Advanced Adobe After Effects 7.0

Animate your ideas. Adobe After Effects 7.0 software helps you create compelling motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects with efficiency, precision, and infinite variety. Take advantage of unmatched integration with other Adobe software, flexible 2D and 3D compositing, and hundreds of effects and Animation Presets to bring a new dimension to your film, video, DVD, and Macromedia Flash productions.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Find out how to create sophisticated backgrounds from simple source elements.
• Learn how to generate beautiful and unusual particle effects with unexpected tools.
• Walkthrough a complete workflow employing real-world broadcast design projects.

Because of the amount of material we cover in class, we do require students to be comfortable using a mouse, opening and saving files, and the general operations of computers. While we will make every reasonable effort to help, students with insufficient skills may be required to observe the class lessons or do their best to keep up without slowing down the rest of the class. We highly recommend working with the application tutorial before coming to the course.

Chapter 1

• The Timeline
• Organization
• Animation Methods
• Keyframes and The Graph Editor
• Power Shortcuts

Chapter 2

• Optimizing Your Projects
• Navigating Multiple Compositions
• Precomposing and Nesting
• Adjustment and Guide Layers
• Understanding Rendering Order
• Optimizing After Effects

Chapter 3

• Working in 3D
• Working with cameras
• Working with Lights
• Using Null Objects

Chapter 4

• Motion Tracking & Stabilizing
• Difference between Stabilization and Tracking
• Effective Motion Tracking
• The Essentials
• Optimizing Tracking Using 3D

Chapter 5

• Working with Expressions
• Logic and Grammar
• Muting Keyframes
• Linking Animation Data
• Looping Animations
• Smoothing and Destabilizing

Chapter 6

• Color Correction & Advanced Keying
• Color Matching
• Beyond the Basics
• Good Habits and Best Practices
• Linear Keyers and Hi-Con Mattes
• Blue-Screen and Green-Screen Keying
• Understanding and Optimizing Keylight
• Fixing Typical Problems

Chapter 7

• Rotoscoping and Paint
• Articulated Mattes
• Working Around Limitations
• Morphing
• Paint and Cloning

Chapter 8

• Virtual Cinematography
• Storytelling and the Camera
• Camera Blur
• The Role of Grain
• Film and Video Looks

Chapter 9

• Creative Explorations
• Dynamic Range
• Video Gamma Space
• HDR
• Light Source and Direction
• Creating a Look with Color
• Backlighting, Flares, Light Volume
• Shadows and Reflected Light