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Lightning effect
If you are working on a
project that was created in an older version of After Effects and
the Lightning effect is applied to one or more layers, you can continue
to use this effect; otherwise, use the Advanced Lightning effect.
(See Advanced Lightning effect.)
This effect works with 8-bpc color.
- Start Point, End Point
- Where the lightning begins and ends.
- Segments
- The number of segments that form the main lightning bolt.
Higher values produce more detail but reduce the smoothness of motion.
- Amplitude
- The size of undulations in the lightning bolt as a percentage
of the layer width.
- Detail Level, Detail Amplitude
- How much detail is added to the lightning bolt and any branches.
For Detail Level, typical values are in the range 2–3. For Detail Amplitude,
a typical value is 0.3. Higher values for either control are best
for still images but tend to obscure animation.
- Branching
- The amount of branching (forking) that appears at the ends
of bolt segments. A value of 0 produces no branching; a value of
1.0 produces branching at every segment.
- Rebranching
- The amount of branching from branches. Higher values produce treelike
lightning bolts.
- Branch Angle
- The angle between a branch and the main lightning bolt.
- Branch Seg. Length
- The length of each branch segment as a fraction of the average
length of the segments in the lightning bolt.
- Branch Segments
- The maximum number of segments for each branch. To produce
long branches, specify higher values for both Branch Seg. Length
and Branch Segments.
- Branch Width
- The average width of each branch as a fraction of the width
of the lightning bolt.
- Speed
- How fast the lightning bolt undulates.
- Stability
- How closely the lightning follows the line defined by the
start and end points. Lower values keep the lightning bolt close
to the line; higher values create significant bouncing. Use Stability
with Pull Force to simulate a Jacob’s Ladder effect and cause the
lightning bolt to snap back to a position along the start line after
it has been pulled in the Pull Force direction. A Stability value
that is too low doesn’t allow the lightning to be stretched into
an arc before it snaps back; a value that is too high lets the lightning
bolt bounce around.
- Fixed Endpoint
- Determines whether the end point of the lightning bolt remains
fixed in place. If this control isn’t selected, the end of the bolt
undulates around the end point.
- Width, Width Variation
- The width of the main lightning bolt and how much the width
of different segments can vary. Width changes are randomized. A
value of 0 produces no width changes; a value of 1 produces the
maximum width changes.
- Core Width
- The width of the inner glow, as specified by the Inside Color
value. Core Width is relative to the total width of the lightning
bolt.
- Outside Color, Inside Color
- The colors used for the outer and inner glows of the lightning
bolt. Because the Lightning effect adds these colors on top of existing
colors in the composition, primary colors often produce the best
results. Bright colors often become much lighter, sometimes becoming
white, depending on the brightness of colors beneath.
- Pull Force, Pull Direction
- The strength and direction of a force that pulls the lightning
bolt. Use the Pull Force value with the Stability value to create
a Jacob’s Ladder appearance.
- Random Seed
- An input value for the random noise generator that is the
basis of the Lightning effect. If the random movement of the lightning
interferes with another image or layer, enter a new value for Random
Seed until you find one that works for you.
- Blending Mode
- The blending mode to use to composite the lightning on top
of the original layer. These blending modes work identically to
the ones in the Timeline panel.
- Rerun At Each Frame
- Regenerates the lightning at each frame. To make the lightning
behave the same way at the same frame every time you run it, don’t select
this option. Selecting this option increases rendering time.
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