Adobe® After Effects® 7.0 Classroom in a Book®

Adobe® After Effects® 7.0 Classroom in a Book®

Released February 2006
Publisher(s): Adobe Press
ISBN: 0321385497

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Book description

The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe After Effects 7!

Classroom in a Book, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does--an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

Adobe After Effects 7.0 Classroom in a Book contains eleven lessons and a bonus DVD with lesson files. The book covers the basics of learning Adobe After Effects, and countless tips and techniques to help you quickly become an After Effects artist. You'll get thorough training in digital video effects and production as well as learn about After Effects 7.0's new features, including motion tracking, powerful animation and keyframing controls, HDR color support, network rendering, and more. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. What’s on the DVD *
  3. From the Authors
  4. Welcome Letter
  5. Getting Started
    1. About Classroom in a Book
    2. Prerequisites
    3. Installing After Effects
    4. Optimizing performance
      1. OpenGL support
    5. Installing lesson fonts
    6. Restoring default preferences
    7. Copying the lesson files
      1. About copying the sample movies and projects
    8. How to use these lessons
    9. Additional resources
    10. Adobe Certification
  6. 1. Getting to Know the Workflow
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
    3. Creating a project and importing footage
    4. Creating a composition and arranging layers
    5. Adding effects and modifying layer properties
      1. Preparing the layers
      2. Adding a radial blur effect
      3. Adding an exposure effect
      4. Transforming layer properties
    6. Animating the composition
      1. Preparing the text composition
      2. Adding the text
      3. Animating with Position keyframes
      4. Adding ease in
      5. Adding an animation effect
    7. Previewing your work
      1. Using standard preview
      2. Using RAM preview
    8. Exporting your composition
    9. Customizing the workspace
      1. Using predefined workspaces
      2. Saving a custom workspace
    10. Controlling the brightness of the user interface
    11. Using After Effects Help
      1. Searching and bookmarking Help topics
      2. Checking for updates
    12. Using Adobe online services
    13. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  7. 2. Creating a Basic Animation Using Effects and Presets
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
    3. Setting up the project
    4. Importing footage using Bridge
    5. Creating the composition
      1. Importing the foreground element
    6. Working with imported Illustrator layers
    7. Applying effects to a layer
    8. Applying a preset animation
      1. Precomposing layers for a new animation
    9. Previewing the effects
    10. Adding transparency
    11. Rendering the composition
      1. Rendering broadcast-quality output
      2. Exporting a composition for the web
    12. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  8. 3. Animating Text
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
    3. About text layers
    4. Creating and formatting point type
      1. Using the Character panel
      2. Using the Paragraph panel
      3. Positioning the type
    5. Using a text animation preset
      1. Browsing presets
      2. Previewing a range of frames
      3. Customizing an animation preset
    6. Animating with scale keyframes
      1. Soloing a layer
      2. Creating the scale keyframes
      3. Previewing the scale animation
      4. Adding Easy Ease
    7. Animating using parenting
    8. Animating imported Photoshop text
      1. Importing the credits
      2. Editing imported text
      3. Animating the subtitle
    9. Animating text using a path preset
      1. Customizing the preset path
    10. Animating type tracking
      1. Customizing placeholder text
      2. Applying a tracking preset
      3. Customizing the tracking preset
    11. Animating the letters’ opacity
    12. Using a text animator group
      1. Skewing the range of text
      2. Preview the entire composition
    13. Cleaning up the path animation
    14. Animating the dragonfly
      1. Copying the mask shape
      2. Orienting the dragonfly
      3. Coordinating the text and dragonfly timing
    15. Adding motion blur
    16. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  9. 4. Animating a Multimedia Presentation
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
    3. Animating the scenery using parenting
      1. Setting up parenting
      2. Animating the parent layer
      3. Animating the bee’s position
      4. Trimming a layer
      5. Applying motion blur
      6. Previewing the animation
    4. Adjusting an anchor point
    5. Masking video into a vector shape
      1. Creating a new composition
      2. Creating the mask
      3. Swapping a composition into a layer
    6. Keyframing a motion path
      1. Keyframing scale and rotation transformations
      2. Adding motion blur
      3. Previewing your work
    7. Animating additional elements
      1. Animating the passing traffic
      2. Animating the buildings
      3. Adding Easy Ease
      4. Copying the building animation
    8. Applying an effect
      1. Adding a solid-color layer
      2. Applying the effect
    9. Creating an animated slide show
      1. Importing the slides
      2. Making a new composition
      3. Positioning the slide show
      4. Fading in the first slide
    10. Adding an audio track
      1. Looping the audio track
    11. Zooming in for a final close-up
      1. Previewing the entire composition
    12. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  10. 5. Animating Layers
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
    3. Simulating changing lighting
    4. Duplicating an animation using the pick whip
    5. Animating movement in the scenery
      1. Animating the birds
      2. Animating the clouds
    6. Adjusting the layers and creating a track matte
      1. Precomposing layers
      2. Creating the track matte
      3. Adding motion blur
