Full Curve Editor

Overview

The Full Curve Editor is a dedicated dialog for building and fine-tuning a curve with more precision than the Inline Curve Editor allows. It opens when you double click a curve control in the Effect Editor.

Editing Curves

• To add a point, hold the Control Key and click on the grid where you want the new point.
• To delete a point, hold the Alt Key and click the point you wish to delete. A curve must always keep at least two points, so the last two can’t be removed.
• To move a point, simply click and drag it to a new position.
• To move the entire curve up or down while keeping its shape, click and drag anywhere on the grid that isn’t on a point.

Shortcuts

• To flatten the curve into a horizontal line, hold the Shift key and click-drag anywhere on the grid. The flat line will follow your mouse up and down.
• To reverse the curve direction (flip left to right), use Alt+Shift while clicking the curve, or click the Reverse Curve button.
• To invert the curve (flip top to bottom), use Control+Shift while clicking the curve, or click the Invert Curve button.

Precise Point Entry

Clicking or dragging a point selects it and shows its coordinates in the X: and Y: boxes below the grid. You can type exact values into these boxes and click Update to move the selected point to that precise location, which is useful when you need an exact number instead of an approximate mouse position.

Draw and Generate

• Draw Curve lets you free-hand a brand new curve. Click the button, then click and drag the left mouse button from the left side of the grid to the right side to sketch the shape. The Draw Interval setting controls the minimum horizontal distance between the points that get recorded while you draw; a larger interval creates a smoother curve with fewer points.
• f(x) Curve opens a function generator where you can type a mathematical expression to generate the curve. The expression is evaluated for x from 0 to 100 (at the Draw Interval step size) and the result becomes the curve’s Y value at that point. Pi is available as a constant. For example, Sin(2 * Pi * (x / 100)) * 50 + 50 produces one full sine wave across the curve.

Library

The Library section lets you save, load, and manage curves independently of any one effect:

• Save Curve saves the curve currently shown in the editor to the library under a name you choose.
• Load Curve opens the curve library so you can pick an existing curve and link the editor’s curve to it.
• When a curve is linked to a library curve, it’s shown in gray and can’t be edited directly in this dialog.
• Edit Library Curve opens the linked library curve itself for editing; changes apply everywhere that curve is used.
• Unlink Curve breaks the link to the library curve, leaving you with an independent copy you can edit freely.