After Effects Lynda

In After Effects CS5 Essential Training, author Chad Perkins discusses the basic tools, effects, and need-to-know techniques in Adobe After Effects CS5, the professional standard for motion graphics, compositing, and visual effects for video. The course provides an overview of the entire workflow, from import to export, as well as detailed coverage of each stage, including animating text and artwork, adding effects to compositions, working in 3D, and rendering and compressing footage. Exercise files are included with the course.

In After Effects CS5 Essential Training, author Chad Perkins discusses the basic tools, effects, and need-to-know techniques in Adobe After Effects CS5, the professional standard for motion graphics, compositing, and visual effects for video. The course provides an overview of the entire workflow, from import to export, as well as detailed coverage of each stage, including animating text and artwork, adding effects to compositions, working in 3D, and rendering and compressing footage. Exercise files are included with the course.

This short course is designed for those who have never used Adobe After Effects, or those who might need a refresher course on how it is laid out.

Trish Meyer leads beginners through a gentle introduction to Adobe After Effects: from creating a new project and importing sources, through arranging and animating layers, applying effects, and creating variations, to rendering the final movie.

After Effects: Insight into Effects was created and produced by Trish and Chris Meyer. We are honored to host their material in the lynda.com Online Training Library®. After Effects gurus Chris and Trish Meyer share their real-world insight into how to get the most out of the effects that come bundled with the popular software. After Effects: Insight into Effects covers a wide range of blur effects, hidden gems, optimal parameter ranges, "gotchas" to avoid, and alternative effects to consider. Among other tidbits, this course contains "special topic" movies on how compound effects work and how Repeat Edge Pixels affects the alpha channel.

One of the most powerful but underused features in After Effects is expressions, which can be used to animate layer properties with code, as compared to explicitly keyframing every value in the Timeline. One of the strengths of expressions is the ability to have multiple parameters and layers follow the lead of a master layer or controller effect, making it much easier to coordinate complex animations and quickly accommodate client changes. In this introduction, Chris Meyer shows how to let After Effects do most of the work by creating simple but very useful expressions that can be put to work on a wide variety of jobs. Exercise files are included with the course.

Join Chad Perkins as he breaks down the process of creating, rigging, and animating the arm of a character in an opening title sequence in Adobe After Effects—a task traditionally performed using rigging or skeleton tools available in 3D programs. Instead, this short course shows animators how to use a combination of layers, parenting, and expressions in After Effects to create a similar effect. The course also covers parenting the arm component, picking up objects with the arm, and obscuring objects.

Expressions are one of the most powerful but underused features in After Effects.

Course Description: Chris Meyer—a long-time user of both programs—explains how to move 3D worlds from Maxon's CINEMA 4D into Adobe's After Effects and add additional 3D elements that blend perfectly. Chris shows how to transfer 3D cameras, lights, and position data from CINEMA 4D to After Effects; create track mattes to composite new elements into the middle of a scene; and take advantage of multi-pass rendering to quickly remix and even recolor lights, shadows, reflections, and more. Paced comfortably for beginners, this course also reveals numerous advanced tricks and techniques, such as the use of blending modes and how to cast shadows from new 3D layers in After Effects onto rendered 3D elements from CINEMA 4D. Exercise files accompany this course.

In After Effects CS4 Essential Training, Chad Perkins teaches fundamental motion graphics design techniques from the ground up. He shows how to gather video, audio, and graphical source materials into layered compositions, make edits and adjustments, then bring it all to life with a powerful array of visual effects and animation techniques. These skills are demonstrated in a series of increasingly intricate projects, from creating a galaxy to building a fantasy battle scene. Chad also demonstrates workflows for keying and compositing, shows how to integrate with other applications, shares useful tips and secrets, and much more. Exercise files accompany the course.