sEllipse Node

The sEllipse node is used to create circular shapes. Like almost all shape nodes, you can only view the sEllipse node’s results through a sRender node.

sEllipse Node Inputs

This node generates shapes and does not have any inputs.

sEllipse Node Setup

The sEllipse node is a shape generator, meaning it generates a shape and therefore has no input. The output of the sEllipse can go into a sRender for viewing and further compositing or, more likely, connect to another shape node like sGrid or sDuplicate.

sEllipse Node Controls Tab

The Controls tab is used to define the elliptical shape characteristics, including fill, border, size, and position.

Solid
When enabled, the Solid checkbox fills the elliptical shape with the color defined in the Style tab. When disabled, an outline created by the Border Width control is displayed, and the center is made transparent.

Border Width
This parameter expands or contracts the border around the shape. Although it can be used when the Solid checkbox is enabled, it is primarily used to determine the outline thickness when the checkbox is disabled.

Cap style
When the Solid checkbox is disabled, three cap style options are displayed. The cap styles can create lines with flat, rounded, or squared ends. Flat caps have flat, squared ends, while rounded caps have semi-circular ends. Squared caps have projecting ends that extend half the line width beyond the end of the line.
The caps are not visible unless the length is below 1.0.

Position
The position parameter is only displayed when the Solid checkbox is disabled. It allows you to position the starting point of the shape. When used in conjunction with the length parameter, it positions the gap in the ellipse outline.

Length
The length parameter is only displayed when the Solid checkbox is disabled. A length of 1.0 is a closed shape. Setting the length below 1.0 creates an opening or gap in the outline. Keyframing the length parameters allows you to create write-on style animations.

X and Y Offset
These parameters are used to position the shape left, right, up, and down in the frame. The shape starts in the center of the frame, and the parameters are used to offset the position. The offset coordinates are normalized based on the width of the frame. An X offset of 0.0 is centered, and a value of 0.5 places the center of the shape directly on the right edge of the frame.

Width/Height
The width and height determine the vertical and horizontal size of the ellipse. If the values are identical, then you have a perfect circle.

Angle
The angle rotates the shape, which on a perfect circle doesn’t change the image all that much, but if you create an oval or an outline with a short length, you can rotate the shape based on the center axis.

sEllipse Node Style Tab

Style
The Style tab is used to assign a color to the shape and control its transparency.

Color
The color controls determine the color of the fill and border. To choose a shape color, you can click the color disclosure arrow, use the color swatch, or drag the eyedropper into the viewer to select a color from an image. The RGBA sliders or number fields can be used to enter each color channel’s value or the strength of the alpha channel.

Allow Combining
When this checkbox is enabled, the alpha channel value is maintained even when passing through other nodes downstream that may cause the shape to overlap with copies of itself. When disabled, the alpha channel value may increase when the shape overlaps itself.

For instance, if an ellipse’s alpha channel is set to .5, enabling the Allow Combining checkbox maintains that value even if the shape passes through a Duplicate or Grid node that causes the shape to overlap. Disabling the checkbox causes the alpha channel values to be compounded at each overlapping area.

sEllipse Node Settings tab

The Settings tab controls are common to all Shape nodes. These common controls are described in detail HERE.

About the Author

Justin Robinson is a Certified DaVinci Resolve, Fusion & Fairlight instructor who is known for simplifying concepts and techniques for anyone looking to learn any aspect of the video post-production workflow. Justin is the founder of JayAreTV, a training and premade asset website offering affordable and accessible video post-production education. You can follow Justin on Twitter at @JayAreTV YouTube at JayAreTV or Facebook at MrJayAreTV