Adobe After Effects CS4 - Manual (Page 589)

583 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Effects and animation presets
Last updated 12/21/2009
Note: You can create a pulsing wave effect by animating the steepness of the ground so that the ground pokes through the
water, producing waves. Then use the Wave Strength control to intensify the effect.
Producer 1 and Producer 2 controls
The Producer controls specify the point at which the waves begin.
Type Specifies the type of producer. Ring creates a wave as if a stone were dropped into a pond; waves radiate outward
in circles (or ellipses, depending on the size settings of the effect point). Line creates waves that emanate from the
producer position in a line instead of an ellipse. This setting is useful for creating waves that look as though they were
generated from much farther away. The waves are produced perpendicular to the edges of the line. The length of the
line is based on the Height/Length setting.
Position Specifies the location of the center of the wave producer.
Height/Length Specifies the (vertical) height of a Ring producer and adjusts the length of a Line producer.
Width Specifies the (horizontal) width of the producer area.
Angle Specifies the angle of the wave producer area for the Line and Ring types. This control sets the orientation of
the line and thus controls the initial direction of the waves, which emanate from either side of the line, perpendicular
to its length.
Amplitude Controls the height of the produced wave. Higher values create more dramatic waves but may result in
clipping, which you can repair by using the Brightness and Contrast controls.
Frequency Controls how many waves are produced per second. A value of 1 has the effect of waves surfacing once
every second.
Phase Specifies where in the wave phase the wave begins. For example, with the default setting of 0°, the first
disturbance in the liquid is a convex wave (projecting upward from the surface of the water). With Phase set to 180°,
the first disturbance in the liquid is a concave wave.
Stylize effects
Brush Strokes effect
The Brush Strokes effect applies a rough painted look to an image. You can also use this effect to achieve a pointillist
style by setting the length of the brush strokes to 0 and increasing the stroke density. Although you specify the direction
of strokes, they’re scattered randomly by a small amount to give a more natural result. This effect alters the alpha
channel, as well as the color channels; if you masked out a portion of the image, the brush strokes paint over the edges
of the mask.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.