Filter FACTORY PRESETS Found a way to delete, modify and change order

Filter Forge DOES NOT allow and offer any way to delete, modify the place and change the order or organize the filters as you would want.

While I have been making a investigation to solve the problem of Ghislaine uploaded preset errors, I have tried to copy the presets directly INSIDE the filter itself.

The next time I opened FF to view the filter I had a surprise, there were 66 FACTORY PRESETS , BUT the most interesting part is that AFTER the default first preset there were the NEW presets from Ghislaine and at the end I found the presets that was really in the beginning BEFORE I pasted the presets inside the filter.

SO after making some more tests I can say that:

I have happily found a way to delete, modify the place and change the order or organize the FILTER FACTORY PRESETS as you would want!!

The bad thing about this is not a easy and fast way to do it and involves going to the depths of the XML filter file hell and take time to search for the presets that have no reference or name

Now I know how the presets works and how you can modify them.

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DEFAULT PRESET AND THE OTHER ADDITIONAL PRESETS

1 - The Default preset is clearly put at the beginning of the presets and marked "Deafult Preset" and you can´t change this

2 - After the default preset, all the other preset do not have any numbered order, the presets appear simply in the order they are put in the list, so if you want to search for the preset that in the FF software appears in the 8th place, you ONLY have to count 8 filters presets groups in the filter XML file being the default preset the number 1.

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3 - START AND END OF A PRESET INSIDE THE XML FILTER FILE

A preset starts in the XML file with the:

<Preset preview_image="LIFESAVER_OPAQUE">

that shows the name of the source image of the preset, in this case is the Built-in-image FF Lifesaver.

<Preset preview_image="KINGFISHER_OPAQUE"> Show that the main image source will be the Kingfisher

Even if you have an external source image instead of a built in image, here will be shown one the name of one of the built-in images (at least this is what I have seen that happens)

A preset ends when you find this

</SliderControl>
</Controls>
</Preset>

HOW TO FIND EASILY THE START AND END OF A PRESET?

Well you can use the text search using the feature found in the menu Edit -->FIND and type find </Preset> and this will show each of the ends and beginning of each preset

So each time you hit the "NEXT" in the FIND it means that is a new preset and you can keep counting until you reach to number of the preset you want or need

So for working with the presets you must cut all the text that is between these two.

Please below for an example of how a preset looks

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4 - HOW TO DELETE A FACTORY FILTER ?

Well, you have to know what is the number of the preset and count the list of presets inside the filter XML file until you reach for the preset you want to delete.

For example you want to delete preset 3, you have to go to the second preset after the default preset and delete all that is between the begin and end of the preset as shown on point 3

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5 - HOW TO MODIFY THE PLACE AND BE ABLE TO PUT THE FACTORY PRESETS IN THE PLACE AND ORDER YOU WANT?

Well, you can organize and rearrange all the presets simply by changing the order of how they appear in the list in the XML file.

If you want that the preset that has the number 2 should be the number 5, you only have to copy the whole preset after the preset number 4.

If you want that the last preset should be the first after the default first main, just copy it after this deafult preset and it will change the place from last to second.

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6 - HOW TO PUT YOUR OWN PERSONAL PRESETS FIRST INSTEAD OF THE FACTORY PRESETS?

Filter Forge does NOT check and test if the presets inside the filter are really the factory presets that came with the filter or not, it simply shows the list of the presets it has inside the filter XML file.

So if you do not like the factory preset that comes with the filter and you want to put your own customized ones, you CAN do it by copying the code of your own presets after the default preset and so the original factory presets will be shown AFTER your own presets, and ALL will be shown as factory presets.

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EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE WHOLE PRESET LOOKS LIKE

