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Live Effects

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Found under the Window > FILTERiT4 menu, Live Effects work similarly to Illustrator's blend tool. They modify or duplicate objects in variety of ways, and the objects remain fully editable. The objects generated with Live Effects are called Live Objects and are automatically updated as the original objects is edited.

Each Live Effect has a palette where its options can be adjusted.

The live update option allows the changes to be previewed in real time. The expand option creates individual objects from the intermediate steps created by the live effect and automatically groups them. One a live effect has been expanded, it is no longer "live" and the effect cannot be modified, although the individual objects can be ungrouped and modified. Multiple effects can be applied by expanding one effect before applying another. The release option removes an effect if you decide you don't like it. All Live effects have presets available, and users can create and save their own custom presets.

Here's a brief description of each of the Live Effects:

Border- adds a bevel to objects or text.

Circle - creates copies of text or objects around a circle or oval.

Cutout - adds depth to an object by creating a series of tinted objects offset behind the original.

Emboss - gives text or objects a 3D look by creating additional objects to create highlights and/or shadows.

Explosion - copies objects to create a pattern that spreads out from a central point.

Frame - copies objects in a rectangular frame pattern with control over rotation and spacing.

Galaxy - creates multiple copies of objects in a series of spirals radiating out from a central point. You can specify the number of of branches, size and number of objects per branch, and distribution of branches and objects.

Generation - generates copies of an object in a spiral that decreases in size.

Neon - adds a neon-like stroke to objects or text. Live Neon uses the object's fill color as the highlight and the stroke color as the base to create the effect. The live neon effect replaces the object's stroke, and the actual fill is discarded.

Reflection - creates mirror images of objects or text with four types of reflections: horizontal, vertical, both horizontal and vertical, or radial. You control the spacing between the reflected objects.

Shadow - creates drop shadows with control over shade, offset, light angle, and transparency.

Tiling - creates duplicates in a grid pattern of rows and columns. Can be applied to single or multiple selected objects, groups of objects, and text. You can adjust the size, rotation, and spacing of objects, as well as the number of rows and columns.

Trail - creates a series of copies in a trail. You can control the size, tint, location, and color of the copies.
In addition to Live Effects and tools, FILTERiT also adds two effects to Illustrator's menus: 3D Transform and Fractalize.

3D Transform allows you to manipulate objects into 3D shapes. The transformation shapes available are simple rotation, twist, arc, screw, twirl, wave (H/V), wave (Z), wave (radial), sphere, torus (donut), spiral, and cylinder/cone. The preview area of the 3D Transform dialog allows you to move and rotate a wireframe representation of the object by dragging the mouse. Each transformation style offers several slider controls for manipulating the shape and rotation. Many of the transformation styles have presets, and you can create your own presets.

Fractalize adds anchor points and segments to the path of an object. In Illustrator 9 and up, it can function as an effect so that the object and effect remain editable. In Illustrator 8, it functions as a filter which permanently alters the object. The fractalize dialog allows you to choose from various segment shapes, and the height, segments, level, and distortion option control how the shape is applied to the path. You can create and store your own Fractilize presets.
FILTERiT 4 operates in Illustrator 8 and up for Macintosh or Windows. The estimated price is $129 US and a tryout version is available from http://www.cvalley.com/. Included with the software is a 100 page User's Guide which describes every tool, effect, and option in great detail, plus practice files, tips, and Flash examples.

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