[Mark Crenshaw]

Chris,
If it were me, and I’m not sure I fully understand your goal, I would get rid of all keyframes and use the expressions. They will give you the varying Glow values you are looking for. The slider method will help you control all instances of Glow on a global level.

Set it all up in a proxy comp and then copy and paste it all into place.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Can you post a screenshot of one of your Glow layers with the Radius and Intensity properties showing?

[Mark Crenshaw]

Hmmm, they work fine here.

Another approach that will give you global adjustment with different results for each layer.

Duplicate your comp. With the duplicate loaded, delete all instances of Glow…clean slate.

Create a null object, rename it “Glow Null” without the quotes. Apply an Expression Slider effect. Rename the effect “Glow Slider” without the quotes.

Use this expression on your Radius and Intensity properties.

n=thisComp.layer(“Glow Null”).effect(“Glow Slider”)(“Slider”);
n*index

This takes the value of the slider and multiplies it by the index…Layer number. Keyframe the slider to get your ease in and out, hold the Glow over time and then fade it out if you like.

This screen grab shows the effect with the slider value at 1,3 and 5.

https://www.crenshawweb.com/slider.jpg

You can see the results of the expression on Layer 2. When the slider is set 1 it is muliplied by Index 2 for Glow values of 2. Slider at 3 yields values of 6 and at 5 yields values of 10 and so on.

If the glows get to be too much, just type -x after index in the expression. x being whatever amount you want to subtract.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

The wiggle expression is editable to get this.

The first value is the number of times wiggle looks at the property per second. The second value is the variance that is applied.

wiggle(.5,50) will apply much slower than wiggle(10,50)but it will still fade in and out over time.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Which one gave you an error? I just tried them both again and they work fine. Either one of them will give you different results from layer to layer because of the “index” portion of the expression. Index refers to the Layer number in the comp…there are no duplicate layer numbers so all should be different.

Just to make sure, here’s what you need to do:

Alt+click the stopwatch for the property you are applying the expression to.

It will twirl down the expression field with the data selected…just paste in the expression and hit enter.

You should then be able to copy the Glow effect, crtl or shift select the layers to add it to and then paste. The expression is now applied to all the layers.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Sorry, I assumed you wanted the glow to be animated. If not, use the following to generate random fixed glow levels based on Index. It’s simple copy/paste…no restting values for each layer.

index*10

Layer 4 would have a radius or intensity value = 40, layer 7 = 70 and so on. Change up the operator or value to get even more random results.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

One way to do this is to use the wiggle expression on radius and intensity properties. Though you will still have to touch each layer, it will eliminate the need for keyframes on each effect.

copy and paste this expression to one or both properties

wiggle(index*2,50)

This will automaticaly give you random values based on the stacking order of your layers (index)

For more random action, just change the multiplier value (*2) or variance amount (50). AE will do the rest.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

This can be done easily with Effect>Generate>Circle. You can have multiple circles on a single solid or, copy the effect to other solids and offset the center point of each new circle. I’m just getting started with them but you can also do this with expressions…though how you execute here depends on what you plan to do with the circles during the animation.

Multiple circles on a single solid:
1. Create a solid.
2. Add Effect>Generate>Circle
3. Set the radius and position of the first circle. Leave it’s blending mode as “None”
4. Duplicate the effect, set blending mode to “normal”.
5. Set the position of the circle numerically to align it with the first.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each new circle you want.

Single circle on multiple solids.

As above but but for step 4, copy and paste the effect onto a new solid. Then do step 5.

With expressions:

1. Create a solid.
2. Add Effect>Generate>Circle
3. Set the radius and position of the first circle.
4. Add expression to position property. value+[125*(index-1),0]
5. Duplicate the layer however many times for the number of circles you want.

The expression will move each new layer 125 pixels on the X axis multiplied by the layer number. This value can be edited to suit your needs. The expression also assumes that your first circle is layer 1, or index 1, in the comp…this number should be the layer number of your first circle.

Good luck,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Thanks Jon! That was it!!! I had objects casting shadows only in one comp and foreground objects in another. The shadow casters had light transmission at 100%.

Fixed Shadows

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Updated movie…I separated out foreground and background lighting, added more movement and some better camera moves.

https://www.crenshawweb.com/onstage-lo.wmv

https://www.crenshawweb.com/onstage-hi.wmv

Also a test with match-moving some 3D elements. Monitor wedges, mic stands,lighting truss.

https://www.crenshawweb.com/camera-track-lo.wmv

https://www.crenshawweb.com/camera-track-hi.wmv

Peace,
Mark