How to Cheat in After Effects, 2nd Edition

How to Cheat in After Effects, 2nd Edition

by Chad Perkins
Released May 2013
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781135069292

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Book description

Get the most from the most widely used application in the postproduction field! Gain the insider tips you need to compose eye-catching, imaginative Adobe After Effects projects quickly and effectively.

In How to Cheat in After Effects, Second Edition seasoned AE expert Chad Perkins provides dozens of concise, step-by-step tutorials and lavish 4-color illustrations to get you on the fast track to producing amazing motion graphics and visual effects. Updated for CS6, this new edition has been revised to include:

  • A brand new chapter on the most popular 3rd party effects including Trapcode Particular and Video Copilot's Element 3D

  • New cheats on professional compositing, expressions, and high end visual effects

  • Tons of cool light tricks and lessons on how to use Video Copilot's Optical Flares

  • A thorough explanation of the Ray-trace 3D engine introduced in After Effects CS6

  • Downloadable resources with project files allowing you to work alongside the exercises in the book, as well as QuickTime movies displaying techniques

There’s no time to waste! Whether you are an intermediate After Effects user in need of its more advanced tools or a novice looking for techniques to up your game, this book will bring your motion graphics, visual effects, and graphic compositions to the next level.

Downloadable resources project files are available at

www.focalpress.com/9780415661065

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Full Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. The cheat format
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. How to use this book
  8. 1 Cool Tricks Appetizer!
    1. Fireball
    2. Simulated 3D Text
    3. Growing Vines
    4. Tracked Text
    5. Blooming Flower
    6. Tilt Shift
    7. Ink Spatter
    8. Damaged Film
    9. The Master Solid
    10. Hot Grill
    11. Ornate Vintage Patterns
    12. Retro Video Game Maze
    13. Cells Through a Microscope
    14. Interlude: Using the Help
  9. 2 Lights and Cameras
    1. Creating Basic Shadows
    2. Stained Glass Shadows
    3. Controlling Shadows
    4. Negative Light
    5. Film Noir Lighting
    6. Creating Depth of Field
    7. Rack Focus
    8. Lens Distortion
    9. Multiple Camera Angles
    10. 3D Camera Path
    11. Orient to Camera
    12. Interlude: Lighting is the Secret
  10. 3 3D Objects
    1. The Parallax Effect
    2. Native 3D Primer
    3. Faking Materials
    4. 3D Illustrator Art
    5. 3D Photoshop Shapes
    6. 3D Shatter Scenes
    7. 3D Text with Shatter
    8. 3D Postcards
    9. 3D Objects from Solids
    10. 3D Planetscape
    11. Echospace
    12. 3D in Nested Compositions
    13. Interlude: Picking a 3D App
  11. 4 Compositing
    1. Making a Garbage Matte
    2. Removing a Green Screen
    3. Pulling a Luma Key
    4. Refining a Matte
    5. Using Multiple Mattes
    6. Intro to Compositing
    7. 3D Camera Tracking
    8. Warp Stabilize
    9. Set Extension
    10. Blending Away Dark
    11. Blending Away Light
    12. Compositing Textures
    13. Temporal Alignment
    14. Compositing with Color
    15. Compositing with Animation
    16. Compositing with Focus
    17. Motion Blur
    18. Matching Color
    19. Premultiplied Alpha Channels
    20. Tracking with Mocha
    21. Mocha Shapes
    22. Using Roto Brush
    23. Restoring Opacity
    24. Manual Shadow
    25. Guide Layers
    26. Interlude: Shooting Better Green Screen Footage
  12. 5 Animation
    1. The Puppet Pin Tool
    2. Puppet Overlap
    3. Puppet Animation
    4. Bouncing Ball
    5. Parenting
    6. Rigging an Arm
    7. Waving Sail
    8. Animating the Blob
    9. Animating a Photo: Part 1
    10. Animating a Photo: Part 2
    11. Displacement Mapping
    12. Projection Mapping
    13. Resizing Animation
    14. Animating Layers On and Off
    15. Text Messaged Animation
    16. Interlude: Walt's Principles
  13. 6 Light Effects
    1. HDR
    2. Volumetric Light
    3. Silhouettes
    4. Bars of Light
    5. Welding Sparks
    6. Light Whips
    7. Stage Lights
    8. Galaxy Scene
    9. Energy Cube
    10. Faked Light Streaks
    11. Searchlights
    12. Sheen
    13. The Glow Effect
    14. Flaring Hot Spots
    15. Laser Beams
    16. Trapcode Shine
    17. Interlude: High Dynamic Range
  14. 7 Masks and Shapes
    1. Mask Options
    2. Instant Vignette
    3. Sky Replacement
    4. From Video to Shape Layer
    5. The Vegas Effect
    6. Luma Matte
    7. Alpha Matte
    8. Animating Masks
    9. Feathered Vertices
    10. Motion Paths from Illustrator
    11. Trapcode 3D Stroke
  15. 8 Particles
    1. Particle Bootcamp
    2. Sparkles
    3. Smoke Trail
    4. Foam Basics
    5. Custom Particles
    6. Make it Rain
    7. Basic Snow
    8. Snow with Foam
    9. Molten Gold
    10. Light Ribbons
    11. Steam
    12. 3D Fireworks
    13. Fire Texture
    14. Campfire
    15. Psychic Waves
    16. Star Field
    17. Confetti
    18. Water Surface Disruption
    19. Flowing Chocolate
    20. Trapcode Form: 4D Fractal
    21. Particular: 3D Light Streaks
    22. Interlude: Particle Alternatives
  16. 9 Color Correction
    1. Reading a Histogram
    2. Cinematic Color: Warmth
    3. Cinematic Color: Horror
    4. Cinematic Color: Flashback
    5. Playing with Color
    6. Day for Night
    7. Reference Monitor
    8. Before and After
    9. Colorizing
    10. Hue Shift
    11. Stylizing
    12. Faking Dimension
    13. Secondary Color Correction
    14. Spot Color Correction
    15. Improving 3D Renders
    16. Checking Dark Areas
    17. Color Finesse Basics
    18. Color Finesse “Looks”
    19. Using Color Lookup Tables
    20. Working with SpeedGrade
    21. Working with RED Files
    22. Magic Bullet Looks
    23. Interlude: Shooting Filmlike Video
  17. 10 3rd Party PARTY!
    1. Element 3D Primer
    2. Element 3D Polish
    3. Animated 3D Light Bulb
    4. Custom Particular Particles
    5. Aux Particles
    6. Campfire Smoke
    7. Campfire Embers
    8. Flock of Birds
    9. Layer Dissolve
    10. Sky Writing
    11. Particles and Cameras
    12. 3D Form Objects
    13. Trapcode Mir
    14. Instant Color Compositing
    15. Interlude: Scripts
  18. Index

Product information

  • Title: How to Cheat in After Effects, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Chad Perkins
  • Release date: May 2013
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781135069292