If you are using Sapphire Plug-ins version 2, please visit the v2 support page instead.

If you have a technical support question that is not answered by the information below, please contact us at support@genarts.com. Be sure to include your company name, the host product name and version you are using, and the version of Sapphire Plug-ins you have installed. You can find the Sapphire Plug-ins version information in the "About" dialog which can be displayed while using any plug-in.

Frequent questions:

• What host products and versions are supported?
• On Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, the Sapphire installer is failing.
• How do I access the online documentation?
• Why do my plug-ins only output black with a "Sapphire Plug-ins" watermark?
• Why do my network renders show a "Sapphire Plug-ins" watermark?
• On Windows, my license stops working when I'm disconnected from the network.
• Can I use the same serial number with different host applications?
• Can I transfer my serial number to a new machine?
• Can I use the same serial number on multiple machines?
• On Fusion 5, the image is flipped upside down.
• On Mac OS X 10.4, the plug-ins are not working.
• On FCP with Mac Intel, the Time effects are not working in preview with the DV codec.
• On FCP 5, the plug-ins do not appear in the effects menu.
• On FCP, the plug-in effect is cut off at the edge of the layer.
• On FCP, how do I use the transition plug-ins?
• On FCP, I get frame corruption when applying a plug-in to a graphic.
• On FCP 4, the application won't restart after saving a plug-in as a favorite.
• On FCP 4, I see horizontal green lines in my result.
• On Mac, I get "Failed writing reg file" when entering a serial number.
• On Windows XP with dual CPUs, I get intermittent errors invoking plug-ins or saving a project.
• On Windows, when installing a serial number, I'm getting an "invalid request code" error.
• How can I uninstall Sapphire Plug-ins?

Sapphire Plug-ins version 1 has been tested on the following AE plug-in compatible host products and versions. They may also work with others but we have not tested them yet. If you try them on other products or versions, please let us know how it goes!

Vendor		Product		Versions		OS
Adobe		After Effects		5.0 to 8.0/CS3		Windows and Mac OS X, including Mac Intel
Adobe		Premiere Pro		1.0 to 3.0/CS3		Windows and Mac Intel
Adobe		Premiere		6.5		Windows
Apple		Final Cut Pro		3 to 6		Mac OS X, including Mac Intel
Apple		Motion		1 and 2.01 *		Mac OS X, but not Mac Intel
Autodesk		Combustion		2, 3, and 4		Windows and Mac OS X, including Mac Intel
Eyeon		Digital Fusion		4.03b		Windows
Eyeon		Fusion (32bits)		5		Windows
Media 100		844/x		3.0		Windows
Quantel/VDS		Synapse		**		Windows
Sony		XPRI		7.01b *		Windows
Artel		Boris Red		3.0		Windows
VDS		Liberty Paint		8.3		Windows
Lightworks		Touch		2.0 *		Windows

* Please see the items below regarding Motion, XPRI, and Lightworks support issues.

** Sales and support for Quantel products are provided by VDS.

Do Sapphire Plug-ins work with Apple Motion?

Motion 1.0 and 2.01 on Mac PPC support After Effects plug-ins and Sapphire Plug-ins should work with these versions. Motion 2.0 had problems with keyframing and 16bits so do not recommend this version. Motion on Mac Intel does not currently support AE plug-ins.

Sapphire version 1.062 includes some specific fixes for Motion issues. Check that you have that version or greater, and download the current version if necessary. Some issues remain with Motion that we hope Apple will resolve:

• In Motion 2, plug-ins give incorrect results if Field Mode is ON and the layer is transformed.
• In Motion 2, the Feedback and Trails effects do not work properly.
• Motion does not define any plug-in directory by default. To access plug-ins from Motion you need to enter a plug-ins folder name in the general part of the preferences panel. For Sapphire 1.081 or greater, you can either enter the install directory:
  /Applications/GenArtsSapphireAE/config/SapphireAEX
  or you can make a new folder and include an alias there to the Sapphire directory. The next time Motion is restarted, the plug-ins should appear in the 3rd Party Plug-ins folder in the Library. (Note that as of Sapphire 1.081 the plug-in directory used by Motion was changed from "Sapphire Plug-ins" to "SapphireAEX" above because Motion does not support the new Universal plug-ins.)
  
