Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects shows you how to get the most out of After Effects.
Discover the experts' techniques for creating award-winning animation, composites and special effects for TV, film and more-with Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects by Trish and Chris Meyer. Dozens of inspiring examples help you break through to new heights of creativity and proficiency.
This color-packed book starts with the fundamentals of Adobe After Effects 4.1 and progresses step by step. The authors offer real-world explanations of how the program works, and a CD-ROM of example projects showing each concept in action. Hands-on tutorials demonstrate creative techniques, shortcuts, and tricks you can apply to your own art, using both the Standard and Production versions of After Effects.
For users of all levels, topics include:
Mastering complex animation and keyframe assistants
Creating transparency with alpha channels, masks, and keying
Transfer modes, rack mattes, and numerous effects tips and tricks
Building hierarchies of nested compositions
Working with fields, DV, NTSC, PAL, widescreen and film
The companion CD-ROM contains hundreds of movies, stills, objects, and audio clips, plus free plug-ins and more. It also includes the tryout version of Adobe After Effects 4.1 for Mac and Windows.
Trish and Chris Meyer operate Cybermotion, an award-winning motion graphics studio. They have created imagery for NBC, ABC, HBO, Fox, New Line, Paramount, Apple, and Xerox. They also write a monthly colomn onmotion graphics in DV magazine.
'I can't think of anyone more qualified to show you how to get the most out of After Effects than Trish and Chris Meyer.' --Steve Kilisky, Senior Product Manager, After Effects, Adobe Systems Inc.
'A 'must have' for aspiring or established motion graphic designers. Based on years of experience, Trish and Chris provide a wealth of information that integrates After Effect's powerful tools with creative and professional solutions.' --Steve Tiborcz, After Effects Quality Engineering
Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects
The authors' goal in this book is not to just teach how After Effects works and how to access its various functions, but to show how to use it effectively in real-world creative and production environments. This book draws on our seven plus years of experience with After Effects, plus numerous tips from other artists, users, and members of the After Effects team. It focuses on using both the Standard and Production Bundle versions of After Effects 4.1, recommending additional programs and effects where they add significantly to After Effects' functionality.
The Book
The main body of the book consists of 44 chapters (nearly 450 pages) - 80% in full color, with numerous illustrations on virtually every page. It runs through the basic concepts such as:
keyframing and animation
editing and combining layers
masks, mattes, and stencils
composition hierarchies
and precomposing
applying and using effects
working with Illustrator and
Photoshop artwork
the Render Queue, Output Modules, prerendering, and proxies
It then moves on to more advanced subjects, demystifying many portions of the program and overall concepts:
spotting and mixing audio
time remapping
keyframe assistants and Motion Math
motion tracking and stabilization
the Color Difference Keyer
chapters specific to NTSC,
PAL, and widescreen
film issues, including
3:2 pulldown and the
Cineon format
working with z-depth renders
and 3D Channel effects
This information is bookended with a foreword by Harry Marks, the father of modern broadcast graphics, and an afterword by David Simons, one of the original creators of After Effects.
Click here to download a PDF file of the
Table of Contents (PDF 141K).
Click here to download a sample four-page chapter on
Adjustment Layers (PDF 628K).
The CD-ROM
The book also comes with a CD-ROM, which is almost an entire second book in itself! It includes:
After Effects v.4.1 project files that illustrate and demonstrate virtually every concept discussed in the book itself, for you to practice as you read.
12 TechTips (over 100 PDF pages) on subjects ranging from alpha channels to 3D file format issues, Interpretation Rules to luminance and IRE issues, including technical information on the Cineon format.
22 Bonus Tutorials (over 200 PDF pages plus projects and finished movies) demonstrating a wide variety of concepts and tricks, including guest tutorials by JJ Gifford of Funny Garbage and Richard Lainhart of O-Town Media on using Particle Playground and a case study on creating film titles. Click here to download a summary of all the tutorials (PDF 1.1M).
12 free, fully-functional effects from Adobe, Atomic Power, Boris FX, Cycore, DigiEffects, ICE, and Puffin Designs, many of which are used throughout the book. A guest tutorial by Trevor Gilchrist of Five Short Stories shows how to use Atomic Power's Multiplane effect.
Over 400 megabytes of source material (over 250 individual files) from a wide variety of artists and vendors used throughout the book for you to experiment with, most cleared for you to use in your own projects, all cross-referenced in a Portfolio catalog on the CD.
A variety of additional goodies, including enhanced Motion Math scripts, 32 effect Favorites, plus video and film safe area templates.
Portfolio Browser, plus installers for Adobe Acrobat Reader and a trial version of After Effects 4.1 itself.
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All text, graphics, and sample files are Copyright 2000 by Trish and Chris Meyer, and may not be distributed without permission.
