Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
pixel, depending on the
level of zoom, the
precision of your cursor's
position is increased.
Because our present
example has been
magnified to 400%, the
cursor precision has
been increased by dividing a single pixel into 4
4 increments. If you had
selected only 200% magnification, the pixel division would only be 2
2.
Another way to visualize how this precision increase functions is to imagine a
single pixel subdivided into a grid of subpixel squares. If you set the
magnification to 1600%, the single pixel becomes a cluster of 256 subpixels.
Therefore, when the cursor moves (or scales) any vector, mask point, image
layer or any painting is done at these expanded resolutions, the cursor moves
in much smaller increments relative to the magnified pixels.
After Effects does all its calculations (though unrelated to the magnification you
select) with subpixel precision as it previews and renders your project. This
permits all the layers to transform over time at precise increments, thus
rendering the smooth and crisp motion graphics that
made it famous. You can force After Effects to
disable each layer's subpixel calculation precision by
toggling their Quality switch in the Timeline Window
to Draft (where Best is full precision). Changing this
switch will usually increase Composition Window
preview speed and responsiveness, but the tradeoff
is dramatically diminished image quality. While you
