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Scale | The scale of dot pattern as a whole. Range: 0.01 to 100; Default: 1 |
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Phase | The phase of each dot within its movement cycle. Dots repeat their cycle at whole number intervals, which can be useful for looping animations. Range: -99 to 99; Default: 0 |
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Radius | The size of each individual dot. Generally it is best to use values between 0 and 1, and values greater than 1 can result in clipping (however, sometimes clipping may be desired for stylistic reasons) Range: 0 to 2; Default: 0.2 |
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Feather | Softens the edges of the individual dots. Range: 0 to 1; Default: 0.1 |
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Color 1 | Randomly blended with Color 2 to determine the color of each dot. To make all the dots the same color, use the same color for Color 1 and Color 2. Default: |
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Color 2 | Randomly blended with Color 1 to determine the color of each dot. Default: |
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Density | The density of the dot pattern. With a density of 11, there is one dot per cell in the pattern (see below). For densities below 11, some are rendered without any dots, and with densities over 11, multiple dots are rendered per cell. Range: 1 to 13; Default: 12 |
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Offset | Relative offset of the dot pattern from the layer. Default: 0, 0 |
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Fill | Controls how much of the original layer fill is visible in the layer. At 100%, the dots are simply overlaid on top of the layer. At 0% the layer fill is removed entirely, and merely used as a mask for the dot pattern. Range: 0% to 100%; Default: 100% |
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Alpha | Controls the opacity of the dot pattern from transparent (0%) to opaque (100%) Range: 0% to 100%; Default: 100% |
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Blending Mode | Controls how the dots are blended with the layer fill.
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Seed | This value is used to generate the random pattern of dots. Range: 0 to 5; Default: 0 |
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Slack | Controls how far away from the center of each cell the dot can move. Set this to 0% to place each dot in the middle of its cell, essentially removing any random placement from the dot pattern (colors and density are still randomized, however. Range: 0% to 100%; Default: 100% |
Usage
Apply Dots to any layer, then set Color 1, Color 2, Alpha and Blending Mode to the color and look that you want. Then adjust Scale, Radius and Density as desired. Consider using keyframe animation with Phase or Offset.
Use Cases
- Snow Flurries: Configure the Dots effect for small, sparse white dots, then animate Offset downwards and slightly to one side. To simulate light snow being blown back up on the wind, you can also animate Phase.
- Cherry Blossoms: For cherry blossoms blowing in the wind configure Dots for small, sparse dots, configure Color 1 and Color 2 for light and medium shades of pink, and using keyframe animation with Phase.
- Bokeh: This effect can be used with Screen blending mode to simulate bokeh in animations set Scale and Radius higher, Density lower, and turn up Feather.
- Insects: This effect can be used to simulate fireflies (using Screen for Blending Mode and increase Feather) or ants (make smaller dots with no feathering). In both cases, animate Phase.