Book Image

Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC

By : David Dodds
Book Image

Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC

By: David Dodds

Overview of this book

If you’re thinking seriously about making and publishing your videos with professional editing and animation, look no further! Adobe After Effects is a popular tool among video editors and YouTubers to enhance their videos and bring them to life by implementing visual effects and motion graphics. This book will take you right from the basics through to the advanced techniques in Adobe After Effects CC 2018. You will start by setting up your editing environment to learn and improve techniques to sharpen your video editing skills. Furthermore, you will work with basic and advanced special effects to create, modify, and optimize motion graphics in your videos. Lastly, you will not only learn how to create 2.5D animations, but also get to grips with using Cinema 4D Lite to build and animate complete 3D scenes. By the end of the book, you’ll have learned how to package a video efficiently with the help of the projects covered.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC
Contributors
Preface
Assessment
Other Book You May Enjoy
Index

Assessment

Chapter 1: Getting Started with After Effects

  1. Choose a parameter to animate, hit the stop watch for that parameter, and move in the time adjust that parameter.

  2. Hover over the end of the layer, identify the trim icon, and drag the layer. Use the shortcut Alt + [ or ].

  3. Go to the desired location in the timeline and press N or B.

  4. On the lower-left side of the main window, choose grid and guide options.

  5. Go to preview panel and press the next frame key. Use the Page Down keyboard shortcut.

  6. In the preview panel, press play. Press the spacebar.

  7. Layer | New solid.

  8. Top toolbar.

  9. Select mask and click once on one mask point.

  10. Select mask and double-click on one mask point.

  11. Select mask, twirl mask features, and choose subtract.

  12. It marks the beginning of your animation in the timeline.

  13. Blue diamond shape in the timeline.

  14. The s letter on the timeline.

Chapter 2: Creating a Lower Third for a Television Show

  1. A pen tool is used to cut things out with mask. Clicking and adding points creates a custom mask.

  2. Select the key frames and drag them in the timeline.

  3. An assistance tool designed to control how your key frames begin and end.

  4. A tool to smooth your key frame movements.

  5. Click on the text icon.

  6. Add a null layer and parent the desired object to the null object.

  7. Select the desired layers and choose composition precompose.

Chapter 3: Using Shape Layers to Create an Animated Lyric Video

  1. A style added to your layers

  2. Layer | Layer Styles

  3. Vector layers that have shape parameters and animation parameters

  4. A creative way to take you to the next scene

  5. Shift + number + click on a number to add a note

  6. A visual representation of an audio layer

  7. An effect added to text layers to create instant text animation

  8. Effects presets | Animation presets | Text

Chapter 4: Creating an Infographic with Character Animation

  1. Tracking is used for the spacing between text.

  2. Import as composition, retain layer size, and create a composition.

  3. So they will look crisp, no matter how much they are scaled up.

  4. This will give your animation a realistic smooth movement.

  5. Turn on the camera control and microphone input icon. Hit the record button to activate live recording.

  6. Go to file and choose export PNG and WAV file.

  7. Two.

Chapter 5: Producing a Film Title Project Using Text Animator

  1. Using one image as a way to hide or reveal parts of another image

  2. Layer | New | Light...

  3. Adds dimensional highlights and shadows to your type layer

  4. A way to control the hue, saturation, and brightness of an image

  5. A lighting effect that simulates a lens flare

  6. An effect that changes the black and white values of the layer it’s applied to

  7. A guide to place text and other layers without it getting cut off by the edges of the television screens

Chapter 6: Animating Sports Graphics with Compositing Effects

  1. Lens flare

  2. Auto levels

  3. Transition

  4. Add mode

  5. Camera track

  6. Track points

  7. Target

  8. Click on the 3D cube icon

Chapter 7: Developing a VFX Project Using the 3D Camera Tracker

  1. 3D camera tracker

  2. Smooth camera moves

  3. Curves

  4. Quick selection

  5. Vector mask

Chapter 8: Creating a 2.5D Environment Camera Fly-Through

  1. Layer | New | Camera

  2. Layer | New | Lights

  3. You can accurately position and animate 3D layers in different views

  4. Move the position parameter or the 3D parameter handle

  5. They add significantly to your render time

  6. The Alt key (option for macOS)

  7. So that your layers will render at high quality

  8. You have total control of your camera and your layers

  9. The camera tool

  10. Way to control a 3D layer represented by arrows on a 3D layer

Chapter 9: Building a 3D c4d Lite Logo Project

  1. Layer | New | MAXON CINEMA 4D file

  2. Save as illustrator 8

  3. Extrude nurbs

  4. The red record active object button

  5. Final render

  6. No

  7. Render editor