Adobe After Effects - Manual (Page 494)

Render
Detail Radius
Detail Threshold
Fill
Edge
Threshold
Width
Softness
Opacity
Advanced
Edge Enhancement
Edge Black Level
Cartoon effect applied with Render set to Fill & Edges
Cartoon effect properties
Fill, Edges, or Fill & Edges. Determines which operations to perform and which results to display.
The radius for the blurring operation that is used to smooth the image and remove details before the operation to find edges. A
larger radius for a blur means that more pixels are averaged together to determine each pixel value, so increasing the Detail Radius value
increases the blurriness.
The blur operation that the Cartoon effect performs is similar to that used by the Bilateral Blur effect. (See Bilateral Blur effect.)
The radius of the blur is automatically decreased in areas where an edge or other prominent detail exists. The Detail Threshold value determines
how the Cartoon effect decides what areas contain features to be preserved and what areas should be blurred by the full amount. A lower Detail
Threshold value causes more fine details to be preserved. A higher Detail Threshold value causes a more simplistic cartoon-like result, with fewer
details preserved.
The luminance values in the image are quantized (posterized) according to the settings of the Shading Steps and Shading Smoothness
properties. If the Shading Smoothness value is 0, then the result is very similar to a simple posterization, with sharp transitions between values. A
higher Shading Smoothness value causes the colors to blend together more naturally, with more gradual transitions between posterized values,
preserving gradients.
The smoothing phase considers the amount of detail that exists in the original image so that areas that are already smooth (such as the gradient
of a sky) are not quantized unless that Shading Smoothness value is low.
These properties determine the basics of what is considered an edge and how the stroke applied to an edge appears.
Determines how different two pixels must be for the Cartoon effect to consider them to be one either side of an edge. Increase
the Threshold value to cause more areas to be identified as edges.
The thickness of the stroke that is added to the edge.
Increase this value to soften the transition between the edge’s stroke and the surrounding colors.
The opacity of the stroke applied to the edge.
Advanced settings related to edges and performance.
Positive values sharpen the edges; negative values spread the edges. The enhancement distorts the entire image
by warping pixels toward or away from the edges, which has the result of sharpening or spreading the edges.
When this property is 0, only the pixels that have been identified as being part of an edge receive a stroke; when
Render is set to Edges, the image is white except in areas with a pure black stroke. Increase the Edge Black Level property by a small
amount to add shades of gray in the Edges phase of rendering. Increase this property by a larger amount to approach a result that
resembles white strokes on a black background.
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