3d warps manual

Zaxwerks Layer Tools - User Guide �

User Guide

Zaxwerks 3D Warps™

Plug-ins for After Effects®

COVERING

3D Layer Warp™

3D Grid Warp™

Zaxwerks 3d Warps - User Guide �

Zaxwerks Inc.57�4 Camellia Ave.Temple City, CA 9�780(6�6) 309-9�0� phone(6�6) 309-9�4� faxhttp://www.zaxwerks.com

Sales: [email protected] Support: [email protected]

© �007 Zaxwerks Inc. All rights reserved.

This manual, as well as the software described in it, is fur-nished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and does not represent product speci-fications or commitment on the part of Zaxwerks. Zaxwerks as-sumes no responsibility or liability for any error or inaccuracies that may appear in this document.

The Zaxwerks 3D Warps. 3D Grid Warp, and 3D Layer Warp are trademarks of Zaxwerks Inc. After Effects is a trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows, Windows �000, and Windows XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc. All other product names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Zaxwerks Layer Tools - User Guide 3

Table of Contents

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4How To Apply 3D Layer Warp . . . . . . . . . . . . 4How To Apply 3D Grid Warp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Controlling the Size of the Warped Plane/Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5How to Control the Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Controls In Detail Effect Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Show Guide Grid and Grid Spacing. . . . . 6 Shape Controls - Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Geometric Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Centering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Recenter Pivot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Recenter Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Reset Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Track 3D Layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Center (X, Y, Z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Position (X, Y, Z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Rotation (X, Y, Z). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Scale (X, Y, Z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Line Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Line Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Line Width (H or V) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Line Spacing (H or V). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Line Center (H or V).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Phase Shift (H or V) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Line Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ��

Warp Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Warp Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Warp Axis (X, Y or Z). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Warp Amount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Warp Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Limit Smoothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Wave Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Wave Propagation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �3 The Ripple Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �3 Warp Center X, Y & Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �3 Warp Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �4 Warp Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �4 Global vs. Local Warps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �4Warp Style Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �5 Bend From Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �5 Bend One Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �5 Fold From Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �6 Fold One Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �6 Twist From Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �6 Twist One Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �7 Bulge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �7 Hump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �8 Taper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �8 Flatten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �9 Linear Wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �9 Radial Wave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Spherify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �0 Spherify (800 x 600) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . �� Spherify (Custom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ��

Zaxwerks 3d Warps - User Guide 4

3D Warp Documentation

PurposeWelcome to the documentation for the 3D Warp plug-ins from Zaxwerks.

The 3D Warp plug-ins bring a completely new ability to After Ef-fects. They enable you to bend, twist and otherwise mistreat your AE layers in three dimensions.

3D Warps consists of two plug-ins, 3D Layer Warp and 3D Grid Warp. 3D Layer Warp is made to warp your AE layers. 3D Grid Warp is designed to create warped grid lines to be used for back-grounds, and design elements.

Many of the controls are the same in the two plug-ins. In the documentation you can assume that any feature not specifically indicated as belonging to one plug-in, applies to both of them.

How To Apply 3D Layer WarpThe fast way to apply 3D Layer Warp is to do the following…1- Add the image you want to warp to your AE comp.2- Apply the 3D Layer Warp effect to it.

This method works fine as long as the image is the same size as the comp. When it’s not you’ll find that the size of the original im-age may clip off part of the warped image.

To get past this limitation you should use the following method when applying the 3D Layer Warp effect…1 - Create a Solid that is the same size and pixel aspect as your comp.2 - Apply the 3D Layer Warp plug-in to this Solid.3 - Add the image you want to warp to your comp, and turn off its visibility.4 - Select the image from the 3D Layer Warp’s Color Map control. This is found in the Effect Controls window under:3D Layer Warp > Color Controls > Color Map Once the effect has been applied all warping is controlled from the Effect Controls window. There are no controls in the Comp window. Dragging sliders and making menu choices from the Ef-fect Controls is how it is done.

How To Apply 3D Grid WarpYou use the 3D Grid Warp plug-in when you want to create flow-ing lines to use as design elements. You should always use the following method when applying the effect…1 - Create a Solid that is the same size and pixel aspect as your comp.2 - Apply the 3D Grid Warp plug-in to this Solid.Once the effect has been applied all warping is controlled from the Effect Controls window. There are no controls in the Comp window. Dragging sliders and making menu choices from the Ef-fect Controls is how it is done.


Controlling The Size Of The Warped Plane/Image

In the 3D Grid Warp plug-in the size of the warped plane is con-trolled with the Shape Controls settings. These let you adjust the size at any time. You can even animate these controls. If you are using a color map, you must set the Shape Controls to match the proportions of the map otherwise the map will be stretched to cover the plane.

