Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 7.0 - Page 447

ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
User Guide
441
Adjust the following controls for Advanced Lightning:
Conductivity State Changes the path of the lightning.
Core Settings These controls adjust various characteristics of the lightning’s core.
Glow Settings These controls adjust the lightning’s glow.
Note: To disable the glow, set Glow Opacity to 0. This setting can speed up rendering time significantly.
Alpha Obstacle Specifies the influence of the original layer’s alpha channel on the path of the lightning. The
lightning attempts to wrap itself around opaque areas of the layer’s alpha channel, seeing them as an obstacle.
Note: If Alpha Obstacles is set to a value other than 0, it's not always possible to preview the correct result in less than
full resolution; full resolution may reveal new obstacles. Be sure to check the result in full resolution before final
rendering.
Turbulence Specifies the amount of turbulence in the lightning path. Higher values result in a more complex strike
containing more branches and forks, and lower values produce simpler strikes with fewer branches.
Forking Specifies what percentage of a branch is forked. Its value is influenced by Turbulence and Alpha Obstacle
settings.
Decay Specifies the amount of continuous decay or dissipation of the lightning strength and influences where the
opacity of the forks begins to fade.
Decay Main Core Decays the main core along with its forks.
Add To Original Composites the lightning with the original layer using the Add blending mode. When deselected,
only the lightning is visible.
Lightning Type Specifies the characteristics of the lightning.
Note: The type determines the nature of the Direction/Outer Radius contextual control. In the Breaking type, the
branches are focused toward the Direction point as the distance between Origin and Direction increases.
Origin Specifies the point of origin for the lightning.
Direction, Outer Radius This control changes depending on the Lightning Type:
• Not In Use Is available only when Vertical isn’t selected.
• Outer Radius Specifies the distance that the lightning travels from its origin. It is enabled when Omni or
Anywhere is selected as the lightning type. Use this control to terminate the lightning at a defined distance from the
origin.
• Direction Specifies the direction that the lightning will travel. It is enabled when any of the following lightning
types are selected: Direction, Strike, Breaking, Bouncy, and Two-Way Strike.
Complexity Specifies the complexity of the turbulence in the lightning.
Min. Fork distance Specifies the minimum pixel distance between new forks. Lower values create more forks in the
lightning. Higher values result in fewer forks.
Termination Threshold Specifies the level at which a path terminates, based on resistance in the atmosphere and
possible alpha collision. At lower values, the path terminates more easily when encountering resistance or alpha
obstacles. At higher values, the path more persistently moves around alpha obstacles.
Note: Increasing Turbulence or Complexity values causes resistance to increase in some areas. These areas change as
conductivity changes. Increasing the Alpha Obstacle value causes resistance to increase at alpha edges.