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415-462-1982

Instructions:

1. Create a new comp. Mine is 320x240, 15 fps, 7 seconds long, the background color black.
2. Add a new solid (Layer > New > Solid). I called my solid "Text" and made it 800x600 and white. I called it "Make Brighter".
   
3. Select the "Text" layer and apply the basic text filter. Effect > Text > Basic Text. Type some text right in the middle of your comp - any color or any size you like. I typed "AE FreeMart" in purple at 40 pt.
4. Apply Shine to the layer. Effect > Trapcode > Shine. I used the following settings.
   Set keyframe at Frame 1: Source Point 0,300
   Ray Length: 4.0
   Boost Light: 0
   Colorize: used Electric preset
   Transfer Mode: Screen
   
5. I also set a keyframe Set Key Frame at the last frame for Source Point: 800,300 and added an "ease in" to the keyframe. If you don't know how to ease in, check the manual. Remember that our layer is set to 800 by 600, so that setting the first source point keyframe puts the source point at the very left edge of our layer, right in the middle vertically. The last frame's source point is set to the right edge. Knowing this will help you understand the expression settings to come.
   
6. We will add the expression to the "Boost Light" parameter of Shine. Hold down the option key and click the Boost light stopwatch, or highlight the Boost Light parameter and go to Animation > Add Expression.
7. In the switches/modes section of the timeline, three buttons appear: a graph, a pickwhip (spiral icon) and an arrow, which contains mathematical commands. Drag the pickwhip in the switches/modes section and drag it to the Source Point parameter of Shine. Text will appear that will read: effect("Shine").param(19)
8. Change the text to read the following: (effect("Shine").param("Source Point")[0]/100*12.5) With these settings, the first frame in light boost is set to 0, while the last is set to 100. I recommend changing the 100 and the 12.5 out with different numbers so that you can see how the values affect the amount of light. It basically gets brighter as the light moves from left to right.
9. So, let's make it the light dim as it moves from left to right, shall we? To make things easier, I duplicated my comp and renamed the copy "Make Dimmer".
10. Open "Make Dimmer" and select the "Text" layer". If you hit "ee" on your keyboard, your expression will appear. To make the light dim, we'll need to put in a negative number, but if you replace the 100 or 12.5 with a negative, you won't get any light. Instead, we will subtract the entire expression from 100. 100-(effect("Shine").param("Source Point")[0]/100*12.5) Now, the first frame has the light boost set to 100, but the end is still to bright. To fix that, change your numbers until the final frame reaches 0. This is the magical combination. 100-(effect("Shine").param("Source Point")[0]/120*50)
    

I hope this gives you an understanding of how expressions work. Shine features all the features of other light ray plug-ins, plus a handy shimmer parameter which easily adds subtle motion to your light beams when animated. Light rays can be colored by the source image, or they may consist of a multi-colored gradient. Nice controls for masks and transfer modes are also included. But Shine's speed is its best feature. Even in 16-bit color mode, it is many times faster than any competing plug-in.