In the 3D Layer Warp plug-in there are no Shape Controls. The size of the plane is based on the size of the color map. When the Color Map control is set to None, the size of the warped plane is taken from the layer the effect is applied to. When the Color Map is set to a specific AE layer, the size of that layer is used as the size of the warped plane.

How To Control The Software?The software controls are divided into sections with each section grouping together common controls.

Shape Controls – The Shape Controls are only found in the 3D Grid Warp plug-in. These controls let you choose the size of your warped plane. The Geometric Detail parameters (found in both plug-ins) controls the smoothness of the warped plane.

Transform - The Transform section contains the controls for mov-ing, rotating and centering the warped 3D object.

Line Controls – The Line Controls section is found only in the 3D Grid Warp plug-in. It contains the controls for setting the size, grid style and spacing of the grid lines.

Color Controls – The Color Controls section contains all the set-tings for the surface characteristics of the 3D warped plane. Here is where you set the color of the front surface, the back surface, whether to use solid, wireframe or hiddenline shading, the highlight brightness, reflectivity of the surface and color and transparency of the grid lines.

Displacement Controls – The Displacement Controls section con-tains the settings for selecting a displacement map and adjusting it’s height and smoothness.

Warps �,� & 3 – The Warp sections contain the controls for bend-ing, twisting, folding, rippling, bulging and tapering the 3D plane. Each Warp builds on the warp before it. By stacking warps you can get some incredible effects.

Camera & Lights – You can use the After Effects camera and light, or the warp plug-ins come with their own.

Options Window Controls – This section is accessed by clicking the Options button. It contains the controls for Z-clipping, number of Motion Blur passes, the Ripple controls for wave warps and the local/global switch to use when stacking multiple warps.


The Controls In Detail

Effect PresetsThis menu lets you save and apply warp settings. Using this menu will save all of the settings for the single warp effect that the menu is a part of.

The warp presets are saved to disk at the same file location as the plugin. The warp preset files may be shared with other comput-ers by simply copying them to the Warp Presets folder on the other computers.

When you use the Save Preset command you will have to re-launch After Effects before you see the saved preset in the menu. This is because the presets are only loaded when AE starts up.

To apply a preset, choose it from the menu. This will replace all current settings for that one instance of the effect.

Show Guide Grid and Grid SpacingThese two controls are only in the 3D Layer Warp plug-in. When you turn on Show Guide Grid, green lines are overlayed onto the warped plane. These guide lines are helpful in seeing how the grid is warped.

The Grid Spacing control is used to adjust the distance between the lines.

These grid lines will show up in both Draft and Best quality renderings so be sure to turn them off once you have created the warp.

NOTE: When the Guide Grid is turned on you will see the pivot point of the plane as little red blue green axis lines.

Shape Controls - Left/Right/Top/Bottom EdgesThe Shape Controls are only in the 3D Grid Warp plug-in. The Shape Controls enable you to adjust the size of the warped plane. This is the control to use when you need a thin plane or a wide one.

There is a control for each edge of the plane. Sometimes you need to adjust one edge independently from the others. For instance if you set up a warp and move it to the bottom right of the comp window, but then need a little more plane in order for it to cover the rest of the comp window, all you’d have to do is to make the Left Edge bigger to extend the plane in that direction.

You can see the pivot point when Guide Grid is turned ON.

You can see the pivot point when Guide Grid is turned ON.


Geometric DetailThe Geometric Detail controls the mesh of the warped plane. The higher the setting the finer the mesh, which results in a smoother warp. If you notice your warped plane getting sharp angles, you should increase the Geometric Detail setting by one unit and see if it is enough.

This control sets how finely the mesh is subdivided. A setting of 5 will result in 1000 squares or 2000 triangles, while a setting of 7 will result in 4000 triangles. The range goes from 1 to 10.

There are two settings, one for when the layer is set to Draft quality and one for when the layer is set to Best quality. This is done so you can use a lower setting during animation previews to keep your work flow nice and fast but then a higher quality mesh is generated during the final rendering so you get perfect final pictures.

TransformWhen you want to move the warped plane or image use these controls. Do not use AE’s standard transforms found in the AE Timeline. The layer that this effect is applied to must remain a 2D layer in it’s default position for the image to render properly.

Centering The Centering control enables you to adjust the rotational center of the warped plane. The rotational center, also called the pivot point, begins at the center of the flat plane, as the plane is warped the center remains in its original location which can cause rota-tions to look bad. The Centering control enables you to move the pivot so the warped plane rotates the way you want it.

