Time effects

The Echo effect combines frames from different times in a layer. The Echo effect has various uses, from a simple visual echo to streaking and smearing effects.

David Van Brink provides a blog post and sample project on his omino website that show how to use the Echo effect, the Particle Playground effect, and the loopOut expression to animate a swarm of stylized swimming bacteria.

The time, in seconds, between echoes. Negative values create echoes from previous frames; positive values create echoes from upcoming frames.

The number of echoes. For example, if the value is 2, the result is a combination of three frames: the current time, the current time + Echo Time, and the current time + (2 * Echo Time).

The opacity of the first image in the echo sequence.

The ratio of the opacity of an echo to the opacity of the echo preceding it in the echo sequence. For example, if Decay is 0.5, then the opacity of the first echo is half of the Starting Intensity; the second echo is half of that or one-quarter of the Starting Intensity.

The blending operation used to combine the echoes.

• Add: Combines the echoes by adding their pixel values. If the starting intensity is too high, this mode can quickly overload and produce streaks of white.

• Maximum: Combines the echoes by taking the maximum pixel values from all of the echoes.

• Minimum: Combines the echoes by taking the minimum pixel values from all of the echoes.

• Screen: Emulates combining the echoes by sandwiching them optically. This mode is similar to Add, but it doesn’t overload as quickly.

• Composite In Back: Causes the image from the current time to appear in the back, with each echo appearing successively farther forward in the composite.

• Composite In Front: Causes the image from the current time to appear in front, with each echo appearing successively farther back in the composite.

• Blend: Averages the echoes.

Pixel Motion Blur | CC

Computer-generated motion or sped-up footage often looks artificial because the motion blur is missing. The Pixel Motion Blur effect analyzes the video footage and synthesizes a motion blur based on motion vectors. Adding a motion blur makes the motion more realistic, as it includes the blur normally introduced by the camera while shooting.

Choose Manual to set Shutter Angle and Shutter Samples values independently. Choose Automatic, to choose values specified for the layer or composition.

The shutter angle is measured in degrees, simulating the exposure allowed by a rotating shutter. The shutter angle uses the footage frame rate to determine the simulated exposure, which affects the amount of pixel motion blur. For example, entering 90° (25% of 360°) for 24-fps footage creates an effective exposure of 1/96 of a second (25% of 1/24 of a second). Entering 1° applies almost no pixel motion blur, and entering 720° applies a large amount of blur.

Controls the quality of the pixel motion blur. A higher value results in a smoother motion blur, but a longer rendering time.

Determines how many motion vectors are used to calculate the blur. A value of 100 uses one vector for each pixel. Increasing this value may not necessarily produce better results, but will take more time to render.

Posterize Time effect

This effect works with 8-bpc, 16-bpc, and 32-bpc color.

Time Difference effect

Specifies the layer to be compared to the effect layer. The video switch for the comparison layer doesn’t need to be on (unless you select the source layer as the Target).

The relative time in the comparison layer, in seconds, where the layers are compared. If this control is set to 0.00, the comparison occurs at the current time. To compare the effect layer to a point 3 seconds into the comparison layer, for example, change the Time Offset value to 3. When you select the underlined offset value, you can enter the specific frame-offset value in the format frames/frame rate. After Effects automatically calculates the value. For example, enter 3/30 to offset three frames forward in a 30-fps composition. The calculated value is 0.1, or 10% of the total time.

Adjusts the comparison result. This control can be especially helpful in fine-tuning color corrections.

Displays the result of the comparison as an absolute value. Any area of the comparison layer that isn’t different from the effect layer is represented by black, and any amount of difference is represented as brighter than black. If this option is deselected, compared areas with no difference are represented as gray.

Specifies how the alpha channel is calculated.

• Original: Uses the alpha channel of the effect layer.

• Target: Uses the alpha channel of the target layer.

• Blend: Blends the alpha channels of the target layer and the effect layer.

• Max: Uses the more opaque of the alpha channels.

• Full On: Sets the alpha channel to opaque.

• Lightness Of Result: Uses the lightness of the RGB difference as alpha.

• Max Of Result: Uses the highest values of the RGB difference as alpha.

• Alpha Difference: Calculates differences in the alpha channels of the effect layer and target layer in the same way in which RGB difference is calculated.

• Alpha Difference Only: Calculates only the differences in the alpha channels. RGB is set to white.

Time Displacement effect

The Time Displacement effect distorts the image by shifting pixels across time, producing a wide variety of effects. For example, the traditional slit-scan technique, which captures different stages of a moving image across time, can be simulated using the Time Displacement effect.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.

Like the Displacement Map effect, the Time Displacement effect uses a displacement map, but it bases the movement of pixels in the layer on luminance values in the map. Pixels in the layer that correspond to bright areas in the displacement map are replaced by pixels in the same position but at a specified number of seconds forward in time. Likewise, pixels in the layer that correspond to dark areas in the displacement map are replaced by pixels at a specified number of seconds backward in time. You can use any layer as a displacement map, though using a grayscale image lets you more easily see brightness levels and predict how pixels will be displaced.

