Adobe After Effects Help Using Help Using Help | Contents | Index Back 1 Using Help About online Help Adobe Systems, Inc. provides complete documentation in the Adobe PDF Help system. The Help system includes information on all the tools, commands, and features for both Windows and Mac OS. The PDF format is designed for easy navigation online, and support for third-party screen readers compatible with Windows. The Help can also be printed as a desktop reference. Navigating in Help The Help will open in an Acrobat window with the bookmark pane open. If the bookmark pane is not open choose Window > Bookmarks. You can also navigate using the navigation bar, the index, or search the document. At the top and bottom of each page is a navigation bar. Click Using Help to return to this introduction. Clicking Contents, or Index will take you to that section. The Next Page and the Previous Page arrows let you move through the pages sequentially. Click Back to return to the last page you viewed. You can also use the navigation arrows in the Acrobat toolbar. Using bookmarks, the table of contents, the index, and Find The contents of Help are shown as bookmarks in the bookmark pane. To view subtopics, click the plus sign next to a bookmark. Each bookmark is a hyperlink to the associated section of the Help document. To go to the information, click its bookmark. As the information is displayed in the document pane, its bookmark is highlighted. You can turn highlighting on or off by selecting the Highlight Current Bookmark option from the bookmark pane menu. To find a topic using the table of contents: 1 Click Contents in the navigation bar at the top or bottom of any page. 2 Click a topic on the Contents page to move to the first page of that topic. 3 In the bookmark pane, expand the topic to see its subtopics. To find a topic using the index: 1 Click Index in the navigation bar at the top or bottom of any page. 2 Click the appropriate letter at the top of the page. You can also expand the Index bookmark, and click the letter in the bookmark pane. 3 Locate your entry, and click the page number link to view the information. 4 To view multiple entries, click Back to return to the same place in the index. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 1 Adobe After Effects Help Using Help Using Help | Contents | Index Back 2 To find a topic using the Find command: 1 Choose Edit > Find. 2 Enter a word or a phrase in the text box, and click OK. Acrobat will search the document, starting from the current page, and display the first occurrence of the word or phrase you are searching for. 3 To find the next occurrence, choose Edit > Find Again. Printing the Help file Although the Help has been optimized for on-screen viewing, you can print pages you select, or the entire file. To print, choose Print from the File menu, or click the printer icon in the Acrobat toolbar. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 2 Adobe After Effects Help Contents Using Help | Contents | Index Back 3 Contents Gallery of effects 4 Effects included with After Effects 34 3D Channel effects (Pro only) 35 Adjust effects 39 Audio effects 46 Blur & Sharpen effects 51 Channel effects 55 Distort effects 68 Expression Controls effects 89 Image Control effects 90 Keying effects 101 Matte Tools effects (Pro only) 113 Noise effects 115 Paint effects (Pro only) 123 Perspective effects 138 Render effects 142 Simulation effects 168 Stylize effects 208 Text effects 219 Time effects 228 Transition effects 234 Video effects 241 Legal Notices 243 Using Help | Contents | Index Back 3 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 4 Gallery of effects 3D Channel effects "3D Channel Extract (Pro only)" on page 35 Original (left), with Texture UV selected, and then used with the Set Matte effect as a Luminance matte (right) "Depth Matte (Pro only)" on page 36 Original (left) and with two different depths selected (center and right) "Depth of Field (Pro only)" on page 36 Original (left) and with variations of Depth of Field applied (center and right) "Fog 3D (Pro only)" on page 37 Original (left), Gradient Layer (center), and with Fog 3D applied (right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 4 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 5 "ID Matte (Pro only)" on page 38 Original (left), with ID Matte applied using the near alien as the ID Selection (center), and composited over a new background (right) Adjust effects "Brightness & Contrast" on page 39 Original (left) and with variations of Brightness & Contrast applied (center and right) "Channel Mixer" on page 39 Original (left) and with variations of Channel Mixer applied (center and right) "Color Balance" on page 40 Original (left) and with variations of Color Balance applied (center and right) "Curves" on page 41 Original (left) and with variations of Curves applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 5 