Oscillate Shape
The Oscillate Shape behavior animates a shape by cycling its control points between two
values. You can customize how wide apart the high and low values are, as well as the
number of oscillations per minute. This behavior is useful for creating fluid shape
movements (think shape yoga) that would be time-consuming to keyframe.
When the Oscillate Shape behavior is applied to a shape, all control points of the shape
are affected by default. When the behavior is selected in the Layers list, affected control
points are highlighted in white on the blue shape behavior spline. To disable control
points, click the control points. A disabled point appears blue.
Parameters in the Inspector
Wave Shape:
A pop-up menu that lets you select the shape of the oscillation’s wave. The
options are Sine (default), Square, Sawtooth, and Triangle. For more information on wave
shapes, see
Oscillate
.
Phase:
A slider that lets you adjust the point of the specified oscillation where the behavior
starts. This parameter allows you to put multiple shapes with identical Oscillate behaviors
out of phase with one another so they don’t all look the same.
Amplitude:
A slider that lets you adjust the maximum values that the control points
oscillate between. The control point swings between the amplitude value, and the negative
of the amplitude value. Higher values result in more extreme swings from the beginning
to the ending of each oscillation.
Speed:
A slider that lets you adjust the speed at which the oscillation occurs, in oscillations
per minute. Higher values result in faster oscillations.
1176
Chapter 20
Using Shapes, Masks, and Paint Strokes
Alternate Phase:
When this checkbox is selected, the motion of each control point is
offset by a phase of 180 degrees from its neighboring control point.
Oscillate Around:
This pop-up menu allows you to define whether the oscillation for
each vertex is generated from a point or a perpendicular line.
• Point Origin: Each vertex’s oscillation is generated from a point. You can change the
location of the point using the onscreen controls (dragging the small blue circle at the
center of the shape) or using the X and Y Origin parameters in the Inspector.
• Line: Each vertex’s oscillation is generated from a line. You can change the location of
the line using the onscreen controls (dragging the ends of the blue dotted line) or
using the using the Start and End coordinates in the Inspector.
HUD Controls
The Oscillate Shape HUD contains the Wave Shape, Phase, Amplitude, Speed, and Alternate
Phase parameters.