Centering is an automatic way to adjust the three Center param-eters. If one of the automatic centering methods doesn’t put the pivot point where you want it you can always adjust the Center parameters to place it anywhere you want.

NOTE: When using centering you may also want to turn on the Guide Grid. When the Guide Grid is turned on you will see the pivot point of the plane as little red blue green axis lines.

Recenter PivotThis command will calculate the center of the warped plane based on its current state. Since the warp can be animated the rotational center may change based on the position of the current time marker.

Recenter ObjectThis command will leave the pivot point where it’s at and move the object instead

Low Detail can show chunky edges and stretching.

High Detail smoothes out extremely warped shapes.

Low Detail can show chunky edges and stretching.

High Detail smoothes out extremely warped shapes.

Recenter Pivot moves the pivot to the center of the object.

Recenter Object centers the object over the pivot.

Recenter Pivot moves the pivot to the center of the object.

Recenter Object centers the object over the pivot.


Reset TransformThis command will reset the twelve transform parameters back to default values. Useful for the times when you get in trouble and want to bring the plane back to a home position without using the AE Reset command which will erase the warp and maps and everything else.

Track 3D LayerThis is a very cool feature. Track 3D Layer enables you to ani-mate any 3D layer in After Effects and have the warped plane match its movement. The advantage of this technique is that you will be able to see the motion path.

We suggest that you create a very small AE Solid as the layer you will track, rather than using a Null. After animating the Solid, set the layer to be invisible, or make it a guide layer so it doesn’t ap-pear in the final rendering.

Center (X, Y, Z)The Center parameters control the rotational center, or pivot point, of the warped object. This is the point around which the warped object will rotate.

Position (X, Y, Z)The Position parameters are what you use to move the warped object in 3D space. Be sure to use these controls, and not the position controls for the layer this effect is applied to.

Rotation (X, Y, Z)The Rotation parameters are what you use to rotate the warped object in 3D space. Be sure to use these controls, and not the rotation controls for the layer this effect is applied to.

Scale (X, Y, Z)The Scale parameter enable you to stretch the warped 3D shape. This control is applied after all the warps are applied. So, for instance, if you use the warps to create a ripply sphere, the Scale controls will stretch the ripply shere, they won’t stretch the plane prior to it being warped.

When Show Guide Grid is on you will also see the pivot center axis.When Show Guide Grid is on you will also see the pivot center axis.

A sphere warp that has been scaled in X.A sphere warp that has been scaled in X.


Line ControlsThe Line Controls are only part of the 3D Grid Warp plug-in. 3D Grid Warp is designed to create moving images of flowing lines and grids. The Line Controls is where you set the size, position and style of those lines. The color of the lines is set in the Color Controls section.

The lines created by this plug-in are anti-aliased and you can make them react to light and reflections. The lines can be given a single color, or they can use a picture as their color. For instance if you applied a map of the Earth to a warped sphere, the lines would look like thin slices of that map.

When using a layer map as the color map, the alpha channel of the layer map will clip the lines.

The Grid Warp plug-in even lets you have both line rendering and layer map rendering at the same time. For instance you could have a map of the Earth with colored lines overlaying the map.

Line LayoutThe Line Layout control lets you choose the type of grid you want to appear on the plane.

Grid Paper is the standard square grid with the H and V lines at 90 degrees to each other. By adjusting the line spacing and line visibility you can get stripes, squares or rectangles. The lines are spaced in standard AE units.

The Radial Circles option creates concentric circles around a cen-ter point. The center point is set with the H and V Center param-eters. The H lines are the circles and the V lines are the straight lines which all converge at the center point. By turning off the visibility of the V lines you can create just the circles. By animat-ing the H Phase Shift the circles will move endlessly toward or away from the center point.

The Radial Squares option creates concentric squares. The center of the squares is set with the H and V Center parameters. The H lines are the squares and the V lines are the straight lines which all converge at the center point. By turning off the visibility of the V lines you can create just the squares. By animating the H Phase Shift the squares will move endlessly toward or away from the center point.

The Radial Triangles option creates concentric triangles. The center of the triangles is set with the H and V Center parameters. The H lines are the triangles and the V lines are the straight lines which all converge at the center point. By turning off the visibil-ity of the V lines you can create just the triangles. By animating the H Phase Shift the triangles will move endlessly toward or away from the center point.

Grid Paper Radial CirclesGrid Paper Radial Circles

Radial TrianglesRadial Squares Radial TrianglesRadial Squares

Zaxwerks 3d Warps - User Guide �0

Line Width (H or V)You can set the thickness of the H or V lines separately to create different looks.

