Animating 3D Charts in Boris Graffiti

Animating 3D Charts in Boris Graffiti
While video editors may be less familiar with the world of graphic creation, even expert graphic artists have had
few options to quickly create high-quality animated charts. Rather than trying to squeeze broadcast-quality results
out of multimedia business applications, you can now tap into Boris Graffiti’s 3D Chart feature. Powerful vector
graphics instantly create charts using data generated from spreadsheets or input directly using a simple Chart
Editor. A variety of vector tools let youcreate a custom look for your business graphics and employ vector
animation for the most impact. The charts provide fast, easy, expert graphic creation for non-graphic experts.
Graffiti’s new Chart feature allows you to import tab- or comma-delimited data to create a chart. You can export
this format from any database or spreadsheet program. Instead of importing chart data, you can also enter chart
data information manually into the Chart Editor.
You can create four different types of charts, a bar graph, a pie chart, a line graph or an area chart. Charts are
animatable, using the parameters in the Animation tab. Charts can be either two dimensional or three dimensional.
The Boris Library Browser includes many 3D Chart presets. One of the easiest ways to learn the charts is
to apply a preset then edit the chart data.
Creating a 3D Chart
1.
Launch Boris FX in your host application. For details, see Appendix B: Applying in Hosts in your User Guide
or consult the Applying in NLEs pdf on your installation CD.
2.
Click to select the top (Video 1) track in the Timeline window.
The track turns blue when you select it.
3.
Press the Media icon in the track, and choose Gradient from
the menu.
4.
If you like choose adjust some of the gradient parameters or
choose Window > Show Style Palette. Click the gradient tab and double-click a thumbnail to apply a gradient
preset style. The gradient will be the background to your chart.
5.
Select the Video 2 track in the timeline.Choose Edit > Delete Track, or press Delete (Macintosh) or Back Space
(Windows). You don’t need a second track for this tutorial.
6.
Set the timeline duration to five seconds (00:00:05:00) by selecting the 1, typing 5 and
pressing Return (Macintosh) or Enter (Windows). The timeline updates to reflect the new
duration.
Media icon
You can only use the Duration field when you work in the KeyFramer. When you use FX in a host
application, you set the duration in the host application. In this case, typing in the Duration field has no
affect.
7.
Click the Add 3D Chart button in the timeline or choose Track > New Chart Container. The chart is
created over an alpha channel. Tracks lower in the timeline are visible in the background.
8.
Double-click the Chart track in the timeline to open the Chart Editor. Import a tab-delimited or
comma-delimited file or enter your data in the Chart Editor.
The Chart Editor appears.
9.
Click the Import Data icon to import tab or comma delimited data. A dialog box allows you to navigate to the
appropriate file. Select the file and click Open. If you don’t have a file, you can type chart data directly into the
Chart Editor instead of importing data.
The 3D Chart supports tab or comma delimited file formats. You can export this format from any database or
spreadsheet program.The file extension does not matter. For example, if you create a chart in Microsoft Excel, save
the chart in either Text (Tab Delimited) or CSV (Comma Delimited) format. Do not save the chart using the
Microsoft Excel workbook format. The 3D Chart automatically rejects invalid data.
Keep in mind that the first row and the first column are used for the legend notation and not for numbers. This
text will appear in the Legend box, if you choose to include one with your chart.
10. When you finish, click the Save Changes icon to close the Chart Editor and apply the data to your 3D Chart or click
the Cancel icon to close the Chart Editor without applying your changes.
11. Select the Chart track in the timeline. In the Chart tab in the Controls window, click the appropriate tab on the left
to set the chart type. The choices are Bar Graph, Pie Chart, Line Graph or Area Chart. This tutorial will create an
animated 3D Bar Graph.
Bar Graph
Pie Chart
Line Graph
Area Chart
Bar Graph tab
Pie Chart tab.
Line Graph tab.
Area Chart tab.