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 6 "Hue/Saturation" on page 42 Original (left) and with variations of Hue/Saturation applied (center and right) "Levels" on page 44 Original (left) and with variations of Levels applied (center and right) "Levels (Individual Controls)" on page 45 Original (left) and with variations of Levels (Individual Controls) applied (center and right) "Posterize" on page 45 Original (left) and with variations of Posterize applied (center and right) "Threshold" on page 45 Original (left) and with variations of Threshold applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 6 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 7 Blur and Sharpen effects "Channel Blur" on page 51 Original (left) and with variations of Channel Blur applied (center and right) "Compound Blur" on page 51 Original (left), with Compound Blur applied (center), and with Compound Blur applied and the cloud layer made invisible (right) "Directional Blur" on page 52 Original (left) and with variations of Directional Blur applied (center and right) "Fast Blur" on page 52 Original (left) and with variations of Fast Blur applied (center and right) "Gaussian Blur" on page 53 Original (left) and with variations of Gaussian Blur applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 7 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 8 "Radial Blur" on page 53 Original (left) and with variations of Radial Blur applied (center and right) "Sharpen" on page 53 Original (left) and with Sharpen applied (right) "Unsharp Mask" on page 54 Original (left) and with Unsharp Mask applied (right) Channel effects "3D Glasses" on page 55 Two variations of 3D Glasses "Alpha Levels (Pro only)" on page 57 Original (left) and with variations of Alpha Levels applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 8 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 9 "Arithmetic" on page 58 Original (left) and with variations of Arithmetic applied (center and right) "Blend" on page 58 Originals (left and center) and with Blend applied (right) "Calculations" on page 59 Originals (left and center) and with Calculations applied (right) "Channel Combiner" on page 60 Original (left) and with variations of Channel Combiner applied (center and right) "Compound Arithmetic" on page 62 Originals (left and center) and with Compound Arithmetic applied (right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 9 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 10 "Invert" on page 63 Original (left) and with variations of Invert applied (center and right) "Minimax" on page 64 Original (left) and with variations of Minimax applied (center and right) "Remove Color Matting" on page 64 Top: Remove Color Matting used to remove a halo (center) from imported text (left) with the result (right) Bottom: Two source layers combined (left and center) and Remove Color Matting used to refine the result (right) "Set Channels" on page 65 Original (left) and with variations of Set Channels applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 10 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 11 "Set Matte" on page 66 Original (left) and with variations of Set Matte applied (center and right) "Shift Channels" on page 67 Original (left) and with variations of Shift Channels applied (center and right) "Solid Composite" on page 67 Original (left) and with variations of Solid Composite applied (center and right) Distort effects "Bezier Warp (Pro only)" on page 68 Original (left), with Bezier Warp applied and Bezier curve highlighted (center), and resulting layer (right) "Bulge (Pro only)" on page 69 Original (left) and with variations of Bulge applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 11 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 12 "Corner Pin (Pro only)" on page 70 Original (left) and with variations of Corner Pin applied (center and right) "Displacement Map (Pro only)" on page 70 Original (left), displacement map (center), and with Displacement Map applied (right) "Liquify" on page 71 Original (left) and with variations of Liquify applied (center and right) "Magnify" on page 73 Original (left) and with variations of Magnify applied (center and right) "Mesh Warp (Pro only)" on page 74 Original (left), warp grid (center), and resulting layer (right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 12 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 13 "Mirror" on page 75 Original (left) and with variations of Mirror applied (center and right) "Offset" on page 75 Original (left) and with variations of Offset applied (center and right) "Optics Compensation (Pro only)" on page 76 Original (left) with Optics Compensation applied to correct the image (center), and exaggerates lens distortion (right) "Polar Coordinates" on page 77 Original (left) and with variations of Polar Coordinates applied (center and right) "Reshape (Pro only)" on page 78 Original with masks selected (left) and