Do One Of The Following - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
When creating particles using the Grid, adjust the following:
Position Determines the X, Y coordinates of the grid center. When a grid particle is
created, it is centered over its grid intersection, regardless of whether it is a dot, a layer, or
a text character. If you're using text characters as particles, the Use Grid option in the Edit
Grid Text dialog box (see "Replacing default particles with text (PB only)" on page 361) is
on by default, placing each character on its own grid intersection, so normal character
spacing, word spacing, and kerning do not apply. If you want text characters to appear at
the grid position with normal spacing, use a text alignment other than the Use Grid
option.
Width/Height Horizontal and vertical dimensions of the grid, in pixels.
Particles Across/Particles Down Number of particles to distribute horizontally and verti-
cally across grid area. Particles are generated only when the value is 1 or more.
Note: If the Width, Height, Particles Across, and Particles Down options are not available,
the Use Grid option has been turned off in the Edit Grid Text dialog box. For more infor-
mation, see "Replacing default particles with text (PB only)" on page 361.
Color Sets the color of dots or text characters. This setting has no effect if you use a layer
as the particle source.
Particle Radius/Font Size Sets the radius of dots in pixels or the size of text characters in
points. (See "Replacing default particles with text (PB only)" on page 361.) This setting has
no effect if you use a layer as the particle source.
To turn off the grid:
1 In the Effect Controls window, click the right-facing triangle next to Grid so that it
points downward.

2 Do one of the following:

Click the underlined value next to Particles Across, type 0, and click OK.
•
Click the underlined value next to Particles Down, type 0, and click OK.
•
Click the underlined value next to Particle Radius/Font Size, type 0, and click OK.
•
Layer Exploder and Particle Exploder (PB only)
The Layer Exploder explodes a layer into new particles, and the Particle Exploder explodes
a particle into more new particles. In addition to explosion effects, the exploders are also
handy for simulating fireworks or for rapidly increasing the number of particles.
The following guidelines can help you control particles resulting from an explosion:
A layer is exploded once for each frame. By default, this creates a continuous shower of
•
particles for the duration of the composition. If you want to start or stop a layer
explosion, animate the Radius of New Particles option using keyframes so that its value
is zero at times when you don't want particles to be created.
If the source of the layer is a nested composition, you can set different Opacity property
•
values or In and Out points for the layers within the nested composition to make the
exploding layer transparent at different points in time. The Layer Exploder does not
create particles where the source of the layer is transparent.
To change the position of the exploding layer, precompose the layer with its new
•
position (use the Move All Attributes into The New Composition option), and then use
the precomposed layer as the exploding layer.
Using Help | Contents
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Creating Particle Effects (PB only)
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