Adobe® After Effects® CS6 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques

Adobe® After Effects® CS6 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques

by Mark Christiansen
Released August 2012
Publisher(s): Adobe Press
ISBN: 9780133040036

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Book description

This is the only book to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals—managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more—so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects, written by contributor and expert Dan Ebberts. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that readers might want to re-create.
 
Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new in CS6, including variable mask feathering, Rolling Shutter Repair, Camera Tracker, and the new ray-traced 3D rendering engine which allows users to quickly design in 3D space.
 
Included with the book are files used for many of the techniques in the book: Sample clips and projects include HD footage from Pixel Corps and Artbeats, as well as demos of plug-ins that you can use to experiment with in your own effects.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Contributors
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Foreword to This Edition
  8. Foreword
    1. Who Brings the Sex?
    2. Did It Feel Just Like It Should?
    3. Was It Good for You?
    4. Lights On or Off?
    5. In Your Hands
    6. Bring It
  9. Introduction
    1. Why This Book?
    2. Organization of This Book and What’s New
    3. Artistry
    4. Compositing in After Effects
    5. What’s on the DVD
    6. The Bottom Line
  10. Section I. Working Foundations
    1. Chapter 1. Composite in After Effects
      1. A Basic Composite
      2. Compositing Is A Over B... and a Bit More
      3. Get Settings Right
      4. Using the User Interface Like a Pro
      5. “Effects” in After Effects: Plug-ins and Animation Presets
      6. Output: Render Queue and Alternatives
      7. Assemble Any Shot Logically
    2. Chapter 2. The Timeline
      1. Dreaming of a Clutter-Free Workflow
      2. Timing: Keyframes and the Graph Editor
      3. Shortcuts Are a Professional Necessity
      4. Animation: It’s All About Relationships
      5. Accurate Motion Blur
      6. Timing and Retiming
      7. What a Bouncing Ball Can Teach You About Yourself
    3. Chapter 3. Selections: The Key to Compositing
      1. Beyond A Over B: How to Combine Layers
      2. Edges on Camera (and in the Real World)
      3. Transparency and How to Work With It
      4. Mask Options and Variable Mask Feather
      5. Mask Modes and Combinations
      6. Animated Masks
      7. Composite With or Without Selections: Blending Modes
      8. Share a Selection with Track Mattes
      9. Right Tool for the Job
    4. Chapter 4. Optimize Projects
      1. Work With Multiple Comps and Projects
      2. Special Case: Adjustment and Guide Layers
      3. Image Pipeline, Global Performance Cache, and Render Speed
      4. Optimize a Project
      5. These Are the Fundamentals
  11. Section II. Effects Compositing Essentials
    1. Chapter 5. Color Correction
      1. Color Correction and Image Optimization
      2. Levels: Histograms and Channels
      3. Curves: Gamma and Contrast
      4. Hue/Saturation: Color and Intensity
      5. Compositors Match Colors
      6. Beyond the Ordinary, Even Beyond After Effects
    2. Chapter 6. Color Keying
      1. Procedural Mattes for the Lazy (and Diligent)
      2. Linear Keyers and Hi-Con Mattes
      3. Color Keying: Greenscreen, Bluescreen, and (Very Rarely) Redscreen
      4. Keylight: The After Effects Keying Tool
      5. Fine-Tuning and Problem Solving
      6. Fix It on Set
      7. More Alternatives for an Impossible Key
    3. Chapter 7. Rotoscoping and Paint
      1. Roto Brush for the Diligent (or Lazy)
      2. Articulated Mattes
      3. Refined Mattes: Feathered, Tracked
      4. Paint and Cloning
      5. Avoid Roto and Paint
    4. Chapter 8. Effective Motion Tracking
      1. Track a Scene with the 3D Camera Tracker
      2. Warp Stabilizer: Smooth Move
      3. The Point Tracker: Still Useful
      4. Mocha AE Planar Tracker: Also Still Quite Useful
      5. Camera Integration
    5. Chapter 9. The Camera and Optics
      1. Know Your Camera: Virtual and Real
      2. 3D Layers Are Born
      3. Stereoscopic 3D Integration
      4. The Camera Tells the Story
      5. Focal Depth and Bokeh Blur
      6. Don’t Forget Grain
      7. Real Cameras Distort Reality
      8. Train Your Eye
    6. Chapter 10. Expressions
      1. What Expressions Are
      2. Creating Expressions
      3. The Language of Expressions
      4. Linking an Effect Parameter to a Property
      5. Using a Layer’s Index
      6. Looping Keyframes
      7. Conditional Events
      8. Randomness
      9. Tracking Motion Between 2D and 3D
      10. Color Sampling and Conversion
      11. Become an Expressions Nerd
    7. Chapter 11. Advanced Color Options and HDR
      1. What Is High Dynamic Range, and Does Film Even Still Exist?
      2. Linear HDR Compositing: Lifelike
      3. Linear LDR Compositing, Color Management, and LUTs
      4. Beyond Theory into Practice
  12. Section III. Creative Explorations
    1. Chapter 12. Color and Light
      1. A Light Source Has Quality and Direction
      2. Light Falloff
      3. Color Looks in After Effects and SpeedGrade
      4. Source, Reflection, and Shadow in Compositions
      5. Multipass 3D Compositing
    2. Chapter 13. Climate and the Environment
      1. Particulate Matter
      2. Sky Replacement
      3. Fog, Smoke, and Mist
      4. Billowing Smoke
      5. Wind and Ambience
      6. Precipitation
    3. Chapter 14. Pyrotechnics: Heat, Fire, Explosions
      1. Firearms
      2. Energy Effects
      3. Heat Distortion
      4. Fire
      5. Explosions
      6. In a Blaze of Glory
  13. Index
  14. What’s on the DVD?
  15. Add Page
  16. Where are the Lesson Files?

Product information

  • Title: Adobe® After Effects® CS6 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques
  • Author(s): Mark Christiansen
  • Release date: August 2012
  • Publisher(s): Adobe Press
  • ISBN: 9780133040036