Line Spacing (H or V)In most 3D programs the position of each line is based on the polygons in the surface. This is not the case with the 3D Grid Warp plug-in. The lines that appear on the warped plane are controlled with the Line Spacing parameters. This means you can make the warps as smooth as you want by changing the Geomet-ric Detail, without having it change the position of the lines.

For the Grid Paper style of lines, the units of line spacing are in basic AE pixels for both the H and V lines.

For the Radial Circles, Squares and Triangles styles, AE pixels are used as the units for H, which is the distance between each circle/square/triangle. But the V lines are the straight lines that emanate from the center point, so the units for the V Line Spacing are in degrees.

Line Center (H or V)These two parameters set the center point of the lines. For Grid Paper the center point isn’t that noticeable but with the radial types the center point is where the inner-most circle or square appears.

By animating the center you can slider the shapes over the warped surface creating a very cool look.

Phase Shift (H or V)This is a very useful control. Phase Shift enables you to animate the flow of the lines across the warped surface without having to change the center point or the line spacing or the shape of the warp.

For instance say you have set up a really cool warp shape. You want the lines to move and remain interesting but when you do things like rotate the shape it doesn’t look as cool.

So to overcome this problem you can animate the Phase Shift. This will make the lines flow over the warped surface without you having to rotate the surface, or in any other way change the look of the warp.

The Line Center will move with the warp.The Line Center will move with the warp.

Zaxwerks 3d Warps - User Guide ��

Line RotationThis control rotates the lines as they appear on the warped sur-face. It does not rotate the warped object itself.

Warp ControlsThis is the section where you get to do all the fun stuff! The 3D Warp plug-ins let you apply up to three warps to the same plane. Each warp has its own set of controls. By stacking warps you can achieve some amazing results, such as pond ripples that flow across the surface of a sphere.

By stacking warps and then animating them individually you can achieve the effects of one warp changing into another warp, warps sliding on and off the plane, or warps adding to each other to create effects that could not be done individually.

It’s important to know that the order of the warps can change the effect. For instance a bend followed by a twist looks differently than a twist followed by a bend.

Warp StyleThis menu lets you choose the main style of the warp. There are lots of different styles and you will be well rewarded by the time you spend to sit down and experiment with each one.

The section following this one explains in detail how the controls affect each different style.

Warp Axis (X, Y or Z)This control sets the main axis along which a warp happens. For instance if you have Twist going along the X axis you will get the same type of effect as if you held a towel out in front of you and gave it a twist.

If you changed the axis to Y, it would be like holding the towel vertically and then twisting it.

Warp � - Bend from CenterWarp � - Twist from Center

Warp � - Twist from CenterWarp � - Bend from Center

Warp � - Bend from CenterWarp � - Twist from Center

Warp � - Twist from CenterWarp � - Bend from Center

Twist from Center, X Axis Twist from Center, Y AxisTwist from Center, X Axis Twist from Center, Y Axis


Warp AmountThe Warp Amount control sets how strongly the effect warps the plane. The units change based on which warp style is being used. Sometimes they are a percentage, sometimes they are in degrees. One thing is for certain, zero means no effect. So to animate a warp you can start with this setting at zero and then slowly increase it. This will make the warp appear to take over the plane twisting and turning it into your special ultra-warp.

Warp Limits The limits set the area within which the warp occurs. If the limits are larger than the plane then the warp is applied to the whole plane. If the limits are smaller than the plane then the warp is ap-plied only to the part of the plane that is inside of the limits.

The limit amount is a single value which is a distance along the warp axis, centered on the warp’s center point. The distance is measured in AE units, so a plane that is 300 needs a limit set to 300 in order for the warp to cover the whole plane.

Limit SmoothingWhen the limits are set to be smaller than the plane, some of the warps will cause hard edges where the warp stops and the unwarped plane starts. Limit Smoothing smoothes out the hard edges.

The warp styles which will show hard edges are the Twist, Bulge, Hump, Flatten, Taper, Linear Wave and Radial Wave.

Warp Smoothing can also change the shape of some warps.

For instance smoothing the taper, bulge and hump warps will give them a totally different look.

Smoothing the Radial Wave when the Ripple option is turned on reduces the height of the leading edge of the ripples. If animated this will make the ripples appear to be fading out as they expand.

Wave LengthThe Wave Length parameter is only used for Linear and Radial Waves. It controls the distance between waves, from crest to crest. In creasing is spreads the waves out, and decreasing it makes the waves closer together.

