BackSpiceMaster Extras -- Basic Steps -- Shadow/Glow

Placing a realistic shadow or glow along an effect's edge is easy. Such depth effects can:
• create the illusion of one image growing, flowing or eroding above another
• simulate thickness in an image (a powerful way to add depth);
• emphasize the dynamic edge of a spice effect or custom matte;

You can control several shadow qualities: shadow style, opacity, softness, color and depth. All but shadow style are keyframable.

Example Images  

More about shadow/glow techniques are below:
How to Apply a Shadow
How to Change the Shadow's Strength, Depth or Angle
How to Change the Shadow/Glow Color
How to Apply a Glow
How to Vary a Shadow/Glow During the Effect
Tips

How to Apply a Shadow

In the Shadow/Glow > Style submenu, select Under 1st clip, Under 2nd clip, or Border Only. The Border Only option only appears if a Border is also visible.

Style submenu

Under 1st clip creates a "cutaway" effect that shows the 2nd clip under the first clip. Under 2nd clip flows the second clip over the background image. Border Only floats a border over the images.

Under 1st clip Under 2nd clip Border only
Under 1st clip Under 2nd clip Border only

How to Change the Shadow's Strength, Depth or Angle

To adjust the shadow's strength,
adjust the Softness and Opacity sliders. A soft, partially transparent shadow offset to the lower right and fairly deep is SpiceMaster's initial default.

To alter the shadow's position or angle, drag in the Shadow Offset Handle, watching the preview until you achieve the desired depth and angle.

To make exact adjustments, enter values in the text box.

How to Change the Shadow/Glow Color


The default shadow color is black, but any color is possible, such as a bright color for a glow, white for special lighting effects, or a scene color for an abstract visual effect. There are two ways to change the color:
To match the shadow or glow to a color in your scene,
click the Eyedropper , then click in the After Effects preview (as shown below) -- or anywhere else on your monitor! Or choose a color in the standard After Effects's color control.

How to Apply a Glow

You can create glows easily by applying a soft shadow with a bright color, then eliminating any offset (thus centering the shadow).
To adjust the glow's style, choose Under 1st clip to create an inner glow, or Under 2nd clip to create an outer glow. If a thick border is in the effect, Border Only can visibly glow in both directions around a border.

Under 1st clip Under 2nd clip Border Only
Under 1st clip Under 2nd clip Border Only


To adjust the glow's strength, adjust the Softness and Opacity sliders. Typically, high values for both will be most useful. To adjust the glow's color, use the tips described above.

How to Vary a Shadow/Glow During the Effect

Shadow keyframing can add terrific dynamics to a shadow or glow. To smoothly change colors during the effect, for example, keyframe Color over time. To make a shadow appear as if it is coming from a single light source or subject in your scene, keyframe the Offset over time. To pulse a glow, keyframe Opacity and/or Softness over time.

To vary a shadow or glow over time, click the stopwatch icon next to a Shadow/Glow slider you want to vary.
Go to a desired frame that you want to set a value for and drag the slider. To add more keyframes, repeat as desired.

To keyframe Color over time, first click on the stopwatch icon next to the Color control.
Go to a desired frame that you want to set a value for, then use the Color control to set the qualities of the new keyframe. To add more keyframes, repeat as desired.

Tips

• To access useful presets, click the Section Presets menu at the top of the Shadow/Glow section.

• A hard shadow that is only slightly offset can add the illusion of thickness to a flowing image or effect.

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