Linda.COM After Effects Apprentice 07: Parenting

Authors:
Chris Meyer
Trish Meyer

Duration:
01h 37m

Released on:
5/25/2011

Exercise files:
Yes

Parenting is a way to group multiple layers within the same composition inside After Effects. In this course, Chris Meyer shows how to set up a parenting chain, discusses what makes a good parent, and demonstrates several techniques using parenting, such as creating a title animation with a minimal number of keyframes, building a geometric construct, and bringing an anthropomorphic robot arm to life. Sidebar topics include avoiding a scaling gotcha with parenting and creating abstract backgrounds using the Fractal Noise effect.

The After Effects Apprentice video lessons were created by Trish and Chris Meyer and are designed to be used on their own or as a companion to their acclaimed book, After Effects Apprentice. We are honored to host these tutorials in the lynda.com Online Training Library®.
Topics include:

    Preparing files
    Making parenting connections
    Arranging the frame and arm
    Using null objects
    Crafting anthropomorphic-style animations
    Avoiding problems with non-uniform scaling
    Animating Fractal Noise




Introduction
Overview           01m 33s

1. Parenting 101: Grouping Layers
Parenting basics           05m 24s
Parenting with null objects           09m 00s
Geometric constructs           08m 02s

2. Parenting 201: Anthropomorphic Animations
File preparation           04m 28s
Building the parenting chain           05m 51s
Arranging the frame           06m 13s
Animating the arm           08m 09s

3. Idea Corner
Title animation           07m 19s
RoboTV: Keyframe interpolation           07m 03s
RoboTV: Text animation           08m 06s
RoboTV: Finishing touches           06m 51s

4. Sidebar
Non-uniform scale issues           04m 32s

5. Fractal Noise Backgrounds
Setting up           03m 03s
Soft lighting effects           06m 02s
Block patterns           05m 29s