Lynda.COM After Effects CS5 Essential Training

Author:
Chad Perkins

Duration:
08h 39m

Released on:
4/30/2010

Exercise files:
Yes

Software works on:
Windows only

In After Effects CS5 Essential Training, author Chad Perkins discusses the basic tools, effects, and need-to-know techniques in Adobe After Effects CS5, the professional standard for motion graphics, compositing, and visual effects for video. The course provides an overview of the entire workflow, from import to export, as well as detailed coverage of each stage, including animating text and artwork, adding effects to compositions, working in 3D, and rendering and compressing footage. Exercise files are included with the course.
Topics include:

    Understanding the After Effects workflow
    Precomposing footage
    Explaining the basics and beyond of animating
    Creating glows, patterns, textures, and more with effects
    Color correcting footage
    Working with text
    Manipulating video playback speed
    Masking objects and shape layers
    Removing backgrounds with keying
    Compositing multiple pieces of footage
    Integrating After Effects with the rest of the Creative Suite




1. Introduction
Introduction           01m 30s
What is After Effects?           03m 12s
How to use the exercise files           00m 58s

2. Introductory Project
After Effects workflow overview           02m 18s
Bringing elements into After Effects           02m 23s
Adding elements to the Timeline           01m 57s
Working with layers           03m 45s
Creating animation with presets           03m 24s
Applying effects           03m 34s
Creating animation without presets           05m 38s
Previewing your work           02m 46s
Exporting content as a movie file           02m 29s

3. Getting Started with After Effects
Touring the interface           06m 02s
How After Effects projects work           04m 47s
What is a composition?           04m 52s
Tips for adding content to compositions           02m 49s
Understanding the properties of video           08m 50s

4. Learning to Animate
Importing an Illustrator file           04m 57s
Animation basics           07m 12s
Animating opacity           06m 40s
Understanding anchor points           04m 57s
Animating position           06m 08s
Animating rotation           04m 41s
Animating scale           07m 19s
Using the Puppet tool           07m 13s
Copying and pasting keyframes           03m 04s
Animation shortcuts           04m 57s

5. Precomposing and Nesting Compositions
Understanding precomposing           06m 51s
Navigating through compositions quickly           02m 51s

6. The Power of Effects
A showcase of effects           02m 34s
Creating a layer for effects           03m 01s
Applying effects           04m 54s
Animating effect properties           04m 29s
Using Glow           05m 34s
Creating patterns and textures           06m 57s
Creating a fireball           07m 09s
Using the Cycore effects           05m 58s
Adding blur           05m 45s
Creating a galaxy scene from scratch           08m 38s
Distorting objects with effects           04m 07s
Creating and using lens flares           04m 21s
Creating lightning bolts           04m 03s
Viewing random variations with Brainstorm           04m 39s

7. Working with Video
Shortening the duration of layers           04m 23s
Trimming in the Footage panel           04m 14s
Slowing and accelerating video speed           07m 09s
Applying video transitions between clips           06m 07s
Working with image sequences           04m 47s
Importing footage with an alpha channel           04m 12s

8. Color-Correcting Footage
Brightening dark footage           09m 12s
Changing colors in footage           06m 34s
Creating cinematic color treatments           08m 17s
Creating a quick vignette           03m 42s
Colorizing black-and-white objects           04m 50s
Using adjustment layers           03m 36s

9. Creating and Animating Text
Creating and editing text           07m 39s
Applying text animation presets           04m 41s
Animating text manually           04m 43s
Applying layer styles to text           04m 06s

10. Becoming More Efficient
Let's get better           00m 37s
Using work areas           03m 37s
Creating markers           06m 17s
Replacing layers           02m 35s
Mastering Timeline navigation           03m 18s
Aligning and distributing layers           03m 04s
Selecting layers quickly           01m 56s
Cropping layers           03m 43s
Adjusting comp resolution           03m 51s

11. Painting
Using the paint tools           09m 35s
Using the Roto Brush tool           09m 25s
Animating growing vines           04m 53s

12. Working with Masks and Shape Layers
Creating and using masks           06m 42s
Exploring mask options           07m 57s
Creating masks with Auto-trace           06m 51s
Masking objects with other objects           05m 33s
Making shape layers           03m 43s
Modifying shape layers           09m 43s

13. Working in 3D
Turning 2D layers into 3D layers           09m 22s
Creating lights and cameras           06m 14s
Creating shadows           04m 23s
Using depth of field           04m 42s
Working with 3D effects           06m 03s

14. Keying and Compositing
Removing a green screen background           04m 37s
Refining the matte           04m 48s
Compositing with color adjustments           04m 50s
Compositing with blend modes           03m 55s

15. Intermediate Animation
Understanding spatial interpolation           02m 05s
Creating and adjusting motion paths           03m 55s
Orienting moving objects along a path           01m 29s
Drawing motion with Motion Sketch           02m 51s
Creating pauses in animation           03m 06s
Understanding temporal interpolation           01m 56s
Easing keyframes           05m 57s
About the Graph Editor           04m 25s

16. Stabilizing and Tracking Motion
Stabilizing shaky footage           07m 46s
Tracking the motion in footage           04m 27s

17. Parenting and Expressions
Setting up parent layers           05m 49s
Working with null objects           02m 31s
What are expressions?           07m 17s
Modifying simple expressions           02m 20s
Using the wiggle expression           07m 01s

18. Working with Audio
Understanding audio in motion graphics           01m 22s
Previewing and mixing audio           03m 55s
Enhancing audio tracks with effects           01m 35s

19. Rendering and Compression
Adding comps to the Render Queue           02m 30s
Exploring key Render Queue settings           04m 11s
How should I export my video?           04m 55s

20. Integration
Using Photoshop with After Effects           02m 10s
Using Illustrator with After Effects           03m 02s
Using Flash with After Effects           02m 04s

Conclusion
Goodbye           00m 11s