Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 493)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
488
For example, select a vertical grayscale gradient layer (black on top, white on bottom) from the Gradient Layer 1
menu, and then select Intensity 1 from the X Rotation Source menu. Card Dance uses the intensity of the gradient
to animate the x-axis rotation of the cards. It assigns a numeric value to the center pixel of each card on the gradient
layer, based on the pixel’s intensity. Pure white equals 1, pure black equals –1, and 50% gray equals 0. Card Dance
then multiplies that value by the X Rotation Multiplier value and rotates each card that amount. If X Rotation Multi-
plier is set to 90, the cards in the top row rotate almost 90˚ backward, the cards in the bottom row rotate almost 90˚
forward, and cards in middle rows rotate by lesser amounts. Cards in the 50% gray area don’t rotate at all.
If you want half of the cards in a layer to come in from the right, and the other half to come in from the left, create a
gradient layer that is half black and half white. Set the gradient as the source for X Position, and set X Position Multi-
plier to 5, and animate it to 0. The cards in the black area initially appear at the left, and the cards in the white area
initially appear at the right.
See also
“Common Lighting controls and Material controls” on page 486
Rows, Columns, Layer, and Order controls
Rows & Columns Specifies the interaction of the numbers of rows and columns. Independent makes both the Rows
and Columns sliders active. Columns Follows Rows makes only the Rows slider active. If you choose this option, the
number of columns is always the same as the number of rows.
Rows The number of rows, up to 1000.
Columns The number of columns, up to 1000, unless Columns Follows Rows is selected.
Note: Rows and columns are always evenly distributed across a layer, so unusually shaped rectangular tiles don’t appear
along the edges of a layer—unless you use an alpha channel.
Back Layer The layer that appears in segments on the backs of the cards. You can use any layer in the composition;
its Video switch can even be turned off. If the layer has effects or masks, precompose the layer first.
Gradient Layer 1 The first control layer to use to make the cards dance. You can use any layer. Grayscale layers
produce the most predictable results. The gradient layer acts as a displacement map for animating the cards.
Gradient Layer 2 The second control layer.
Rotation Order The order in which the cards rotate around multiple axes when using more than one axis for
rotation.
Transformation Order The order in which the transformations (scale, rotation, and position) are performed.
Position, Rotation, and Scale controls
Position (X, Y, Z), Rotation (X, Y, Z), and Scale (X, Y) specify the transformation properties you want to adjust.
Because Card Dance is a 3D effect, you can control these properties separately for each axis of the cards. However,
because the cards themselves are still 2D, they have no inherent depth—hence the absence of z scaling.
Source Specifies the gradient layer channel you want to use to control the transformation. For example, select
Intensity 2 to use the intensity from Gradient Layer 2.
Multiplier The amount of transformation applied to the cards.
Offset The base value from which the transformation begins. It is added to the transformation value (a card’s center
pixel value times the Multiplier amount) so that you can start the transformation from some place other than 0.