Some Background Information
There is no need to open Aura 2, or any other paint or graphics application to create smooth gradients for use as Toaster backgrounds. Opening the XMP-24 Background Generator provides you with a clean, no-nonsense interface.

The XMP-24 gives you four basic settings: Solid color, Horizontal Gradient, Vertical Gradient, and a 4-Corner gradient. With any setting, clicking in the color selection window at right automatically brings up the Video Toaster [2] Color Picker for you to select a color or complimentary spread. Note the Output label “Bg1”; this allows you to drag and drop the label onto any input row of the Toaster Switcher. Your background colors are now just a hotkey or mouse-click away at any time.

Setting up a smooth gradient between all four corners of your screen is as simple as choosing the color in Color Picker, but as you drag through the hues, you will see real-time updates on both Toaster Vision and on your program output. So, now that you have a palette to get you through the project at hand, right clicking allows you to save name and save your settings. If you have multiple palettes that you need to access, open multiple background generators open on your Toaster Pro Switcher.

The Partial Story
The XMP-24 has additional power beyond instant gradients: The Power of Alpha. Any color chosen can be assigned a transparency value directly within the Generator. This opens up all sorts of possibilities. Let’s imagine that you shot an opening for a scene, but the sky sure could stand to be a little bluer. Using the Video Toaster [2] downstream keyer, you can set up a color value just across the bottom or top half, or even in one corner of your video output, with a smooth transition to any opaque areas.

Here is an image, before and after, of a wide scenic shot that was tweaked in real time using Alpha channel support available in Background Generator. Note the checkerboard image in the Background Generator. That indicates that Alpha transparency is available and also the level of transparency (the left box is more transparent than the right). Like all the other settings you create in Toaster, this can be saved as a recallable configuration for later use. So, for the Background, now you see why Video Toaster is rapidly becoming the solution of choice for video professionals.