Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 436)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
431
Branch Seg. Length The length of each branch segment as a fraction of the average length of the segments in the
lightning bolt.
Branch Segments The maximum number of segments for each branch. To produce long branches, specify higher
values for both Branch Seg. Length and Branch Segments.
Branch Width The average width of each branch as a fraction of the width of the lightning bolt.
Speed How fast the lightning bolt undulates.
Stability How closely the lightning follows the line defined by the start and end points. Lower values keep the
lightning bolt close to the line; higher values create significant bouncing. Use Stability with Pull Force to simulate a
Jacob’s Ladder effect and cause the lightning bolt to snap back to a position along the start line after it has been pulled
in the Pull Force direction. A Stability value that is too low doesn’t allow the lightning to be stretched into an arc
before it snaps back; a value that is too high lets the lightning bolt bounce around.
Fixed Endpoint Determines whether the end point of the lightning bolt remains fixed in place. If this control isn’t
selected, the end of the bolt undulates around the end point.
Width, Width Variation The width of the main lightning bolt and how much the width of different segments can
vary. Width changes are randomized. A value of 0 produces no width changes; a value of 1 produces the maximum
width changes.
Core Width The width of the inner glow, as specified by the Inside Color value. Core Width is relative to the total
width of the lightning bolt.
Outside Color, Inside Color The colors used for the lightning bolt’s outer and inner glows. Because the Lightning
effect adds these colors on top of existing colors in the composition, primary colors often produce the best results.
Bright colors often become much lighter, sometimes becoming white, depending on the brightness of colors beneath.
Pull Force, Pull Direction The strength and direction of a force that pulls the lightning bolt. Use the Pull Force value
with the Stability value to create a Jacob’s Ladder appearance.
Random Seed An input value for the random noise generator that is the basis of the Lightning effect. If the random
movement of the lightning interferes with another image or layer, enter a new value for Random Seed until you find
one that works for you.
Blending Mode The blending mode to use to composite the lightning on top of the original layer. These blending
modes work identically to the ones in the Timeline panel.
Rerun At Each Frame Regenerates the lightning at each frame. To make the lightning behave the same way at the
same frame every time you run it, don’t select this option. Selecting this option increases rendering time.
Paint Bucket effect
The Paint Bucket effect (formerly Basic Fill effect) is a nondestructive paint effect that fills an area with a solid color.
It works much like the Paint Bucket tool in Adobe Photoshop. Use the Paint Bucket effect for colorizing cartoon-type
outlined drawings or replacing areas of color in an image.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.
Fill Point The effect fills an area that contains the Fill Point. The area is determined by analyzing pixels that neighbor
the Fill Point and expanding the fill area by adding matching pixels. How far the fill color spreads depends upon the
Tolerance setting, as well as the option you choose from the Fill Selector menu.
Fill Selector Which values to operate on:
• Color & Alpha Specifies that the effect fills the fill point’s RGB and alpha channels with the new color.