• When a plug-in renders an image of smaller resolution than its original size, the result will appear cropped instead of properly downsampled. This includes the "inspector" images, and other icon images. Full size and final renders should not be affected by this issue.
• Temporal effects (that require non-current frames) can crash if more than one is applied to the same layer. In Motion 1, they can also give results with swapped color channels unless applied directly to a clip.
• Applying a plug-in to a text layer with a scale transform on it can give incorrect results. To workaround this, put the text in a layer and apply the Sapphire effect to the layer rather than directly to the text.
• The first plug-in applied after a feathered mask shape may have the areas of partial transparency darkened incorrectly.
• By default Motion will not apply an effect beyond the borders of a clip or graphic. Sometimes this causes the result of the effect to be appear clipped at that edge. To solve this, insert a color solid from the generators tab found in the Library, to the back of the layer you want the plug-in to affect.
• In Motion 1, the "about" button can cause a hang if pressed while playing or rendering a clip. This is fixed in Motion 2.
• In Motion 1, the project's pixel aspect ratio is not passed to plug-ins, so rendered circles may not remain circular. This is fixed in Motion 2.
• In Motion 2.0, keyframed parameters give incorrect results. This is fixed in Motion 2.01.
• In Motion 2.0, applying a plug-in in a 16bit project can cause a crash. This is fixed in Motion 2.01.

Do Sapphire Plug-ins work with Sony XPRI?

Sony XPRI version 7.01b includes initial support for AE plug-ins, and Sapphire version 1.04 or greater can be used with that. You can download and install the current version if necessary.

Note that the plug-in adapter in XPRI only accommodates a single image input to a plug-in, and the alternate Layer inputs are not displayed in the UI. This makes plug-ins that expect more than one input less useful. Plug-ins in this category include Distort, Emboss, EdgeFlash, Layer, FlickerMatch, and various Transition effects. However, since a Sapphire license also works with After Effects on the XPRI machine, it should be easy to jump over to AE and process there if you need an effect with multiple input clips.

Do Sapphire Plug-ins work with Lightworks Touch?

Lightworks Touch 2.0 includes support for AE plug-ins, and Lightworks Q/A has tested Sapphire Plug-ins with this version. However, the AE plug-in adapter in Touch may not support all of our effects and features, so we recommend that you first test using the free trial of the plug-ins before purchasing for this host application.

On Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, the Sapphire installer is failing.

Sapphire version 1.10 should work fine with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, except for an issue with the installation which can usually be resolved by running the installer twice.

Due to changes in security behavior of Mac OS Leopard, the Sapphire v1 installer will pause for about 30 seconds, and then show a dialog saying:

"ChooseDirs is an application which was downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?"

If you answer this by selecting Open and then OK within about 5 seconds, all should be fine. But if you delay before answering, you will later get an error saying "Install Failed". In this case please run the installer again, and it should work properly the second time.

If you answered Open Web Page or Cancel you will also see an error saying "Install Failed". In this case run the installer again and attempt to answer Open and OK quickly. If it still fails, run the installer a third time, and it should finally work without an error.

This problem does not occur with Sapphire version 2, so we recommend using that version instead if possible.

How do I access the online documentation?

Online documentation for Sapphire Plug-ins is normally installed on your machine along with the software and is available in HTML and PDF formats. It includes some general information about how to load and use plug-ins, and also includes a page for each effect with an example image, description of what each parameter does, and links to related effects.

You can access this documentation directly from your workstation even if it is not connected to the internet. On Windows go to Start -> All Programs -> GenArts Sapphire AE -> Online Help (HTML) or (PDF). On Mac go to the Applications/GenArtsSapphireAE folder and double click on Online Help.html or .pdf.

An "About" box is also available directly from the plug-in, which provides information about the plug-in, your license status, and links that bring up online documentation in your HTML browser.

Why do my plug-ins only output black with a "Sapphire Plug-ins" watermark?

This usually indicates your free trial period has ended, or the expiration date of your serial number has been reached. Go to the "About" dialog while using any plug-in, and it should tell you when it expired. If you acquire and enter a new valid serial number, the results should return to normal. Otherwise, please review the following list.

