Frequent questions for Beauty Box

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• Does the beauty box video plugin work with FCP X?
• Do I really need 2 plugins of Beauty Box, one for PS and one for FCP?
• Thumbnail image in FCP is too small.
• Does the plugin work on black skin tones?
• Serial number does not remove watermark in FCP.
• Can't find Beauty Box in FCP.
• Why do lines appear across my images?
• Is an 11 hour render time normal?
• Won't hold its results in Premiere Pro CS3.
• Are there limitations in After Effects?
• Are there limitations in Premiere Pro?
• Are there limitations in Final Cut Pro?
• Do you support Motion?
• Analyze All button in Final Cut Pro.
• Can Beauty Box retouch arms, legs, even a scar?
• What is the render time for Beauty Box?
• Does Beauty Box use OpenGL to speed its render?
• Speed difference for FCP vs After Effects?
• Error message: 'Face detection has failed.'

 

Does the beauty box video plugin work with FCP X?

• Does the beauty box video plugin work with FCP X?
• Beauty Box Video does not currently work in FCP X but we do plan on supporting it. Our programmers are hard at work on an update and hopefully should have it ready in January 2012.
  
  There has been a delay on Apple's end to fix some bugs with the Plugin API. Of course, they're not giving us any info as to when that will happen. If Apple hasn't fixed the issues by January, we'll release it with one or two features missing, but working otherwise… with a free update whenever Apple does fix things.
  
  The FCP X update will be free to anyone that purchases in November & December 2011.

Do I really need 2 plugins of Beauty Box, one for PS and one for FCP?

• I am trying out Beauty Box for Photoshop CS5 vs. using Portraiture, and I also am a Final Cut Pro user. Do I need really need 2 plugins of Beauty Box, one for PS and one for FCP? I used to know how to export an image sequence in FCP and edit in PS, but that was a long time ago and I think things have changed there. Do you have a tutorial that explains how to use the PS plugin to edit short video clips? It seems to me this would be the best way...
• We recommend that you purchase both plugins since they are set up for different needs and applications. If you have Photoshop Extended, you can use the Animation palette to apply filters to video frames. However, that method really doesn't work that well. You can't set keyframes for the filter and the process of setting up the filter is not easy, since Photoshop is not really set up to deal with video. In our experience, the time and effort you will spend in making that method work is probably not worth the $140 savings. (Beauty Box Photo is $99 alone, but our Beauty Box Extreme bundle for $239 includes both Beauty Box Video and Beauty Box Photo.)

Thumbnail image in FCP is too small

• Using the very small thumbnail to edit in FCP is not a very user friendly process. I have a huge monitor and yet I can only work on a postage stamp sized canvas when fine tuning my use of Beauty Box on a face.
• We are definitely aware of this issue in FCP and hope to find a solution in a future release. It’s a limitation of the host application and we know it is very annoying. We are working on a free GPU optimization that should be out in May to speed up render times. Then we are going to look at designing new features like figuring out a workaround for better preview capabilities in FCP.

Does the plugin work on black skin tones?

• I'm about to start working on a music video for a high profile black woman. Does this plugin work for people of color whose hair may be close in color to the skin tone?
• Beauty Box definitely works on all skin tones, including African Americans. Our example footage shows all Caucasian models right now but that was just a coincidence in our first photo shoot.
  
  Regarding the hair and skin color being similar, that should not cause a problem. Beauty Box uses face recognition, rather than color value, to find the face and smoothes the skin within those parameters. However, we always recommend doing a test on your footage with the demo version of Beauty Box before purchase.

Serial number does not remove watermark in FCP

• After I input my Beauty Box serial number, the lines over the screen did not disappear. Does this mean I have to redo the work I did on my project with the demo version? Help!
• This problem may occur if you have footage onscreen that has already previewed with the Beauty Box demo version. When you apply Beauty Box to footage, FCP renders the plugin and fills its cache. When you enter the serial number, FCP doesn't recognize that any parameters have changed so it doesn't change its cache or remove the plugin watermark.
  
  The easiest workaround is to uncheck, then recheck, the Disable button in the Filters interface. If this doesn't work, then quit and relaunch FCP. A third workaround is to change a Beauty Box parameter, then preview again. All of these methods will force FCP to re-render Beauty Box and recognize the new serial number.

