Function Following

One way to change how a layer reacts is to manually change the function settings at a keyframe on the layer. Easy to do, right? Well, what if you have a number of layers that are doing exactly the same thing. That is, they all change their opacity at the same time, or maybe they all move off/on-screen at the same time. Well, it’s a simple matter. However, if you want to change the function in some manner, you have to change that function on every layer that uses it. If it is only 1 or 2 layers, no problem. But, it quickly gets tedious when many layers are involved. So, what is the solution? Add a following modifier to the layer that will be doing the following. What is a following modifier? It’s the simplest form of modifier. Basically the subordinate layer is following one function or more of one layer or more.  Refer to the Pan Following discussion on page 31 for a discussion a pan following action. The form of the associated action for all other function following actions is the same except for Zoom (see Zoom Following, page 41) and hue. For all others, the action is simply:

[+] Function Name from Referenced Layer

•        FUNCTION NAME. Any ProShow function (for example, Pan X, Vertical Tilt, Rotate, Opacity, etc.)
•        REFERENCED LAYER. This is the layer that the current layer is using as a reference. Changes in that layer’s function modifies the current layer’s function that is doing the following.

Exception Notes.
• ZOOM. A modifier is unable (through Producer v6) to read the zoom value that the user sees in the zoom box. It reads a value that appears to reflect changes across the entire timeline of the current slide.
• HUE. ProShow, through Version 6 reads a hue value that is 180-degrees out of sync with the master layer’s actual value. The user must change the [+] to a [-] to get a correct Hue Follow operation. Do this by changing the Type of Action from “[+] Add to Modifier” to “[-] Subtract from Modifier.”

Adding a Following Modifier to a Function.

Figure 1 Pan Follow Modifier

• Hover the mouse cursor over the function to which you want to add a modifier
• Right click and chose Add Modifier from the popup menu.
• When the Modifier window opens, the is highlighted under the Actions section.
• Select the radial button for Variable Amount Using. This is the section that begins the selection of the layer and function being followed. The default variable setting through Producer v6 is Pan X. T
• Select the Variable Amount Using down arrow located just to the right of the function identification box. Find the desired function to follow by a combination of hovering over the functions displayed and the scroll box located to the right of the list. Click on the desired function to select. This identifies the desired function to follow.
• Select thedropdown arrow located to the right of the Fromselection. This selection identifies the layer that has the desired function to follow. The default value is the current layer. Upon clicking on thedropdown arrow, a list of all existing layers appears. Hover the mouse cursor over the list. If necessary, use the scroll bar to the right to adjust the list of displayed layers. Click on the desired layer to select.
  • Leave the following settings set to their default values until you are more familiar with using modifiers.
    • Under Modifier Target, leave Apply To set to All Keyframes
    • Under Variable Amount Using, leave the Multiplied By set to 1

Adding a Constant to the Modifier. Select the radial button for this option.

 

• The Constant Amount adds a number to the Action list. The default value is a positive number. You can add a “-” to the beginning of the number to make it negative or (preferable) change the Type of Action from [+] to [-] using the dropdown arrow to the right of the selection box.
• Constants are any decimal number with up to 2 displayed decimal points.

Adding an Amount from Function Modifier. Select the radial button for this option. The functions begin at the start of the show, start of the slide, or start of the keyframe.

• There are multiple functions to chose from: Sine Wave, Cos Wave, Block Wave, Sawtooth Wave, Triangle Wave, Random, Linear Ramp, and Quadratic ramp.
• Sine, Cos, Sawtooth, and Triangle waves have the functions of frequency, amplitude, and phase.
• The Block wave has Amplitude, Up time, down time , and phase.
• The Random function has a Range, Granularity, and Smoothing.
• The Linear Ramp has the values of Linear, Constant, and Offset.
• The Quadratic ramp has values of Quadratic, Linear, Constant, and Offset. Do not worry about the roots of this quadratic equation. It has no meaningful reference to the screen that I could discover.
• The functions are all percent related and the percent values relate to the screen.

Adding the constant modifier or function modifier is beyond the scope of this document. An example of adding a constant action to a modifier is covered in the Zoom modifier. An example of Pan Following. See also, Pan Following description. Adding the function modifier can be a complex issue depending upon what you want or are trying to do. That gets into complex subject matter very quickly which is way beyond the scope of this article. It is deserving of an entire section of its own and is beyond the scope of what most people are trying to do with their program. For example, the Quadratic function can be used to add a smoothing-like effect to a layer’s pan that is using the linear motion easing. My advice on this stuff is to experiment once you get familiar with simple modifiers.

When a modifier has been added to a function, a small red triangle will appear in the upper right corner of the function’s value box. See Figure 2 Below.

Figure 2 Pan Modifier Indicator

© Copyright 20140525-1715 Dale Fenimore, All Rights Reserved