Adobe After Effects - Manual (Page 560)

Rows & Columns
Rows
Columns
Note:
Back Layer
Gradient Layer 1
Gradient Layer 2
Rotation Order
Transformation Order
Original (left), gradient layer (center), and with Card Dance applied (right)
Apply Card Dance to the layer to use for the front of the cards. To set the view, use the rotation or perspective controls, or match the perspective
of the effect in any scene by corner-pinning.
For example, select a vertical grayscale gradient layer (black on top, white on bottom) from the Gradient Layer 1 menu, and then select Intensity 1
from the X Rotation Source menu. Card Dance uses the intensity of the gradient to animate the x-axis rotation of the cards. It assigns a numeric
value to the center pixel of each card on the gradient layer, based on the intensity of the pixel. Pure white equals 1, pure black equals –1, and
50% gray equals 0. Card Dance then multiplies that value by the X Rotation Multiplier value and rotates each card that amount. If X Rotation
Multiplier is set to 90, the cards in the top row rotate almost 90° backward, the cards in the bottom row rotate almost 90° forward, and cards in
middle rows rotate by lesser amounts. Cards in the 50% gray area don’t rotate at all.
If you want half of the cards in a layer to come in from the right, and the other half to come in from the left, create a gradient layer that is half black
and half white. Set the gradient as the source for X Position, and set X Position Multiplier to 5, and animate it to 0. The cards in the black area
initially appear at the left, and the cards in the white area initially appear at the right.
Rows, Columns, Layer, and Order controls
Specifies the interaction of the numbers of rows and columns. Independent makes both the Rows and Columns sliders active.
Columns Follows Rows makes only the Rows slider active. If you choose this option, the number of columns is always the same as the number of
rows.
The number of rows, up to 1000.
The number of columns, up to 1000, unless Columns Follows Rows is selected.
Rows and columns are always evenly distributed across a layer, so unusually shaped rectangular tiles don’t appear along the edges of a
layer—unless you use an alpha channel.
The layer that appears in segments on the backs of the cards. You can use any layer in the composition; its Video switch can even
be turned off. If the layer has effects or masks, precompose the layer first.
The first control layer to use to make the cards dance. You can use any layer. Grayscale layers produce the most predictable
results. The gradient layer acts as a displacement map for animating the cards.
The second control layer.
The order in which the cards rotate around multiple axes when using more than one axis for rotation.
The order in which the transformations (scale, rotation, and position) are performed.
Position, Rotation, and Scale controls
Position (X, Y, Z), Rotation (X, Y, Z), and Scale (X, Y) specify the transformation properties you want to adjust. Because Card Dance is a 3D
effect, you can control these properties separately for each axis of the cards. However, because the cards themselves are still 2D, they have no
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