Animating layers

Animating the opacity and blending of 

layers

 is the way in Ultra Fractal to animate blends between 

different fractals, gradients, color combinations, and so on.

To animate layer blending, first set 

Animate mode

 to on and move the time slider to the 

frame where you want to create new 

animation keys

, as described in 

Creating animations

.

Now simply drag the opacity slider to a new value, or set a new merge mode.

As with any parameter, a blue dot next to the Merge Mode input box or the opacity slider means 

that it is animated. It turns into a yellow marker if there is an animation key at the current frame. 

In this case, editing the parameter while 

Animate mode

 is on will change the value of the key at the 

current frame instead of inserting a new key.

Notes

G     

If you animate the 

merge mode

, it will not be interpolated between animation keys, which 

gives sudden changes. For smooth transitions, create two identical layers, one with the first 

merge mode, and one with the second, and animate the opacity of both layers to create a 

smooth transition between the two.

G     

You cannot animate the visibility or the insertion or deletion of a layer. Instead, animate the 

opacity to 0% so the layer appears to be hidden.

G     

You also cannot animate a layer from or to a 

mask layer

. Instead, animate the 

opacity part

of the gradient of the mask layer to be 100% opaque (white) so the mask has no effect.

Next: 

Time settings

See Also

Tutorial: Working with animations

Animating parameters

Layers

Animation

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