    7. Animating the shadows
    8. Adding a lens flare effect
    9. Animating the clock
      1. Rendering the animation
    10. Retiming the composition
      1. Viewing time remapping in the Graph Editor
      2. Using the Graph Editor to remap time
      3. Adding an Easy Ease Out
      4. Scaling the animation in time
    11. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  11. 6. Working with Masks
    1. Lesson overview
    2. About masks
    3. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
    4. Creating a mask with the Pen tool
    5. Editing a mask
      1. Changing the mask mode
      2. Creating curved masks
      3. Breaking direction handles
    6. Feathering the edges of a mask
    7. Replacing the content of the mask
      1. Repositioning and resizing the news clip
      2. Rotating the clip
    8. Adding a reflection
      1. Applying a blending mode
    9. Creating a vignette
    10. Adjusting the color
    11. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  12. 7. Keying
    1. Lesson overview
    2. About keying
    3. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
    4. Changing the background color
    5. Adding the foreground subject
    6. Creating a garbage mask
    7. Applying the Color Difference Key effect
      1. Checking the alpha channel for errors
    8. Choking the matte
    9. Removing spill
    10. Adjusting contrast
    11. Adding the background animation
    12. Adding the title
      1. Stylizing the title
      2. Checking placement
      3. Adding a drop shadow
    13. Adding the animated logo
    14. Copying effects across two layers
    15. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  13. 8. Performing Color Correction
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
    3. Adjusting color balance
      1. Masking the grass
      2. Brightening the dark grass
    4. Replacing an element of the shot
      1. Adding the clouds
      2. Color-correcting the clouds
      3. Masking the sky
      4. Cleaning up the mask
    5. Lightening other dark areas
      1. Masking the shrub and tree
      2. Removing stray sky elements and copying effects
    6. Correcting a range of colors
    7. Warming colors with the Photo Filter effect
    8. Removing unwanted elements
      1. Preparing the workspace
      2. Painting across time
      3. Checking your work
    9. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  14. 9. Building and Animating a 3D Object
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Creating the composition
    3. Animating a square in 3D space
      1. Creating the square
      2. Turning on the 3D Layer switch
      3. Animating the square in space
    4. Using 3D views
    5. Flipping the cube bottom
      1. Moving the layer’s anchor point
      2. Flipping the square on its back
      3. Rotating the square
      4. Adding pauses
    6. Creating the 3D floor
      1. Creating the floor layer
      2. Positioning the floor
      3. Animating the floor
      4. Adding the grid to the floor
    7. Building the cube sides
      1. Creating the first side
      2. Creating the other sides
      3. Positioning the cube sides
    8. Animating the cube sides
    9. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  15. 10. Using 3D Effects
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
    3. Using 3D lights
      1. Creating a light layer
      2. Adjusting the point of interest
      3. Positioning the spotlight
    4. Turning on shadows
    5. Adding a camera
      1. Setting the camera’s point of interest
      2. Animating the camera
    6. Adding an animated sphere
      1. Creating the sphere
      2. Positioning the sphere
      3. Deflating the orange dot
      4. Inflating the sphere
      5. Making the sphere bulge
      6. Previewing the animated sphere
    7. Adding the logo
      1. Creating the text layer
      2. Reversing the animation direction
      3. Positioning the text
      4. Customizing the text
      5. Finishing up
    8. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  16. 11. Advanced Editing Techniques
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
    3. Using motion stabilization
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
      4. Positioning the track points
      5. Analyzing and applying stabilization
      6. Scaling the layer
    4. Using single-point motion tracking
      1. Preparing the text layer
      2. Positioning the track point
      3. Analyzing and applying tracking
    5. Using multipoint tracking
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage
      3. Creating the composition
      4. Positioning the track points
      5. Applying the multipoint tracker
      6. Adding a drop shadow and blur effect
    6. Creating a particle system
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Creating the composition
      3. Creating a particle system
      4. Customizing the particle effect
      5. Here comes the sun
      6. Lighting the darkness
      7. Adding a lens flare
    7. Let’s do the Timewarp
      1. Setting up the project
      2. Importing the footage and creating the composition
      3. Using Timewarp
    8. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  17. 12. Rendering and Outputting
    1. Lesson overview
    2. Getting started
      1. Setting up the project
    3. Creating templates for the rendering process
      1. Creating a render-settings template for full resolution
      2. Creating a render-settings template for test renderings
    4. Creating templates for output modules
      1. Creating an output-module template for broadcast renderings
      2. Creating a low-resolution output-module template
    5. Rendering to different output media
      1. Preparing to render a test movie
      2. Working with multiple output modules
      3. Preparing the composition for full-resolution rendering
      4. Using pixel aspect correction
      5. Rendering the final movie for broadcast
    6. Review
      1. Review questions
      2. Review answers
  18. Contributors

Product information

  • Title: Adobe® After Effects® 7.0 Classroom in a Book®
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: February 2006
  • Publisher(s): Adobe Press
  • ISBN: 0321385497