Focal Easy Guide to After Effects: For new users and professionals (The Focal Easy Guide)

THE FOCAL EASY GUIDE TO AFTER EFFECTS......Page 3
Contents......Page 5
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Introduction......Page 14
For Beginners with Experience......Page 15
Be Not Intimidated......Page 16
Welcome to After Effects......Page 17
Primary Workspace Windows......Page 18
Support Windows......Page 19
The Project Window – Where You Gather Your Work’s Resources......Page 23
Importing Resources......Page 24
The Import Dialog Box......Page 25
The Timeline Window – Where You Build Your Work......Page 27
Composition Settings......Page 28
Timeline Columns and Options......Page 29
Timeline Window Tour......Page 30
Composition Window – Where You See Your Work......Page 33
Support Palette Windows – Pop-up Tools for Productivity......Page 36
Help – The Most Ignored and Overlooked Menu......Page 37
Projects vs Comps......Page 38
A Clean Slate......Page 39
Composition Settings......Page 40
‘Drag and Drop’ and ‘Click and Drag’ – Moving Timeline Elements......Page 41
Compositions Are Like Onions – They Have Layers......Page 42
Layer Components......Page 43
Transform Values Edit Window......Page 45
Animating Layer Transforms – Adding Keyframes......Page 46
Blending Modes......Page 48
Track Matte......Page 50
Deleting Keyframes......Page 51
Nudge Nudge – Know What I Mean?......Page 52
Focus on the Composition Window......Page 53
Pixel Perfect Preview......Page 54
Selecting Layers......Page 55
Drag and Drop Construction......Page 56
Motion Constraints......Page 57
Transform Handles......Page 58
The Layer Window – Editing Clips......Page 59
The Footage Window – Layer Window Lite......Page 62
Interpretation Rules!......Page 64
Alpha Interpretation......Page 65
Fields and Pulldown – Part 1: Separate Fields......Page 67
Identifying Correct Field Order......Page 68
Fields and Pulldown – Part 2: The 3:2 Pulldown......Page 70
Other Options – Part 1: Pixel Aspect Ratio......Page 72
Other Options – Part 2: EPS and Illustrator Files Get Special Treatment......Page 73
Replace Footage – ‘Where Did My Files Go?’......Page 74
Proxy Footage – Use Really Big Files and Not Kill Your Computer......Page 75
Avid Windows AVI Codec Issues......Page 77
Building Your Project......Page 79
Blending Modes – Pixel Mixing Your Layers Together......Page 80
Masking – Part 1: Making Box Masks......Page 83
Subpixel Precision – A Brief Voyage of Enlightenment......Page 84
Masking – Part 2: Making Oval Masks......Page 86
Masking – Part 3: Adjusting Masks......Page 87
Duplicating and Splitting Layers Overview......Page 89
Splitting Layers......Page 91
Duplicating Layers......Page 93
Timing’s Everything......Page 95
1, 2, 3, Mark......Page 96
Sound Affects......Page 98
Sound Keys......Page 99
Keyframe Animation......Page 100
Copy and Paste Keyframes......Page 101
Keyframe Creation and Modification......Page 102
Moving Keyframes......Page 103
The Keyframe Assistant......Page 104
Keyframe Interpolation – Temporal (Time)......Page 106
Temporal Changes......Page 107
Keyframe Interpolation – Spatial (Motion)......Page 109
Interpolation and the Pen Tool......Page 110
Converting Vector Interpolation......Page 111
After Effects’ Killer-Killer Feature......Page 112
WONK TV Returns......Page 113
Standard Nesting......Page 114
Looping Etiquette – Part 1......Page 116
Collapse Transformations – Enhanced Nesting......Page 120
Finishing the Logo Design......Page 121
Precomping Caveats......Page 123
Pulling it all Together......Page 124
Parenting with Nulls – Nulls Don’t Mean Nothing......Page 125
Looping Etiquette – Part 2......Page 126
X-Y-Z 1-2-3......Page 128
Pan Behind Tool – Part 1: Anchor Point Adjustment......Page 129
Layer Timeline Extension......Page 130
Continuous Rasterization – Illustrator File’s Unique Capability......Page 133
Masking – Part 4: Compound Masks......Page 134
3D Layers – Part 1: Animation......Page 136
3D Shadows......Page 137
