Using Visibility and Warp Scripts
Scripts are a great way to automate specific animation techniques. When any of the animation scripts are used, the keys are automatically created and added to the Timeline. Several of the categories in the Scripts menu include scripts that create animation keys. The Camera category includes a script to animate the camera so that it has a jiggle added to it (the Handheld Camera script) and another script to automatically rotate the camera about the current object (the Orbit Camera script). Both of these scripts are covered in Chapter 25, “Changing the View with Cameras.”
The Particle Effects category also includes a number of scripts for animating particles. These are covered in Chapter 31, “Using Particle Layers.” The Visibility and Warp script categories also include some fun animation scripts that let you fade and warp objects.
Caution
Keep in mind that some of the animation scripts create a large number of keys, which can make it hard to edit any changes.
Note
These scripts are only designed to work with vector layers.
Fading Objects
The Scripts, Visibility menu includes two excellent examples of animation techniques: Fade and Wavy Fade. The Fade script causes the selected layer to fade away over a given number of frames. You can set the number of frames the effect takes place over (the duration), the Blur Radius, and whether the selected object fades in or out by using the Fade dialog box that opens when you select the script command (see Figure 16.7).
Figure 16.7. Fade script dialog box.
Caution
If no points are selected, then the Wavy script is disabled. The Fade script can be applied to all layer types, but it only works when applied to a vector layer.
The Wavy Fade is a little more complex; it allows the object to undulate as it fades away. For this script, you can set the frequency and the amplitude, as shown in Figure 16.8. The Frequency value sets how often the object waves up and down and the Amplitude value measures how high each wave is.
Figure 16.8. Wavy Fade script dialog box.
Tip
The Duration of the animation is measured from the current frame, so you can set this effect to begin in the middle of a sequence by choosing a frame before accessing the script.
To create a wavy fade effect for a desert scene, follow these steps:
1. | Open the Desert.anme file from the Chapter 16 folder on the CD. This file includes the default desert background. |
2. | Select the Cactus layer in the Layers palette and choose the Edit, Select All command (Ctrl/Cmd+A) to select all the points on this layer. |
3. | Select the Scripts, Visibility, Wavy Fade menu command to open the Wavy Fade dialog box. Set the Duration to 72, the Frequency to 1, the Amplitude to 0.1, and the Blur Radius to 16. Then click the OK button to close the dialog box. All the keys are automatically added to the Timeline palette. |
4. | Click the Play button (Spacebar) and notice how the cacti are waving as the animation progresses. Also notice how the Fill color fades, as shown in Figure 16.9. |
Warping Objects
The Scripts, Warp menu includes two more examples that automate animation techniques. The Black Hole script causes an object to spiral toward the center of the layer as it slowly disappears. It works especially well with a particle layer. The Black Hole dialog box, shown in Figure 16.10, sets the number of frames that the effect happens over (the duration). You can also set the Angle, which is the amount of rotation that the object takes as it moves toward the center of the working area. There is also an option to Run Backwards that makes the points spiral outward from the center when enabled.
Figure 16.10. Black Hole script dialog box.
Caution
Both of these scripts are disabled unless at least one point is selected.
Figure 16.11 shows an example of the Black Hole script: five stars rotating toward the center of the working area.
The Wavy script causes the layer to undulate over a given number of frames. Using the Wavy dialog box, as shown in Figure 16.12, you can set the number of frames, the frequency, and the amplitude.
Figure 16.12. Wavy script dialog box.
There are also options to have the object wave using a constant amplitude or a temporary wave. The Constant Amplitude option keeps the distance that each point moves constant from wave to wave, which results in an animation that repeats the same way as the waves progress. The Temporary Wave option starts out gradually and gets progressively larger as the animation progresses, resulting in wild fluctuations at the end of the animation.
Figure 16.13 shows a simple star waving over several frames.
