Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 337)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
332
Alter shape paths with path operations
Path operations are live, which means that you can modify or remove them at any time. Path operations apply to all
paths above them in the same group; as with all shape attributes, you can reorder path operations by dragging,
cutting, copying, and pasting in the Timeline panel.
1 In the Composition panel or Timeline panel, select the shape group into which to add the path operation.
2 Choose a path operation from the Add menu in the Tools panel or the Timeline panel:
Merge Paths Combines paths into a compound path. (See “Merge Paths options” on page 333.)
Offset Paths Expands or contracts a shape by offsetting the path from the original path. For a closed path, a positive
Amount value expands the shape; a negative Amount value contracts it. The Line Join property specifies the
appearance of the path where offset path segments come together. A bevel join is a squared-off connection. A miter
join is a pointed connection. The miter limit determines the conditions under which a beveled join is used instead
of a miter join. If the miter limit is 4, then when the length of the point reaches four times the stroke weight, a bevel
join is used instead. A miter limit of 1 causes a bevel join.
Pucker & Bloat Pulls a path’s vertices outward while curving the segments inward (Pucker), or pulls a path’s vertices
inward while curving the segments outward (Bloat).
Repeater Creates multiple copies of a shape, applying a specified transformation to each copy. (See “Using the
Repeater to replicate shapes” on page 333.)
Round Corners Rounds corners of paths. Higher Radius values cause greater roundness.
Trim Paths Animate the Start, End, and Offset properties to trim a path to create results similar to those achieved
with the Write-on effect and the Write On setting for paint strokes. If the Trim Paths path operation is below multiple
paths in a group, then you can choose to have the paths trimmed simultaneously or treated as a compound path and
trimmed individually.
Twist Rotates a path more sharply in the center than at the edges. Entering a positive value twists clockwise; entering
a negative value twists counterclockwise.
Wiggle Paths Turns a path into a series of jagged peaks and valleys of various sizes. The distortion is auto-animated,
meaning that it changes over time without the need to set any keyframes or add expressions. Several properties for
this path operation behave the same as properties of the same name for the Wiggly selector for text animation. The
Correlation property specifies the amount of correlation between a vertex’s movement and that of its neighbors;
smaller values create more jagged results, as the position of a vertex depends less on the position of its neighbors.
The Correlation property is similar to Correlation for the Wiggly selector, except that the Wiggle Paths version
specifies the correlation between neighboring vertices instead of neighboring characters. Set the maximum length
for segment paths using an absolute or relative size. Set the density of jagged edges (Detail) and choose between soft
edges (Smooth) or sharp edges (Corner).
Animate the Size property to fade the wiggling up or down. To smoothly accelerate or decelerate the wiggling, set
Wiggles/Second to a constant value of 0, and animate the Temporal Phase property.
Zig Zag Turns a path into a series of jagged peaks and valleys of uniform size. Set the length between peaks and
valleys using an absolute or relative size. Set the number of ridges per path segment, and choose between wavy edges
(Smooth) or jagged edges (Corner).