Adobe After Effects

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Adobe After Effects
After Effects 7.0 under Mac OS X 10.4
Developer:	Adobe
Latest release:	CS3 (8.0) / July 1, 2007
OS:	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows
Use:	Video editing/Visual effects
License:	Proprietary
Website:	Adobe: After Effects

Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. It can be used in film and video post-production.

Contents 1 Description 1.1 Workflow 2 History 3 Plug-ins 4 Reviews 5 Support 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Description

After Effects uses a system of layers organized on a timeline to create composites from still images and motion footage, such as video files. Properties such as position and opacity can be controlled independently for each layer, and each layer can have effects applied. After Effects may be thought of as "Photoshop plus time".

Although After Effects can create images of its own, it is generally used to combine material from other sources to make moving graphics (also known as motion graphics). For example, with a picture of a space ship and a picture of a star background, After Effects could be used to place the ship in front of the background and animate it to move across the stars.

Each picture or movie is layered on a timeline, in a similar way to a Non-Linear Editing System (NLE). However, one difference between After Effects and NLEs is that After Effects is layer-oriented, and NLEs are generally track-oriented. This means that in After Effects, each individual media object (video clip, audio clip, still image, etc.) occupies its own track. However, video editors use a system where individual media objects can occupy the same track as long as they do not overlap in time. This track-oriented system is more suited for editing and can keep project files much more concise. The layer-oriented system that After Effects adopts is suited for extensive effects work and keyframing.

• After Effects can convert any 2D layer into a plane in 3D space.

• After Effects also has the capability of rotoscoping

• After Effects can be used for digital conversion between different frame rates such as the 29.97 frames per second used in NTSC material and the 25 fps used in PAL video.

[edit] Workflow

After Effects integrates with other Adobe software titles such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Encore DVD.

The main interface consists of several panels (windows in versions prior to After Effects 7.0). Three of the most commonly used panels are the Project panel, the Composition panel, and the Timeline panel. The Project panel acts as a bin to import stills, video, and audio footage items. Footage items in the Project panel are used in the Timeline panel, where layer order and timing can be adjusted. The items visible at the current time marker are displayed in the Composition panel.

The Timeline panel can become hard to navigate when working with hundreds of layers. This is because elements are stacked on top of each other in layers, and not managed using tree or node style graphs as in other compositing packages. (After Effects does feature a Flowchart panel, but this view of a project or composition is mostly for display purposes and is not fully functional.) The clutter can be reduced by selectively hiding layers (using the Shy switch) or by grouping them into precompositions.

[edit] History

After Effects was originally created by the Company of Science and Art in Providence, RI, USA. Version 1.0 was released in January 1993. Version 2.1 introduced PowerPC acceleration in 1994. CoSA along with After Effects was then acquired by Aldus corporation in July 1993; this company was then acquired by Adobe in 1994, and with it PageMaker and After Effects. Adobe's first release of After Effects was version 3, codenamed Nimchow.

[edit] Plug-ins

After Effects has extensive plug-in support; and a broad range of third party plug-ins are available. A variety of plug-in styles exist, such as particle systems for realistic effects for rain, snow, fire, etc.

Using third-party plug-ins, After Effects can create impressive 3D effects. These sorts of 3D plug-ins use basic 2D layers from After Effects. Illustrator graphics can also be loaded and rendered in 3D using plug-ins such as Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator Pro. Some well-known plug-in vendors are The Foundry, DigiEffects, Zaxwerks, Conoa, BorisFX, Red Giant Software, GridIron Software, and Trapcode.

[edit] Reviews

• Creative COW, by Mylenium, January 17, 2006

• Millimeter, by Steve Katz, July 1, 2004
• MacNETv2, by Lisa Swanson, June 21, 2004
• PC World, by Anush Yegyazarian, April 22, 2004
• Digital Producer, by Stephen Schleicher, April 28, 2004

[edit] Support

• Wikivid After Effects
• AE Mail-List
• Creative COW After Effects support forum
• Creative COW After Effects Podcast
• Creative COW After Effects tutorials
• DMN Tutorials
• MGLA Cafe
• Mograph.net
• Toolfarm Tutorials
• Toolfarm Forum
• Toolfarm User Groups
• User Groups>Old & New
• World Wide User Group
• Categorized After Effects Tutorials

[edit] See also

Competitors to After Effects include Autodesk's Combustion, Flame and Inferno; Apple's Shake and Motion; Cinelerra; eyeon Fusion; Boris RED; and Pinnacle Commotion.

[edit] External links

• Official web page
• After Effects Channel
• After Effects Tutorials
• After Effects Podcast, video tutorials
• After Effects project files, HTML and video tutorials
• After Effects Project Files and Video Tutorials
• AE Portal, lists plug-ins and web resources
• The After Effects Wiki