Module 1: Getting Started With Effect House
Welcome! Your journey to becoming an effect creator has just begun.
This module introduces how to download Effect House, what the interface looks like, and how to publish effects. Later in the course, you will learn specific features and different ways to kickstart the effect creation process.
Watch the video tutorial and feel free to follow along with the supplementary written guide below!
Module Objectives: By the end of this module, you should be comfortable with the following objectives:
- Navigate the Effect House home screen and workspace
- Identify the different panels of the Effect House workspace and know each of their functions
- Understand how to publish an effect
This video was recorded using Effect House v2.3.0. Later versions of Effect House have features that may not be covered in this video.
Downloading Effect House
The first step is to download Effect House. Go to the Effect House download page and select the correct version for your computer. There are minimum system requirements for downloading the software, so make sure your computer meets those requirements.
Once you have Effect House downloaded, you will be prompted to log in with your TikTok account. To log in using the QR code, use the scanner within the TikTok app, which you can access through the Add friends button on your profile page. You may also log in from your desktop
Effect House Interface
Home Screen
Once logged in, the first thing you will see in Effect House is the home screen.
Banners: At the top of the home screen, there are banners showcasing feature highlights and how you can get involved with the Effect House community.
Activity Center: Beneath the banners, active challenges, missions, and other activities that you can participate in are listed.
Templates: Templates are premade effects that you can open and modify to your liking. You can access an entire list of templates from the Templates tab, and browse through them by category.
Recent Projects: Here you can find the most recent projects you've been working on.
Create project: To create a new project from scratch, you can click on the Create project button.
Open project: To open an existing project, you can also click on the Open project button to browse through files on your computer. The home screen also contains links to the Effect House Website and Knowledge Center.
Next to your username is a badge, which reflects your progress and milestones in Effect House. The Manage effects link takes you to an analytics webpage where you can examine how your published effects are performing.
Workspace
Click Create project or open an existing project from the home screen to access the workspace. The Effect House workspace interface is composed of several different panels.
Hierarchy panel: Contains objects, which are the individual elements that make up your effect. You can toggle object visibility by simply clicking the checkbox next to individual objects or groups of objects. To add an object, click on the Add button [+], browse through the categories, and select the desired object.
Assets panel: Houses textures, materials, 3D models, and audio. You can import your own media in the Assets panel, or choose from built-in options. If you want to construct your own material from scratch, click on the Add button [+], go to Custom Material, and then select Empty Material. A material is an asset that defines how an object looks. You can apply materials to 3D objects to make them appear realistic, or to the camera to create visual filters.
Scene panel: Shows a 3D or 2D view of all the objects added to an effect. You can manipulate objects and control the view here. You can also move around in the Scene panel by holding down the Command or Windows keys and moving the mouse, or rotate the view by right-clicking and moving the mouse. If you want to reset the view to default, click on the Reset view button. 2D objects show a 2D screen in the Scene panel instead of 3D space.
Preview panel: Displays a preview of your effect and mimics the TikTok interface on your phone. You can change the preview media or use your webcam's video feed. You can also change the TikTok UI depending on what mobile device you want to mimic, and you can undock the entire panel if you want to manipulate it as a separate window.
Inspector panel: Displays components and properties. Clicking on an object displays its components and properties in the Inspector panel. Components are the elements that make up the object and control the effect. Each component has specific properties, which are the settings that you can fine-tune and adjust to your liking.
Visual Scripting panel: Allows you to create interactive effects without needing to write text-based code. Instead of writing code from scratch, you can arrange and connect nodes to create graphs that illustrate flows of logic. You can hide this panel from view or undock it into a separate window. You can also add interactions to your effect by using pre-built visual scripting packages. To add an interaction, click on the desired object, go to the Inspector panel, click + Add interaction, and then choose your desired interaction.
Material Editor: Allows you to build custom materials. If you add a Custom Material from the Assets panel, Material Editor appears in the same space as the Visual Scripting panel. Otherwise, it is hidden from view by default. Like the Visual Scripting panel, Material Editor uses node-based graphs to create flows of logic.
To preview your effect in TikTok, click on the Preview in TikTok button in the titlebar. This generates a QR code that you can scan using the TikTok app's scanner function.
Material Editor was added to Effect House after this video was created.
Publishing Your Effect
When you’re ready to submit your effect, click the Submit button on the titlebar.
If you are submitting your first effect, clicking the Submit button takes you directly to a submission form, which prompts you to input some basic public information about your effect.
After completing the form, click Next. This takes you to a page with your effect details that you can review. Click the Submit button to submit your effect for review. The review process typically takes 1 to 3 business days.
To view the status of your submitted effect, click on Manage Effects. This takes you to the analytics webpage, where you can view your effect statistics and review status for submitted effects.
Effects can now be submitted from within Effect House. This change was made after this video was created.