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Complete Video Effects Reference

Video Capture SDK .Net Video Edit SDK .Net Media Player SDK .Net Media Blocks SDK .Net

Introduction

This document provides a comprehensive reference for all video effects available in VisioForge .NET SDKs. Effects are available in two distinct implementations:

Effect Types by SDK Engine

Classic Effects (Windows Only)

  • Available in: VideoCaptureCore, MediaPlayerCore, VideoEditCore
  • Platform: Windows only (.NET Framework 4.7.2+ and .NET 6-10)
  • Types:
  • VideoEffect* - CPU-based processing
  • GPUVideoEffect* - GPU-accelerated (DirectX)
  • Maxine* - NVIDIA AI-powered effects (RTX GPUs)
  • Location: VisioForge.Core.Types.VideoEffects namespace

Cross-Platform Effects

  • Available in: VideoCaptureCoreX, MediaPlayerCoreX, VideoEditCoreX, Media Blocks SDK
  • Platform: Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS
  • Types:
  • *VideoEffect classes in VisioForge.Core.Types.X.VideoEffects
  • Cross-platform processing for universal compatibility
  • Location: VisioForge.Core.Types.X.VideoEffects namespace

Important: When choosing effects, select based on your target SDK and platform requirements. Cross-platform effects provide broader compatibility, while Classic effects offer Windows-specific optimizations and DirectX GPU acceleration.

Effect Categories

The following sections list all available effects. Each effect includes SDK availability markers: - 🪟 Classic = VideoCaptureCore/MediaPlayerCore/VideoEditCore (Windows only) - 🌍 Cross-platform = VideoCaptureCoreX/MediaPlayerCoreX/VideoEditCoreX/Media Blocks (Cross-platform)

Color Adjustment Effects

Brightness and Darkness

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectDarkness 🪟 Classic Adjusts overall darkness/lightness. Values above 128 darken, values below lighten the image.
GPUVideoEffectDarkness 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated darkness adjustment.
GPUVideoEffectBrightness 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated brightness adjustment. Adds or subtracts uniform values to RGB components.
VideoEffectLightness 🪟 Classic Adjusts lightness in HSL color space, preserving hue and saturation relationships.
VideoBalanceVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue adjustment.

Contrast and Color

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectContrast 🪟 Classic Adjusts the difference between light and dark areas. Supports animated transitions.
GPUVideoEffectContrast 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated contrast adjustment.
VideoEffectSaturation 🪟 Classic Controls color intensity from grayscale (0) to full saturation (255).
GPUVideoEffectSaturation 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated saturation adjustment.
VideoBalanceVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Provides contrast and saturation control (cross-platform).
GammaVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Gamma correction for brightness curve adjustment.

Color Filters and Conversions

Grayscale and Monochrome

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectGrayscale 🪟 Classic Converts color video to black and white using perceptual luminance weights.
GPUVideoEffectGrayscale 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated grayscale conversion.
GPUVideoEffectMonoChrome 🪟 Classic (GPU) Creates monochrome effect with customizable tint color.
GrayscaleVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform grayscale conversion using videobalance element.
ColorEffectsVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Various color presets including monochrome, sepia, heat map, and more.

Color Inversion

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectInvert 🪟 Classic Inverts all RGB color values, creating photographic negative effect.
GPUVideoEffectInvert 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated color inversion.

Color Channel Filters

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectRed 🪟 Classic Isolates red color channel, removing green and blue components.
VideoEffectGreen 🪟 Classic Isolates green color channel, removing red and blue components.
VideoEffectBlue 🪟 Classic Isolates blue color channel, removing red and green components.
VideoEffectFilterRed 🪟 Classic Applies red color filter effect with adjustable intensity.
VideoEffectFilterGreen 🪟 Classic Applies green color filter effect with adjustable intensity.
VideoEffectFilterBlue 🪟 Classic Applies blue color filter effect with adjustable intensity.

Color Grading

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectLUT 🪟 Classic Look-up table color grading using 3D LUT files for professional color correction.
LUTVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform 3D LUT support with multiple interpolation modes.
VideoEffectPosterize 🪟 Classic Reduces number of colors, creating poster-like effect with discrete color levels.
VideoEffectSolorize 🪟 Classic Solarization effect that inverts colors above a threshold brightness level.

