Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual page 462

Specifies whether parameters can be animated for individual waves. Birth specifies that each
Parameters Are Set At
wave maintains the same parameter settings over time. Each Frame specifies that the waves change as the parameters
change. For example, if you create a star wave with an animated rotation property, select Birth to offset each star from
the previous one to create a twisting tunnel effect, or select Each Frame to make all the stars rotate in unison as the
rotation property changes.
Controls the quality of the output. Radio Waves renders a smooth, anti-aliased shape for every shape
Render Quality
by rendering a high-resolution version of the shape and then scaling it down in a process called oversampling. For
example, to create a 100x100-pixel image, it may first generate a 400x400-pixel image and then scale it down using
4x oversampling. Oversampling provides high-quality results but result in long render times. This option works only
when in Best quality mode.
Specifies the type of wave you want to create.
Wave Type
Specifies the appearance of the polygon shape used for the wave. This control is available when Polygon is
Polygon
chosen for Wave Type.
•
Specifies the type of polygonal shape you want to produce. Three sides create a triangle, four create a square,
Sides
and so on. Size values above 64 result in a smooth circle. You can also create a circle by setting Sides to 3, Curve Size
to 1, and Curvyness to about 0.62.
•
Specifies how much of each side is curved at each point.
Curve Size
•
Specifies how extreme the curve is at each point of the wave.
Curvyness
•
Specifies that the polygon is shaped like a star. To change the number of points on the star, change the
Star
number of sides.
•
Specifies the star's angles by controlling the distance between inner points and the star's center.
Star Depth
Specifies the mask used to create a wave. This control is available when you choose Mask from the Wave Type
Mask
pop-up menu.
Image Contour controls for the Radio Waves effect
Image Contour controls specify the image you want to use as the wave and controls how the image appears. These
controls are available when Image Contours is chosen for Wave Type.
Specifies the layer you want to use as the shape of the wave. Select an animated layer to emit moving
Source Layer
shapes. A well-defined outline, high-contrast grayscale layer, or alpha channel works well as a source. The Radio
Waves effect detects edges and converts sources into outlines.
Specifies the center point of the shape, relative to the source layer. For example, if you isolate a shape
Source Center
that is positioned in the left half of the frame, the shape radiates to the left by default; you can move the source center
anywhere on the layer.
Specifies the channel of the layer that defines the wave shape.
Value Channel
Inverts the chosen value channel option.
Invert Input
Specifies the threshold for the chosen value channel. It determines the percentage value at which
Value Threshold
everything below it or above it is mapped to either white or black. This control can make a big difference in the shape
of the wave.
Smooths out the value channel before the value threshold is sampled. If you have a high-contrast image,
Pre-Blur
such as white on black, and you want the wave to follow the edges very closely, set this to 0.
Defines how tightly the wave conforms to the layer. A very high setting results in sharp corners; a very
Tolerance
low value can make the wave shape more sensitive to noise.
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User Guide