Bend from Center, X AxisAmount = �5

Bend from Center, X AxisAmount = 75

Bend from Center, X AxisAmount = �5

Bend from Center, X AxisAmount = 75

Bulge WarpLimit Smoothing = �0

Bulge WarpLimit Smoothing = 74

Bulge WarpLimit Smoothing = �0

Bulge WarpLimit Smoothing = 74

Linear WavesWave Length = �00





Wave PropagationThis parameter is used to animate the motion of Linear and Ra-dial Waves.

When used along with the Ripple Controls (found in the Options window) the wave can be made to appear from nothing and dis-appear as the force of the wave passes.

The Ripple ControlsThe Ripple Controls are used to make a wave appear more real-istic. They are not found in the Effect Controls Window, they are located in the Options window. Click the Options button to open the Options window to adjust this effect.

When the Ripple Controls are not used the waves, both Linear and Radial, appear over the whole plane. Or rather they appear within the area set by the Limits. When the Ripple Controls are turned on, only a certain number of waves are created and the Wave Propagation control is used to make them appear and flow over the surface of the plane.

There are two Ripple Controls: Number Of Waves, and Number Of Fade Waves.Number Of Waves sets the… you guessed it… the number of crests created.

Number Of Fade Waves sets the number of crests that will be smaller than the full wave height. For instance if there are five waves created and Fade Waves is set to three, two of the five waves will appear at full height and three of the waves will be smaller. Fade Waves appear on the trailing side of the waves, and make it look like the force of the wave is dying out.

Sometimes you don’t want a full height wave at the leading side of the waves either. To lower the leading edge you use the Limit Smoothing control.

When you first turn on the Use Ripple Controls you will notice that the waves disappear. To see them you need to animate the Wave Propagation. As you increase the Wave Propagation you will see the ripples appear from one side of the Limits and move across the plane toward the other side of the Limit.

In the case of the Radial Wave the ripples wil appear from the center of the warp and move outward to the edges of the Limits.

Warp Center X, Y & ZSometimes you don’t want the center of the warp to be the center of the plane. For instance setting up a bend and then animating the center from below the plane to the top of the plane will make the plane appear to roll up.

The Warp Center values set the center of the warp. Adjusting these controls will move the center of the bend or fold or the center of the radial waves.


Warp DirectionThis rotates the warp *around* the main axis. If the axis was a broom stick this value would rotate the warp around the broomstick.

This control can be used to make a bend point in a different direc-tion, and to turn a page curl from a fixed size into a spiral.

Warp RotationThis rotates the main axis. If there was a nail tacking the main axis to the plane though its center point, this value would be the rotation around that nail.

Warp Rotation is like a variable way of setting the axis direction. For instance if you started with a Warp Axis on X and set Warp Rotation to 90 you would get the same effect as if you set the Warp Axis to Y.

Warp Rotation enables you to make things look much more interest-ing. For instance if you rotate a bend you can do a page curl that starts from a corner rather than straight from one of the sides.

Experiment with Warp Rotation and you will find many happy ac-cidents.

Global vs. Local WarpsThere is a setting inside the Options window which lets you apply warp Globally or Locally. Local warping is the easiest to understand so it is the default but when you start applying multiple warps to the same plane, you need Global warping otherwise you won’t get the desired effect.

Local warping applies the warp to the original, flat, geometry of the plane. If you apply a second warp, that warp uses the original plane to figure out where it should apply its effect.

Global warping applies the warp to the 3D object based on its cur-rent location in the global space of the plug-in. It applies the first warp first, followed by the second and then third. The second warp picks up where the first warp left off. This means you may have to move the Warp Centers for the second and third warps to account for the first warp. It seems like extra work but the effects are differ-ent.

A good rule of thumb is to leave the plug-in set to Local mode, and when you start using multiple warps and they just don’t seem to be doing what you want, try switching to Global mode and that will probably fix it.

Bend one SideAmount 84, Direction 0

Bend one SideAmount 84, Direction ��4

Bend one SideAmount 84, Direction 0

Bend one SideAmount 84, Direction ��4

Fold from CenterRotation = 0





Warp Style DetailsThis section explains how each of a warp’s controls affects that warp.

Bend From CenterStarts at the center of the plane and bends both ends equally. Ac-tually you can change the center of the plane’s location with the Warp Center controls, so the important thing to know is that both sides of the plane will bend with this warp style while only one side will bend with the Bend One Side style.

• Warp Amount – Sets how tight the plane is bent. The higher the value the smaller the radius of the bend.

• Warp Limits – Sets the start and stop points of the bend. The part of the plane outside the limits will be straight and the part within the limits will be curved.

• Warp Center – Sets the center of the bend

• Warp Axis – Sets the main axis of the bend. Use the Warp Direction control to fine tune the direction of the axis. Example: A person standing and bending at the waist would have a bend axis of X. Bending a piece of paper around a bottle would have a bend axis of Y.

