Adobe After Effects CS4 - Manual (Page 525)

519 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Effects and animation presets
Last updated 12/21/2009
Three types of grain effects: matching (upper-left), adding (lower-left), and removing (lower-right)
RE:Vision Effects provides the DE:Noise plug-in for removing noise and grain from images. For information, see the
RE:Vision Effects website .
Neat Video provides the Reduce Noise plug-in for removing noise from digital video. For information, see the Neat
Video website .
Apply a grain effect
Each grain effect is applied with default settings and is displayed in Preview viewing mode, which has a preview region
framed by a white border and centered on the image. The preview region displays the results of the grain effect on a
portion of your image, for speed and comparison purposes. The grain effects are almost fully automatic but also offer
many controls to achieve precise results. You can also selectively apply the grain effects to portions of your image using
the extensive Blend With Original features provided with each effect.
1 Select the layer, and choose Effect > Noise & Grain > [effect].
2 Choose a viewing method from the Viewing Mode control in the Effect Controls panel:
Preview Displays the current settings of the applied effect in a 200x200-pixel area.
Blending Matte Shows the current color matte or mask, or the combination of both, which results from the current
settings of the Blend With Original controls group.
Final Output Renders the full active frame, using the current settings of the effect.
3 Adjust the controls for the effect in the Effect Controls panel.
The preview region in the Composition panel reflects any changes you make.
4 Choose Final Output from the Viewing Mode control.
Apply a grain effect to a selected area
The Blend With Original controls group lets you precisely apply a grain effect to a particular area of an image or
sequence by masking and matting the desired area. You can choose between two selection techniques or use a
combination of both:
Color Matching Excludes any area of the image that matches a selected color. By inverting the matte, you can also
selectively process such an area.
Masking Layer Uses any layer in the current composition as a mask to selectively process or exclude an area of the
current layer or track.