Adobe After Effects CS3 - Manual (Page 435)

AFTER EFFECTS CS3
User Guide
430
Single lens flare (bottom left) and multiple lens flares (bottom right)
Lightning effect
The Lightning effect creates lightning bolts and other electrical visuals, including a Jacob’s Ladder result (as seen in
old horror movies) between two specified points in a layer. This effect is automatically animated without keyframes
or expressions.
This effect works with 8-bpc color.
Variations in thickness, color, and number of branches (bottom left and right)
Start Point, End Point Where the lightning begins and ends.
Segments The number of segments that form the main lightning bolt. Higher values produce more detail but reduce
the smoothness of motion.
Amplitude The size of undulations in the lightning bolt as a percentage of the layer width.
Detail Level, Detail Amplitude How much detail is added to the lightning bolt and any branches. For Detail Level,
typical values are between 2 and 3. For Detail Amplitude, a typical value is 0.3. Higher values for either control are
best for still images but tend to obscure animation.
Branching The amount of branching (forking) that appears at the ends of bolt segments. A value of 0 produces no
branching; a value of 1.0 produces branching at every segment.
Rebranching The amount of branching from branches. Higher values produce treelike lightning bolts.
Branch Angle The angle between a branch and the main lightning bolt.