Rendering controls for the Foam effect

Adjust the following Rendering controls to specify the appearance of the bubbles, including their texture and reflection:

Blend Mode

Specifies the relative transparency of bubbles as they intersect. Transparent blends the bubbles smoothly together, allowing you to see the bubbles through each other. Solid Old on Top makes a younger bubble appear to be underneath an older bubble and eliminates transparency. Use this setting to simulate bubbles flowing toward you. Solid New on Top makes younger bubbles appear to be on top of older bubbles and also eliminates transparency. Use this setting to make bubbles appear as if they are flowing downhill.

Bubble Texture

Specifies the bubble texture. Use a preset texture, or create your own. To see the texture, make sure that View is set to Rendered. To create your own texture, select User Defined, and then from the Bubble Texture Layer menu choose the layer you want to use as the bubble.

Note: The preset bubble textures are prerendered 64 x 64 images. If you zoom in above 64 x 64, the bubble appears blurry. To avoid this, use a higher-resolution custom bubble.

Bubble Texture Layer

Specifies the layer you want to use as the bubble image. To use this control, choose User Defined from the Bubble Texture menu. If you want the layer to appear only as a bubble, turn off the video switch for the layer in the Timeline window.

Note: You can use any file type that After Effects supports. If you plan on zooming in or using a large bubble size, make sure that the resolution of the layer is high enough to avoid blurring. Remember, this doesn't have to be a normal bubble. You can make blood cells, starfish, bugs, space aliens, or flying monkeys. If it's a layer in your composition, it can be a bubble.

Bubble Orientation

Determines the direction that the bubble rotates. Fixed releases the bubble from the producer right side up and keeps it that way. Use this control if the bubble has built-in highlights and shading, as all of the preset bubbles do. Physical Orientation buffets and spins bubbles around by the forces on them, creating a chaotic scene. Bubble Velocity faces the bubble in the direction of its motion. This is the most useful setting for flocking-style animations.

Environment Map

Specifies the layer that is reflected in the bubbles. If you want to use this layer only for the reflection, turn off the layer's video switch.

Reflection Strength

Controls how much of the selected Environment Map is reflected in the bubbles. The higher the value, the more the reflection obscures the original bubble texture. Reflections appear only on opaque pixels, so bubbles with high degrees of transparency, such as the Spit preset, don't reflect much.

Reflection Convergence

Controls how much your Environment Map is distorted as it is mapped onto the bubbles. A value of 0 projects the map flat on top of all of the bubbles in the scene. As the value increases, the reflection distorts to account for the spherical shape of each bubble.