After Effects CS5 Masterclass

with Trish & Chris Meyer

Dates: 3 days – none scheduled

If you are a serious user of After Effects Professional, this fast-paced class covers the high-end features of the software with skilled After Effects motion graphics designers and authors of Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects and After Effects Apprentice. Find out how to maximize your time and energy using shortcuts. Learn through in-class examples, tips and tricks developed by the instructors.

Each class lasts three days, and concentrates on the major new features introduced in recent versions of After Effects. Rest assured it will fill your brain to the brim by the time you're finished!

Please note that depending on the facility, this may be a “bring your own laptop” course, in which case you will need to have a laptop with the current version of After Effects installed before the class begins.

The major topics that will be featured usually include (depending on duration):

• Master motion paths, velocity controls and interpolation
• Building hierarchies by nesting and pre-composing comps
• understanding the Anchor Point
• complex animation made easy with Parenting & Null Objects
• basic expressions
• animating the Effects Point
• copy and paste various properties
• creating text and using Text Animators
• Using Text Presets and Animation Presets
• Alpha and Luma Track Mattes
• Masking, including Rotobezier masks and Mask Interpolation
• Animate in 3D using Camera and Lights
• Managing 3D shadows
• Setting material options for 3D layers
• Understanding the rendering order in 2D and 3D
• Collapsing transformations in 2D and 3D
• Continuously rasterizing Illustrator layers
• Roto Brush (NEW in CS5)
• Paint and Clone
• Motion tracking & stabilization
• mocha v2 for After Effects (NEW in CS5)
• Digieffects FreeForm (NEW in CS5)
• Discussion of how to integrate Cinema 4D renders (time permitting)
• plus lots more tips & tricks and workflow enhancements...

Note: Due to the significant additions in recent versions, features that have not changed significantly in recent versions (such as masking, track mattes, ortime remapping) may not be covered unless time permits.

Prerequisites: six months experience with After Effects or equivalent;
Photoshop basics; video editing, 3D and Illustrator basics helpful.

Recommended Reading:

• Creating Motion Graphics (5th edition for AE CS5)
• Optional: For understanding the technical issues (alpha channels, fields, 3:2 pulldown, non-square pixels, widescreen, luminance ranges, and so on), we recommend our technical courses at Lynda.com or our VideoSyncrasies DVD. See Online Training for more details.