Copy and Paste for Effects......Page 138
Pan Behind Tool – Part 2: Layer Editing Features......Page 139
Hybrid Precomping......Page 140
Pan Behind Tool – Part 3: Keyframes......Page 141
Layers – Part 3: Drag and Replace......Page 142
Drag and Replace – Part 1: Footage in Single Comps......Page 143
Drag and Replace – Part 2: Footage Across Multiple Comps......Page 144
Replace Footage – Make Replacement Comp......Page 145
Advanced Masking......Page 146
Drag and Replace – Part 3: Comps into Comps or Footage......Page 148
Make Replacement Comp for Any Format......Page 149
Type Tool – The Basics......Page 150
Type Tool – Animation Effects Presets......Page 152
Frame Blending – Time Compressing and Stretching Made Good......Page 154
Interpret Footage – Frame Rate Settings......Page 155
Time Stretch – Constant Speed Change......Page 156
Time Remapping – Variable Speed Change......Page 158
Time Remapping – End of Clip Freeze Frame......Page 161
Frame Blending and Time Remapping Applied to Compositions......Page 164
Advanced Compositing Features......Page 165
Photoshop Document Import – File Preparation......Page 166
Photoshop File Import as Composition......Page 167
Illustrator File Import as Composition......Page 170
3D Layers – Part 2: 3D Camera......Page 173
3D Layers – Part 3: 3D Lights......Page 176
Keying and Garbage Mattes......Page 178
Luminance Keying – Luma Key Effect......Page 179
Luminance Keying – Gradient Wipe......Page 180
Luminance Keying – Extract......Page 181
Chroma Keying – Green/Blue Screen Keying with Keylight......Page 182
Chroma Keying – Color Key Effect......Page 184
Rotoscope – Garbage Mattes......Page 185
Motion Tracking and Stabilization......Page 187
Single-Point Tracking......Page 188
Multi-Point Tracking – Position and Rotate......Page 194
Multi-Point Tracking – Scale......Page 197
Corner Pin Tracking – Parallel and Perspective......Page 201
When Tracking Goes Awry......Page 205
Typography......Page 209
Type Tool Settings......Page 210
Type Tool Animation......Page 212
Expressions – Parenting for Properties......Page 216
Drop Shadows the Easy Way......Page 217
Paint by Numbers......Page 218
Paint Tool – Write On......Page 219
Paint Tool – Single Frame Rotoscope......Page 221
Paint Tool – Animated Brush Strokes......Page 222
Paint Tool – Advanced Options......Page 224
Vector Paint Tool – Organic Shape Rotoscope......Page 225
Compositing Tips for 3D Animators......Page 228
Over-Rendering......Page 229
Render Elements and Layers......Page 231
Ray Tracing for the Rest of Us......Page 233
Rendering and Output......Page 235
The Render Queue – The Reel Finishing Line......Page 236
Output Module......Page 237
Scenario 1: Import & Replace Usage – GridBall Pre-Render......Page 238
Scenario 2: Multiple Output Modules – 29.97 fps Anamorphic and Fields......Page 242
Scenario 3: GridBall Lower Third with 3:2 Pulldown......Page 245
Scenario 4: Logo Risen > Flash (SWF)......Page 247
Network Rendering: Get Your Project Done Now!......Page 248
The Render-Garden – When You’ve Only Got One Machine......Page 249
The Render-Farm – True Network Rendering......Page 250
Watch Folder Setup......Page 251
Preparing Your Project for Watch Folder Rendering......Page 252
Watch Folder Rendering – Ready, Set, Render!......Page 253
Of Codecs and File Formats......Page 257
Codec Issues......Page 258
Appendices......Page 259
Project Preparation – Who, How and Why?......Page 260
Media Formats – Knowing What to Look for in a File......Page 261
Alpha Channel – The Embedded Mask Layer......Page 262
Premultiplied vs Straight Images......Page 263
Pixel Aspect Ratio – When a Square Pixel is Not Square......Page 265
3:2 Pulldown – How to Force 24 into 30......Page 267
Fields vs Frames – A Hot Topic Issue......Page 268
Project Settings......Page 269
Color Depth Modes......Page 270
Application Preferences......Page 271
Conclusion......Page 275
Glossary – Big Words to Know, Impress Others With, and Love......Page 276
Index......Page 280