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12. The Series menu lets you orient the chart to include rows or columns as a series. In the Chart tab in the Controls
window, choose Columns as Series from the Series menu.
•
•
Rows as Series places the rows vertically in the chart. The information in the first row appears in the Legend
(if the Enable Legend checkbox is selected in the Legend tab).
Columns as Series places the columns vertically in the chart. The information in the first column appears in
the Legend (if the Enable Legend checkbox is selected).
The following examples use the chart that is shown on page 1.
Rows as Series
Column as Series
13. In the Chart tab in the Controls window, set Spacing to 20 and set Spacing in Series to 0. Spacing in Series sets the
spacing in pixels between each bar within each series, scaled as a percentage of the global Spacing parameter.
Spacing=20, Spacing in Series=25
Spacing=20, Spacing in Series=0
14. In the Chart tab in the Controls window, click the Enable Grid checkbox
to display a colored grid with headers from your chart. The following
parameters format the grid. The Pie Chart does not include this option.
15. Click the color swatch or use the eyedropper to set the color of the grid.
16. The Grid uses the font that you set in the Chart Font menu and the size
that you set with Grid Font Size. If you like, adjust these parameters.
17. When you finish, your chart should appear similar to the example at
right.
18. Complete the steps in the next section to add a legend to your chart.
Adding a Legend to your Chart
1.
Click the Legend tab in the Controls window and select the Enable Legend checkbox to add a legend to your chart.
If this checkbox is not selected, the other options in this tab have no affect. The text that is included in the Legend
is affected by the Series menu in the Chart tab.
When you select the Enable Legend checkbox, a 3D Container named
Legend is nested inside the 3D Chart container in the timeline. Nested
inside this 3D Container are all the tracks in the legend. If you select the
Legend Container in the timeline, you can use the Controls window tabs
to format the Legend. For example, use the Pivot tab controls to pivot the
legend.
2.
Set the Location menu to Upper Right.
3.
Set the Legend Scale to 120. You can use this parameter to resize the
legend.
4.
When you finish, your chart should appear similar to the example at
right.
5.
Complete the steps inthe next section to extrude and animate your
chart.
Extruding and Animating your Chart
The 3D Style tab parameters allow you to format your chart as either two
dimensional or three dimensional.
1.
Click the 3D Style tab in the Controls window.
2.
Set the 3D Style menu to Extruded.
•
•
When Flat is chosen, your chart uses the 3D Plane shape so it is two dimensional.
When Extruded is chosen, your chart uses the 3D Extrusion shape so it is three dimensional.
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3.
When you finish, your chart should appear similar to the example at
right.
Now you will animate your chart.
4.
Click the Animation tab in the Controls window.
The Animation tab parameters allow you to animate your chart. You can
animate charts onscreen to reveal the elements, offscreen to remove the
elements or both.
Unlike most Boris parameters, the parameters in this tab do not include
interpolation fields. Instead, the animation is applied progressively
using the setting in the Interpolation menu.
Select to animate
chart onscreen
(Reveal tab)
Select to animate
chart offscreen
(Remove tab)
5.
Within the Animation tab are two tabs. The Reveal tab controls the animation onscreen and the Remove tab controls
the animation offscreen. Click to Reveal Tab checkbox to create a chart that animates the bars onscreen.
6.
Set Animation Time to 10. This parameter controls how long each bar animates during the effect, expressed as a
percentage. This parameter affects animations created with the Reveal Shape, Fade, Scale, Position, Tumble, Spin,
and/or Rotate parameters (described below).
With our five second Bar Graph and select the first tab’s checkbox to reveal the elements. Animation Time specifies
the percentage of that five seconds that the Reveal Shape, Fade, Scale, Position, Tumble, Spin, and/or Rotate lasts.
If Animation Time is 10, the bars animate for half a second (10% of 5), and subsequently remain stationary for the
rest of the effect.
7.
Select the Reveal Shape checkbox. This lets you animate each bar onscreen. With the Bar Graph, each bar starts
small and grows to full size, as shown in the following example.