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Placing a realistic
shadow or glow along an effect's edge is easy. Such depth effects can:
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| 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.
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| 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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