The Cell Pattern effect generates cellular patterns based on cellular noise. Use it to create static or moving background textures and patterns. The patterns can be used in turn as textured mattes, as transition maps, or as a source for displacement maps.

This effect works with 8-bpc color.

Original image (left); the Cell Pattern effect creates a displacement map (center), which is used as a displacement map for the Displacement Map effect (right).

Cell Pattern

The cell pattern to use. HQ denotes high-quality patterns that render with more definition than their unmarked counterparts. Mixed Crystals is available only as a high-quality option.

Note: The Static Plates option is identical in appearance to the Plates option. However, when evolving, the static plates retain a uniform lightness value, whereas the plates shift the lightness of the cell pattern.

Invert

Inverts the cell pattern. Black areas become white, and white areas become black.

Contrast/Sharpness

Specifies the contrast of the cell pattern when you use the Bubbles, Crystals, Pillow, Mixed Crystals, or Tubular cell pattern. The control specifies sharpness for any of the Plate or Crystallize options.

Note: The contrast is affected by the option chosen from the Overflow menu.

Overflow

How the effect remaps values that fall outside the grayscale range of 0-255. Overflow isn’t available if sharpness-based cell patterns are chosen.

Clip

Values above 255 are mapped to 255. Values below 0 are mapped to 0. Contrast amount controls how much of the image falls outside the range 0-255; higher contrast amounts result in a mostly black or white image, with less gray. Therefore, less subtle cellular detail appears at higher contrast settings.

Soft Clamp

Remaps grayscale values to fall inside the 0–255 range. Contrast appears reduced; cells are mostly gray with very few areas of pure black or white.

Wrap Back

Values above 255 or below 0 are reflected back into the 0-255 range. For example, a value of 258 (255+3) is reflected to 252 (255-3), and a value of ‑3 is reflected to 3. With this setting, Contrast values above 100 increase complexity and detail.

Disperse

How randomly the pattern is drawn. Lower values cause more uniform or gridlike cell patterns.

Note: If you set the Disperse value above 1.0, set the layer to Best quality to avoid artifacts.

Size

The size of the cells. The default size is 60.

Offset

Determines the portion of the fractal shape used to create the pattern.

Tiling Options

Choose Enable Tiling to create a pattern built of repeating tiles. Cells Horizontal and Cells Vertical determine how many cells wide and how many cells high each tile is.

Evolution

Animating this setting results in changes of the pattern over time.

Note: Although the Evolution value is set in units called revolutions, it’s important to realize that these revolutions are progressive. The Evolution state continues to progress infinitely at each new value. Use the Cycle Evolution option to return the Evolution setting to its original state at each revolution.

Evolution Options

Evolution Options provide controls that render the effect for one short cycle and then loop it for the duration of your clip. Use these controls to prerender cell pattern elements into loops, and thus speed up rendering time.

Cycle Evolution

Creates a loop that forces the Evolution state to return to its starting point.

Cycle

The number of revolutions of the Evolution setting that the cell pattern cycles through before it repeats. The timing of the Evolution cycles is determined by the amount of time between Evolution keyframes.

Note: The Cycle control affects only the state of the cell pattern, not geometrics or other controls, so you can get different results with different Size or Offset settings.

Random Seed

Specifies a value from which to generate the cell pattern. Animating this property results in flashing from one cell pattern to another within the same cell pattern type. For smooth transition of the cell pattern, use the Evolution control.

Note: Create new cell pattern animations by reusing previously created Evolution cycles and changing only the Random Seed value. Using a new Random Seed value alters the cell pattern without disturbing the Evolution animation.