Code

<Preset preview_image="LIFESAVER_OPAQUE">          <Settings size_factor="1" variation="1" seamless="false" antialiasing="4" map_type="0" edges_only="true" clip_hdr_for_result="true"/>          <Lighting>             <Height value="0.20000000000000001"/>             <Environment>                <Source value=""/>                <Brightness value="1"/>                <Saturation value="1"/>                <Rotation value="0"/>                <RotationAxis x="0" y="0" z="0"/>             </Environment>             <Ambience>                <AmbientLight red="0" green="0" blue="0"/>                <Shadowing value="0"/>                <CurrentOcclusionSettings>                   <RayDirections value="4"/>                   <TraceDistance value="0.20000000000000001"/>                   <RayJittering value="true"/>                   <RayBounce value="true"/>                   <AvoidStreaks value="true"/>                   <DirectSamples value="0"/>                   <ROQuality value="3"/>                </CurrentOcclusionSettings>                <CustomOcclusionSettings>                   <RayDirections value="16"/>                   <TraceDistance value="0.29999999999999999"/>                   <RayJittering value="true"/>                   <RayBounce value="true"/>                   <AvoidStreaks value="true"/>                   <DirectSamples value="1"/>                   <ROQuality value="10"/>                </CustomOcclusionSettings>                <ArtisticSettings>                   <BlackPoint value="0"/>                   <Midtones value="0.5"/>                   <WhitePoint value="1"/>                </ArtisticSettings>             </Ambience>          </Lighting>          <Controls>             <CheckboxControl id="checkboxcontrol 02">                <Checked value="true"/>             </CheckboxControl>             <ColorMapControl id="colormapcontrol 01">                <HorizontalAnchor value="1"/>                <VerticalAnchor value="1"/>                <PlacementMode value="0"/>                <TilingMode value="0"/>                <Color red="0" green="1" blue="0.96498054474708161" alpha="1"/>             </ColorMapControl>             <ColorMapControl id="colormapcontrol 02">                <HorizontalAnchor value="1"/>                <VerticalAnchor value="1"/>                <PlacementMode value="0"/>                <TilingMode value="0"/>                <Color red="0.06225680933852118" green="0" blue="1" alpha="1"/>             </ColorMapControl>             <ColorMapControl id="colormapcontrol 03">                <HorizontalAnchor value="1"/>                <VerticalAnchor value="1"/>                <PlacementMode value="0"/>                <TilingMode value="0"/>                <Color red="0.71595330739299623" green="1" blue="0" alpha="1"/>             </ColorMapControl>             <IntSliderControl id="intslidercontrol 02">                <Value value="3"/>             </IntSliderControl>             <IntSliderControl id="intslidercontrol 03">                <Value value="4"/>             <SliderControl id="slidercontrol 05">                <Value value="0.55000000000000004"/>             </SliderControl>             <SliderControl id="slidercontrol 06">                <Value value="0.79000000000000004"/>             </SliderControl>             <SliderControl id="slidercontrol 07">                <Value value="1"/>             </SliderControl>             <SliderControl id="slidercontrol 08">                <Value value="0"/>             </SliderControl>          </Controls>       </Preset>

IMPORTANT NOTE: XML = FFMXL

On all the above I have written XML, but really this is not true, I was always refering to the FFXML filter file

Also the easy way to locate this FFXML file to be able to change the presets is to load FF, select the filter you want to change and then go to FILTER ---> Locate File

A window will open and on the already selected file, click on Edit this file

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Morgantao wrote: SpaceRay, I haven't read the whole thing yet, but I can tell you that you probably shouldn't bother. It's just like going in the FFXML file of a filter to add your own keywords.

Do you mean I do not have to bother because nobody is going to do it ?
And it is the same like that adding keywords was about getting somewhat dirty with the XML code?

Well I want to just let all of you know that IF YOU WANT it is possible and you CAN do it, so the it is UP TO YOU to decide if you want to do it or not.

I wanted to share this discovery and is also helpful for myself to remember it as I have bad memory and will probably forget how I have done this, so being here in the forum I will not loose it

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Morgantao wrote: Next time you download filters the changes you make will just be reset.

YES, is true that next time that the filter gets updated all the changes will be reset and erased, BUT:

- How many times a filter gets updated ? It is not frequently and sometimes never.

- You can always make a backup of the filter BEFORE updating it and then copy back the presets that you have configured and customized in the new updated filter.

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Morgantao wrote: No I mean because of the filter update = loss of presets.

Well, as I said, this is a negative side and undesired effect, BUT filters are not frequently updated and there is a way (although not easy) to solve the problem copying back the presets in your customized way after the update.

So I do not think that this is not a bad problem as it may seem

WHAT WOULD BE VERY GOOD IS THAT FF INC. UNLOCK THE FACTORY PRESETS INSIDE FF IN A EASY WAY

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separate the Presets from the filter and show individually each of the presets by itself

What exactly do you mean?

And as you have already the content of the FF filter separated you can go to the Presets folder and open it and then you can have ALL the presets organized also in sub folders (one subfolder for each preset) so is very easy to find each ones of the presets and they are organized in the same order as it appears in the FF presets

So you only have to open the +presets folders and find all the presets organized very well and easy there

And then just do it in a very easy way and fast and can use drag´n´drop for moving all the presets to the places that you want that they appear on the FF software.

I have tried it and works very well

and this how it looks AFTER I have modified with the Oxygen software JUST and ONLY by drag´n´drop the presets to different order and nothing else!

Please, Anyone could know another similar XML editor like the Oxygen XML Editor (link above) that could make the same or similar things as described above ?

Because this Oxygen software is very expensive and I will not pay so much for this kind of softweare AND ONLY for changing the presets of Filter Forge