Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 401

When you apply the Curves effect, After Effects displays a graph in the Effect Controls panel that you use to specify
a curve. The horizontal axis of the graph represents the original brightness values of the pixels (input levels); the
vertical axis represents the new brightness values (output levels). In the default diagonal line, all pixels have identical
input and output values. Curves displays brightness values from 0 to 255 (8 bit) or 32768 (16 bit), with shadows (0)
on the left.
Use the Curves effect
Choose Effect > Color Correction > Curves.
1
If the image has more than one color channel, choose the channel you want to adjust from the Channel menu.
2
RGB alters all channels using a single curve.
3 Use the Bezier tool and the Pencil tool to modify or draw a curve. (To activate a tool, click the Bezier button
or the Pencil button .)
To smooth the curve, click the Smooth
The curve type is determined by the last tool used to modify it. You can save arbitrary map curves modified by the
Pencil tool as .amp (Photoshop lookup) files. You can save curves modified by the Bezier tool as .acv (Photoshop
spline) files.
Equalize effect
The Equalize effect alters an image's pixel values to produce a more consistent brightness or color component distri-
bution. The effect works similarly to the Equalize command in Adobe Photoshop. Pixels with 0 alpha (completely
transparent) values aren't considered, so masked layers are equalized based on the mask area.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.
Original (left), and with effect applied (right)
RGB equalizes the image based on red, green, and blue components. Brightness equalizes the image based
Equalize
on the brightness of each pixel. Photoshop Style equalizes by redistributing the brightness values of the pixels in an
image so that they more evenly represent the entire range of brightness levels.
How much to redistribute the brightness values. At 100%, the pixel values are spread as evenly
Amount To Equalize
as possible; lower percentages redistribute fewer pixel values.
Exposure effect
Use the Exposure effect to make tonal adjustments to footage, either one channel at a time or all channels at once.
The Exposure effect simulates the result of modifying the exposure setting (in f-stops) of the camera that captured
the image. The Exposure effect works by performing calculations in a linear color space, rather than in the image's
current color space. The Exposure effect is designed for making tonal adjustments to high–dynamic range (HDR)
images with 32-bpc color, but you can use the effect on 8-bpc and 16-bpc images.
button. To reset the curve to a line, click the Line
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 395
User Guide
button.