Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 496)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
491
Smoothing Specifies the roundness of the waves by blurring the water surface layer. Very high values eliminate
detail. Very low values show imperfections in the water surface layer.
Water Depth Specifies depth. A small disturbance in shallow water moderately distorts the view of the bottom, but
the same disturbance in deep water distorts the view significantly.
Refractive Index Affects the way the light bends as it passes through the liquid. A value of 1 does not distort the
bottom. The default value of 1.2 accurately simulates water. To add distortion, increase the value.
Surface Color Specifies the color of the water.
Surface Opacity Controls how much of the bottom layer is visible through the water. If you want a milky effect,
increase the Surface Opacity and Light Intensity values; a value of 0 results in a clear liquid.
Set Surface Opacity to 1.0 to perfectly reflect a sky later. With a suitable texture map, you can use this technique to
create the effect of liquid mercury.
Caustics Strength Displays the caustics, the concentrations of light on the bottom surface, caused by the lensing
effect of the water waves. This control changes the way everything looks: The waves’ dark spots get much darker, and
the light spots get much lighter. If you don’t set a value for this control, the effect distorts the bottom layer when the
waves pass over it, but it doesn’t render the lighting effect.
Sky controls
Sky Specifies the layer above the water. Scaling makes the sky layer larger or smaller. If the edges of the sky layer
show, scale the layer up. Scaling down is useful for tiling a layer to make a complex pattern.
Repeat Mode Specifies how a scaled-down sky layer is tiled. Once uses only one tile, basically turning tiling off. Tiles
uses the traditional tiling method of abutting the right edge of one layer tile to the left edge of another layer tile. This
option works well if the layer contains a repeating pattern, like a logo, that needs to read a certain way. Reflected abuts
each edge of a layer tile to a mirrored copy of the tile. This option can eliminate a hard edge where the two tiles meet.
If Layer Size Differs Specifies how to handle the layer when it is smaller than the composition. Intensity specifies the
opacity of the sky layer. Convergence specifies how close the sky and the bottom or water layer appear, controlling
the extent to which the waves distort the sky.
Foam effect
This effect generates bubbles that flow, cling, and pop. Use the effect’s controls to adjust attributes for the bubbles
such as stickiness, viscosity, life span, and bubble strength. You can control exactly how the foam particles interact
with each other and with their environment, and specify a separate layer to act as a map, controlling precisely where
the foam flows. For example, you can have particles flow around a logo or fill a logo with bubbles.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.