Seeing Sound

After Effects offers great effects for creating visual elements from your soundtrack. Audio Spectrum displays the magnitude of frequencies within a user -specified range. Audio Waveform, on the other hand, displays the waveform amplitude.

1. Create a new solid to hold the effect, or apply it directly to a layer.

2. You must specify which layer to use for audio. Choose the affected layer, or specify a new audio source from the Audio Layer pull-down menu.

3. Adjust the several options to create exciting motion graphic elements. Settings of importance include:

   • Start Point, End Point: Where the effect occurs.

   • Start Frequency, End Frequency. Specifies which area of the music to focus on, and specifies the range in hertz.

   • Maximum Height. Turn it up for a more pronounced effect.

   • Thickness & Softness. You should be in high quality mode to accurately judge how to set these sliders.

   • Hue Interpolation. Introduces variety into colors used.

   • Display Options. Choose how to display frequencies; you can use Analog Lines, or Analog Dots.