Effects and transitions

Noise HLS and Noise HLS Auto effects

The Noise HLS effect generates static noise in clips that use still or moving source footage. The Noise HLS Auto effect automatically creates animated noise. Both effects offer various types of noise that can be added to the hue, saturation, or lightness of a clip. Controls for these effects are the same except for the final control that determines noise animation.

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

Noise The type of noise. Unique Random creates equal amounts of black and white noise. Squared Random creates high-contrast noise. Uniform Animation creates animated noise, and Squared Animation creates animated highcontrast noise. Grain produces grain-like noise similar to film grain.

Hue The amount of noise added to hue values.

Lightness The amount of noise added to lightness values.

Saturation The amount of noise added to saturation values.

Grain Size This control is active only for the Grain type of noise.

Noise Phase (Noise HLS only) An input value to the random number generator for the noise. When you set keyframes for Noise Phase, the effect cycles through the phases to create animated noise. Greater value differences between keyframes increase the speed of the noise animation.

Noise Animation Speed (Noise HLS Auto only) The speed of the noise animation. To accelerate or decelerate the noise animation, animate this property.

More Help topics

“Adding, navigating, and setting keyframes” on page 415

Perspective effects

Basic 3D effect

The Basic 3D effect manipulates a clip in 3D space. You can rotate an image around horizontal and vertical axes and move it toward or away from you. With Basic 3D, you can also create a specular highlight to give the appearance of light reflecting off a rotated surface. The light source for the specular highlight is always above, behind, and to the left of the viewer. Because the light comes from above, the image must be tilted backward to see this reflection. Specular highlights can enhance the realism of the 3D appearance.

Jeff Schell provides a video tutorial about the Basic 3D effect and lighting effects on the Digital Media Net website.

Last updated 1/16/2012

Effects and transitions

Basic 3D effect: Swivel (left), Swivel and Tilt (center), and Swivel, Tilt, and Distance (right)

Swivel Controls horizontal rotation (rotation around a vertical axis). You can rotate past 90° to see the back side of the image, which is the mirror image of the front.

Tilt Controls vertical rotation (rotation around a horizontal axis).

Distance To Image Specifies the image’s distance from the viewer. As the distance gets larger, the image recedes.

Specular Highlight Adds a glint of light that reflects off the surface of the rotated image, as though an overhead light were shining on the surface. If Draw Preview Wireframe is selected, the specular highlight is indicated by a red plus sign (+) if it isn’t visible on the clip (the center of the highlight doesn’t intersect the clip) and a green plus sign (+) if the highlight is visible. You must render a preview before the Specular Highlight effect becomes visible in the Program Monitor.

Preview Draws a wireframe outline of the 3D image. The wireframe outline renders quickly. To see your final results, deselect Draw Preview Wireframe when you finish manipulating the wireframe image.

Bevel Alpha effect

The Bevel Alpha effect adds a beveled edge and lights to the alpha boundaries of an image, often giving 2D elements a 3D appearance. If the clip has no alpha channel or if the clip is completely opaque, then the effect is applied to the edges of the clip. The edge created by this effect is somewhat softer than that created by the Bevel Edges effect. This effect works well with text containing an alpha channel.

Bevel Edges effect

The Bevel Edges effect gives a chiseled and lighted 3D appearance to the edges of an image. Edge locations are determined by the alpha channel of the source image. Unlike Bevel Alpha, the edges created in this effect are always rectangular, so images with non rectangular alpha channels don’t produce the proper appearance. All edges have the same thickness.

Drop Shadow effect

The Drop Shadow effect adds a shadow that appears behind the clip. The shape of the Drop Shadow is determined by the clip’s alpha channel.

When you add a drop shadow to a clip, a soft-edged outline of the clip’s alpha channel appears behind it, as if a shadow is cast on the background or underlying objects.

Unlike most other effects, Drop Shadow can create a shadow outside the bounds of the clip (the dimensions of the clip’s source).

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

Last updated 1/16/2012

Effects and transitions

To render the shadow without the image, select Shadow Only.

Note: Because Drop Shadow works best when it’s the last effect rendered, apply this effect after applying all other effects. You can create a more realistic-looking shadow on animated clips by applying and animating the Motion or Basic 3D effect prior to applying Drop Shadow instead of animating the Fixed Motion effect because Fixed effects are rendered after Standard effects.

More Help topics

“Select a color with the Adobe Color Picker” on page 321

Radial Shadow effect

The Radial Shadow effect creates a shadow from a point light source over the clip 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 clip, allowing the color of that clip to influence the color of the shadow as light passes through semitransparent areas.

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

Shadow Color The color of the shadow.

Note: The colors of the clip may override the Shadow Color if you choose Glass Edges from the Render control menu. See the Render and Color Influence controls for more information.

Opacity The opacity of the shadow.

Light Source The location of the point light source.

Copy and paste position keyframes from another effect (for example, Lens Flare) to quickly create a shadow that matches the other effect’s light source.

Projection Distance The distance from the clip to the surface on which the shadow falls. The shadow appears larger as this value increases.

Softness The softness of the shadow’s edges.

Render The type of shadow:

•Regular Creates a shadow based on the Shadow Color and Opacity values, regardless of semitransparent pixels in the clip. (If Regular is chosen, the Color Influence control is disabled.)

•Glass Edge Creates a colored shadow based on the color and opacity of the clip. If the clip contains semitransparent pixels, the shadow uses both the color and transparency of the clip, creating the appearance, for example, of sun shining through stained glass.

The more transparent the pixels in the clip are, the closer the shadow color matches the colors of the clip. If the clip contains no semitransparent pixels, Glass Edge has little result.

Note: Anti-aliased edges produce colors in a shadow edge if you choose Glass Edge, even if the clip is fully opaque. The clip’s colors shine through these anti-aliased edges, and the Shadow Color fills the center of the shadow.

Color Influence The fraction of the clip’s color values that appear in the shadow. At 100%, the shadow takes on the color of any semitransparent pixels in the clip. If the clip contains no semitransparent pixels, Color Influence has little

Last updated 1/16/2012