The Ripple effect creates the appearance of ripples in a specified layer, moving away from a center point in concentric circles. The effect is similar to dropping a stone in a pond. You can also specify that ripples move toward the center point.

Animate ripples at a constant speed using the Wave Speed control. This control doesn’t require keyframes for animation. Animate ripples at varying speeds by creating keyframes for the Ripple Phase control.

This effect works with 8-bpc and 16-bpc color.

Radius

Controls the distance the ripples travel from the center point. The Radius value is a percentage of the image size. If the center of the ripple is the center of the layer and the radius is set to 100, the ripples travel to the edge of the image. A value of 0 produces no ripples. Like ripples in water, ripples in the layer become smaller as they travel farther from the center.

To create a single-wave ripple, set Radius to 100, Wave Width between 90 and 100, and Wave Height as desired.

Center Of Ripple

Specifies the center of the effect.

Type Of Conversion

Specifies how the ripples are created. Asymmetric produces more realistic-looking ripples; asymmetric ripples include lateral motion and produce more distortion. Symmetric produces motion that travels only outward from the center point; symmetric ripples produce less distortion.

Wave Speed

Sets the speed at which the ripples travel outward from the center point. When you specify a wave speed, the ripples are automatically animated at a constant speed (without keyframes) across the time range. A negative value makes the ripples move toward the center, and a value of 0 produces no movement. To vary wave speed over time, set this control to 0, and then create a keyframe for the Ripple Phase property of the layer.

Wave Width

Specifies the distance, in pixels, between wave peaks. Higher values produce long, undulating ripples, and low values produce many small ripples.

Wave Height

Specifies the height of the ripple wave. Taller waves produce greater distortion.

Ripple Phase

Specifies the point along the waveform at which a wave cycle begins. The default value of 0° starts the wave at the midpoint of its downward slope; 90° starts it at the lowest point in the trough; 180° starts it at the midpoint of the upward slope, and so on.