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Angle | The direction along which the layer will move back and forth, measured clockwise with 0º representing horizontal motion (right first, then left) and 90º representing vertical motion (down first, then up). To move in the opposite direction first, add 180º. Range: -3600º to 3600º; Default: 45º |
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Frequency | How fast the layer will back and forth, in hertz (cycles per second). At a frequency of 1.0, the layer will move back and forth, returning to its original position after exactly a second. This is calculated cumulatively, so you can use keyframe animation to make the oscillation speed up and slow down naturally. Range: 0 to 16; Default: 2 |
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Magnitude | The furthest distance the layer moves from the original position, in pixels. Range: 0 to 4000; Default: 25 |
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Wave | Controls the type of motion used to oscillate the layer.
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Phase | Adds an offset into the oscillation cycle. This can be used to start the oscillation at a different point in the cycle (rather than at the original position of the layer) or to manually control the progress of the animation (by animating Phase) if Frequency is zero. Range: 0 to 1000; Default: 0 |
Usage
Apply Oscillate to any visual layer, then adjust Frequency for the desired animation speed. After setting Frequency, scroll the timeline so the animation is at one of the extreme oscillation positions, then adjust Magnitude and Angle as desired. By scrolling the timeline to an extreme oscillation position first, you can more easily see the position that will be reached by the magnitude setting, and more easily visualize the angle in the preview while adjusting it.
Motion Blur: This effect is compatible with Motion Blur. Motion created by this effect is recognized by the Motion Blur effect.
3.7 Update
The Oscillate effect was updated significantly in Alight Motion 3.7 to make it more usable.
The direction of the angle was changed to move clockwise, for consistency with other effects, the spinners were improved for finer control, ranges of all properties were increased, and Frequency is now calculated correctly (previously the layer would move at twice the frequency.
If you applied the effect in an earlier version of Alight Motion, you will see the "(Compatibility)" indicator next to the name in the list of effects on a layer. To use the most recent version of the effect, delete the compatibility version from the layer and add the effect again from the effect browser.
Use Cases
- Shake Transition: Use keyframes with Magnitude to ramp up from or down to zero to create a shake transition. This is often combined with keyframe animation of Rotation in Move & Transform, or subtle keyframe animation of the Angle property.
- Swaying Objects: Use for objects that move back and forth repeatedly, like ocean waves, hovering text, and so on.
- Zig-zagging Motion: Animate a layer's location with Move & Transform, then add Oscillate with Wave set to Triangle and Angle set to a direction perpendicular to the location animation.