Adobe After Effects CS4 - Manual (Page 454)

448 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Effects and animation presets
Last updated 12/21/2009
This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.
Blend With Layer The layer to blend with (the secondary or control layer).
Note: To use a layer as a control layer for the Blend effect but not show the layer in the rest of the composition, deselect
the control Video switch
for the control layer. (See “ Layer switches and columns in the Timeline panel ” on page 154.)
Mode Blending mode:
• Color Only colorizes each pixel in the original image based on the color of each corresponding pixel in the
secondary image.
• Tint Only is similar to Color Only but tints pixels in the original image only if they’re already colored.
• Darken Only darkens each pixel in the original image that is lighter than the corresponding pixel in the secondary
image.
• Lighten Only lightens each pixel in the original image that is darker than the corresponding pixel in the secondary
image.
• Crossfade causes the original image to fade out while the secondary image fades in.
Note: You can create a crossfade without applying an effect by animating the Opacity property of one layer on top of
another. However, this technique doesn’t work if the frontmost layer has any transparent portions (which allow the
other layer to show through, even when at full opacity). The Crossfade mode creates a proper crossfade between two
layers, even if both have transparent regions.
Blend With Original The transparency of the effect. The result of the effect is blended with the original image, with the
effect result composited on top. The higher you set this value, the less the effect affects the layer. For example, if you
set this value to 100%, the effect has no visible result on the layer; if you set this value to 0%, the original image doesn’t
show through.
If Layer Sizes Differ Specifies how to position the control layer. The quality setting of the layer affects Blend only if
Stretch To Fit is selected and if the layers are of different sizes. Stretching at Best quality is much smoother.
Calculations effect
The Calculations effect combines channels of one layer with the channels of a second layer.
This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.
Input Channel The channel to extract and use as input to the blending operation. RGBA displays all channels
normally. Gray converts all color channel values for a pixel to the luminance value of the original pixel. Red, Green, or
Blue converts all color channel values for a pixel to the value of the selected color channel for the original pixel. Alpha
converts all channels to the value of the alpha channel for the original pixel.
Invert Input Inverts the layer (subtracts each channel value from 1.0) before the effect extracts the specified channel
information.
Second Layer The control layer with which Calculations blends the original layer.
Second Layer Channel The channel to be blended with the input channels.
Second Layer Opacity The opacity of the second layer. Use a setting of 0% for the second layer to have no influence on
the output.
Invert Second Layer Inverts the second layer (subtracts each channel value from 1.0) before the effect extracts the
specified channel information.
Stretch Second Layer To Fit Stretches the second layer to the dimensions of the original layer before blending. Deselect
to center the second layer on the original layer.