• Warp Direction - Rotates the bend around the main axis. If the axis was a broomstick, this value would rotate the axis around the broomstick. Used to make the bend point in any direction. Also used to turn a perfectly round bend into a spiral.

• Warp Rotation - This control rotates the main warp axis al-lowing odd angled bends. If the main axis were a broomstick and you put a nail through the center of the broomstick, this control would spin the broomstick enabling you to bend along diagonals.

Bend One SideBend One Side is the warp style used to make page curls.

The controls for this warp style are the same as the Bend From Center style. The only difference is that only one side of the plane will bend. This is useful for doing page curls where the paper needs to remain flat until it is rolled up.

When doing page curls it is also good to change both the Warp Rotation and Warp Direction. Changing the Warp Rotation makes the curl start from a corner rather than flat across the bottom or side. Changing the Warp Direction makes the paper curl up in a spiral rather than creating a perfect cylinder.

You may find that, depending on the case you’re working on, the side that is staying still is the wrong side. If this happens, all you have to do is set Warp Rotation to 180 degrees and this will flip which end is the one that stays still. For instance if the right side is staying still, setting Warp Rotation to 180 will make the left side stay still.


Fold From CenterThe Fold styles are basically a super small bend. The position of the fold is controlled by the Warp Center. This effect starts from the axis point and folds both ends equally toward each other.

Direction and Limits don’t do anything in this warp style.

The Warp Amount goes from 0 for no folding to 100 being com-pletely folded over on itself. Negative values fold the plane back-wards.

Rotation can be use to fold across diagonal lines.

Fold One SideThis warp style is exactly like the Fold From Center style except that one side is not affected. This is useful for the times when you have more than one warp applied to a single plane and you don’t want the Fold to affect the other warps.


Twist From CenterTwisting is similar to wringing out a towel. Twist From Center keeps the center still and twists both end in opposite directions. • Warp Axis lets you set the main axis to horizontal, vertical or back in Z. Using the Z axis on a flat plane doesn’t do anything but once you’ve warped the plane using some other warp, a Z twist can be applied as a second warp for cool results. • Warp Amount sets how much twist is applied. This is a percentage and extends from one limit to the next. For instance a setting of 100 will do one full twist but if the limits are set to extend far beyond the plane you’ll only see part of the full effect. • The Warp Limits enable you to restrict the twist to a small section of the plane. Twisting a small section can cause the plane to stretch quit a lot so be sure you set the Geometric Detail high enough to keep it smooth. • Limit Smoothing blends the edge between the non-warped and the warped part of the plane. The range is from 0 to 100. Without this smoothing the warp at the edge is hard and can get over stretched. • Warp Center sets the center of the twist. By animating the center you can make the plane start flat and then twist up, similar to how animating the center of a bend creates a page curl effect. The twist slides across the page rather than having the whole plane sit and twist in place. • Warp Rotation angles the main twist axis enabling you to do diagonal twists.


Twist One SideThe Twist From Center warp style moves both sides of the warped object. Twist One Side leaves one side still and only move the other. This is useful for the times when twist is a sec-ond warp and you don’t want to move the first warp.

All the controls are the same as Twist From Center.


BulgePuffs objects out, away from the axis. Negative values pulls them in. The bulge gets bigger at the center and has no effect at the lim-its. When Bulge is the first warp it is being applied to a 2D plane so it’s a 2D effect. It is much more interesting to apply bulge as a second or third warp where it becomes a 3D effect. • Warp Axis sets the direction of the bulge. As noted above, the Z axis doesn’t affect the plane until the plane has been made 3D by a previous warp, such as a bend or spherify warp. • Warp Amount sets the size of the bulge. Positive values puffs objects away from the warp center. Negative values pulls objects in toward the warp center. • The Warp Limits enable you to restrict the bulge to a small section of the plane. By setting the limits very large you can make the warp look like a graceful arc. • Limit Smoothing is used to blend the part of the plane that is not warped into the warped area at the edge of the limits. The Smoothing control will change the shape of the warp at higher values. Low values simply smoothes out the transition, but higher values will pinch the bulge changing it from an arc, to a bell curve, to a point. • Warp Center controls where the bulge will appear. By ani-mating the center you can get the bulge to slide on to the object and move around on it. • Warp Direction rotates the main axis around itself. • Warp Rotation angles the main bulge axis enabling you to do diagonal bulges.

With the Twist One Side warp, one side of the surface stays still while the other side is twisted.

