Adobe After Effects Cc Visual Effects And Compositing Studio Techniques

This is the only book to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals—managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more—so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that readers might want to re-create. Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all new features, including the new workflow between After Effects CC and CINEMA 4D, coverage on the 3D Camera Tracker, and examples of the Refine Edge tool for high-quality matting results. Included with the book are HD media files and After Effects project files used for many of the techniques in the book, as well as demos of plug-ins that you can use to experiment with in your own effects. To access these files goto www.peachpit.com/redeem and redeem the unique code provided inside this book. Information on where to locate the code can be found on page xxvi. Author Expertise: Mark Christiansen (christiansen.com) is a visual effects supervisor and creative director and has worked on features including Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Beasts of the Southern Wild, and has served as a director, producer, designer, and compositor/animator on commercials, music videos, live events, and television documentary productions. Mark has done work directly for the Adobe After Effects development and marketing teams, is a founder at provideocoalition.com, and has taught courses at fxphd.com and Academy of Art University. He has been a guest host of popular podcasts such as “The VFX Show” and has written all editions of this book and coauthored After Effects 5.5 Magic. Mark is also founder of New Scribbler Press.

This is the only book on the market to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects users, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals - managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more - so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects, written by contributor and expert Dan Ebberts. An incredibly useful appendix on scripting in After Effects is included as well, written by Adobe engineer Jeff Almasol. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that are commonly seen in films and games which readers can re-create. Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new and makes this version of Adobe's effects programa must-have update, including the revolutionary new Roto Brush, all new effects such as the New Refine Matte effect, new support for Color Look-Up Tables, workflows that take advantage of the all-new 64-bit support, inclusion of third-party tools for additional creativity, and much more. Note from the publisher: FREE Adobe After Effects CS5.5 updates are available for this title. Simply register your product at www.peachpit.com/register and you will receive the updates when they become available.

Ready to learn the visual effects secrets used at such leading-edge studios as Industrial Light + Magic and The Orphanage? "Adobe After Effects 6.5 Studio Techniques "inspires you to take your work to the next level with realworld examples and insider techniques. Get blockbuster results without the big budget as you delve deep into the essence of visual effects. This book goes beyond conventional step-by-step instruction, teaching you bread-and-butter effects that you can adapt and combine for countless projects. - Real solutions from real professionals: Nobody does it better, and now they'll show you how. Discover the keys to analyzing your shots from Stu Maschwitz, Visual Effects Supervisor for "Star Wars, Episode One "and "Sin City." Unlock the mysteries of linear color space with Brendan Bolles, co-creator of the eLin plug-ins. Master fundamental effects techniques with Mark Christiansen, After Effects specialist for The Orphanage on "The Day After Tomorrow." - Compositing essentials: No matter how sophisticated the effect, they all start from the same building blocks. Find out what you've been missing about color and light matching, keying, motion tracking, rotoscoping, working with film, and more. - Advanced techniques: Your goal should be effects so good that no one notices them. From sky replacement to explosions, from smoke to fire, learn to bring your shots to life and enhance scenes without anyone ever knowing what they're seeing isn't 100% real. - Companion CD-ROM: Professional tools produce professional results. Demo versions of plug-ins from Andersson Technologies, Red Giant Software, Frischluft, and Trapcode will enhance your work. Stop relying on ready-made solutions and pre-built effects. Learn how to build up and customize your own effects with the tools at hand-you'll be amazed at how much better the results look!

This is the only book in the After Effects market to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Readers will learn how to put After Effects to work to create the shots they need. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of After Effects fundamentals--managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more--so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing: color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, and emulating the camera. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating actual effects that readers might want to re-create. Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new in this upgrade. Throughout the book, beautiful full-color examples demonstrate what's possible, while the companion DVD offers plenty of sample footage and dozens of demos of the most useful After Effects plug-ins. .

