Cycle Phase - Allows you to cycle the palette selected.
Autocycle Speed - Allows automatic cycling of the palette selected if selected to minimal values, it will cycle leftwards.
Tips

Look at the example palettes to see a number of different ways to create a false colour scheme. It is possible to create a palettes.bmp that will allow you to cycle smoothly through colour schemes Try expermients with non-gradiated files as well as gradients.

Variations
SZ_Huealtern8r

Performs a threshold operation and then alternates the light and dark parts between two hues

Parameters
Threshold - Sets the threshold level
speed - Sets the speed at which the colours alternate
Hue1 - Sets the first hue value
Hue2 - Sets the second hue value
saturation1 - Sets the first saturation value
saturation2 - Sets the second saturation value
value1 - Sets the first value
value2 - Sets the second value
Tips

Remember to put strobe warnings up if you are using this plugin

Variation - SZ_Huealtern8r2
Allows alternation between a hue, and a greyscale value (set by the value parameter)
Sz_offsetChannels

Allows horizontal and vertical offsets of RGB values seperately, with the picture being stretched to maintain a full frame image for each of the RGB values.

Parameters
RedH - Offset the Red Channel Horizontally
RedV - Offset the Red Channel Vertically
GreenH - Offset the Green Channel Horizontally
GreenV - Offset the Green Channel Vertically
BlueH - Offset the Blue Channel Horizontally
BlueV - Offset the Blue Channel Vertically
Tips

Animate the offset parameters of two of the colours to produce interesting effects

Sz_TriChrome

Performs two thresholds on the video, assigning one end to black, one to white and the middle to a selectable Hue.

Parameters
Black Threshold - sets the threshold level for black in the video
White Threshold - sets the threshold level for White in the video
Hue - sets the hue for the middle brightness parts
Tips

by setting a very low black, or high white threshold, this can be used as a thresholded two tone effect.

Sz_Warhol2

Warhol2 tiles the video into four quadrants, and allows you to select which RGB channel(s) are displayed seperately.

Parameters
Quadrant 1 - Adjust colour on bottom left quadrant
Quadrant 2 - Adjust colour on bottom right quadrant
Quadrant 3 - Adjust colour on top left quadrant
Quadrant 4 - Adjust colour on top right quadrant
Tips

Try animating the colour parameters if your software allows it

Software License
These plugins are for evaluation use only. Any other use is strictly prohibited.