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Beam
This effect animates the movement of a laser beam. You can make the laser shoot, or you
can create a wand-like laser with stationary start and end points. This effect uses a 3D
perspective based on the change in Starting Thickness and Ending Thickness. The beam
looks best when motion blur is enabled and the shutter angle is set to 360.
To make a shooting laser beam, use keyframes to change the start point, end point, and length over
time.
The Length option specifies the length of the beam based on a percent of the Time
specified. For example, a setting of 100% means that the visible beam length is at its
maximum when the Time option is 50%. Time specifies the time of the beam's travel from
start to end as a percent. The 3D Perspective option uses 3D perspective when animating
Time.
Ellipse
This effect draws an ellipse based on the dimensions you specify in the Effect Controls
window. In addition to width and height, you can specify the thickness, softness, and color
of the ellipse.
The Width/Height options specify the width and height of the ellipse in pixels. Values
range from 0 to 2000 pixels. Thickness specifies the thickness of the arc forming the
ellipse. Values range from 0 to 1000 pixels. Softness specifies the softness or degree of blur
of the ellipse's arc.
Fill
This effect is used to fill a mask with a specified color. The Fill Mask menu displays the
available masks. If you want to add both a stroke and a fill to a closed path, the order in
which you apply the stroke and fill effects determines the visible width of the stroke. If the
fill is applied before the stroke, the full stroke brush size is visible. If the stroke is applied
before the fill, the fill appears on top of the stroke, obscuring the half of the stroke that
falls inside the path. See "Stroke" on page 216.
Fractal
This effect renders the Mandelbrot or Julia set, creating colorful textures. When you first
apply the effect, the picture you see is the classic sample of the Mandelbrot Set (the "set" is
the area that is colored black). Any pixel lying outside of the set is colorized, depending on
how close it is to the set. Pixels near the border appear chaotic (noisy), but as you zoom in,
a quite startling and beautiful structure is revealed.
For more information, see the After Effects product section on Adobe's Web site.
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