Afterimage trail

Afterimage trail leaves fading copies of an object along the path it has just travelled. Each copy is a glassy shell, brightest at its edges, that fades from the main colour into the tail colour as it falls behind. It draws wherever the object moves, whatever moves it: an exit such as Blast off, an animation clip, an ongoing motion, or a drag in the studio. When the object stands still, there is no trail.

How it works

The copies are the object's own shape placed at the poses it held a moment ago. A copy that sits on the object draws nothing, so a slow move gives a short, faint trail and a fast swing a long, bright one. Kept on an object, the trail switches on before the object's entrance and stays through its exit, and it combines with every other trail.

Settings

- Length: how many seconds of the path the trail shows. - Amount: how many copies. - Strength: how bright the copies are. - Colour and Tail colour: pale blue fading to violet by default. - Fade: how long the trail takes to switch on and off.

Use it for

Speed in product spins, superhero dashes, dance and sports themes, any move you want the eye to follow. Denser and smoother: Long exposure. Split into colours: Chromatic echo.