Working with Properties Panel Controls

NukeX gives you various types of controls to edit values in the properties panel, refer to Figure 1. These controls are discussed next.

Figure 1 The parameter controls in the ColorCorrect1 node properties panel

FIELDS

You can enter values directly in the input fields or use arrow keys (UP and DOWN) to increase or decrease the values. When arrow keys are used, the change in the value of the field depends on the initial position of the cursor. For example, if the current value of the field is 125.25 and you need to change it to 126.25; place your cursor after 2 and press UP ARROW once. Now, if you press DOWN ARROW twice, new field value will be 124.25. You can also enter expressions into the fields. Additionally, you can enter formulae in the input fields for quick calculations. For example, if you enter 1280/2 in a field and then press ENTER, NukeX will return a value of 640.

Tip: You can also increase or decrease field values using the mouse wheel. To do so, place the cursor in the field and then scroll mouse wheel. If the mouse wheel is not available then press and hold ALT and drag the field values.

SLIDERS

To set a value with the slider, drag the slider knob as required or click on the scale located beneath the slider. To reset a slider to its default value press and hold CTRL and click on the slider.

CHANNELS

By default, NukeX uses single value for the R, G, B, and A channels. For example, if in the ColorCorrect1 node properties panel you set the gain field value to 1.2, this value will simultaneously affect the R, G, B and A channels, refer to Figure 2. You can choose the field’s Channel chooser button to switch between single and multiple values. As a result, an array of input fields will be displayed for editing channel values individually. The number on the button indicates the number of input fields available when you choose this button, refer to Figure 3.

Figure 2 The value 1.2 applied to all channels in the gain field of
the ColorCorrect1 properties panel

Figure 3 Separate r, g, b, and a channels displayed for the
gain field of the ColorCorrect1 properties panel

COLOR WHEEL

On choosing the field’s Color wheel button, the color picker window will be displayed along with the color sliders and color wheel. The color sliders and color wheel in this window are used to set the precise color values. To make sliders horizontal in this window, resize the dialog box. When the size of the window is wide enough, sliders are placed horizontally, refer to Figure 4.

Figure 4 The color picker window displayed on choosing the Color wheel button
 from the properties panel of the Grade1 node

To change the slider set displayed in the color picker window, choose TMI (Temperature, Magenta/Green, Intensity), HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value), or RGB (Red, Green, Blue) button from the color picker window, refer to Figure 4. To enable dynamic colors for the sliders background, choose the Dyn button. Choose the Show the color wheel button to cycle through color wheel states, the color wheel, and square, refer to Figure 5. Choose the color swatch button to show or hide the color swatches in the color picker window, refer to Figure 6.

Figure 13-5 The color wheel states

Figure 6 Color swatches displayed in the color picker
window on choosing the color swatch button

Drag the white triangle located at the edge of the color wheel to adjust the hue, refer to Figure 7. Drag the white circle located inside the color wheel to adjust the saturation, refer to Figure 7.

Figure 7 Controls on the color wheel

To affect only the hue of the selected color, press and hold CTRL and then drag the white triangle of the color wheel. Similarly, press and hold the SHIFT key and drag the white circle to change only the saturation, refer to Figures 8 and 9.

Figure 8 Changing only the hue values

Figure 13-9 Changing only the saturation values

You can also zoom and pan inside the color wheel. To zoom in or out in the color wheel, press and hold ALT and then drag the cursor up or down using the middle mouse button. To pan in the color wheel, press and hold ALT and then drag the cursor on it. To reset the zoom or pan operation, middle mouse click on the color wheel. The slider labels on the color wheel window are used to increment color values precisely. To increase the value by 0.01, right click on the label. To decrease the value by 0.01, left-click on the label. If you want to change the value by 0.1 or 0.001, use SHIFT or ALT. To open another color picker window while keeping the previously opened color picker window open, CTRL+click on the another parameter’s color picker button.

Figure 10 The slider labels