Image Enhancement

Sharpening and Blur

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectSharpen 🪟 Classic Enhances edges and fine details for crisper images.
GPUVideoEffectSharpen 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated sharpening.
VideoEffectBlur 🪟 Classic Applies smoothing filter, softening image and reducing detail.
GPUVideoEffectBlur 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated blur.
GPUVideoEffectDirectionalBlur 🪟 Classic (GPU) Blur with directional component for motion blur effects.
VideoEffectSmooth 🪟 Classic Softening filter for noise reduction and gentle image smoothing.
GaussianBlurVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform Gaussian blur with adjustable sigma.
SmoothVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform smoothing/softening filter.

Noise Reduction

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectDenoiseAdaptive 🪟 Classic Adaptive noise reduction that preserves edges while removing noise.
VideoEffectDenoiseCAST 🪟 Classic CAST (Cellular Automata-based Spatio-Temporal) denoise algorithm with multiple parameters.
VideoEffectDenoiseMosquito 🪟 Classic Reduces mosquito noise artifacts common in compressed video.
GPUVideoEffectDenoise 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated general noise reduction.

Geometric Transformations

Rotation and Flipping

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectRotate 🪟 Classic Rotates video by any angle with options for stretching or preserving full frame.
FlipRotateVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform flip and rotation (90°, 180°, 270°, horizontal/vertical flip).
VideoEffectFlipHorizontal 🪟 Classic Flips video horizontally (left-right mirror).
VideoEffectFlipVertical 🪟 Classic Flips video vertically (top-bottom mirror).
VideoEffectMirrorHorizontal 🪟 Classic Creates horizontal mirror effect at center of frame.
VideoEffectMirrorVertical 🪟 Classic Creates vertical mirror effect at center of frame.

Scaling and Transformation

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectZoom 🪟 Classic Zooms into specific region of video with pan and scale control.
VideoEffectPan 🪟 Classic Pan and crop effect for selecting specific video region.
ResizeVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform video scaling/resizing with multiple interpolation methods.
CropVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform video cropping to specific dimensions.
AspectRatioCropVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Automatically crops video to target aspect ratio.
BoxVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Adds letterboxing/pillarboxing with custom fill color.

Artistic and Stylistic Effects

Classic Film Effects

Effect SDK Description
GPUVideoEffectOldMovie 🪟 Classic (GPU) Vintage film effect with grain, scratches, and sepia tone.
GPUVideoEffectNightVision 🪟 Classic (GPU) Night vision camera simulation with green phosphor look.
AgingVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform aging/vintage film effect.
OpticalAnimationBWVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Optical illusion animation effects in black and white.

Edge and Texture Effects

Effect SDK Description
GPUVideoEffectEmboss 🪟 Classic (GPU) Creates embossed or raised relief effect highlighting edges.
GPUVideoEffectContour 🪟 Classic (GPU) Edge detection and contour enhancement.
GPUVideoEffectPixelate 🪟 Classic (GPU) Pixelation effect with adjustable block size.
VideoEffectMosaic 🪟 Classic Creates mosaic pattern with adjustable tile size.
EdgeVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform edge detection filter.
DiceVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Creates dice/cubist effect by dividing image into rotated squares.

Special Distortion Effects (Cross-platform only)

The following artistic effects are available exclusively in the cross-platform implementation:

Effect Description
FishEyeVideoEffect Fish-eye lens distortion effect.
TwirlVideoEffect Twirl/swirl distortion effect.
BulgeVideoEffect Bulge/magnification distortion.
StretchVideoEffect Stretch distortion effect.
TunnelVideoEffect Tunnel perspective effect.
SphereVideoEffect Spherical warping effect.
SquareVideoEffect Square warping effect.
CircleVideoEffect Circular warping effect.
KaleidoscopeVideoEffect Kaleidoscope mirror effect.
MarbleVideoEffect Marble texture effect.
PinchVideoEffect Pinch distortion effect.
Pseudo3DVideoEffect Pseudo 3D stereo effect.
QuarkVideoEffect Quark particle effect.
RippleVideoEffect Water ripple effect.
WaterRippleVideoEffect Enhanced water ripple with multiple modes.
WarpVideoEffect General warp distortion effect.
DiffuseVideoEffect Diffuse/blur spreading effect.
MovingBlurVideoEffect Motion blur with directional control.
MovingEchoVideoEffect Motion echo/trail effect.
MovingZoomEchoVideoEffect Combined zoom and echo effect.
SMPTEVideoEffect SMPTE transition effects (wipes, fades).
SMPTEAlphaVideoEffect SMPTE transitions with alpha channel.

