Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 519

Specifies how waves bounce off the edges of the layer and back into the scene.
Reflect Edges
Specifies when the waves start moving. By default, the effect starts with a still surface without
Pre-roll (seconds)
waves or ripples. Use this control to start the waves moving before the layer begins. The settings at the first frame of
the effect are applied to the layer during the pre-roll.
Ground controls
The Ground controls specify the appearance of the ground layer.
Specifies the layer that appears at the bottom of the water. If you use an animated layer for the ground, Wave
Ground
World samples only the first frame. Wave World determines the intersection of the water's surface with the edge of
the ground, computes the waves bouncing off the shore, and properly adjusts the speed of the waves depending on
the depth. The ground surface is determined by the layer's brightness: White represents higher elevation, and black
represents lower elevation.
Adjusts the steepness of the ground by expanding and contracting the height of the displaced wireframe.
Steepness
The mesh is locked at the black level, so it always grows up from the bottom. In other words, you cannot adjust the
bottom of a canyon to be deeper; instead, you can adjust the rim to be higher. To make the canyon deeper, combine
a higher Steepness setting with a lower Height setting.
Controls the distance between the water surface and the ground's deepest possible point. Use this control to
Height
make the body of water deeper or shallower. When you change the depth of the water, the waves behave accordingly:
They move faster in deep water and slower in shallow water. (Adjusting the Height control when using the wireframe
preview may appear to lower the ground level, but the wireframe camera always moves with the water level.)
Controls how big the resulting waves are when the ground height or steepness is animated. A value
Wave Strength
of 0 results in no waves.
Note: You can create a pulsing wave effect by animating the ground's steepness so that the ground pokes through the
water, producing waves. Then use the Wave Strength control to intensify the effect.
Producer 1 and Producer 2 controls
The Producer controls specify the point at which the waves begin.
Specifies the type of producer. Ring creates a wave as if a stone were dropped into a pond; waves radiate
Type
outward in circles (or ellipses, depending on the size settings of the effect point). Line creates waves that emanate
from the producer's position in a line instead of an ellipse. This setting is useful for creating waves that look as though
they were generated from much farther away. The waves are produced perpendicular to the edges of the line. The
length of the line is based on the Height/Length setting.
Specifies the location of the center of the wave producer.
Position
Specifies the (vertical) height of a Ring producer and adjusts the length of a Line producer.
Height/Length
Specifies the (horizontal) width of the producer area.
Width
Specifies the angle of the wave producer area for the Line and Ring types. This control sets the orientation of
Angle
the line and thus controls the initial direction of the waves, which emanate from either side of the line, perpendicular
to its length.
Controls the height of the produced wave. Higher values create more dramatic waves but may result in
Amplitude
clipping, which you can repair by using the Brightness and Contrast controls.
Controls how many waves are produced per second. A value of 1 has the effect of waves surfacing once
Frequency
every second.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 513
User Guide