The Time Displacement effect automatically replaces pixels across time without keyframes or expressions. However, you can animate other properties to vary the effect over time.

To better understand how pixels are displaced in time, think of the displacement occurring in steps. 

Suppose you specified 2 seconds as the maximum time displacement. After Effects finds the luminance value of each pixel in the displacement map, and then it replaces the corresponding pixels at the current time with pixels from another time based on the maximum time of 2 seconds. A luminance value of 255 in the displacement map replaces that pixel with the pixel 2 seconds ahead in the same position. A luminance value of 42 replaces that pixel with the pixel 1.34 seconds behind in the same position.

Specifies the layer to use as the displacement map.

Sets the maximum time, in seconds, from which pixels are replaced, before or after the current time. Only luminance values of 0 or 255 (maximum darkness and maximum brightness) produce the maximum time displacement. All other luminance values produce time displacements of less than the maximum time.

Sets the number of frames per second in which to replace pixels. Typically, this value shouldn’t be greater than the frame rate of the affected layer. Increasing Time Resolution can greatly increase rendering time.

Resizes the Time Displacement Layer to match the dimensions of the layer you’re distorting. If this option isn’t selected, the time displacement layer is centered in the composition.

Apply the Time Displacement effect

Timewarp effect

The Timewarp effect is based on Kronos, a component of the Furnace software package from The Foundry. For detailed documentation on motion vectors and motion estimation parameters, see the Furnace documentation (in PDF) on the Foundry website.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color. In After Effects CS6, this effect works in 32-bit color.

When changing frame rates, image information must be created (interpolated) for the frames that lie between the original frames of an image. The Method setting determines how interpolated frames are generated.

• Whole Frames: Duplicates the last frame shown.

• Frame Mix: Creates a new frame by blending existing frames.

• Pixel Motion: Creates a new frame by analyzing the pixel movement in nearby frames and creating motion vectors. Motion vectors represent the movement of a pixel or block of pixels from one frame to the next. Images between frames are interpolated using these vectors.

Choose Speed to specify a time adjustment as a percentage. Choose Source Frame to specify a time adjustment by identifying which source frame is to play at what time. If you choose Source Frame for Adjust Time By, then you must animate the Source Frame property to do anything other than freeze on one frame. You can animate the Speed property, too, to change the time-remapping factor over time.

By default, Speed is set to 50, for a reduction in speed to 50%. This setting creates new frames one-quarter of a frame interval and three-quarters of a frame interval from an original frame, rather than using one original frame and one newly generated frame. Original frames are deliberately excluded from the time-remapped series of frames to avoid the pulsing that would otherwise be seen on every other frame for a half-speed slowdown.

Tuning controls for Pixel Motion interpolation

• Vector Details: Determines how many motion vectors are used during interpolation. The more vectors used, the longer the rendering time. A value of 100 produces one vector per pixel. If the layer has fast-moving motion, it may look better with a lower Vector Details setting.

These controls affect the sharpness of the image:

• Build From One Image: Generates the final output from the closest single frame, as opposed to the closest two frames. The result is a sharper image but jerkier motion.

• Correct Luminance Changes: Equalizes the luminance between frames before calculating motion.

• Filtering: The quality of the filtering used to build the interpolated image. Extreme greatly increases rendering time. The Filtering option affects only the sharpness of the final image; use Normal until you’re ready for final rendering.

Determines the precision of pixel matching from one frame to the next. A higher value results in fewer motion vectors and more blending.

Adjusts the size of the blocks used to calculate the vectors.

Controls the weighting of the red, green, and blue channels in calculations used to analyze the image. For example, setting Red Weight and Green Weight to zero means that only the blue channel is analyzed for motion.

Motion Blur controls

• Shutter Angle: Determines the intensity of motion blur. The shutter angle is measured in degrees, simulating the exposure caused by a rotating shutter. Simulated exposure time is determined by dividing the shutter angle by the frame rate times 360°. For example, a shutter angle of 90° causes an exposure of 1/96 of a second per frame: 90° / (360° * 24 fps).

• Shutter Samples: Controls the quality of the motion blur. A higher value results in a smoother motion blur.

The layer to use as a matte for defining the foreground and background areas of the image. White areas in the matte represent the foreground, black areas represent the background, and gray attenuates between foreground and background.

The channel to use as a matte.

Allows you to warp the layer to which the effect is applied by applying the motion vectors from the layer that you choose.

Controls the portion of the layer to be time-remapped.

If the image contains unwanted pixels or artifacts at the edges, use Source Crops controls to specify image boundaries. Pixels from the boundaries are repeated to fill the area beyond the boundaries to the edges of the layer.