Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 517

AFTER EFFECTS CS3 511
User Guide
Wireframe view (top left), Height Map view (bottom left), and resulting image (bottom right). Result is used as Water Surface source for
Caustics effect example.
Wireframe view (left), Height Map view (center), and resulting image (right). Result is used as Input Phase for Colorama effect example.
To understand how this effect works, consider the following information about the physics of waves: A wave consists
of a peak and a trough. The amplitude of a wave is the height, or distance, between the peak and trough. The
wavelength is the distance from one peak to the next. Frequency is the number of waves per second passing a fixed
point.
View controls
View controls specify the method used to preview the Wave World effect. Choose one of the following views:
Displays the highest points as bright pixels and the lowest points as dark pixels. Use this view when
Height Map
creating a displacement map.
Provides a visual depiction of how the wave is being created. The grayscale output represents a
Wireframe Preview
height map: White represents the highest possible wave, and black represents the lowest. The two rectangular
outlines represent these two extremes: The cyan rectangle represents pure white, and the violet rectangle represents
pure black. The green grid represents the ground layer; it is flat by default but can be distorted by using a grayscale
image. The white grid represents the surface of the water.
Wireframe controls
Wireframe controls fine-tune the appearance of the wireframe model. These controls don't affect the grayscale
output.
Rotates the wireframe preview around the horizontal axis (right and left). As you adjust this
Horizontal Rotation
control, the distortion of the wireframe model keeps the entire wireframe model in full view.
Rotates the wireframe preview around the vertical axis (up and down).
Vertical Rotation
Distorts the wireframe preview vertically so that you can see heights more easily. It doesn't affect the
Vertical Scale
grayscale output.