With the Twist One Side warp, one side of the surface stays still while the other side is twisted.

Bulge applied after a bend.Bulge applied after a bend.


HumpThe Hump warp style is designed to make hills or depressions in a surface.

At first glance Hump appears to be similar to Bulge but instead of everything moving away from or in toward the center, both sides of the limits are pushed in the same direction. However, Hump can do something that Bulge cannot. It will push a 2D plane into three dimensions. • Warp Axis sets the main direction of the hump. X and Y push the plane horizontally or vertically. A Z axis will make humps in the flat surface. • Warp Amount sets the size of the hump. Positive values cre-ate a hill pushing up out of a surface, and negative values create a hole extending down into a surface. • Warp Limits set the size of the hump. If you extend the lim-its far off the edges of the plane you will only see part of the full hump. If you make the limits small you can make tiny dents and bumps in a surface. • Warp Smoothing is used to blend the hump into the non-warped area at the edge of the limits. If Smoothing is set to zero the edge of the hump is hard and can stretch the image badly. By increasing the smoothing the stretching is removed. High smoothing values will pinch the hump changing it from an arc, to a 3D bell curve, to a point. • Warp Center sets the position of the hump on the surface. • Warp Direction rotates the warp axis around on itself. • Warp Rotation angles the main hump axis enabling you to do leaning humps, which look like a hill that’s been stepped on by a giant.

TaperOne end of the limited area stays the same the other end is ex-panded or contracted. Used to do things like modify other warps, like making a diminishing linear wave or making a cylinder into a funnel.

Taper contracts or expands both of the warped axes at the same time. • Warp Amount sets the size of the taper. Positive values expand and negative values contract. • Warp Limits set the area that is affected by the warp. • Limit Smoothing is used to blend the tapered area into the area that is not warped. The Smoothing control will change the shape of the warp at higher values. Low values simply smoothes out the transition, but higher values will pinch the taper changing it from an arc, to a slight S curve, to a hard S curve. • Warp Center set the position of the taper axis. An off-center taper axis will give you non-symmetrical tapers and downspout shapes. • Warp Direction rotates the main axis around itself. • Warp Rotation angles the main axis enabling you to do diagonal tapers, and skew effects.

Use Hump with a negative Warp Amount, coupled with a Limit Smoothing of �00 to make a 3D vortex.Use Hump with a negative Warp Amount, coupled with a Limit Smoothing of �00 to make a 3D vortex.

Adding a twist will make the lines appear to swirl down into the vortex.

Adding a twist will make the lines appear to swirl down into the vortex.

Hump in Z creates domes.Hump in Z creates domes.


FlattenThis is the same as the taper warp but it only affects one of the warped axes instead of two. Use the Warp Rotation control to change which axes is getting warped.

Linear WaveThe Linear Wave warp applies a sine wave deformation to the surface. When using this warp by itself waves will cover the entire plane within the area set by the limits. When used with the Ripple controls found in the Options window. The number of waves can be set and little wave “pulses” can be sent out across the surface of the 3D object. -• The Warp Axis sets the direction of the wave crests. This is the direction that the warp will occur in as you change the height. The Z axis pushes a 2D plane out into three dimensions. • Warp Amount sets the height of the wave. When using a large height value you may need to increase the Geometric Detail to keep the warp smooth. • Warp Limits restrict the waves to a small portion of the plane. The area outside of these limits is not warped by the wave. • Limit Smoothing is used to blend the wave into the non-warped area at the edge of the limits. When smoothing is turned off you can get sharp shifts in position causing stretching and bad shading. As you increase the smoothing the sharp edges are removed. Smoothing also makes the wave look like it is fading out, so you can use it to craft more interesting warps. • Wave Length sets the distance from wave crest to wave crest. • Wave Propagation enables you to put the waves in motion. As this value animates the wave will flow along the surface. This is especially cool if you apply the wave first and then bend or twist the resulting shape. The Wave Propagation will then flow the waves over the bent or twisted surface. • Warp Center sets the center point where the waves begin. • Warp Direction is not used for this warp. • Warp Rotation rotates the main warp axis allowing odd angled waves.

A Liner Wave in the Z axis.A Liner Wave in the Z axis.

Limit Smoothing is used to fade the waves as they reach the limits.



