Varying the Intensity of a Draw Mode Effect

You can achieve fine control over an effect using the Opacity property in combination with the Pressure field to fine-tune the intensity of the effect on the image. You can also layer various draw modes, or apply one draw mode repeatedly by painting over an image several times.

Using the Opacity with Draw Modes

When used in combination with draw modes, the Opacity determines how much of the draw mode effect is visible, and how much of the original image remains intact. An opacity setting of 100% means that the effect takes 100% precedence over the underlying image. A setting of 75% allows 25% of the original pixel information to remain intact.

The Opacity is keyframeable. This means that you can set an effect's opacity at one level in an early frame, move to a later frame and change the setting so that the effect's strength increases or decreases over the selected duration of frames. For more information on keyframing, see Keyframing.

Using the Pressure field with Draw Modes

Many of the draw modes include a Pressure field to either increase or decrease the strength of the effect being created. The Pressure field is located on the Modes controls. Changing any draw mode's pressure value changes the way in which the currently selected object or drawing tool modifies the image.

The Pressure value is keyframeable so you can modify this variable at different points in your clip to create virtually unlimited animated special effects.

If you are using a pressure-sensitive graphic tablet, the draw modes that include active Pressure sliders respond to the amount of pressure being applied to the tablet. The amount of variation that a change in stylus pressure applies to the image may be modified by adjusting the Pressure field.

Repeated Usage of Draw Modes

Many of the draw modes have an additional effect if used more than once on the same area of an image. To apply a draw mode more than once, you must release the mouse button, and then apply the drawing tool again. This means that using the Freehand tool and moving the cursor over an area twice has no additional effect unless you first release the mouse button and then draw over the area again.

Whether or not repeated usage of a draw mode has any additional effect depends on the nature of the mode itself (for instance, once you create a black area, it cannot get any blacker) and the settings of the Opacity and Pressure sliders. If both are set at 100% the first time you use them, repeated use usually does not have any additional effect.