Your Guide: Todd Prives, Product Marketing Manager
GenArts, www.genarts.com
STEP 1: Create your project
Start by creating a composition by going to Composition>New and then adding a new solid layer by choosing Layer>New>Solid, and naming it "Text Layer." Now create some text, select Effect>Text>Basic Text. Adjust the text size and font to your liking.
STEP 2: Add your S_EdgeRays Sapphire plug-in
To give a nice light source to the text, go to Effect>Sapphire Lighting>S_EdgeRays. This will emit beams of light from the edges of the image. In the effect editor, try turning up the value of Rays Length to 1, which gives the appearance of the EdgeRays continuing infinitely beyond the borders of the image.
STEP 3: Create a color matte
You can use any type of image you want for a color matte. In this example we’ll use another Sapphire Plug-in to generate this. Create a new solid layer named "Color Layer" with Layer>New>Solid and place it below your Text Layer in the composition window. Now apply a Sapphire Plug-in effect by choosing Effect>Sapphire Render>S_CloudsColorSmooth to the Color Layer. With the color source created, pre-compose this by selecting Layer>Pre-compose and re-name it Light Source. When prompted, select the option to Move all attributes into the new composition.
STEP 4: Apply the color matte
With your color matte created, turn the viewer (the eyeball) off and return to the S_ EdgeRays controls on the Text Layer. In the effect palette, click on the Matte pulldown menu and choose 2. Light Source. Now click on the Matte Type pulldown and select Color. You should now see the source color of the EdgeRays turn to match the color matte we created in the layer below it. You can use the same techniques with any type of footage you like. Simply place a color source matte anywhere in the composition and choose it from the S_EdgeRays Matte pulldown menu. Also experiment with the S_EdgeRays Rays Color eyedropper. As you choose different colors, it will multiply that color with the matte color.