Adobe After Effects CS6 Digital Classroom by Smith, Jerron -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Contents Starting up

About Digital Classroom Prerequisites

System requirements

Starting Adobe After Effects CS6

Windows Mac OS

Fonts used in this book Resetting Adobe After Effects CS6 preferences Loading lesson files

Downloading and copying the lesson files to your hard drive:

Working with the video tutorials Additional resources

Training from the Authors Book series Seminars and conferences Resources for educators

Lesson 1: Understanding Motion Graphics

Starting up Defining motion graphics

Television and video graphics Internet and mobile devices Desktop distribution and presentation graphics

Digital video basics

Understanding video formats Understanding frame rate and resolution Understanding transparency

Self study Review

Lesson 2: Understanding the After Effects Interface

Starting up Understanding and working with menus Opening an existing After Effects project Understanding the After Effects panel system

After Effects panels Primary panels

Understanding the workspace Viewing and hiding panels Docking and undocking panels Resizing panels Saving a custom workspace Resetting the workspace Setting After Effects Preferences

Changing the default Undo levels Enable Auto-Save

Self study Review

Lesson 3: Media Management—Working with Images, Audio, and Video

Starting up What is Media Management? Projects, compositions, and layers: An overview Creating a new project Importing media files

Organizing the Project panel  Modifying the column displays Creating folders and subfolders

Previewing footage

Previewing stills and video Previewing audio Trimming a video clip

Importing multiple files Importing Photoshop and Illustrator files Importing image sequences Importing After Effects compositions Locating missing files Using the Interpret Footage dialog box

Looping an audio or video file Using Remember Interpretation

Using the Collect Files command to consolidate files Self study Review

Lesson 4: Creating Animation in After Effects

Starting up

Setting up

Understanding the animation workflow Creating and working with compositions

Creating a new composition Understanding composition settings

Importing compositions from Photoshop and Illustrator Working with layers 

Understanding the layer switches Understanding layer stacking order Changing layer names

Creating Kinestasis by animating the Anchor Point Animating rotation

Using layer parenting to ease repetition

Animating position

Understanding motion paths

Using layer motion blur

Adjusting Motion Blur settings 

Using blending modes Applying layer styles Understanding nested compositions and precomposing

Adding nested compositions Pre-composing layers

Creating a fade-in by animating Opacity and Scale Self study Review

Lesson 5: Working with Masks, Track Mattes, and Keys

Starting up

Setting up

Working with masks

Creating masks with the shape tools

Selecting and manipulating masks Animating the position of masks Working with mask feathering

Setting the Mask Feather Property Setting Per Vertex mask feathering

Creating freeform masks

Setting up the project

Animating the shape of masks Understanding track mattes

Creating track mattes  Creating mattes from animated Photoshop files

Creating a chroma key

Creating a garbage matte Creating a chroma key Refining the matte

Self study Review

Lesson 6: Working with Text

Starting up Creating text Setting text properties globally

Formatting individual characters

Animating text properties Saving an animator as a preset Working with text animation presets

Modifying animation presets

Creating custom text animators

Creating a typewriter effect Creating a blur-in effect

Creating text on a path Self study Review

Lesson 7: Working with Audio

Starting up

Setting up

Audio in After Effects Previewing audio

Adding audio files to the Timeline

Viewing audio file metadata Looping audio files Animating audio levels Working with audio effects Using composition markers to set the beat

Naming composition markers Refining the position of composition markers Syncing animation to composition markers

Creating keyframes from audio files Self study Review

Lesson 8: Working with 3D in After Effects

Starting up

Setting up

Previewing animation with RAM preview Working with After Effects 3D

Creating 3D layers Using multiple viewports Understanding 3D Transform properties Understanding Material Options

Animating 3D layers Creating and using lights

Understanding light options Animating light properties

Creating and using cameras

Understanding basic camera options Animating camera properties Creating the depth-of-field effect Creating a Rack Focus shot

Working with After Effects 3D Layers

Creating a Ray-traced composition Extruding and Beveling Text Creating Reflections

Self study Review

Lesson 9: Advanced Animation

Starting up

Setting up

Animating with effects

Applying effects to layers

Animating effect properties

Saving animation presets Applying and modifying effects presets 

Time-reversing a layer

Using the Motion Sketch panel to capture motion Controlling layer orientation Using the Smoother panel to soften movement Using the Wiggler panel to add frantic motion

Create acceleration and deceleration using Easy Easing

Changing spatial interpolation Adding easing to keyframes Using squash and stretch to enhance the animation

Animating with the Graph Editor

Create a strobing effect using hold interpolation

Self study Review

Lesson 10: Tracking and Stabilizing Footage

Starting up

Setting up

Understanding Video Stabilization and Tracking Using the Warp Stabilizer Using the 3D Camera Tracker

Attaching 3D layers to Track Points

Self study Review

Lesson 11: Working with Expressions and Scripts

Starting up

Setting up

Automating animation with expressions

Finding expressions Adding expressions to properties Using the loopOut() expression Using the random() expression Using the Time property with expressions Using the wiggle() expression

Working with scripts

Installing and running scripts Creating scripts Finding additional scripts Using and running scripts Using the Ease and Wizz Script

Self study Review

Lesson 12: Outputting After Effects Projects

Starting up

Setting up

Rendering files for output Understanding the Render Queue Adding compositions to the Render Queue

Adjusting render settings

Duplicating jobs in the Render Queue Creating render templates Exporting a project file Trimming and cropping compositions Rendering an individual frame Self study Review

Appendix A

Adobe After Effects keyboard shortcuts

General Keyboard Shortcuts Working with After Effects Projects Working with Preferences Panels, viewers, workspaces, and windows Activating tools Compositions and the work area (keyboard shortcuts) Navigating the Timeline Previews Views Footage Effects and animation presets Layers Showing properties and groups in the Timeline panel Showing properties in the Effect Controls panel Modifying layer properties 3D layers Keyframes and the Graph Editor Text Working with Masks Paint tools Shape layers Markers Motion tracking Saving, exporting, and rendering

Appendix B Appendix C

Importable media formats

Video and audio Still images and image sequences Project formats

Appendix D

Understanding formats and codecs Understanding bit rate Understanding spatial and temporal compression

Appendix E About the Authors Acknowledgments Credits Copyright

Adobe® After Effects® CS6 Digital Classroom

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