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1 Excerpt from Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, 4th Edition. Copyright 2008 Trish and Chris Meyer. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means. Focal Press, ISBN: th Edition Trish & Chris Meyer Amsterdam Boston Heidelberg London New York Oxford Paris San Diego San Francisco Singapore Sydney Tokyo Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier

2 Table of Contents 1 Introduction How to Use This Book Animation Techniques 1 After Effects An overview of the major user interface elements in After Effects, as well as how projects are organized. Includes tips on how to customize the user interface and save the resulting layouts as Workspaces. xi xii 2 Creating a Composition Creating a new composition A tour of the Comp and Timeline panels Adding layers to a comp; the Layer panel Managing multiple comps Navigating in space Solid Layers Resolution and Quality Navigating and zooming in time; the Work Area Safe areas, rulers, grids, and guides Frame rate; displaying time Channel switches; color picker; background color; alpha appearance Preview Possibilities sidebar (Interactive and RAM previews; OpenGL) Basic Animation Position, including spatial keyframes and motion paths; keyframe types Keyframe navigation; editing values numerically Opacity values and keyframing Scale values and keyframing Rotation values and keyframing; 3D Orientation Working with the Anchor Point Transitions, arcs, and orbits Motion control moves Keyboard shortcuts; keyframe tips Quality issues; subpixel positioning; resampling iii

3 4 Keyframe Velocity Easy Ease; Auto Bezier keyframes Working with the Graph Editor; Value Graphs Velocity (Speed) Graphs Coordinating multiple values; keyboard shortcuts Position graphs; graph gotchas Hold interpolation Roving keyframes Animation Assistance Keyframe tips and tricks; copying, nudging, and scaling motion paths Motion Sketch and The Smoother keyframe assistants Auto-Orient Rotation The Wiggler keyframe assistant Time-Reverse and Exponential Scale keyframe assistants Layer Management 6 The Layer Essentials Selecting and moving layers Duplicating, soloing, renaming, and replacing layers Comp and layer markers Snapshots; align and distribute; edit original; color-coding layers Beswitched sidebar (layer property switches in the Timeline panel) Trimming Trimming in and out points; slip editing Sequence Layers keyframe assistant; trimming by work area Splitting layers Overlay and Ripple Insert Edits Motion Blur and More Applying motion blur; Samples Per Frame and Adaptive Samples Shutter Angle and Phase; blur and masks; Render Settings Echo-style effects; Cycore time effects Modes, Masks, & Mattes 9 Blending Modes Blending modes explained; applying blending modes Overview and example of each mode All About Masking Masking basics; creating simple masks; shortcuts Transforming masks; selecting mask points and segments iv

4 Mask Feather, Mask Expansion, and Mask Opacity Creating and editing Bezier and RotoBezier masks Animating masks; mask tips and gotchas Inverting masks; mask seams Managing multiple masks Auto-trace Rotoscoping advice; panning layers inside masks Masks and effects; interchanging masks with other paths; Illustrator paths Smart Mask Interpolation keyframe assistant All About Track Mattes Mattes explained; luma versus alpha mattes; inverting mattes Improving matte contrast; choosing a matte channel; Set Matte effect Animated mattes; using parenting and null objects Mattes and effects; building a track matte hierarchy Unmultiplying mattes and other tips; mattes for custom transitions Stencils and the T Stencils explained; luma versus alpha stencils; silhouettes Preserve Transparency; glints; stencils versus mattes; Alpha Add mode Cameras! Lights! Action! 13 3D Space The Z dimension; rotation and orientation in 3D Z scale; offsetting the Anchor Point in 3D Camera and orthogonal views; multiple comp views Layer axes handles; Local, World, and View Axis Modes D motion paths; accelerated previews; auto-orient in 3D Render order issues; intersections; mixing 2D and 3D layers Cameras Camera basics; using multiple cameras Camera settings; angle of view; depth of field Aiming the camera Animating cameras; auto-orientation; one-point versus two-point cameras Vanishing Point Exchange Lighting in 3D Light basics; rotating lights Light parameters and types of lights Layer Material Options Creating and managing shadows Light Transmission; creating gels and gobos; shadows on 2D layers Adjustment Lights v

5 5 6 Building Hierarchies 16 Parenting Skills Parenting basics Parenting exercises Under the Hood sidebar (the math behind parenting) Null Objects Nonuniforming scaling issues; 3D issues Jump parenting Nesting Compositions Nesting basics Effects; nesting a video sequence Comp Flowchart View Using over-sized comps (motion control techniques) Nesting options; nesting tips Render order issues; problem solving Precomposing Precomposing to group layers Leave All Attributes versus Move All Attributes Render order issues Clipped layers; trimming empty calories Collapsing Transformations Maintaining resolution How collapsing changes the render order Special cases including 3D issues Continuous rasterization of vector artwork, text, and solids Continuous rasterization and effects Text Animation 20 Textacy Creating, editing, and formatting text using the Type tool Cycling Text sidebar (keyframing the Source Text parameter) Paragraphs of text Text along a path Creating a Text Animator; the Range Selector Randomize Order More on animated properties Cascade-style animations Per-character 3D; text in 3D space Animator Shapes; Ease High and Ease Low vi

