ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 7.0
User Guide
515
Wireframe Front View + Forces Displays the wireframe front-view representation of the layer, plus a blue represen-
tation of each force sphere.
Wireframe + Forces Displays the wireframe view, plus a blue representation of the force spheres. This view includes
camera controls, so you can position everything accurately in 3D space.
Render control for the Shatter effect
The Render control renders the whole scene (the default), the unshattered layer, or the shattered pieces indepen-
dently.Forexample,ifyouwanttoapplytheGloweffectonlytoshatteredpiecesandnottotheportionsofthelayer
that remain intact, create the explosion and duplicate the layer. Next, for the back layer, choose Layer from the
Render menu, and for the front layer, choose Pieces. Then apply the Glow effect to the front layer.
Shape controls for the Shatter effect
Shape controls specify the shape and appearance of the shattered pieces.
Pattern Specifies the preset pattern to use for the exploded pieces.
Custom Shatter Map Specifies the layer you want to use as the shape of the exploded pieces. See “Creating a custom
shatter map” on page 519.
White Tiles Fixed Prevents pure white tiles in a custom shatter map from being exploded. You can use this control to
force certain parts of a layer to remain intact.
Use this control when your shatter map uses images or letters such as O: Set the portion you don’t want to blow out,
such as the centers of the O and the background, to pure white and set the rest to another pure color.
Repetitions Specifies the scale of the tile pattern. This control works only in conjunction with the preset shatter
maps, which all seamlessly tile. Increasing this value increases the number of pieces on the screen by scaling down
the size of the shatter map. Consequently, the layer breaks into more and smaller pieces. Animating this control is
not recommended, as it can cause sudden jumps in the number and size of shatter pieces.
Direction Rotates the orientation of a preset shatter map, relative to the layer. As with Repetitions, animating this
control results in sudden jumps in the animation and is not recommended.
Origin Preciselypositionsapresetshattermaponthelayer.Thisisusefulifyouwanttolineupportionsofanimage
with specific shattered pieces. Animating this control results in sudden jumps in the animation and is not recom-
mended.
Extrusion Depth Adds a third dimension to the exploded pieces. The higher the value, the thicker the pieces. In
Rendered view, this effect isn’t visible until you start the shatter or rotate the camera. As you set this control higher,
the pieces may actually pass through each other. While this is generally not a problem in full-speed animations, it
may become visible when the pieces grow very thick and move slower.
Force 1 and Force 2 controls for the Shatter effect
Force 1 and Force 2 controls define the blast areas by using two different Forces.
Position Specifies the current center point of the blast in (x,y) space.
Depth Specifies the current center point in z space, or how far in front of or behind the layer the blast point is. Adjust
Depthtodeterminehowmuchoftheblastradiusisappliedtothelayer.Theblastradiusisasphere,andthelayeris
basicallyaplane;therefore,onlyacircularsliceofthesphereintersectstheplane.Thefartherawaythelayerisfrom
the center of the blast, the smaller the circular slice. When pieces explode, they fly away from the force center. Depth
determines which way the pieces fly: Positive values cause the pieces to explode forward, toward the camera
(assuming the default camera settings of 0, 0, 0); negative values cause pieces to blow backward, away from the
camera. To see the result of the Depth setting, use the Wireframe + Force Sphere view.
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