Adobe 65008009 - After Effects CS4 Using Manual page 479

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Last updated 12/21/2009 USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Effects and animation presets
The displacement is determined from the color values of the displacement map. The color values range from 0 to 255.
Each value is converted into a scale ranging from -1 to 1. The displacement amount is calculated by multiplying the
converted value by the maximum displacement amount you specify. A color value of 0 produces maximum negative
displacement (–1 * maximum displacement). A color value of 255 produces maximum positive displacement. A color
value of 128 produces no displacement.
The effect uses the control layer specified by Displacement Map Layer, without considering any effects or masks. If you
want to use the control layer with its effects, precompose it. If the control layer isn't the same size as the layer to which
the effect is applied, it is centered, stretched, or tiled depending on the setting for Displacement Map Behavior.
Select Expand Output to allow the results of the effect to extend beyond the original boundaries of the layer to which
it's applied. Select Wrap Pixels Around to copy pixels displaced outside the original layer boundaries to the opposite
side of the layer; that is, pixels pushed off the right side appear on the left side, and so on.
Online resources for the Displacement Map effect
Rick Gerard provides additional explanation and an example project for the Displacement Map effect on his website.
Eran Stern provides a video tutorial on the Creative COW website that shows how to use the Displacement Map effect
with a text layer and some smoke footage to create a smoky text title sequence.
Trish and Chris Meyer explain how to use blending modes, layer styles, and the Displacement Map effect to make text
blend in to appear to be part of a surface in the PDF article "Writing on the Wall" on the Artbeats website.
Chris Zwar provides an example project on his website that uses the Displacement Map effect, the Turbulent Displace
effect, the Texturize effect, and a combination of Blur and Color Correction effects to create a transition in which an
image appears as a watercolor image washed onto a rough piece of paper.
Liquify effect
The Liquify effect lets you push, pull, rotate, enlarge, and shrink areas in a layer. Several Liquify tools distort the brush
area when you hold down the mouse button or drag. The distortion is concentrated at the center of the brush area, and
the effect intensifies as you hold down the mouse button or repeatedly drag over an area.
You can limit the area of a layer you distort by using Freeze Area Mask. Use the Reconstruction mode to lessen or undo
distortions you've created.
The Liquify effect can extend beyond the boundaries of the target layer. This extension is useful when the target layer
is smaller than the composition.
This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.
Original (upper-left), and with variations of Liquify applied (lower-left and right)