Week 9: March 24, 2011

TRACK MATTES REVIEW

EFFECTS (PART 1)
  • To apply an effect to a layer, select the layer and go to Effects > "category" > "effect name"
  • Adjust your effect in the "Effect Controls" window (by default appears on the left side next to the "Project" window).
  • When you apply an effect, keep in mind that you can set keyframes to any effect control that has a "stop watch" symbol next to it.
  • Effect categories and noteworthy effects:
    • Color Correction
    • Blur and Sharpen
      • Gaussian Blur: use for general blurring
      • Unsharpen Mask: use to sharpen your image. For best results, create a luminance mask and apply sharpening to highlights only:
        • duplicate the image/footage three times
        • leave the bottom layer as is
        • set the layer second from the bottom on "Luma Matte" setting (the top layer will be used as the mask)
        • apply "Unsharpen Mask" to the layer second from the bottom. Thanks to the Luma Matte mask, the sharpening will only be visible in the lighter spots.
        • Control the amount of sharpened  highlights visible by applying "Curves" or "Levels" to the top (mask) layer and darkening/lightening it.
    • Stylize
      • Glow
    • Distort
      • Mesh Warp/Liquify: use for precise distortion of images/video over time
      • Offset: use to create an illusion of a very long, seamless moving texture
      • Optics Compensation: use it to create an illusion of 3d space/fish-eye lens effect
    • Transition
      • Linear Wipe: use as a more visually creative substitute to fade an image/footage on or off. Make sure to have the feathering set at a high value.
      • Gradient Wipe: use to fade an image/footage on or off based on the luminance values of itself or another layer in the comp (specify the luminance reference layer in the "Gradient Layer" pulldown.

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