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Best Adobe After Effects book for beginners
Richard_Dastardly
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I downloaded the trial version of Adobe After Effects and, while I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, I love it and all its grand potential. I managed to figure out the chroma key, but I'm looking for a book to help me out because so much of this program is beyond me.
I did check out Amazon, and After Effects Classroom in a Book looks about right... but its gotten some pretty meh reviews on there, so I'm not sure if I should go in a different direction.
And, yeah, I know all about Video Copilot. I've spent quite some time on that site and its really helpful, but I'd like to also have a book sitting on my lap while I try and figure things out.
Edit: Also, any sites that have good, printable step-by-step instructions would be awesome.
I did check out Amazon, and After Effects Classroom in a Book looks about right... but its gotten some pretty meh reviews on there, so I'm not sure if I should go in a different direction.
And, yeah, I know all about Video Copilot. I've spent quite some time on that site and its really helpful, but I'd like to also have a book sitting on my lap while I try and figure things out.
Edit: Also, any sites that have good, printable step-by-step instructions would be awesome.
Richard_Dastardly on
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But, I'd like to figure out whether this is for me before I shell out ~$800 for the license.
If you're looking to get into editing for short films, wouldn't Adobe Premier or Final Cut Pro be a better option?
If you're interested in compositing (colour grading, adding special/visual effects into footage) then Shake or Nuke might be a better option.
Why would they be a better option? I'd basically wanted to use AE for just that, cheesy effects and motion graphics and then (don't laugh) I planned on putting it together in windows movie maker.
Unfortunately I don't have any specific book or tutorials I can recomend as I've not used the programme for several years, however the best advice I can give you is to think of a short project that you can complete in the 30 day trial, and just use tutorials to complete the various effects you require as you go along.
Dude. This is what I'm looking for. Thank you.
I just discovered it this morning. Thanks!
I've actually managed to do some simple things last night, like basic keyframing. I think I'm getting used to the interface... AE is like Dwarf Fortress, I think. Once I scale the learning curve I'm gonna love this thing.
One thing you have to learn with After Effects is that, unlike static graphics, you MUST rely on actions, plugins, and other canned effects. Many of the things that look like shit in Photoshop will rock your world when you animate them, because nobody catches the flaw in individual frames. Learning to live with stock video is also important. Storyboarding before you start working is a must. Getting used to these things will really help with the learning.