Reference / Effects / Generate
Updated
Grid
Grid is a Generate effect.
What it does
Section titled “What it does”Puts points at even intervals: rows, columns, and planes receding into depth. Set Type to Lines and it draws a line grid instead, which can be tilted back in perspective. Lines emits no points.
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”| Parameter | Control | Range | Default | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Dropdown | Points · Lines | Points | - |
| Layout | Dropdown | Rows · Offset rows · Rings · Spiral · Hexagons · Point | Rows | - |
| Columns | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 100; up to 1000 | 10 | - |
| Rows | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 100; up to 1000 | 6 | - |
| Planes | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 100; up to 1000 | 1 | - |
| Spacing x | Slider | 0 to 1000; higher | 120 | Pixels at composition size |
| Spacing y | Slider | 0 to 1000; higher | 120 | Pixels at composition size |
| Spacing z | Slider | 0 to 1000; higher | 120 | Pixels at composition size |
| Fit to size | Checkbox | On or off | Off | - |
| Width | Slider | 0 to 3840; higher | 1080 | Pixels at composition size |
| Height | Slider | 0 to 2160; higher | 600 | Pixels at composition size |
| Position x | Slider | 0 to 3840; any value by typing | 960 | Pixels at composition size |
| Position y | Slider | 0 to 2160; any value by typing | 540 | Pixels at composition size |
| Position z | Slider | -2000 to 2000; any value by typing | 0 | Pixels at composition size |
| Jitter x | Slider | 0 to 500; higher | 0 | Pixels at composition size |
| Jitter y | Slider | 0 to 500; higher | 0 | Pixels at composition size |
| Jitter z | Slider | 0 to 500; higher | 0 | Pixels at composition size |
| Start angle | Dial | Any angle; snaps every 15° while a modifier is held | 0° | Degrees |
| Arc | Slider | 0 to 360 | 360 | Degrees |
| Inner radius | Slider | 0 to 1000; higher | 0 | Pixels at composition size |
| Size from | Dropdown | Grid size · Corner point | Grid size | - |
| Boxes x | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 100; up to 1000 | 24 | - |
| Boxes y | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 100; up to 1000 | 16 | - |
| Grid size x | Slider | 0 to 3840; higher | 1920 | Pixels at composition size |
| Grid size y | Slider | 0 to 2160; higher | 1440 | Pixels at composition size |
| Corner x | Slider | 0 to 3840; any value by typing | 1152 | Pixels at composition size |
| Corner y | Slider | 0 to 2160; any value by typing | 648 | Pixels at composition size |
| Line width | Slider | 0 to 50; higher | 2.5 | Pixels at composition size |
| H line rel width | Slider | 0 to 4; higher | 1 | - |
| V line rel width | Slider | 0 to 4; higher | 1 | - |
| Major line spacing | Slider, whole numbers | 0 to 20; up to 1000 | 4 | - |
| Major line width | Slider | 1 to 10; higher | 2.5 | - |
| Latitude | Slider | -89 to 89 | 0 | Degrees |
| Swing | Dial | Any angle; snaps every 15° while a modifier is held | 0° | Degrees |
| Roll | Dial | Any angle; snaps every 15° while a modifier is held | 0° | Degrees |
| Z dist | Slider | 0.1 to 10; down to 0.01 and higher | 1 | - |
| Tele lens width | Slider | 0.2 to 3 | 1 | - |
| Size | Slider | 0 to 200; higher | 8 | Pixels at composition size |
| Feather | Slider | 0 to 100 | 100 | Per cent |
| Colour | Colour | Each channel 0 to 4, scene-linear | 1, 1, 1, 1 | - |
| Max points | Slider, whole numbers | 1 to 200000; up to 1000000 | 20000 | - |
| Seed | Seed | Any whole number | A fresh random seed per instance | - |
| Mix | Slider | 0 to 100 | 100 | Per cent |
| Blend | Dropdown | Normal · Darken · Multiply · Colour burn · Linear burn · Darker colour · Add · Lighten · Screen · Colour dodge · Lighter colour · Overlay · Soft light · Hard light · Linear light · Vivid light · Pin light · Hard mix · Difference · Exclusion · Subtract · Divide · Hue · Saturation · Colour · Luminosity | Normal | - |
| Matte | Layer | Any layer in the composition | None | - |
| Invert | Checkbox | On or off | Off | - |
| Channel | Dropdown | Luminance · Alpha · Red · Green · Blue | Luminance | - |
In the Effect Controls panel:
- Grid groups Type, Layout, Columns, Rows, Planes, Spacing x, Spacing y, Spacing z, Fit to size, Width, Height, Position x, Position y, Position z, Jitter x, Jitter y, Jitter z.
