IntroductionWhat Is Chalice?Chalice is a powerful image composition and adjustment software tool designed for the film industry professional to perform multilayer compositing, tracking, color correction, and other image processing tasks required by digital special effects artists. The Chalice interface is based on the concept of a network of nodes, wherein each node performs a specific function. By creating and connecting these nodes, you can build complex networks to create sophisticated digital effects. Monitors can be opened at any point in a network to allow you to view every change in your imagery at each step in the process. This "dataflow" paradigm lends itself particularly well to the creation of special effects, for it enables a flexible, extensible architecture that is at once both powerful and yet easy to comprehend. Basic image editing tasks can be mastered within minutes. Yet experienced users can create plug-in nodes, utilize UNIX filters, and craft precise mathematical expressions to control image processing. Chalice can work in 8 bits per channel, 16 bits per channel, or floating point (32 bits) per channel, even within the same dataflow. And Chalice supports all the basic image formats, including comprehensive conversion options to and from the Kodak Cineon 10-bit log data format. Chalice can accommodate very high resolution images and is able to perform image caching and to process images in multiple slices. You can specify disk and RAM cache values as well as the number of slices to facilitate working within the memory constraints of your system. In addition to the interactive interface, Chalice features a command line mode called "chal," which enables you to batch process grail scripts automatically. (Chal and its options are described in appendix A of this manual.) Learning ChaliceTutorials and example files are provided to help new users get started using Chalice and to help experienced users become more productive. Chalice TutorialsSeveral hands-on tutorials are available to learn the basics of working in Chalice, from an overview of the interface and dataflow paradigm to task-specific procedurals covering such topics as matte adjustment and tracking.
The tutorials are provided in html format and as Adobe Acrobat pdf files, which are optimized for printing hardcopy. Included with the tutorials are
The Chalice tutorials are available on the Chalice distribution CD (in the Tutorials directory) and in the Support section of the Silicon Grail website (www.sgrail.com). Annotated Sample NetworksThe Custom menu (located at the right end of the Chalice node menu) includes annotated example grail files that illustrate various composite operations and related tasks, including image stabilization and match moves. To review these files, select one from the Custom menu and place it in the workspace. Click and hold the Info button on each node in the sample network, starting with the "Read First" Comment node, if one is included. This will enable you to read explanatory notes in the Info popup boxes. How to Use this ManualThis manual is not a compositing textbook, and readers are assumed to be experienced digital compositors. However, the background of compositing professionals working in today's effects facilities can vary greatly. Your previous experience may be in traditional optical composition for film, in video editing, in computer graphics, and/or in programming. Each of these areas provides a different focus of expertise, as well as a different jargon. In fact, the terminology relating to a number of 2D and 3D techniques varies from facility to facility. Given this situation, this manual attempts to strike a balance between explaining too little and too much about the topics it needs to address. For example, a compositor with a film background may understand the intricacies of log/linear conversion for the Cineon film format, while a compositor with a C programming background may have no trouble writing complex expressions. However, we recommend that even if you are expert in a particular area you at least skim the relevant explanations in this manual. For example, even if you are familiar with Cineon conversion issues, it will be profitable to find out how Chalice handles this conversion, what conversion options are available, and exactly what we mean by the various terms we use. New users of Chalice should peruse the chapters in the first half of the manual, which cover basic concepts relating to building nodes into a network that defines a shot and using the tools common to most operations. This knowledge is assumed in the node reference chapters, which experienced users are most likely to consult for specific information about the use of individual nodes. Even experienced Chalice users may profit from at least skimming the overview chapters, however, which provide shortcuts and tips to make the job easier by preventing the repetition of mundane tasks. Product Support for ChaliceWe have designed support systems for Chalice with the same philosophy that guides the development of Chalice itself--to be powerful, flexible, easy to use, and responsive. Documentation, problem reporting capabilities and solutions, expert tips, and other support features are all available in the most convenient and up-to-date form possible. Information and support tools are included with Chalice and on the Silicon Grail website. Chalice Help SystemChalice includes a comprehensive, hyperlinked, context-sensitive online help system, which is available for each node via the Node Help buttons on each node panel as well as by accessing the General Help menu item under the Help Menu. This manual is available in electronic form (html and pdf) on the Chalice CD-ROM, as well as in printed form. The Support section of the Silicon Grail website also contains the latest version of this manual in html format. Problem ReportsWe not only welcome problem reports from Chalice users, but make reporting easy by incorporating a problem-reporting email feature into Chalice, which is described in the Help Menu section of chapter 10, "Main Menu Bar ." Silicon Grail WebsiteKeep current with the latest news and information about Chalice by visiting the Silicon Grail website. In addition to publishing the latest documentation, the Support section of our website provides a problem report form which can be used to report both software and documentation problems. For example, if you think a description in this manual is unclear or incomplete, use the form to let us know so that we can fix it. Chalice Users Email ListIf you have questions or comments about Chalice, you can now post an email message to the Chalice Users list and receive feedback from other users as well as from our programming, support, and documentation staff. Subscribers to the list also receive tips for using Chalice. To subscribe:Send email to majordomo@sgrail.com with the words "subscribe chalice-users" in the body. To receive more detailed instructions:Send email to chalice-users-request@sgrail.com, which will email instructions back to you. To post a message:Send to chalice-users@sgrail.com. How to Contact Silicon Grail
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