Radial WaveThe Radial Wave warp creates concentric water type ripples. When using this warp by itself waves will cover the entire plane within the area set by the limits. When used with the Ripple controls found in the Options window. The number of waves can be set and little wave “pulses” can be sent out across the surface of the 3D object. • The Warp Axis sets the direction of the wave crests. This is the direction that the warp will occur in as you change the height. The Z axis pushes a 2D plane out into three dimensions. • Warp Amount sets the height of the wave. When using a large height value you may need to increase the Geometric Detail to keep the warp smooth. • Warp Limits restrict the waves to a small portion of the plane. The area outside of these limits is not warped by the wave. • Limit Smoothing is used to blend the wave into the non-warped area at the edge of the limits. When smoothing is turned off you can get sharp shifts in position causing stretching and bad shading. As you increase the smoothing the sharp edges are removed. Smoothing also makes the wave look like it is fading out, so you can use it to craft interesting warps where the ripples spread out and then fade at a certain distance. The distance is set by the Limits the amount of fade is set by the Limit Smoothing. • Wave Length sets the distance from wave crest to wave crest. • Wave Propagation enables you to put the waves in mo-tion. As this value animates the wave will flow along the surface, emanating from the center point. This is especially cool if you apply the wave first and then bend or twist the resulting shape. The Wave Propagation will then flow the waves over the bent or twisted surface. • Warp Center sets the center of the ripples, the position where the rings of ripple start from. • Warp Direction is not used for this warp. • Warp Rotation causes the waves to tilt in an odd way.

SpherifyThe Spherify warp will take any plane and wrap it up into a sphere. Once a sphere, other warps can be applied to create a wild array of interesting effects. Oozy spheres, wiggly spheres, fantastical shapes that turn into spheres. Many things are pos-sible. • Warp Axis sets the direction of the poles. The Y setting will put the poles top and bottom as you’d expect, but the other op-tions are available to create unique effects. • Warp Amount sets the transition amount. Zero mean the plane is untouched. 100 will give you a full sphere. Negative values also work. • Warp Limits set the size of the sphere. The Limit parameter works a little differently with this warp than with others. This warp will always use the entire plane to create a sphere. You can’t limit the warp to only part of a plane. So for this warp the Limit parameter is used to set the size of the final sphere. At the default value of 1000, the resulting sphere is huge. By setting a much smaller value the sphere can be easily seen in the comp window.

A Radial Wave on the Z axis.A Radial Wave on the Z axis.




The perfect proportion for a map to wrap onto a sphere is 2 wide to 1 high. If your layer is not that proportion, the Spherify warp will stretch it to make it work. • Warp Center needs to be set to 0, 0, 0 in order to get a standard type of sphere wrap. If the warp center is offset it will change how the wrap works in some interesting ways. • Warp Direction and Rotation altering these two controls will do some weird and wonderful things. The sphere turns itself inside out, into a doughnut and other crazy shapes.

Spherify (800 x 600)The Spherify 800 x 600 and Spherify Custom warp styles enable you to slice off parts of the sphere. The regular version, just called Spherify, will take any size of plane and wrap it up into a perfect sphere. But sometimes you want to be able to see down into the sphere, or perhaps you don’t want a whole sphere but a ring instead?

What 800 x 600 means is that if the edges in the Shape Controls (Grid Warp only) or the size of the Color Map (Layer Warp only) is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high, then a Warp Amount of 100 will give you a complete sphere.

With that as the base you can then animate the Shape Controls to remove parts of the sphere. For instance lowering the Top Edge from 400 to 200 will remove the top part of the sphere, creating a bowl effect. Lowering the Bottom Edge from 400 to 200 will remove the bottom of the sphere leaving a ring.

Spherify (Custom)The Spherify Custom style does the same thing as Spherify 800 x 600, except you get to set what you want the base size to be. Spherify Custom has two settings inside the Options window. These settings let you set the width and height to anything you want. This is useful for the times when you have images that are not 800 x 600.

The workflow for these images would be like this:• Find out the dimensions of your image.• Set the Spherify Custom controls to match the size of your im-age.• Set the Shape Controls to match the size of your image. (Each control will need to be set to half the size.)• Set the Warp Amount to 100.• Adjust the Warp Limits to set the size of the final sphere.• Now you can animate the Shape Controls to wipe the sphere on, or only show part of it.

Changing the Direction and Rotation of the Spherify warp can create odd shapes.

Changing the Direction and Rotation of the Spherify warp can create odd shapes.

Left and Right Edges at �0 Left and Right Edges at �50

Left and Right Edges at �75 Left and Right Edges at 350

Animate the size of the edges to wipe on the sphere,

Left and Right Edges at �0 Left and Right Edges at �50

Left and Right Edges at �75 Left and Right Edges at 350

Animate the size of the edges to wipe on the sphere,

3d warps manual

Documents

case youre working

zaxwerks 3d warps

zaxwerks layer tools

warp amount sets

wave length sets

3d grid warp

wave propagation enables

warp rotation angles