After Effects CS4 for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickPro Guide

by Bolante, Antony

• ISBN13: 9780321591524
• ISBN10: 0321591526
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-12
• Publisher: Peachpit Press

Summary

This completely revised best-seller is the fastest and easiest way to master Adobe After Effects CS4.  Popular task-based format makes it easy to work quickly in Adobe's powerhouse motion graphics and visual effects program  Covers new features such as searchable timelines and projects, Photoshop 3D layers import, the Cartoon effect, and much more  Antony Bolante has written numerous bestselling books on digital video and is a contributor to Adobe's documentation Here to get filmmakers, Web designers, broadcasters, and digital artists of all kinds up to speed on After Effects CS4--and in time to meet their next deadline--is everyone's favorite task-based guide. Through step-by-step instructions, enhanced by tips, sidebars, and plenty of visual aids, veteran video editor Antony Bolante shows readers how to effectively and efficiently import and manage footage, view and edit layers, apply effects, animate type, and more. They'll learn about key features with real world examples of how and when features should be used, including what's new in After Effects CS4: the addition of Imagineer System's Mocha for Adobe After Effects, which allows users to do motion tracking for difficult shots; the ability to export rich media compositions from After Effects to Adobe Flash; searchable timelines and projects, plus easier composition navigation; the ability to import Photoshop 3D layers; independent keyframing of X, Y, and Z axis positions; the new Cartoon effect for creating an animated look to live footage; and many more enhancements.

Author Biography

Antony Bolante freelances in video post-production and technical writing. He has taught video editing to graduate and undergraduate students using Avid Media Composer, Premiere, and of course, After Effects. He has contributed to Adobe’s documentation and is also the author of the previous editions of this guide as well as the Premiere Pro Visual QuickPro Guide.

Table of Contents

After Effects: The Big Picture

Importing Footage into a Project

Managing Footage

Compositions

Layer Basics

Layer Editing

Properties and Keyframes

Playback, Previews, and RAM

Keyframe Interpolation

Mask Essentials

Effects Fundamentals

Creating and Animating Text

Painting on a Layer

More Layer Techniques

3D Layers

Complex Projects

Output

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.