Adobe After Effects 7 Pro: Essentials

Disc 1 – Interface, Footage & Animation Essentials

• Applying a Mask & Transforming the Properties
• Keyframing & Easy Ease
• Layer Effects & Motion Blur
• Animating & Organizing Layers in the Timeline
• Working with Video & Track Mattes
• Inserting & Animating a Text Layer
• Completing the Animation

• Navigating the Interface
• Customizing, Saving & Loading Workspaces
• Using the New Maximize Feature
• Opening & Closing Windows & Projects
• Working within the Project Panel
• Organizing Files in the Project Panel
• Tips for Utilizing the Project Panel
• Adjusting the Working Color Space

• Adjusting the Composition Settings
• Creating a Comp from Existing Footage
• Creating a Comp from Stills
• Working with Multiple Composition Viewers
• Using the Zoom & Scroll Tools
• Changing the Preview Size
• Splitting the Composition Viewer
• Changing the View Options
• Selecting Composited Layers
• Using the Snapshot Feature to Store Frames in Memory
• .e New Color Channel Viewing Options
• Adjusting the Viewer Resolution & Pixel Aspect Ratio
• Exploring the Flow Chart Option

• Importing Footage
• Fitting an Image into the Comp Window
• Snapping the Position of Layers in the Timeline
• Introducing the AV Panel in the Timeline
• Labeling, Selecting Label Color & Arranging Layers
• Renaming Layers in the Timeline
• Hiding Layers with the Shy Switch
• Using the Quality & Effects Switches
• Applying Motion Blur
• Zooming, Viewing Switches, Modes & Duration Columns
• Moving the Time Indicator & Applying Markers
• Positioning & Trimming Layers Using Markers
• Previewing Audio & Setting Up a RAM Preview
• Setting Up a Work Area & a Region of Interest

• Using Adobe Bridge
• Importing Movies & Sequences with Bridge
• Interpreting Alpha Channels
• Importing Adobe Photoshop(R) Files
• Interpreting a Photoshop Sequence
• Using Edit Original & Importing Layer Effects
• Exploring Importable Layer Effects
• Creating a Photoshop File in After Effects
• Importing Adobe Illustrator(R) Files
• Using Placeholders & Proxies
• Proxies & the Render Queue
• Working with Camera Raw Files
• Using a Proxy with Camera Raw Files

• Composition Settings & Pixel Aspect Ratio
• Fixing Interlaced Video Issues
• Solving 3:2 Pulldown Issues
• Making Insert & Overlay Edits
• Working with Split Layers & Extracting a Work Area

Disc 2 – Masking, Mattes, Effects & Text Animation

• Setting Up the Car Speeding Along Comp
• Adding Wheels to the Car Comp & Rotating .em
• Introducing Parenting, the Pick Whip & Parenting to a Null
• Common Challenges with Parenting Elements Together
• Working with Nested Compositions
• Pre-Composing & Animating the Car
• Enabling Time-Remapping vs. Time-Reverse Layer
• Time-Remapping, Frame Blending & Time-Reverse Keyframes
• Easing Keyframes & Time-Remapping Audio
• Using the Graph Editor to Time-Remap Slow Motion Footage
• Sequencing Layers & Time-Remapping a Nested Comp
• Easing In & Adjusting the Speed in the Graph Editor

• Introducing the Masking Tools
• Animating a Mask to Reveal Text
• Using Guides & Feathering Masks
• Adding & Subtracting Masks
• Creating a Circular Mask
• Adjusting Masks on Photoshop® Files
• Pasting In Masks from Illustrator®
• Correcting & Controlling Mask Interaction
• Time-Reversing Keyframes
• Creating a Morph Target in Illustrator

• .e Snow Effect
• .e Fast Blur Effect
• Creating & Saving Animation Presets
• Using Fast Blur to Change the Depth of Field
• Using the Color Emboss & Snow Effects
• Creating a Chrome Reflection in a Pre-Comp
• Changing the Blend Mode & Sharing Presets

• Using Layers as Mattes for Other Layers
• Using the Luminance of a Grayscale Image for Transparency
• Creating & Pre-Composing an Animated Matte
• Manipulating Transparency with Layer Blending Modes
• Using RGB Channels for Convincing Mattes
• Transitioning between Comps with a Stencil Alpha Matte

• Applying a Luma Track Matte
• Duplicating a Layer & Replacing It with a Matte
• Looping Multiple Layers Using Apply Interpretation
• Introducing Adjustment Layers in Photoshop
• Using Adjustment Layers to Blur & Colorize
• Using Layer Blending Modes
• Bringing in Illustrator Files to Use for the Title
• Creating a Custom Luma Matte
• Creating a Custom Adjustment Layer
• Animating a Mask on an Adjustment Layer & Adding a Blur
• Animating a Blur & Adjusting Transparency
• Adjusting the Timing of an Animation
• Pre-Composing Layers into a Nested Composition

• Text Effects, Panels & Workspaces
• Creating a Type Layer
• Selecting, Aligning & Building Type Layers
• Populating & Scaling Type Layers
• Formatting Text with the Character Panel
• Changing the Stroke, Fill, Height & Width
• Adjusting the Tracking, Leading & Kerning
• Baseline Shift & Other Character Properties
• Using the Paragraph Panel
• Paragraph Panel Fly-Out Menu Options

• Introducing the Basic Text Animation Presets
• Applying Text Animation Presets to Animate In & Out
• Animating Text Properties: Scale & Inter-Character Blending
• Adjusting Rotation, Anchor Point Grouping & Alignment
• Animating the Tracking & Adjusting the Line Anchor
• Positioning & Animating Text on a Closed Path
• Animating Text on an Open Path
• Animating Text on a Spiral Path
• Animating a Paragraph on a Path
• Introducing Wiggler & the Wiggly Selector
• Adjusting the Wiggly Selector Options
• Taking a Closer Look at the Wiggler
• Adjusting Correlation & the Temporal & Spatial Phases
• Setting Up for Temporal & Spatial Phase Animation
• Animating a Bullet-Time “Matrix”-Style Effect
• Saving an Animation as a Preset

• Exporting a Flash™ Movie for the Web
• Previewing in a Browser & Changing Frame Rate
• Saving a RAM Preview & Exporting Multiple Movies
• Changing the Render Settings
• Changing the Output Module Settings
• Adding Multiple Output Modules

• Looking at General Preferences
• Setting Preferences for Nested Comps
• Setting Preferences for Layers & Colors
• Setting Preview Preferences
• Setting Display Preferences
• Setting Import & Output Preferences
• Setting Up Grids, Guides & Labels
• Memory, Cache & Video Preview Prefs
• User Interface Colors & Auto-Save Prefs