Radial Shadow Effect - Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 Manual

Original (left), and with effect applied (right)

Radial Shadow effect

The Radial Shadow effect creates a shadow from a point light source over the layer it's applied to, rather than from
an infinite light source (as with the Drop Shadow effect). The shadow is cast from the alpha channel of the source
layer, allowing the color of that layer to influence the color of the shadow as light passes through semi-transparent
areas. You can use this effect to make a 3D layer appear to cast a shadow onto a 2D layer.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.
Original (left), and with effect applied (right)
Adjust the following controls for the Radial Shadow effect:
Specifies the color of the shadow.
Shadow Color
Note: The colors of the layer may override this option if you choose the Glass Edges option from the Render control. See
the Render and Color Influence controls for more information.
Specifies the transparency of the shadow.
Opacity
Specifies the point from which light is cast over the layer to create the shadow.
Light Source
Copy and paste position keyframes from another effect's control point (for example, Lens Flare) to quickly create a
shadow that matches another effect's light source.
Specifies the distance of the surface on which the shadow falls from the layer and the light
Projection Distance
source. This value affects the size of the shadow. By default, the distance between the light source and the layer
remains fixed. So, use the Projection Distance control to move the background closer to or farther away from the
light source and the layer, thereby making the shadow smaller or larger respectively.
Specifies the softness or sharpness of the shadow's edges.
Softness
Specifies the type of shadow the effect creates. Regular creates a shadow based on the Shadow Color and
Render
Opacity values, regardless of semi-transparent pixels in the original layer; if Regular is chosen, the Color Influence
control is disabled. Glass Edge creates a colored shadow based on the color and opacity of the original layer. If there
are semi-transparent pixels in the source layer, the shadow uses both the color and transparency of the original layer.
This creates the appearance, for example, of sun shining through stained glass. The more transparent the pixels in
the original layer are, the closer the shadow color matches the colors of the original layer. The Shadow Color has
more influence on the less transparent areas of the original layer. If there are no semi-transparent pixels in the source
layer, Glass Edge has little effect on the layer.
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User Guide