Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 187

The distance from the film plane to the camera lens. In After Effects, the camera's position represents
Focal Length
the center of the lens. When you modify Focal Length, the Zoom value changes to match the perspective of a real
camera. In addition, the Preset, Angle Of View, and Aperture values change accordingly.
The units of measurement in which the camera setting values are expressed.
Units
The dimensions used to depict the film size.
Measure Film Size
Create a light and change settings
A light layer can affect the colors of the 3D layers that it shines on, depending on the light's settings and the Material
Options properties of the 3D layers. Each light, by default, points to its point of interest.
Lights can be used to illuminate 3D layers and to cast shadows, either to match lighting conditions of the scene into
which you are compositing or to create more interesting visual results such as the appearance of light streaming
through a layer as if it were made of stained glass.
Parts of a light
A. Point of interest B. Spotlight cone C. Light
You can animate all of a light's settings, except for Casts Shadows.
You can specify which 3D layers a light affects by designating the light as an adjustment layer—place the light in the
Timeline panel above the layers on which you want it to shine. Layers that are above a light adjustment layer in the
layer stacking order in the Timeline panel do not receive the light, regardless of the layers' positions in the Compo-
sition panel.
See also
"Working with 3D layers" on page 174
"Auto-Orientation options" on page 150
"Create an adjustment layer" on page 140
Create a light
❖
Choose Layer > New > Light, or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+L (Mac OS).
Note: By default, new layers begin at the beginning of the composition duration. You can instead choose to have new
layers begin at the current time by deselecting the Create Layers At Composition Start Time preference (Edit >
Preferences > General (Windows) or After Effects > Preferences > General (Mac OS)).
Change light settings
❖
Double-click a light layer in the Timeline panel or select the layer and choose Layer > Light Settings.
A
B
C
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 181
User Guide