On several occasions, we have made freely available .GRF files.

Each time, I had stated in the tutorial : "This file contains no preview or animation, unlike files. GRF that are provided in the library of Boris Graffiti. It is therefore not advisable to copy in the library of Boris Graffiti, you would have neither the preview nor the animation of the effect". For technical reasons (downloads, bandwidth, server disk space) I made available files without preview because in terms of size, a file with preview is on average 10 times larger than a file without preview. So this tutorial will allow you to create your own preview and your animations in order to include your effects in the library of Boris Graffiti.

Step 1 : Learn how to use Boris Graffiti Keyframer

Boris Graffiti is a plugin integrated with Studio, but you can also use it outside of Studio using Boris Graffiti Keyframer. It is a handy tool to create effects outside a movie because you then put all the resources of your computer to work for Boris Graffiti instead of sharing them with Studio, with excellent performances. You can install versions of Boris Graffiti Keyframer on several computers without additional licenses.
Boris Graffiti Keyframer (standalone version) starts from "C:\........\Boris FX, Inc\Boris Graffiti 5.2\Graffiti5 Keyframer.exe
The dots represent the installation folder of your programs (Program Files, Program Files (x86)... depending on your operating system).

By default, you will have the same interface as when you switch to "Advanced mode" from Studio, that is, by default, you will be in the presence of windows : Control, Composite, Timeline and Text.

The only difference is that in the Composite window, as a Video 1 you have the image of a balloon. Nota : On the track "Background", you can replace the video 1 (the ball) by the video 2 (a brick wall) but the flanged Boris Graffiti plugin integrated in Studio does not accept 2 video (I have tried yet. .. then Video 1 or Video 2, in Studio it's the same thing ...).

Now, you'll need an Boris Graffiti effect for the rest of this tutorial. Of course you can build one from scratch but to gain a little time, I suggest you load the first effect of the first directory. Use the menu "File/Open Settings" and you are looking for eg : C:\.......\Boris FX,Inc\Keyframe Library\GRF 5.0 Keyframe Library\animated\animated backdrops\comeTogether.grf that you open.

The time slider is at 0, you only see the ball in the composite window but if you position the time cursor in the middle of the effect or if you click one of the 2 keyframes located amidst the effect, you should see this in the windows : Composite; Timeline (left and right parts)

Now, you'll go to the backup phase of an effect. GRF

Step 2 : Saving an effect in the library of Boris Graffiti

Library of Boris Graffiti is installed by default in :

C:\.......\Boris FX,Inc\Keyframe Library\GRF 5.0 Keyframe Library.

In this library, you will find 5 directories :

• animated (all the animated titles : text in, text out, bullet points, transitions, random...)
• Charts (All graphics unbundled into 12 sub-folders : bars, lines, pies, in 2D and in 3D, animated and static ...)
• Filters (all the fire filters, special effects...)
• New lower Thirds (full effects all ready...)
• Static (static effects unbundled into 5 sub-folders)

You will have to choose where you save your new files. GRF. Personally, I chose to add a folder "LePapy " because the classification of Boris Graffiti seems to me quite subjective and somewhat rough.
You can add a folder "Perso" (or a folder with your name), either with Windows Explorer outside Boris Graffiti, either during the registration of a file Boris Graffiti, using the icon "Create a new folder" at the top of the window "Save As" in Windows Explorer.

Using the menu "Window" of Boris Graffiti Keyframer and adding to the 4 windows already selected the window "Library browser", your Keyframe Library tree  should then have a look of this type.
Then, using the menu "File/Save settings as ..." you save effect "comeTogether.grf" under the name "Test.grf" for example in the folder you previously created or that you create for the occasion.
Here is what you see in the library of Boris Graffiti if your file "Test" was recorded without preview. Nota : If you do not see the thumbnail, refresh the display by changing the folder and then returning to your registration folder.

Do not be devastated because you can still see a temporary animated preview of your effects.You will even have two ways to get your preview and your animation.
Here is the first to have the preview in the preview window :

By simply clicking on the icon of your effect "Test.grf", it will appear in the preview window. Then click on the button "Preview selection", it will come alive in the preview window ... Depending on the quality of the preview choosed with button "Change preview quality", you will have a more or less quickly preview depending on the quality selected. On the screenshot, the button "Preview Quality" is a staircase, to signify that the straight lines are not smoothed so that the quality of the preview is at its lowest.

The second method is to use the "Generate Thumbnails" buton to get the the preview in the thumbnail :

The button "Generate Thumbnails" allows you to generate a preview of your effect in the thumbnail. This button is normally disabled but if you open a folder in which there is an effect without a preview, it becomes active. It is quite certain that when you apply this effect in Studio, Video 1 (the ball) will be replaced by the real video 1 which is applied on the effect Boris Graffiti.
Clicking the button "Generate Thumbnails" launches the creation of the preview of the first thumbnail without preview contained in the folder. This creation is accompanied by a rapid display of a window of creating the preview.
And now ... you're almost at the end of your pain, the thumbnail of the effect represents the preview of your effect. A second on small the button "Generate Thumbnails" launches the creation of the preview of the second thumbnail without preview contained in the folder, etc.

But these preview creations are temporary ... If you change the file and then you return to your personnal folder, the thumbnails and animations are gone and you end up with the black thumbnail and the "no parking"...

Step 3 : Create a nice animated permanent preview

So here is the final phase, which consists in achieving a thumbnail in all respects similar to those used by Boris Graffiti in its library. If you look previews of titles provided by Boris Graffiti, they are all presented on a gray gradient background gradient from top to bottom from white to black.

Because you want your effects look like those of Boris Graffiti, you'll replace the video 1 (V1, ie the image of the ball) with a gradient.
The default is a gray gradient that will be displayed but the gradient from right to left instead of top to bottom. You change the angle of the gradient which is 0 by default and you set it to - 90. You then get exactly what you want.
You are now ready to save your effect. Do not forget to check the little box "Save Preview" well hidden in the bottom left of the window for your backup includes preview and animation in your backup file.
And the miracle happened ... The thumbnail of Test2.grf reflects preview and its background with gray gradient. Simply click on the button "Animate Thumbnail Previews" for the animation begins. As a reminder, the second button from the left "Preview Selection" starts the animation of the display window "Library Browser". At the end of your tests, you can select the thumbnail "Test.grf" for example and clicking the last button on the right, you send it to the trash ...

And this time you can change the folder as many times as you want, when you return to your personnal folder you will not get any more "No parking".

{Thanks to saby who translated this tutorial from french to english and cross-checked it}