HairLines plug-in> Grid group

This section determines where the HairLines particles sit against a typically invisible, underlying grid. This grid is your key to directing the lines.

 

 

 

Height, Width

Together, Height and Width set the size of the grid in pixels.

You need to be careful about Height and Width. If you set the grid size too small, the lines will go off the edge. If you set the grid size too large, the animation will be slowed down unnecessarily. For example, if the grid's Height/Width is bigger than your comp's height/width, you are telling HairLines to keep track of lines you're never going to see. If you are going to move the grid Position or Rotation, the lines might move into view and then there is a benefit to a big Height and Width.

Grid size affects the rendering speed so don't make its Height/Width any bigger than you need it. If you just need a bunch of lines running across the width of the screen, at the top or bottom, don't make the grid the size of the entire comp. Just make it a 100 pixels high and however wide the comp is. This will save the extra hit on computing power that a large grid would have given you.

Unlike GridLines and GridSquares, the HairLines grid doesn't constrain or control the lines. The grid simply defines how many Horizontal (rows) and Vertical (columns) lines there are.

 

The lines are controlled by the ripples along the grid.

 

 

Make Size Match Comp Size checkbox

Makes the grid match the size of the comp. If this is active, the plug-in ignores the Height and Width values. If Height and Width are set to 300 and 200 and the comp size is 640 x 480, turning this checkbox on will make the grid size 640 x 480.

 

 

Position

Sets the center of the grid.

 

 

Rotation

Sets the rotation of the grid. Since all the lines follow the grid, it's not possible to rotate the lines themselves. This allows you to create diagonal lines by setting the angle of rotation you want the grid to be at. This can be animated, and will rotate all lines on the grid by the same amount.

If you want to have diagonal lines and straight lines in the same project, you'll need to use two copies of the filter.

 

 

Rows, Columns

Together, Rows and Columns define the division of the grid. You can see them by turning on the Show Grid checkbox.

Unlike the GridLines plugin, the HairLines don't follow the rows and columns specifically. Rows and Columns are used to define the number of lines you want to have but the lines aren't constrained to the rows and columns. Instead, the lines are controlled by the HairLines ripples. If you want to increase/decrease the number of lines, then increase/decrease the number of rows and columns.

 

 

Show Grid checkbox

This option shows the grid. Yup.

 

 

Line Spacing Randomness

Randomizes the distance between lines. This is as close to a grid adherence as the HairLines filter gets. If you have Show Grid turned on and you crank up this parameter, you will notice the lines move away from the grid in random directions, creating a nice varied look to your animation.

The effect is especially noticeable if you're using angular lines or very small ripples, where the lines are basically straight. If they lines are straight, the grid will be more obvious since the lines are straight and regularly spaced.

 

 

Line Compression

Squeezes the lines together. The Line Spacing Randomness parameter allows you to vary the distance between the lines. Line Compession allows you to push them all closer together around a center point. Low values should probably be called decompression since it spreads the lines out. This is usually useful in situations where you want to animate the lines spreading out.

 

At left, no compression. In middle, Line Compression at -100. At right, Line Compression at 100.

 

 

Compression Center

Sets this center point, which behaves a bit like an anchor point. All the lines will compress around this point. Usually, it's in the middle, so all the lines get evenly compressed. If there are 4 lines, 2 will compress towards the center from the left, and two will compress from the right.

If you adjust this to one side, say towards the left edge putting three lines to the right and one to the left, all three to the right will compress towards the left edge of the screen. Actually, depending on how you set up the Line Compression, the lines will compress towards or away from the Compression Center.

If you set it to a negative amount, the lines will move towards the center, if you set it to a positive amount, the lines will move away from the center, spreading themselves out.

 

Compression Center is where the X is. All the lines squash or scale around this point.