Image Contour controls for the Radio Waves effect

Image Contour controls specify the image you want to use as the wave and controls how the image appears. These controls are available when Image Contours is chosen for Wave Type. Adjust the following controls for the Radio Waves effect:

Source Layer

Specifies the layer you want to use as the shape of the wave. Select an animated layer to emit moving shapes. A well-defined outline, high-contrast grayscale layer, or alpha channel works well as a source. The Radio Waves effect detects edges and converts sources into outlines.

Source Center

Specifies the center point of the shape, relative to the source layer. For example, if you isolate a shape that is positioned in the left half of the frame, the shape radiates to the left by default; you can move the source center anywhere on the layer.

Value Channel

Specifies the channel of the layer that defines the wave shape.

Invert Input

Inverts the chosen value channel option.

Value Threshold

Specifies the threshold for the chosen value channel. It determines the percentage value at which everything below it or above it is mapped to either white or black. This control can make a big difference in the shape of the wave.

Pre-Blur

Smooths out the value channel before the value threshold is sampled. If you have a high-contrast image, such as white on black, and you want the wave to follow the edges very closely, set this to 0.

Tolerance

Defines how tightly the wave conforms to the layer. A very high setting results in sharp corners; a very low value can make the wave shape more sensitive to noise.

Contour

Specifies the shape in the source layer that you want to use as the emitted wave. Contour numbers the shapes by their order in the frame from top to bottom, left to right. The shape in the top left corner is number 1.