In this latest book in the critically-acclaimed [digital] series from New Riders you’ll learn all of the techniques and skills that will take you from beginner to visual effects (VFX) professional in just one book. Seasoned visual effects producer Jon Gress has refined the teaching of the skills and techniques presented in this book for over a decade to distill them down to the most effective methodology, delivered in a way that’s both fun and easy to understand while being state-of-the-art for industry professionals. You’ll start with a solid understanding of the basics of visual effects and compositing, the fundamentals of bluescreen and greenscreen keying, 3D texturing, cloning, wire & rig removal, rotoscoping, 2D and 3D motion tracking, and matchmoving. And then experiment with a wide range of 2D, 2.5D & 3D visual effects, including 3D CGI, crowd replication, face replacements, faking shadows, reflections and Z depth, atmospheric, smoke, cloud & heat FX, sky replacements, day-for-night and digital 3D HUD FX. Building on this strong foundation of compositing and visual effects, you’ll be prepared for the advanced section of the book which teach skills, such as 2D, 2.5D & 3D digital matte painting and projections, film colorization, particle systems, fluid and rigid body dynamics, full digital environments, digital destruction, advanced lighting and rendering techniques, stereoscopic 3D, 2D to 3D conversions, and expert 3D and Photoshop extraction and modeling techniques that can only be described as magic! Throughout the lessons, you’ll glean insider advice on cutting edge methods that even experienced professionals will find amazing. You’ll learn everything you need to know to begin working in the world of visual effects as an industry professional. • All the info you need to go from beginner to professional in one book • Easily accessible teaching style from an instructor who has helped launch the careers of some of the best-known Hollywood visual effects specialists • Includes companion graphics files and videos to follow along with the lessons

This is the only book to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals—managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more—so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects, written by contributor and expert Dan Ebberts. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that readers might want to re-create. ¿ Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new in CS6, including variable mask feathering, Rolling Shutter Repair, Camera Tracker, and the new ray-traced 3D rendering engine which allows users to quickly design in 3D space. ¿ Included with the book are files used for many of the techniques in the book: Sample clips and projects include HD footage from Pixel Corps and Artbeats, as well as demos of plug-ins that you can use to experiment with in your own effects. All of Peachpit's eBooks contain the same content as the print edition. You will find a link in the last few pages of your eBook that directs you to the media files. Helpful tips: If you are able to search the book, search for "Where are the lesson files?" Go to the very last page of the book and scroll backwards. You will need a web-enabled device or computer in order to access the media files that accompany this ebook. Entering the URL supplied into a computer with web access will allow you to get to the files. Depending on your device, it is possible that your display settings will cut off part of the URL. To make sure this is not the case, try reducing your font size and turning your device to a landscape view. This should cause the full URL to appear.

"How to Cheat in After Effects is an easy-to-follow book that lets you in on all of the little secrets to create those commonly needed effects with ease and speed. With clear pictures illustrating the step-by-step procedures, this is the perfect tool for the arsenal of any After Effects user, from novice to advanced." - Michele Yamazaki, Vice President Marketing and Web Development Czarina, Toolfarm.com Compose eye-popping After Effects projects quickly and creatively with dozens of concise, step-by-step tutorials accompanied by vivid 4-color illustration. Covering features new to CS5 such as Freeform AE, Refine Matte, Roto Brush, and more, this book clearly explains how to perform advanced, typically time-consuming tasks in simplified, quick steps. * Create an entire 3D planet scene from scratch * Create true 3D text * Make smoke, snow, rain, chocolate, molten gold, and more from scratch with particles * Create animated growing vines * Fake a tilt shift effect, and so much more The companion DVD includes project files allowing you to work alongside the exercises in the book, as well as QuickTime movies displaying the techniques shown in the book. Chad Perkins is an award winning software trainer, as well as a filmmaker, musician, and visual effects artist. He is also the creator/owner of Movies and Computers (moviesandcomputers.com), which provides training in independent filmmaking. He is an Adobe Certified Instructor in After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere. Chad is also the author of the book The After Effects Illusionist (Focal Press, 2009).