6 More on the Advanced section; animating property values Anchor Point Grouping and Alignment; Fill & Stroke options; blending modes The Wiggly Selector Modes of Confusion sidebar (selector modes) Managing multiple selectors and animators Exporting text to SWF; converting Photoshop text The Expression Selector Effects & Presets 21 Applying and Using Effects Applying effects The Effects & Presets panel; searching for effects Common effect controls Animating effects; effect point paths Effects that use mask paths; Render Settings; CC Composite Adjustment Layers, including masks and alpha channels Applying effects to solids; dropping out the black Layer Styles Effects Roundup Overview A quick reference for which chapters discuss which families of effects. 22B 22C Effects Roundup (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) Tips on 125 of the effects that come with After Effects CS3 Professional, organized by category. Includes a sidebar on 16-bit-per-channel mode and effects. Particle Playground (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) Tips on using this powerful but daunting particle system. By JJ Gifford. 23 Compound Effects How compound effects work Compound Blur Texturize; managing maps using nesting and precomposing Displacement Map Troubleshooting Presets and Variations Saving and applying Animation Presets Presets and masks; presets and effects Browsing the factory presets using Adobe Bridge Text presets; saving text styles Behaviors Brainstorm vii

7 8 Color & Keying 25 Color Management Overview of color management; Project Working Space Input profiles; output profiles; display management Luminance range issues; Match Legacy Gamma Linear blending modes bit floating point and HDR images; camera raw Cineon log space Broadcast safe colors Keying Keying approaches An overview of the different keying plug-ins Keylight tutorial Color correction and edge improvements B Color Difference Keyer (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) A legacy tutorial on how to use the most powerful of the Adobe keyers. 9 Time & Tracking 27 Frame Rate Manipulation Time Stretching Reversing layers Time Remapping; freeze frames Manipulating the timing of clips Manipulating keyframed animation, sequenced layers, and frame sequences Step-frame animation Frame Blending, including Pixel Motion and Timewarp Motion Stabilization Overview of the motion tracker/stabilizer, including settings Tracking; applying a track Masking and Motion Stabilization Stabilization practice and advice Motion Tracking Tracking Position, including working with the Attach Point Tracking Scale and Rotation Applying a track to an effect point Exercise on multipart tracking; motion blur advice Corner pinning exercises viii

8 10 Drawing, Painting, & Puppetry 30 Shape Layers Shape tools and options Working with parametric shapes Working with pen path shapes Strokes, Fills, and Gradients Line caps, corners, and segments Managing multiple shapes Grouping; Merge Paths Shapes from Other Places sidebar (mask and Illustrator paths into shapes) Shape effects The Repeater Other tips including using Brainstorm with shapes Paint and Clone Getting started, editing and managing strokes; Paint on Transparent Transforming Brush Strokes; Channels; Modes Eraser tool; erase Paint Only and erase Last Stroke Only options Animating strokes; using Write On mode; replacing strokes Rotoscoping frame by frame Brush Tips and tablets Interpolating strokes Using Paint with other effects Clone Stamp tool; Clone Presets; Clone Source Overlay; Source Time Shift Using motion tracking and expressions to automate cloning Other tips including painting in a straight line and revealing a title Vector Paint Vector Paint overview Animating strokes; stroke speed; Quick Paint mode Compositing Modes Wiggling strokes; logo reveal exercise Transforming strokes; cleaning up keyed alpha channels Onion skinning The Puppet Tools Puppet Pin tool Keyframing pins; motion sketching pins Overlap tool Starch tool Mesh issues Multiple shapes in a mesh; animating text exercise ix

9 11 12 Working with Audio 34 Working with Audio Reading audio waveforms; spotting audio Controlling audio levels Previewing audio Mixing audio including fades; avoiding clipping distortion Trimming audio layers B Audio Effects (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) An overview of the most useful audio effects. Expressions 35 Expressions Creating expressions, including using the pick whip Convert audio to keyframes Mixing and matching parameters, ranges, and dimensions Interpolating values Controlling expressions; saving expressions as presets Building more complex expressions; Expression Language Menu The wiggle expression B Deeper Modes of Expression (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) An extensive review of useful expression methods, JavaScript math functions, and programming tips. Includes numerous examples C Scripting Overview (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) Controlling After Effects with scripts. By Dan Ebberts. Importing & Integration 36 Import and Interpret Importing different media types; alpha channel types; missing codecs Importing from Photoshop & Illustrator; video templates Importing projects Interpret Footage settings; Interpretation Rules Integration Web integration tips, including GIF, SWF, and FLV Creating buttons for Adobe Encore NLE integration tips, including Premiere Pro, Avid, and Final Cut Pro Dynamic Link x

10 38 Integration with 3D Applications Importing camera moves Aligning objects; creating mattes; frame rate and size issues Videowall exercise, including Cinema 4D export Multipass rendering Integrating shadows exercise B 3D Channel Effects (Bonus Chapter PDF on DVD) A review of the 3D Channel Effects for file formats with extra data channels. 39 Video Issues Fields and interlacing, including field flicker Frame rate and timecode issues; 3:2 Pulldown Frame sizes; non-square pixels; anamorphic widescreen; working square Converting between DV and D Safe areas Moving between normal and widescreen aspect ratios Safe colors; previewing your work on a real video monitor Exporting & Rendering 40 Rendering Queue Rendering overview, including movies, stills and RAM Previews Render Settings Output Modules; Adobe Media Encoder Render Queue panel; creating and editing templates Advanced Rendering Consolidating, removing unused footage, and reducing projects Collect Files Multiprocessor rendering; distributed network rendering Adobe Device Central Clip Notes Prerendering and Proxies Creating and applying footage and comp proxies Working with proxies, including rendering What s Your Preference? A review of each of the After Effects Preferences, including suggested settings. Also includes a brief overview of the text preferences file. Credits Index Resources xi