Quick Maps group

Quick Maps are a fast and fun way to change the particle grid. They can be used to map a color gradient over X, Y or Z axes; change the size of the particles over an axis; or change properties like dispersion and fractal strength. Quick Maps are convenient because they are generated within Form and do not need to be created beforehand on a separate After Effects layer.

There are two types of Quick Map controls. The Opacity Value Map and three Value Maps define arbitrary values for a control and axis. The Color Map creates color gradients that can be applied across the form, and is linked to the Opacity Map.

NOTE: Quick Maps are always applied to the grid first, before any displacement fields are applied to the form.

NOTE: The Drawing Area graphs will not reset to default when you click the Effect palette's Reset button. To do a full reset, choose the Animation Preset 'tf_0_FullReset.ffx'.

At left, the Quick Maps group. At right, two subgroups exposed.

Color Map group

The Color Map sets a particle color over a chosen axis. The color gradient consists of a number of color boxes, and the gradient is interpolated between the boxes.

Note that the Opacity Map and Color Map are linked together. When you make a change in the Opacity Map, that change is automatically reflected in the Color Map.

Color Map: Defines the RGB color values for the Opac+Color map across the specified axis.

Opacity Map: Defines the alpha channel for the Opac+Color (opacity plus color) map. The Y axis of the graph defines the maximum value. The X axis of the graph defines the location of the chosen axis of the grid (X, Y, Z, or Radial).

Add a Color Box: Click in the area just below the gradient, where the other boxes are. A new box will appear with the color of the gradient at that position.

Edit a Color Box: To change the color, double-click the box to bring up the Color Picker.

Move a Color Box: Click and drag the box sideways.

Delete a Color Box: Click and drag the box downwards.

Opacity Bar: The Opacity Map affects the colors of the gradient, and this Opacity Bar displays the alpha values as a grayscale gradient.

Result Bar: When you edit the Opacity Map, its changes are reflected in the Color Map. The Results Bar shows what the resulting color gradient will look like, once the alpha from the Opacity Map is applied.

Select a preset: Form includes six gradient presets. To select a preset, click its button. The preset immediately changes the Map controls and cannot be undone.

Random button: Completely randomizes the color boxes.

Flip button: Flips the color boxes around the center.

Copy button: Copy this gradient into clipboard.

Paste button: Once Copy is clicked, a Paste button appears and is enabled. This button pastes the gradient from clipboard.

Map Opac+Color Over pop-up

Defines in what direction or axis to map the color gradient. The map appearance will change based on controls set in Base Form group> Size in X, Y, Z and Particles in X, Y, Z.

- Off: No Opacity/Color Map is applied to the form.
- X, Y, Z: Chooses the axis of the grid that the gradient is mapped to...?
- Radial: Applies a Radial map.

Left to right, Off, X, Y and Radial. All examples use a default Opacity Map with the default rainbow Color Map.

Value Map controls

Value Maps are custom controls that are built into the Opacity Map and Maps #1-3. There are three kinds of controls: Drawing Area, Presets and Commands.

Drawing Area: Lets you paint a curve value. Values near the top represent a maximum, and values near the bottom represent a minimum. Here is the curve-drawing interface to set the map's values:

Draw a curve: Click and paint inside the Drawing Area. Your mouse will change to a crosshair and as you click, the value is redrawn between the bottom and top of the area. A smooth curve is drawn by dragging the cursor near the bottom on the left, holding the mouse down and sweeping toward the top, then moving to the other side of the graph and sweeping from top to bottom on the right.

Select a preset: There are six curve presets arranged from top to bottom. From top to bottom, the curve presets are: Full On, Linear Decrease, Linear Up and Down with a peak around 25%, Fade On/Off, Part On/Off with a smooth transition, and Part On/Off with random noise. To select a preset, click its button. The preset immediately changes the Map controls and cannot be undone.

Smooth button: Makes the curve smoother. Strong smoothing is applied by shift-clicking the Smooth button.

Random button: Completely randomizes the curve.

Flip button: Flips the curve horizontally.

Copy button: Copy this curve into clipboard.

Paste button: Once Copy is clicked, a Paste button appears and is enabled. This button pastes the curve from clipboard.

Map To pop-up

Maps #1, 2 and 3 can be assigned to a range of parameters in other parameter groups.

- Size: Looks at the Size value in the Particle group.
- Opacity: Looks at the Opacity value in the Particle group.
- Fractal Strength: Looks at the Displace value in the Fractal Field group.
- Disperse Strength: Looks at the Strength value in the Disperse and Twist group.
- Audio React 1, 2, 3: Looks at the Reactor 1, 2 or 3 settings in the Audio React group.

Left to right, Map To is set to Value Graph of Off, Opacity, Fractal Strength and Disperse Strength. All examples are mapped to X with the Map Over pop-up.

Map Over pop-up

Defines in what direction or axis to map the particles. The map appearance will change based on controls set in Base Form group> Size in X, Y, Z and Particles in X, Y, Z.

- Off: The particles are not mapped to an axis.
- X, Y, Z: Chooses the axis of the grid that the gradient is mapped to.
- Radial: Maps the particles to a radial shape.

Map Offset

Offsets the curve, which raises the values up or down. In Form 2, Offset can be keyframed (this was not available in Form 1) and is the easiest way to create the effect of turning text to sand.

Example of Quick Maps

Here is an advanced example of using Quick Maps. The base grid at left has been turned into the animation at right.

This animation was easily created by applying the following settings: In Quick Maps, the Opacity Map and Color Map create a green area that is opaque only in the center of the X axis. The Map #1 graph defines the Size along the Y axis, causing the size of the particles to decrease and then disappear toward the bottom of the screen. In the Fractal Field group, Displace is set to 12. Back in Quick Maps, the Fractal Strength field is modulated across the X axis with Map #2, so it only affects the center of the grid.