Special Effects

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectColorNoise 🪟 Classic Adds random color noise for grain or interference effects.
VideoEffectMonoNoise 🪟 Classic Adds monochrome (grayscale) noise.
VideoEffectSpray 🪟 Classic Spray paint or pointillist effect.
VideoEffectShakeDown 🪟 Classic Vertical shake effect for impact or earthquake simulation.

Deinterlacing

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend 🪟 Classic Blends interlaced fields for progressive output.
GPUVideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend 🪟 Classic (GPU) GPU-accelerated deinterlace blend.
VideoEffectDeinterlaceCAVT 🪟 Classic Content Adaptive Vertical Temporal deinterlacing.
VideoEffectDeinterlaceTriangle 🪟 Classic Triangle interpolation deinterlacing method.
DeinterlaceVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform deinterlacing with multiple methods (linear, greedy, vfir, yadif, etc.).
AutoDeinterlaceSettings 🌍 Cross-platform Automatic deinterlacing when interlaced content is detected.
InterlaceSettings 🌍 Cross-platform Creates interlaced output from progressive content.

Transition Effects

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectFadeIn 🪟 Classic Gradual fade from black to video content.
VideoEffectFadeOut 🪟 Classic Gradual fade from video content to black.

Overlays and Graphics

Text Overlays

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectTextLogo 🪟 Classic Flexible text overlay with extensive customization including fonts, colors, rotation, effects, and animated text.
VideoEffectScrollingTextLogo 🪟 Classic Scrolling text banner with direction and speed control.
TextOverlayVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform text overlay with advanced typography control. Supports timestamps, system time, and dynamic text.
OverlayManagerText 🌍 Cross-platform Advanced text overlay with shadows, gradients, and animations.
OverlayManagerScrollingText 🌍 Cross-platform Scrolling text with full control over speed, direction, and appearance.
OverlayManagerDateTime 🌍 Cross-platform Date/time overlay with customizable formatting.

See: Text Overlay Guide

Image Overlays

Effect SDK Description
VideoEffectImageLogo 🪟 Classic Image overlay supporting PNG, JPG, BMP, animated GIF, with transparency and positioning control.
ImageOverlayVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Cross-platform image overlay with positioning and alpha blending.
ImageOverlayCairoVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform Advanced image overlay using Cairo graphics with transformations.
OverlayManagerImage 🌍 Cross-platform Professional image overlay with animations, transitions, and effects.
OverlayManagerGIF 🌍 Cross-platform Animated GIF overlay support.
SVGOverlayVideoEffect 🌍 Cross-platform SVG vector graphics overlay.
QRCodeOverlayFilter 🌍 Cross-platform QR code generation and overlay.

See: Image Overlay Guide

Advanced Overlay Features (Cross-platform only)

Feature Description
OverlayManagerVideo Video-in-video overlay (picture-in-picture).
OverlayManagerDecklinkVideo Blackmagic Decklink video source overlay.
OverlayManagerNDIVideo NDI video source overlay.
OverlayManagerGroup Group multiple overlays together for synchronized control.
OverlayManagerPan Pan overlay animation.
OverlayManagerZoom Zoom overlay animation.
OverlayManagerFade Fade in/out overlay animation.
OverlayManagerSqueezeback Squeezeback effect (shrink main video to show background).
OverlayManagerBackgroundImage Background image layer.
OverlayManagerBackgroundRectangle Colored rectangle background.
OverlayManagerBackgroundSquare Colored square background.
OverlayManagerBackgroundStar Star-shaped background.
OverlayManagerBackgroundTriangle Triangle-shaped background.
OverlayManagerCircle Circular shape overlay.
OverlayManagerLine Line drawing overlay.
OverlayManagerRectangle Rectangle shape overlay.
OverlayManagerStar Star shape overlay.
OverlayManagerTriangle Triangle shape overlay.

Chroma Key and Motion Detection (Cross-platform only)

Effect Description
ChromaKeySettings Green screen / blue screen keying for background removal.
MotionDetectionProcessor Real-time motion detection with configurable sensitivity.

360° Video and VR (Classic only)

Effect SDK Description
GPUVideoEffectEquirectangular360 🪟 Classic (GPU) Processes equirectangular 360° video format.
GPUVideoEffectEquiangularCubemap360 🪟 Classic (GPU) Converts between equiangular and cubemap projections for 360° video.
GPUVideoEffectVR360Base 🪟 Classic (GPU) Base class for VR 360° video effects.

