Adobe AfterEffects CS4: Level 1

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Course Overview

Skill Level: 1 Introduction

Duration: 2 Days

Description: You’ve probably worked with some design or video editing applications to create imagery, either static or animated. However, you now need to create more sophisticated video clips than you have before, either for broadcast or for the web. In this course, you’ll use Adobe After Effects Course Objective: You will create 2D compositions with sequenced media clips, layers with animation, transparency, and effects, and will render the output for either broadcast or Internet distribution.

Lesson 1: Getting To Know The Workflow

Creating a project and importing footage
Creating a composition and arranging layers
Adding effects and modifying layer properties
Animating the composition
Previewing your work
Optimizing performance in After Effects
Rendering and exporting your composition
Customizing the workspace
Controlling the brightness of the user interface
Finding resources for using After Effects
Checking for updates

Lesson 2: Creating A Basic Animation Using Effects And Presets

Importing footage using Adobe Bridge
Creating the composition
Working with imported Illustrator layers
Applying effects to a layer
Applying an animation preset
Previewing the effects
Adding transparency
Rendering the composition

Lesson 3: Animating Text

About text layers
Creating and formatting point text
Using a text animation preset
Animating with scale keyframes
Animating using parenting
Animating imported Photoshop text
Animating text using a path animation preset
Animating type tracking
Animating text opacity
Using a text animator group
Cleaning up the path animation
Animating a nontext layer along a motion path
Adding motion blur

Lesson 4: Working With Shape Layers

Adding a shape layer
Creating custom shapes
Creating stars
Incorporating video and audio layers
Applying a Cartoon effect
Adding a title bar
Using Brainstorm to experiment

Lesson 5: Animating A Multimedia Presentation

Animating the scenery using parenting
Adjusting an anchor point
Masking video using vector shapes
Keyframing a motion path
Animating additional elements
Applying an effect
Creating an animated slide show
Adding an audio track
Zooming in for a final close-up
Sending the project to reviewers

Lesson 6: Animating Layers

Simulating lighting changes
Duplicating an animation using the pick whip
Animating movement in the scenery
Adjusting the layers and creating a track matte
Animating the shadows
Adding a lens flare effect
Animating the clock
Retiming the composition

Lesson 7: Working With Masks

About masks
Getting started
Creating a mask with the Pen tool
Editing a mask
Feathering the edges of a mask