- Lines groups Size from, Boxes x, Boxes y, Grid size x, Grid size y, Corner x, Corner y, Line width, H line rel width, V line rel width, Major line spacing, Major line width, and appears while Type is Lines.
- Transform groups Latitude, Swing, Roll, Z dist, Tele lens width, and appears while Type is Lines.
- Point groups Size, Feather, Colour, Max points.
- Boxes x is editable while Size from is set to Grid size.
- Boxes y is editable while Size from is set to Grid size.
- Grid size x is editable while Size from is set to Grid size.
- Grid size y is editable while Size from is set to Grid size.
- Corner x is editable while Size from is set to Corner point.
- Corner y is editable while Size from is set to Corner point.
- Spacing x is editable while Fit to size is off.
- Spacing x is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Spacing y is editable while Fit to size is off.
- Spacing y is editable while Layout is anything but Hexagons.
- Spacing y is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Spacing z is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Fit to size is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Width is editable while Fit to size is on.
- Width is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Height is editable while Fit to size is on.
- Height is editable while Layout is anything but Hexagons.
- Height is editable while Layout is anything but Point.
- Matte is an input to an effect, scaling the strength. Invert inverts the mattes for calculating strength.
What each control does
Section titled “What each control does”- Type: Points draws the lattice as discs. Lines draws a grid of lines, with its own rows under Lines and Transform, and hides the rows only Points reads.
- Layout: how the points on each plane are arranged. Rows is rows and columns. Offset rows moves every other row across by half a cell. Rings makes Rows the number of rings and Columns the points on each, with Spacing x and Spacing y the gap between rings across and down. Spiral winds one evenly dense spiral out from the centre, like a sunflower’s seeds, and the spacings set how tightly. Hexagons packs offset rows as a honeycomb, every point the same distance from its six neighbours, and works the gap between rows out from Spacing x. Point puts every point at Position, one on top of another until a Jitter or an effect below moves them apart. Every layout has Columns times Rows points on each plane.
- Columns, Rows and Planes: how many cells across, down, and through the layer’s plane. Planes at 1 is flat, which is what a 2D layer wants. More than one only shows once the layer is 3D and the composition has a camera. See Cameras and 3D.
- Spacing x, Spacing y and Spacing z: the gap between cells along each axis. The lattice is as big as its spacing makes it, unless Fit to size is on.
- Fit to size: fits the layout into Width and Height in place of Spacing x and Spacing y. It stays that size however many points it holds.
- Width and Height: how wide and tall the fitted layout is. Rings and Spiral read them as their diameter across and down.
- Position x, Position y and Position z: where the middle of the lattice sits. Position z is how far in front of or behind the layer’s own plane it floats. Nought is on the plane.
- Jitter x, Jitter y and Jitter z: how far a cell may wander off its place. Each cell gets the same nudge every frame.
- Seed: which jitter. Reseed to roll a different one.
- Start angle: where round a ring its first point sits. It shows for Rings, as do the next two.
- Arc: how much of the circle a ring covers. A whole circle spaces its points evenly round it, and anything less puts one at each end.
- Inner radius: how far out the rings start. With the spacings it is added to every ring. Fitted, it is the innermost ring, and at 0 that ring is one point at the centre.
- Size: the diameter of the disc a point is drawn as.
- Feather: how soft that disc’s edge is. At nought it is a hard circle.
- Colour: what the discs are drawn in. Values above 1 are legal, and useful under a Glow.
- Size from: how big a cell is. Grid size shares the grid’s size out between the boxes. Corner point makes Position and Corner two corners of one cell, and the lines fill the layer.
- Boxes x and Boxes y: how many cells across and down.
- Grid size x and Grid size y: how wide and tall the whole grid is.
- Corner x and Corner y: the far corner of the cell that starts at Position.
- Line width: how thick a line is.
- H line rel width and V line rel width: the across and the up and down lines’ width, times Line width.
- Major line spacing: every this many lines from the middle is a major line. At nought every line is the same.
- Major line width: a major line’s width, times a line’s.
- Latitude: tips the top of the grid away.
- Swing: turns the grid on its own plane.
- Roll: turns the tipped grid about the view. At Latitude 0, Swing and Roll do the same.
- Z dist: how far away the grid is. Above 1 it is smaller.
- Tele lens width: a longer lens zooms in with less perspective, a shorter one widens the view with more.
- Max points: the most points that may exist at once. It does not animate. A lattice bigger than the cap is cut off at the end.
- Mix: how much of the drawing lands on the picture. At nought the points are still emitted on the socket.
After Effects’ Grid imports as Lines. Its Feather and Invert Grid are not carried.
- Matte and Invert drive the strength of the effect from another layer’s brightness. See Effects.