Within most soft effect editors, you can immediately see changes to the current frame by previewing your soft effects. Preview FX mode is useful if you have many unrendered soft effects or complex vertical edits that cause frames to be dropped during playback.

Most soft effect editors also provide a Context view so you can monitor the soft effect in the context of other timeline layers. With Context view, you are not restricted to monitoring layers at or below the current soft effect only. The focus point of the timeline positioner determines what layers are taken into account.

To use a soft effect editor's Context view:

1. Apply a soft effect to a timeline layer and then move the positioner’s focus point to the topmost layer that you want to view from the editor.

   
   

   (a) Focus point (b) Layer with soft effect 

2. Double-click the layer with the soft effect to access the soft effect editor.

   The following example displays the results of Preview FX mode. You see the output of L2 and L1. You do not see L3.

   
   

   Image courtesy of Casablanca, Behavior Communications Inc.

3. From the soft effect editor, select Context from the Preview Options box.

   
   

   NoteFrom the Blend, Timewarp, and CC editors in Batch, select Context from the View box in the lower-left corner. For Resize, enable the Context button.

   All timeline layers, as indicated by the focus point of the timeline positioner, are displayed. In the following example, you now see the output of L3.

   
   

   Image courtesy of Casablanca, Behavior Communications Inc.

   TipIf you are in the Axis Editor, Context view disables the display of axis icons and control points, along with the ability to work with them gesturally. You can toggle between Preview FX and Context views to get the advantages of Context view without losing the interactivity with objects.

To preview a soft effect:

1. Select Preview FX from the Preview Options box.