Installation
Simply copy GlowBaby.flt and the accompanying documentation files into your /3DSMAX/PLUGINS directory. The GlowBaby helper can be found in the Helpers tab under the category Johnny Ow.
Basic Usage
I am assuming that you are familiar with using video post events and especially Glow or Animated Glow. If you are not familiar with these tools, you should refer to the help files that come with Max or the Max manuals.
GlowBaby is a video post effect which relies on a helper object to specify and animate it's appearance. You must have a GlowBaby helper object in your scene in order for GlowBaby to work. This helper is used to specify all parameters which affect the appearance of the glow such as color, size, intensity, etc. You can find the GlowBaby helper in the Helpers tab under the category Johnny Ow. You also need to add a GlowBaby event to your video post queue. You must specify the MaterialID or ObjectID to use for the glow effect and the name of the GlowBaby helper to use in the GlowBaby event.
Radius
Animatable
The Radius parameter controls the size of the glow in pixels. As such, it probably needs to be changed if, for example, you do test renders at a different resolution than your final renders.
Use Source Color
Not Animatable
If this option is selected, then the glow gets it's color from the pixel that is being glowed. The other color parameters--Core Color, Mid Color, and Outer Color--are ignored.
Core Color
Animatable
The core color is the color of the glow at it's very center.
Mid Color
Animatable
The Mid Color is the color of the glow halfway from the center to the outer edge. The position and size of the Mid Color can be modified using the Mid Color Pos and Mid Color Size parameters, respectively.
Outer Color
Animatable
The Outer Color is the color of the glow at it's outer edges.
Mid Color Pos
Animatable
This parameter controls the position of the Mid Color. At 0.0, the Mid Color is placed at the very center of the glow so that the Core Color is no longer visible. At 1.0, the Mid Color is placed at the very edge of the glow so that the Outer Color is no longer used.
Mid Color Size
Animatable
The size of the Mid Color is controlled by this parameter.
Linear Intensity
Not Animatable
If this option is checked, the center of the glow will be affected more by the Intensity Mult parameter than the edges if Intensity Mult is set to anything other than 1.0. If this option is not checked, then the Intensity Mult amount is applied to the entire glow evenly (though this does not mean you'll get a glow of even intensity).
Intensity Mult
Animatable
You can control the intensity, or brightness, of the glow using this parameter. The default of 1.0 usually works fine. However, if you are trying to glow an object which sits on a very light colored background, bumping this value up and checking the Blend w/ Alpha option will help to make the glow more apparent.
BackGlow
Not Animatable
A BackGlow is a glow which does not affect the object being glowed but affects it's surrounding. If checked, the glow will work as normal except that the pixels which are being glowed (those which have the correct MaterialID or ObjectID) won't be affected by the glow--the neighboring pixels will still be glowed though. It is kind of like backlighting.
Blend w/ Alpha
Not Animatable
This option will composite the glow on top of the original image using the intensity of the glow as the alpha value. This is especially handy if you need to glow an object which sits on a light colored background--you normally can't glow an object on a white background, for example.
Affect Alpha Channel
Not Animatable
If this option is selected, the alpha channel of the image will be changed by the glow to reflect the intensity of the glow.