Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 437

Polygon wave type with square stroke profile (bottom left), and Image Contour wave type with Sine stroke profile (bottom right)
The point from which the waves appear.
Producer Point
Specifies whether parameters can be animated for individual waves. Birth specifies that each
Parameters Are Set At
wave maintains the same parameter settings over time. Each Frame specifies that the waves change as the parameters
change. For example, if you create a star wave with an animated rotation property, select Birth to offset each star from
the previous one to create a twisting tunnel, or select Each Frame to make all the stars rotate in unison as the rotation
property changes.
Controls the quality of the output. Radio Waves creates smooth, anti-aliased shapes by rendering high-
Render Quality
resolution versions of the shapes and then scaling them down by oversampling. For example, to create a 100x100-pixel
image, it may first generate a 400x400-pixel image and then scale it down using 4x oversampling. Oversampling
provides high-quality results but results in long render times. This option works only with Best quality mode.
What to base the wave shape on.
Wave Type
What kind of polygon to use for the wave shape. These controls are available if Polygon is chosen for Wave Type.
Polygon
•
Three sides create a triangle, four create a square, and so on. Size values above 64 result in a smooth circle.
Sides
You can also approximate a circle by setting Sides to 3, Curve Size to 1, and Curvyness to about 0.62.
•
Specifies how much of each side is curved at each point.
Curve Size
•
Specifies how extreme the curve is at each point of the wave.
Curvyness
•
Specifies that the polygon is shaped like a star. To change the number of points on the star, change the
Star
number of sides.
•
Specifies the star's angles by controlling the distance between inner points and the star's center.
Star Depth
Specifies the mask used to create a wave. This control is available if you choose Mask from the Wave Type pop-
Mask
up menu.
Image Contour controls
You can base the wave shape on the contours of an image by choosing Image Contours for Wave Type.
The layer to use as input for the creation of the image contours. Select an animated layer to emit
Source Layer
moving shapes. A well-defined outline, high-contrast grayscale layer, or alpha channel works well as a source. The
Radio Waves effect detects edges and converts sources into outlines.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 431
User Guide