Everything the board can draw. Each preview below is the real board, not a picture of it.
Effects hang on a ply and are added from the + beside a move or under the board. Most take a colour, a size and a length of their own; what follows is what each one looks like out of the box.
Emphasis
Marks one square. The workhorse of any explanation: this is the square I am talking about.
CircleA thin ring around the square. The quiet default.
Arrow RingFour short arrows pointing in at the piece, circling it. Four speeds.
Highlight squareFills the square itself, under the piece.
Pulsing circleA ring that breathes, to hold the eye while you talk.
FireFlames wrapping the piece for the whole scene.
Fire, blueThe same flames burning cold, for a quieter board.
Fire, 8-bitThe same flames as chunky pixels, to match Retro Explode.
FrozenIce around the square and snow falling inside it. For a piece that is stuck.
CrossA big X struck over the piece in a quarter second. A piece that is lost.
BanThe prohibition sign, drawn on. A move that must not be played.
AuraAn anime power-up bursting off the square. A piece coming alive.
SpotlightThe rest of the board goes dark. On consecutive plies the light swings across.
CrosshairsA rifle scope laid over the piece. Something is about to happen to it.
SnakeA line crawling round the square, as in the old game. Four speeds.
TiltedThe piece topples onto its side over half a second, rebounding once before it settles.
Anime PowerA ring of sharp speed lines firing outward and fading, as a manga panel draws a moment of force. The middle stays clear so the piece reads.
VibrateThe piece shakes on its square in frantic random directions, for as long as the move is on screen. A slider sets how far it is thrown.
Arrows
Joins two squares, for a threat, a plan or the move that should have been played. Draw one straight onto the board by holding the right mouse button and dragging from one square to another. Solid arrows can also be dashed or dotted.
SolidThe ordinary arrow between two squares. Also dashed or dotted.
AnimatedA solid arrow that grows out from its first square to its second in a fifth of a second, point first. Off by default; turn it on per arrow or for all of them in Global Settings.
ElectroA lightning arc that crackles between the squares.
LaserA beam that shoots across and lands in a shower of sparks.
Animations
A one-off burst on a square, for the moment something happens. The timed ones, such as Quake and Blur, take a duration and a strength; the rest play out at their own pace.
Toon Explode 1A hand-drawn cartoon blast on the square.
Toon Explode 2A second cartoon blast, rounder and heavier.
Retro ExplodeChunky 8-bit blocks, for a arcade feel.
ElectroBlue lightning striking the square.
SpinThe piece turns over in three dimensions.
RippleThe board warps in rings around the square.
TurbulenceThe board churns, like heat over tarmac.
Blur BackgroundEverything but the square goes soft, so it stands out.
QuakeThe whole board shakes. The standard reaction to a blunder.
GlitchA bad-signal tear across the picture.
Piece movement
How one move's piece travels, overriding the Global Settings style for that ply alone. A move has at most one; it sits above the move's frames rather than inside one, and duplicating it parks the copy in Orphaned Effects to drag onto another move. Each takes a duration: the slide's length, a Zoom-Follow's journey, or a Powerup's charge.
SwaggerRocks as it goes, overshoots on landing and snaps back. The Global Settings style, for this move only.
TumbleSlides with a full turn on the way.
LeapfrogLeaps, swelling to a peak halfway, bigger the further it goes.
Zoom-FollowThe camera pushes in tight on the piece and rides with it, so the piece stays centred while the board streams past; it pulls back out on landing, or hands over to a Zoom on the same move.
Zoom-Follow, tumblingThe same ride, the piece turning a full circle in the air.
Zoom-Follow, backflipThe same ride, the piece flipping end over end and rising off the board to twice its size midway.
Zoom-Follow, leapfrogThe same ride, the piece leaping, higher the further it goes.
PowerupThe piece quivers on its square, building up, then shoots to its destination in a snap with a heavy streak and white ghosts behind it.
Zoom
Moves the camera onto a square and back out again, so the board itself becomes the shot. A zoom spans plies rather than seconds, so one can hold across a sequence, and it can turn the board or shake it while it is in.
ZoomThe camera pushes onto the square, holds, then eases back out.
Zoom with tiltThe same push-in, turning the board as it goes. For drama.
Zoom with shakeThe camera rattles while it holds. For a catastrophe.
Flags
A short label pinned to a square. Use these for the running commentary that does not need to interrupt the board.
Speech bubbleA rounded label with a tail pointing at the square. Place it on a side of the square, or choose Custom and drag it anywhere; the tail follows.
Big pointerA box with a thick curved arrow, for emphasis.
PinA paper flag on a straight stick above or below the piece.
Titles
A line of text across the whole board, for chapter headings and punchlines. Each has an entrance and an exit; these previews show the same animation used for both.
ZoomGrows into place from the middle.
WipeSweeps across the board.
FlySlides in from the edge.
FadeSimply appears. The calm one.
NoneCuts straight in and straight out.
Filters
A colour treatment over the whole picture. Filters span plies rather than seconds, so one can run across a whole sequence and fade out as it ends.
NegativeEvery colour inverted. Good for a sudden turn.
MonochromeDrains the colour out. Good for a loss or a flashback.
Brightness & ContrastPush or pull both, from washed out to blown out.
The rest
These do not have a look of their own to preview, but they matter as much as the ones that do.
Effect
What it does
Review
A move-quality badge on the move's square: brilliant, great, book, best, good, inaccuracy, mistake, blunder, miss. Game Review fills these in for a whole game with the engine, and recognises opening theory as Book.
Subtitle
A caption under the board for the whole scene, wrapped to the board's width.
Voice Over
A recorded clip attached to a ply. The ply is held long enough for the clip to finish, and cloud renders mix it into the video's audio. Part of Pro.
Defaults, and changing them everywhere
Most settings on an effect start as Global, meaning they follow the matching entry in Global Settings. Change the global arrow colour and every arrow that was left alone follows; set a colour on one arrow and only that one changes. It is the quickest way to restyle a whole video at the end.