with variations of Reshape applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 13 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 14 "Ripple" on page 80 Rippling a layer "Smear" on page 81 Original with masks selected (left) and with variations of Smear applied (center and right) "Spherize" on page 83 Original (left) and with variations of Spherize applied (center and right) "Transform" on page 83 Original (left) and with variations of Transform applied (center and right) "Turbulent Displace" on page 84 Original (left) and with variations of Turbulent Displace applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 14 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 15 "Twirl" on page 86 Original (left) and with variations of Twirl applied (center and right) "Warp" on page 87 Original (left) and with variations of Warp applied (center and right) "Wave Warp" on page 87 Original (left) and with variations of Wave Warp applied (center and right) Image Control effects "Change Color" on page 90 Original (left) and with variations of Change Color applied (center and right) "Change to Color (formerly Change Color HLS)" on page 91 Original (left), with Correction Matte (center), and with Change to Color applied (right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 15 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 16 "Color Balance (HLS)" on page 92 Original (left) and with variations of Color Balance HLS applied (center and right) "Color Link" on page 92 Original (left) and with variations of Color Link applied (center and right) "Colorama" on page 94 Original (left) and with variations of Colorama applied (center and right) "Equalize" on page 98 Original (left) and with variations of Equalize applied (center and right) "Gamma/Pedestal/Gain" on page 98 Original (left) and with variations of Gamma/Pedestal/Gain applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 16 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 17 "Grow Bounds" on page 99 Original (left); the Wave Warp effect is constrained by the dimensions of the layer (center); Grow Bounds fixes this problem (right). "PS Arbitrary Map" on page 99 Original (left), a map created in Photoshop (center), and with PS Arbitrary Map applied (right) "Tint" on page 100 Original (left) and with variations of Tint applied (center and right) Keying effects "Color Difference Key (Pro only)" on page 101 Original (left) and background layer (center) are combined using Color Difference Key (right). "Color Key" on page 103 A nonstandard key color (left) and the background (center) are combined using Color Key (right). Using Help | Contents | Index Back 17 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 18 "Color Range" on page 104 A poorly lit green screen (left) and a background layer (center) are combined using the Color Range Key (right). "Difference Matte (Pro only)" on page 105 Original (left), Matte Only view of keyed-out subject (center), and composite of subject with new background (right) "Extract (Pro only)" on page 106 Original with glare (left) and background layer (center) are combined using Extract (right). "Inner/Outer Key (Pro only)" on page 107 The original masked layer (left) and the background layer (center) are combined using Inner/Outer Key (right). "Linear Color Key (Pro only)" on page 108 Features such as these eyes (left) that closely match the background (center) can become transparent when using keys; Linear Color Key keeps them opaque with the Keep This Color control (right). Using Help | Contents | Index Back 18 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 19 "Luma Key" on page 110 A white background of the original (left and center) is removed using Luma Key (right). "Spill Suppressor (Pro only)" on page 111 The original green key (left) leaves a green glow when keyed out (center). Spill Suppressor removes the glow (right). Matte Tools effects "Matte Choker (Pro only)" on page 113 Original (left) shows areas of unwanted transparency after using Color Key (center) that are removed with Matte Choker (right). "Simple Choker (Pro only)" on page 114 The original (left) contains unwanted edges after keying (center) that are removed with Simple Choker (right). Using Help | Contents | Index Back 19 Adobe After Effects Help Gallery of effects Using Help | Contents | Index Back 20 Noise effects "Dust & Scratches" on page 115 Scratches (left), enlarged view of scratches (center), and scratches removed with loss of clarity (right "Fractal Noise (Pro only)" on page 115 Original (left) and with variations of Fractal Noise applied (center and right) "Median" on page 119 Original (left) and with variations of Median applied (center and right) "Noise" on page 120 Original (left) and with variations of Noise applied (center and right) "Noise Alpha" on page 120 Original (left) and with variations of Noise Alpha applied (center and right) Using Help | Contents | Index Back 20