Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 518)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
513
Camera System and Camera Position controls
Camera System Whether to use the effect’s Camera Position properties, the effect’s Corner Pins properties, or the
default composition camera and light positions to render 3D images.
X Rotation, Y Rotation, Z Rotation Rotate the camera around the corresponding axis. Use these controls to look at
the cards from the top, side, back, or any other angle.
X, Y Position Where the camera is positioned in (x,y) space.
Z Position Where the camera is positioned along the z axis. Smaller numbers move the camera closer to the cards,
and larger numbers move the camera away from the cards.
Focal Length The zoom factor. Smaller numbers zoom in.
Transform Order The order in which the camera rotates around its three axes, and whether the camera rotates before
or after it is positioned using the other Camera Position controls.
Corner Pins controls
Corner pinning is an alternative camera control system. Use it as an aid for compositing the result of the effect into
a scene on a flat surface that is tilted with respect to the frame.
Upper Left Corner, Upper Right Corner, Lower Left Corner, Lower Right Corner Where to attach each of the corners
of the layer.
Auto Focal Length Controls the perspective of the effect during the animation. If this option is deselected, the focal
length you specify is used to find a camera position and orientation that positions the corners of the layer at the
corner pins, if possible. If not, the layer is replaced by its outline, drawn between the pins. If this option is selected,
the focal length required to match the corner points is used, if possible. If not, the correct value is interpolated from
nearby frames.
Focal Length Overrides the other settings if the results you’ve obtained aren’t what you need. If you set the Focal
Length to something that doesn’t correspond to what the focal length would be if the pins were actually in that
configuration, the image may look unusual (strangely sheared, for example). But if you know the focal length that
you are trying to match, this option is the easiest way to get correct results.
Creating a custom shatter map
All layers in After Effects are represented as an RGBA image, including black-and-white images. The Shatter effect
calculates the luminance threshold of each channel to create a custom shatter map. Shatter calculates the 50%
luminance threshold of each channel, creating an image composed of only eight colors: red, green, blue, yellow,
magenta, cyan, white, and black. These eight colors become possible combinations of the channels set either all the
way on (255) or all the way off (0). The shatter layer splits along the edges of these different colored sections.
When designing custom shatter maps, you can find it useful to manually set a threshold for each channel of the image
at 50% (you can use the Curves effect to do so). When you set the threshold, you can see how the image will be broken
into pieces. Alternatively, you can create custom shatter maps by drawing an image using only the eight colors listed
above, with no intermediate shades or anti-aliasing.
Note: Use the Colorama effect to posterize the colors of an image to these eight colors. Turn off Interpolate Palette in the
Colorama effect controls. See “Colorama effect” on page 393.
The alpha channel determines whether or not a shattered piece exists. A white alpha channel value results in a
shattered piece, and a black alpha channel value results in no piece. Using an alpha channel, you can make a tile map
with holes in it or generate simple 3D models like extruded text.