Random
Smooth seeded noise on one property — organic wander, handheld, drift.
Random is smooth noise, not jitter. The value wanders continuously, so the layer drifts rather than teleporting. Detail adds finer noise on top of the slow drift.
It is the single-property version of the Wiggle modifier. Use Random when you want one axis to wander and everything else to stay put.
When to reach for it#
- Drift on one axis while the other is keyframed.
- Per-clone variation on an instanced layer — each clone gets its own wander automatically.
- Flicker and instability, at high frequency with low amount.
How it works#
Value noise, interpolated smoothly between integer steps, summed across octaves. Each octave doubles the frequency and halves the amplitude, so Detail 3 gives you a slow drift with two levels of finer movement on top.
On an instanced layer, the clone index is folded into the seed. That means every clone gets independent noise without you doing anything — which is what makes a crowd of instanced objects look alive.
Parameters#
How fast the noise evolves, in hertz. 0.3 is a lazy drift. 2 is nervous. 6 is a flicker.
Peak displacement in the target property's units. The noise rarely hits the peak — it is smooth, so the typical excursion is well under this.
Layers of noise. 1 is a pure smooth drift. 3 adds two levels of finer chatter. Above 4 the extra detail is usually sub-pixel.
Which noise you get. Change it when two layers are drifting in sympathy.
One property per driver. Two Randoms with different seeds on X and Y give a genuine wander; the same seed on both gives a diagonal, which looks wrong.
Recipes#
A crowd that is alive
- Add an Instancer with 30 or more clones.
- Add Random on Position Y, Frequency 0.6, Amount 14, Detail 2.
- Add a second Random on Rotation, Frequency 0.4, Amount 5, with a different Seed.
You do not need to vary anything per clone by hand. The clone index already varies the seed.
Things that catch people out#
Identical noise on both axes means the layer only ever moves along one line. Change the seed on one of them.
See also#
Something here wrong or missing? Tell us in the community.