Can't find Beauty Box in FCP

• I cannot find Beauty Box in Final Cut Pro. After the installation is completed, I don't see the program listed in the Effect > Video Filters menu.
  
  
• In order to show up in FCP, Beauty Box needs to install to this location: Hard Drive/Library/Plug-ins/FxPlug/Digital Anarchy. This typically happens automatically. Please check that location. If you don't see the file there, please contact us. Also, if you had FCP open during installation, please close and then reopen that application, then check to see if Beauty Box shows up.

Why do lines appear across my images?

• I have downloaded the trial version of your product. However, there seems to be lines going across my images when I use the product. Is this normal or will it go away if I buy the software?
• The crosshatch lines that appear are the demo watermark. This allows you to evaluate the product before purchasing. When you purchase the product, you get a serial number will unlock the crosshatch watermark.

Is an 11 hour render time normal?

• I bought Beauty Box to save me time, and I must say it HAS, but I am very disappointed in the render times. I dragged the Beauty Box effect down over each clip on the timeline, selected a full face frame in each clip and selected "analyze frame", then hit render all, and it estimated 11 hours to render. Is this a normal render time?
• Beauty Box takes about 2-4 seconds a frame to render, so we generally see about a render time of 1-2 hours per minute of footage. If your footage is 10 minutes, the render will take awhile. If your footage is one minute, the render time won’t be too bad. The speed is an issue for longer pieces, but not really for shorter footage or situations when you can do an overnight render. We’re aware of the speed and are working on a GPU-optimized version for nVidia cards. That 1.5 version will include speed optimizations, basic built-in color correction, and some other tweaks. It will be a free update to current owners and should be released in September.
  
  There are a couple parameters that impact speed: Smoothing Radius and Skin Detail Amount if they’re set to high settings can really slow things down. So you might want to keep them to 20 or below.

Won’t hold its results in Premiere Pro CS3

• When applying Beauty Box to footage using Premiere Pro CS3 and clicking "analyze", the change only holds for a couple of seconds and then changes back to the original. It is therefore almost impossible to use your software.
• Our Beauty Box plugin will run in Premiere Pro CS3, however, there are issues with the way it operates. Therefore, we only support Premiere Pro CS4 and higher. The specs are here.

Are there limitations in After Effects?

• Are there any limitations when working with the plugin in After Effects?
• There are no limitations when using Beauty Box in After Effects. This plugin was originally designed for use in After Effects and therefore all of its parameters work as expected in that host application.

Are there limitations in Premiere Pro?

• Are there any limitations with the plugin when working in Premiere Pro vs After Effects? There are always a few controls and functions that don't translate because of differences in the host applications.
• Yes, Premiere Pro doesn't support Analyze All. This is because Premiere can't set keyframes outside the current time marker, and Analyze All needs to set keyframes for every frame in your video footage.

Are there limitations in Final Cut Pro?

• Are there any limitations with the plugin when working in Final Cut Pro vs After Effects? There are always a few controls and functions that don't translate because of differences in the host applications.
• Yes, Final Cut Pro doesn't support the Analyze All button. This is because FCP can't set keyframes outside the current time marker, and Analyze All needs to set keyframes for every frame in your video footage.
  
  For more details, read the FAQ 'Analyze All button in Final Cut Pro' on this page.

Do you support Motion?

• I see that you support Final Cut Pro but there's no mention of Motion. Do you support Motion?
• We do not officially support Motion or provide technical support for Motion at this time. By default, Beauty Box will show up inside Motion when you install the plugin for Final Cut Pro. However, currently Motion 4 does not support Apple's FxPlug API as well as FCP does. So not all the functionality that is available in FCP is in Motion.
  
  The biggest issue is that the Analyze Frame button cannot set keyframes. This means if you need to Analyze multiple frames, you will have to manually keyframe each frame and then press Analyze. It's not a recommended or fast process, which defeats the point of Beauty Box, and that's why don't support Motion currently.
  
  Once Apple fixes the issues with Motion 4, we will release an update to Beauty Box that officially supports Motion 4.

Analyze All button in Final Cut Pro

• For Beauty Box for FCP, your site says that, "Final Cut Pro doesn't support the Analyze All button." What does this mean in practical application? Would I have to analyze each frame (or numerous frames) to get a predictable or usable outcome in most situations?
• There is really no impact to your workflow in not having Analyze All in Final Cut Pro. We removed the option in FCP because it was proving to be counter-productive. Here is why.
  