AI-Powered Effects (NVIDIA Maxine - Classic only)

Requires NVIDIA RTX GPU with Maxine SDK support.

Video Enhancement

Effect Description
MaxineDenoiseVideoEffect AI-powered noise reduction that intelligently preserves details.
MaxineArtifactReductionVideoEffect Reduces compression artifacts and video degradation using AI.
MaxineSuperResolutionEffect AI upscaling for resolution enhancement (implementation varies by version).

Content Effects

Effect Description
MaxineAIGSVideoEffect AI-powered green screen/background removal without requiring actual green screen.
MaxineUpscaleVideoEffect Advanced upscaling using AI for improved quality.

Special Effects

  • VideoEffectColorNoise - Adds random color noise for grain or interference effects.
  • VideoEffectMonoNoise - Adds monochrome (grayscale) noise.
  • VideoEffectSpray - Spray paint or pointillist effect.
  • VideoEffectShakeDown - Vertical shake effect for impact or earthquake simulation.

Deinterlacing

  • VideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend / GPUVideoEffectDeinterlaceBlend - Blends interlaced fields for progressive output.
  • VideoEffectDeinterlaceCAVT - Content Adaptive Vertical Temporal deinterlacing.
  • VideoEffectDeinterlaceTriangle - Triangle interpolation deinterlacing method.

Transition Effects

Fade Effects

  • VideoEffectFadeIn - Gradual fade from black to video content.
  • VideoEffectFadeOut - Gradual fade from video content to black.

Overlays and Graphics

Text Overlays

  • VideoEffectTextLogo - Flexible text overlay with extensive customization including fonts, colors, rotation, effects, and animated text.
  • VideoEffectScrollingTextLogo - Scrolling text banner with direction and speed control.

See: Text Overlay Guide

Image Overlays

  • VideoEffectImageLogo - Image overlay supporting PNG, JPG, BMP, animated GIF, with transparency and positioning control.

See: Image Overlay Guide

360° Video and VR

  • GPUVideoEffectEquirectangular360 - Processes equirectangular 360° video format.
  • GPUVideoEffectEquiangularCubemap360 - Converts between equiangular and cubemap projections for 360° video.
  • GPUVideoEffectVR360Base - Base class for VR 360° video effects.

AI-Powered Effects (NVIDIA Maxine)

Requires NVIDIA RTX GPU with Maxine SDK support.

Video Enhancement

  • MaxineDenoiseVideoEffect - AI-powered noise reduction that intelligently preserves details.
  • MaxineArtifactReductionVideoEffect - Reduces compression artifacts and video degradation using AI.
  • MaxineSuperResolutionEffect - AI upscaling for resolution enhancement (implementation varies by version).

Content Effects

  • MaxineAIGSVideoEffect - AI-powered green screen/background removal without requiring actual green screen.
  • MaxineUpscaleVideoEffect - Advanced upscaling using AI for improved quality.

Effect Parameters

Common Parameters

All video effects support these standard parameters:

  • Enabled - Whether the effect is active (can be toggled on/off)
  • Name - Identifier for retrieving specific effect instances
  • StartTime - When effect begins (TimeSpan.Zero = from start)
  • StopTime - When effect ends (TimeSpan.Zero = until end)

Classic Effects Value Ranges

Most Classic adjustment effects use 0-255 value ranges where: - 128 typically represents neutral/no change - 0 represents minimum (often darkest/weakest) - 255 represents maximum (often brightest/strongest)

Animated Transitions (Classic Effects)

Many Classic effects support ValueStop parameter for smooth animation: - Set Value for starting value - Set ValueStop for ending value - Define StartTime and StopTime for animation duration

Cross-platform Effects Parameters

Cross-platform effects use multimedia element properties with varying ranges. Refer to individual effect documentation for specific parameter details.