• Make sure you are using the most recent version of Sapphire Plug-ins. There were some issues in version 1.06 and other older versions that have been fixed. Go to the "About" dialog while using any plug-in to check your version, and if necessary download and install the current version for Windows or Mac.

• Make sure you have run the Sapphire installer on your machine, rather than cloning, ghosting, or copying files from another workstation. If you installed by copying, just re-run the installer.

• Make sure the date on your computer is correct.

• If the Ethernet (MAC) address of your computer has changed since you ran the installer, you may get this watermark. One solution for this is to re-install Sapphire Plug-ins and re-enter your serial number. On Windows, this watermark can also occur if you change the enable/disable state of your Local Area Connection, which can be changed back by going to Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections, and right click on Local Area Connection.

• If your serial number is only for a single box, make sure the plug-ins you are using are included in that box.

Why do my network renders show a "Sapphire Plug-ins" watermark?

• Make sure you are using Sapphire version 1.10 or greater on the render machine. If necessary you can download the current version for Windows or Mac. There were issues in version 1.09 and other older versions that should be fixed in this version.

• Make sure you have run the Sapphire installer on each remote machine, rather than just ghosting the drive or copying files from another workstation.

• Make sure Sapphire Plug-ins are working properly without a watermark on the machine you are initiating the network renders from.

• On After Effects, make sure you are running the AE Render Engine (6.0 or greater) on the remote machine rather than the full version of AE Pro. The full AE version requires a Sapphire serial number to render, but the Render Engine version should work even without the serial number.

• On Digital Fusion, make sure you are running DF Render Node version 4.03b or greater on the remote machine rather than the full version of Digital Fusion. The full version or any version prior to 4.03b, requires a Sapphire serial number to render, but Render Node version 4.03b should work even without the serial number.

• On Combustion, make sure you are using Combustion version 3 or greater.

• On Sony XPRI, make sure you are using XPRI version 7.63 or greater.

On Windows, my license stops working when I'm disconnected from the network.

If you disable your Ethernet connection in the Network Connections control panel, Sapphire may become unlicensed and render only black with a watermark because it is unable to find the Machine ID of your workstation. To re-enable, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections, right click on your disabled connection, and select Enable. If you want to work without a network connection for security reasons, you can just unplug the network cable but still leave the network adapter enabled.

Can I use the same serial number with different host applications?

Yes. Sapphire Plug-ins for AE are licensed per machine, so one serial number allows you to use them on multiple AE compatible host applications on the same computer. For example if you have AE, FCP, and Combustion installed on the same machine, all of those products should be able to access Sapphire Plug-ins. However a separate license is required to run Sapphire Plug-ins on other host products that do not accept AE style plug-ins, such as Avid or Shake, even if they are on the same machine.

If you install a new host application on your machine, you will probably need to re-install Sapphire Plug-ins afterwards, so the new application can locate the plug-ins.

Can I transfer my serial number to a new machine?

It is possible to transfer your serial number to a new machine. To do this, first uninstall Sapphire Plug-ins from your old machine. During the uninstall, select the option to register that uninstall via the web. As long as the uninstall is successfully registered, you should then be able to install your serial number on the new machine. The license is cross-platform so you can transfer a serial number between Windows and Mac systems in this way.

Can I use the same serial number on multiple machines?

Unless your serial number includes a "-r" value, it can be run on only one machine at a time. You can transfer a serial number to a new machine by uninstalling the software on the old machine, selecting the option to register that uninstall, and then reinstalling on the new machine. In some cases you may be permitted to install the serial number on a second computer, but we recommend you reserve that in case your Ethernet ID changes, or in case you no longer have access to an old machine to perform an uninstall.

On Fusion 5, the image is flipped upside down.

This is a known problem in Fusion 5.02. It only affects certain plug-ins, and only 16 bit images. Eyeon says this should be fixed in Fusion 5.1.

On Mac OS 10.4, the plug-ins are not working.

Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger" is supported in Sapphire version 1.06 or greater. Please download and install the current version and let us know if you still have any trouble. This is a free upgrade for existing customers. Previous Sapphire versions did not work with OS 10.4, and you may get a message saying "Error loading Sapphire bundle".

If you are on FCP 5 and Sapphire Plug-ins still do not appear in your effects menu, please see the support item below regarding this.