  The way Beauty Box works is you click on the Analyze Frame button for each scene or significant lighting change. For example, if you just have a talking head where nothing really changes, you just click Analyze Frame once and you're good to go. If you have video footage with a series of cuts, you'd probably want to use Analyze Frame on each frame where there's a cut. So footage with 5 cuts, you'd click Analyze Frame 5 times.
  
  If you have video footage with a LOT of cuts, say a music video where you're trying to induce epileptic fits in small children, then the Analyze All button can potentially save some time by looking at each frame automatically. However, this process is usually not necessary and our recommendation is that you generally better off just using Analyze Frame on a few frames.
  
  Analyze All requires some time to process each frame. Since it's looking at EVERY frame it's more prone to false positives which require work to clean up. Part of the reason we just gave up on it for FCP was that it just wasn't turning out to be that useful, in part because of the way FCP handles footage and keyframes.
  
  So the short answer is, not having Analyze All in FCP won't really impact you on 98% of the projects you do. On the 2% that it would have helped on, setting up the plugin will take 15 minutes instead of 5 minutes. The vast majority of the time, even in After Effects which has the Analyze All button, using the Analyze Frame button will give you better results more quickly.

Can Beauty Box retouch arms, legs, even a scar?

• Most of your examples show Beauty Box applied to a face. Can the digital video editing software be used for retouching skin on arms, legs, etc? For example, could a scar on the actor’s leg be retouched with Beauty Box? If so, how would this be done?
• Yes, Beauty Box can be used on all skin areas, not just the face. We have comparison footage that show Beauty Box working on hands.
  
  The process for treating arms, legs, etc will be mostly the same. However, since the detection algorithm generally looks for a face, in this case you will have to manually tell the video editing software what the skin tones are. This usually requires 3 or 4 clicks of the Analyze Frame button on the image, changing. We have a tutorial which will explain this in a bit more detail:
  
  Regarding a scar, it depends on how bad the scar is. If the scar is new and there's a lot of discoloration, then probably not. For older scars, if it's a fairly thin scar, then Beauty Box should improve things. If it’s a massive patch of skin from a motorcycle accident, probably not.

What is the render time for Beauty Box?

• I like your retouch plugin – a lot! – but the render time seems a little high. What kind of render time can I generally expect?
• On a full HD frame, there's going to be a rendering time of 3-6 seconds a frame with the default settings. This should occur in both AE and FCP. Beauty Box is definitely not a real time effect. The tradeoff of this filter being more automatic and requiring less work on the users end, is that we have to do some processing to figure out what’s going on. I expect we'll improve the speed, but I think there will always be some rendering.
  
  FCP should not be dramatically slower. It takes an extra second to draw the thumbnail in the filter menu, so it's a bit slower… but you should see a render of 3-4 seconds vs. 4-5.

Does Beauty Box use OpenGL to speed its render?

• Does Beauty Box take advantage of OpenGL?
• We do not currently use OpenGL for speed optimization. However, we are planning to implement GPU optimization in a near-future FREE update for nVideo cards.

Speed difference for FCP vs After Effects?

• Is there a speed difference for FCP vs After Effects?
• AE may be significantly faster as I feel it has better Multiprocessor support when using effects and the like. AE needs to be set up to use all the cores with enough memory, but it provides an almost linear performance increase when using the additional cores. I haven't seen a similar improvement in FCP 6.

Error message: 'Face detection has failed'

• While the Analyze All button always seems to work, the Analyze Frame sometimes brings up an error message, 'Face detection has failed'. This has occurred on several different clips. What am I doing wrong?
• When using the Analyze Frame button, you may see this warning. You will not see it when running the Analyze All button.

  The Face Detection does not always work with the initial frame you sample, and this error message is just a warning letting you know that failure happened. Face Detection works by looking for a specific pattern – eyes, nose, mouth – and if it doesn’t see those objects, it may fail. Usually you can switch to a different frame where the face is more visible, click Analyze Frame again, and Beauty Box will work fine.
  
  For instance, if the model’s mouth or eyes aren’t visible, this may throw off the face detection. Just move your Time Marker to a frame where more (or all) of the face is shown and Analyze Frame should work. Or you can choose identify the skin tones manually using the Mode> Set and Mode> Foreground tools.