SDK Comparison

Classic Effects (VideoCaptureCore/MediaPlayerCore)

  • Platform: Windows only (.NET Framework 4.7.2+ and .NET 6-10)
  • Processing Types:
  • CPU-based: VideoEffect* classes
  • GPU-accelerated: GPUVideoEffect* classes (DirectX)
  • AI-powered: Maxine* classes (NVIDIA RTX required)
  • Performance: Optimized for Windows, DirectX GPU acceleration
  • Compatibility: Desktop Windows only
  • Namespace: VisioForge.Core.Types.VideoEffects

Cross-platform Effects (VideoCaptureCoreX/Media Blocks)

  • Platform: Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS)
  • Processing: Cross-platform, hardware acceleration through multimedia plugins
  • Performance: Good performance on all platforms, GPU acceleration varies by platform
  • Compatibility: Universal - desktop and mobile
  • Namespace: VisioForge.Core.Types.X.VideoEffects
  • Additional Features:
  • More artistic effects (distortions, warps)
  • Advanced overlay system (OverlayManager)
  • Chroma key / motion detection
  • Better suited for mobile platforms

Usage Examples

Classic Effect Application

// CPU-based effect
var effect = new VideoEffectGrayscale(
    enabled: true,
    name: "BWEffect"
);
capture.Video_Effects_Add(effect);

// GPU-accelerated effect
var gpuEffect = new GPUVideoEffectBrightness(
    enabled: true,
    value: 180,
    name: "Brighten"
);
capture.Video_Effects_Add(gpuEffect);

Cross-platform Effect Application

// Cross-platform grayscale
var grayscale = new GrayscaleVideoEffect("bw_effect");
await videoCapture.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(grayscale);

// Cross-platform text overlay
var textOverlay = new TextOverlayVideoEffect
{
    Text = "Hello World",
    Font = new FontSettings("Arial", "Bold", 24),
    Color = SKColors.Yellow,
    HorizontalAlignment = TextOverlayHAlign.Left,
    VerticalAlignment = TextOverlayVAlign.Top
};
await videoCapture.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(textOverlay);

Animated Effect (Classic)

// Fade to black over 3 seconds
var fade = new VideoEffectDarkness(
    enabled: true,
    value: 128,        // Start normal
    valueStop: 255,    // End at maximum darkness
    name: "FadeOut",
    startTime: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(57),
    stopTime: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60)
);
capture.Video_Effects_Add(fade);

Time-Limited Effect (Both)

// Classic: Apply effect only during specific time range
var flashback = new VideoEffectGrayscale(
    enabled: true,
    name: "Flashback",
    startTime: TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2),
    stopTime: TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2.5)
);
player.Video_Effects_Add(flashback);

// Cross-platform: Time-limited effect
var blur = new GaussianBlurVideoEffect("blur")
{
    StartTime = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10),
    StopTime = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15),
    Sigma = 5.0
};
await player.Video_Effects_AddOrUpdateAsync(blur);

Performance Considerations

Classic Effects

  1. GPU Effects: Best performance for high-resolution video on Windows
  2. Effect Stacking: Minimize simultaneous effects for better performance
  3. Animated Effects: Smooth animations add minimal overhead
  4. AI Effects: Most resource-intensive, use on RTX GPUs
  5. Resolution Impact: Higher resolutions significantly increase processing requirements

Cross-platform Effects

  1. Hardware Acceleration: Varies by platform and multimedia framework build
  2. Cross-Platform: Generally good performance on all supported platforms
  3. Mobile Optimization: Better suited for mobile than Classic effects
  4. Overlay System: Efficient multi-overlay rendering
  5. Plugin Availability: Some effects require specific multimedia plugins

Platform Availability

Classic Effects

Platform CPU Effects GPU Effects AI Maxine
Windows Desktop ✅ Full ✅ Full ✅ RTX GPUs
Linux ❌ ❌ ❌
macOS ❌ ❌ ❌
Android ❌ ❌ ❌
iOS ❌ ❌ ❌

Cross-platform Effects

Platform Support Hardware Acceleration
Windows ✅ Full ✅ Via multimedia plugins
Linux ✅ Full ✅ VA-API, VDPAU, etc.
macOS ✅ Full ✅ VideoToolbox
Android ✅ Full ✅ Hardware codecs
iOS ✅ Full ✅ VideoToolbox

Choosing the Right Effect Type

Use Classic Effects When:

  • ✅ Targeting Windows desktop only
  • ✅ Need maximum performance on Windows
  • ✅ Using DirectX GPU acceleration
  • ✅ Need NVIDIA Maxine AI features
  • ✅ Working with VideoCaptureCore/MediaPlayerCore engines

Use Cross-platform Effects When:

  • ✅ Need cross-platform support
  • ✅ Targeting mobile platforms (Android/iOS)
  • ✅ Targeting Linux or macOS
  • ✅ Using VideoCaptureCoreX/Media Blocks
  • ✅ Need advanced overlay features
  • ✅ Need chroma key or motion detection

Additional Resources

Visit our GitHub repository for complete code samples and implementation examples.