On FCP with Mac Intel, the Time effects are not working in preview with the DV codec.

For FCP on Mac Intel, alternate frame access fails in preview mode when using the DV codec. If you use a DV codec in either AVI or Quicktime, the results are incorrect transparent green when a temporal effect accesses a non-current frame. It should work with an Uncompressed or H.264 codec, and it's also fine even with the DV codec in the final render.

This is a known FCP problem.

On FCP 5, the plug-ins do not appear in the effects menu.

On Mac OS 10.4, some versions of other plug-in packages such as Automatic Duck, Flip4Mac MXF, and DVCPro HD Frame Rate Converter can prevent FCP from properly initializing any of its plug-ins.

Try removing all plug-ins except Sapphire from /Library/Application Support/Final Cut Pro System Support/Plugins and see if that helps. If so, you can then add the other plug-ins back one by one to find the culprit.

On FCP, the plug-in effect is cut off at the edge of the layer.

If a plug-in is applied to an FCP layer that is smaller than the final output, the plug-in will still only affect the area within that layer's size, and sometimes appear to be cut off. To extend the effect beyond the edges, just make a nest from the layer and apply the plug-in to the nest.

On FCP, how do I use the transition plug-ins?

Unfortunately, FCP does not support using AE effects directly as FCP transitions. To to use a Sapphire Plug-in as a transition in FCP, stack the two clips on two video tracks so they overlap. Then cut the top clip at the point where the transition should start or stop, and apply the effect to the top clip. For transition effects that can affect both the foreground and background clips (such as Dissolve Vortex or Dissolve Blur) also drag the bottom clip into the background well.

Adjust the Transition Dir parameter to make the transition go in the desired direction. If you want the transition to occur smoothly for the entire length of the top clip as cut, you can select the Auto Trans option in the plug-in. Otherwise, just keyframe the Wipe Percent or Dissolve Percent parameter as needed.

Note that many other Sapphire Plug-ins can also be used as transitions when applied like this, not just the ones in the Sapphire Transitions category.

On FCP, I get frame corruption when applying a plug-in to a graphic.

FCP can have frame corruption problems when a plug-in is applied directly to a graphic with an odd height, such as a psd or jpg image, and you are rendering on fields. The workaround is to nest the graphic in a subsequence, and apply the plug-in to the nest instead to the original image. Hopefully this problem will be fixed in a future version of FCP.

On FCP 4, the application won't restart after saving a plug-in as a favorite.

FCP 4 can have problems restarting after you save a plug-in effect into your favorites folder. FCP 4.5 should include a fix for this, so we recommend you upgrade to that.

As a temporary workaround, you can go to "Library/Preferences/Final Cut Pro User Data" in your home directory and delete "Final Cut Pro Preferences". Then try again to restart FCP. The next time save your plug-ins by dragging them into the project browser instead of the favorites folder.

On FCP 4, I see horizontal green lines in my result.

On FCP 4, there is a problem with processing on fields that can give incorrect horizontal green lines in the result, while adjusting parameter values or the time. This issue should not occur in the final render. This should be fixed in FCP 4.5.

On Mac, I get "Failed writing reg file" when entering a serial number.

This usually indicates the serial number installer could not find the GenArtsSapphireAE directory because it was moved or deleted after installing the software. On Mac this directory must remain in its default location.

To fix, either move the directory back to /Applications or remove it and reinstall the software. Then try entering your serial number again.

On Windows XP with dual CPUs, I get intermittent errors invoking plug-ins or saving a project.

If you are on Windows XP with dual CPUs and get intermittent errors while invoking plug-ins or saving a project, please upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2 or greater. This is a free update from windowsupdate.microsoft.com. If you are running SP2 or greater and still see these errors, please contact us.

On Windows, when installing a serial number, I'm getting an "invalid request code" error.

This should be fixed in version 1.061. Please download and install the current version and let us know if you still have any trouble. This issue could occur in 1.06 in certain cases with multiple ethernet cards.

How can I uninstall Sapphire Plug-ins?

On Windows: go to Start->Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs. Find 'GenArts Sapphire Plug-ins' in the list, and press the Change/Remove button.

On Mac: go to the Applications/GenArtsSapphireAE folder and double click on Uninstall Sapphire.