Errata

Some minor problems inevitably crop up once a book is printed. We'll post any important stuff below. Here are a couple of general issues first:

There has been a problem with readers accidentally cracking their CDs or DVDs by leaving them in the sleeve in the back of the book - this is another reason why we encourage you to copy its contents to your computer's hard drive and/or make a backup copy. If you have a blank CD or DVD jewelcase, you might want to move the CD or DVD out of the book to a safer place.

If you need a replacement disc for any reason, please see our Contact page for details on who to contact at Focal Press. Be sure to include a descriptive subject line (such as "Need Replacement Book DVD") to avoid falling into the ol' spam filter! (If you don't get a prompt response, please also CC one of us and we will follow up.)

Creating Motion Graphics: 5th Edition, for AE CS5 (2010)

Chapter 1, page 12, Maximize Frame Tip: The tilde key shortcut works on the panel under the cursor, not the selected panel. So, to expand a panel (or frame) to fill the entire Application window, move your cursor over the panel and press ~ (the tilde key). Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 2, page 31, 3rd paragraph: Typo. To clarify: Colons in timecode numbers indicate non-drop frame mode. Semicolons indicates drop frame mode. Note for CS5.5 and later: Drop and Non-Drop mode is now set in the Composition Settings dialog, not the Project Settings.

Chapter 3, page 61, Anchor Point Reset Tip: You can also right-click on Anchor Point and select Reset from the popup menu. Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 3, page 63, Orbiting Objects, step 3: The last word "X=320" should read "Y=320". Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 4, page 90: The red circle in the figure should be highlighting the icon immediately to its right titled "convert selected keyframes to hold". (For more on these icons, see page 72.) Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 7, Trimming, AE project file: If using CS5.5, set Project Settings to Time Display > Timecode Footage > 00:00:00:00.

Chapter 7, page 123: Step 3: "4:14" should read "4:07". Step 4: again, "4:14" should read "4:07". Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 8, page 134, 3rd paragraph: [Ex.04] should read [Ex.05]. Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 10, page 157: In the example project file, the first comp [Ex.01_starter] was saved with a mask already applied. Before starting on Step 1, select the layer and select Layer > Mask > Remove mask.

Chapter 10, pages 176, 183, 185: Oops. Whenever we say "File > Copy" we meant to say "Edit > Copy". But since you use the shortcut Command+C (Ctrl+C), that shouldn't matter! Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 10, page 188, Mask Interpolation, first bullet: Before starting, select Restore Default Settings from the Mask Interpolation’s Options menu (previous settings may be carried over). Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 10, page 188, Mask Interpolation, 3rd bullet: In reference to Total Vertices we say "the default of 100 if fine." In CS5 and later, set vertices to 99 or 101; default of 100 is buggy! Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 10, page 189: Reversing path direction is a feature of Shape Layer paths. Might be easier to copy/paste a mask back and forth to a shape layer if you need to change its direction, rather than roundtrip to Illustrator.

Chapter 13, page 224: In the project file, [Ex.04a], the goldfish is incorrectly named "parent" in the timeline panel.

Chapter 14, page 248: In Step 4, line 3, the text could imply that using the Orbit Camera tool in the Active Camera view for a one-node camera “rotates the camera”. Note that it actually changes the Orientation values (not the Rotation values). Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 15, page 266, Step 8, 2nd paragraph: Values are incorrect. Should be "enter a Point of Interest of 360,243,0 and a Position of 360,243,–115." Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 15, page 268, Spot Light: Project file, [Ex.02a], is saved with a Light Type of Parallel. When we say "Let's start with the Light Type of Spot" we should have specifically said "Select Spot from the Light Type popup menu in the Timeline panel." Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 17, page 323, Jump Parenting: Composition "Ex. 14-Jump Parenting" in the example project file on the DVD was saved in an odd state. Before beginning the instructions on page 323, set the Parent popup for layer 1 (QE_Gizmo_loop.mov) to be a child of layer 2 (left ear null), not layer 4. This will set the Position values for layer 1 to 0,0 (as it says in the instructions). The figure on page 323, top right, is correct.

Chapter 23B, Effects Roundup Bonus Chapter PDF: On page 26 of the PDF, the Mesh Warp effect description refers to the "Grid Values" parameter; this is now called "Distortion Mesh".

Chapter 25, page 436, Behaviors: In Step 3, the 3rd line should read "the wheel will fade in and out at the ends of the layer" (not the end of the comp). Fixed in 2nd printing 2012.

Chapter 27, page 468, Keylight: In the third paragraph and the first caption, reference is made to the "Screen Strength" parameter. This parameter is now called Screen Gain. Fixed in 2nd printing 2012. Also note: Keylight is now bundled with the After Effects Trial version.

Chapter 28, page 476, Backward Logic, Step 1: No bigge, but in [Ex.03], the layer name is incorrect. [We used a movie of Sunflowers for that example.]

Chapter 32, page 534, Free Transform Points: In the first line, we say to "Double-click on a freeform path...". You need to double-click twice on the path to enter Free Transform mode.

Chapter 32, page 537, Corners and Caps, first paragraph: "Twirl open Shape Layer 1 > Polystar 1" should have read "Rectangle 1".

Chapter 30, page 551: The process of converting multiple Illustrator paths into Shapes is made easier with the free Redefinery script "rd_MaskstoShapes". First paste in all the paths as a group onto a dummy solid layer, then run the script. (Note: In CS6, this feature is a menu item, Layer > Create Shapes from Vector Layer.)

Chapter 33, page 591, 3rd paragraph: We say "You cannot animate the location of Overlap pins". At some point this shortcoming was addressed and we missed it – you can animate Overlap pins now!

Creating Motion Graphics: 4th Edition, for AE CS3 (2007)

On the DVD that comes with Creating Motion Graphics 4th Edition, two files contain asterisks (*) in their name, which may cause some issues for Windows XP users. In many cases, Windows will merely replace the asterisk with an underscore and perhaps add some extra characters to the file name, but there has been at least one case where a user has reported problems copying these files off the disc because of these file names.

The problem files are both in the Chapter Example Projects folder:

• 14-Cameras > 14_Chapter Sources > building*starter.jpg (mentioned in Step 1 on page 254)
• 38-3D Integration > 38_Chapter Sources > Cinema 4D Projects > C4D videowall > C4D videowall*starter.c4d (mentioned at the end of page 604)

In both cases, you can replace the * with any other legal character such as _ and they will work fine. If you are unable to copy these files from your disc, you can download a ZIP archive (CMG4_errata_asterisk.zip) with replacement files. We apologize for any problems this might have caused.

Chapter 3, page 59, Anchor Point Reset Tip: You can also right-click on Anchor Point and select Reset from the popup menu.

Chapter 3, page 61, Orbiting Objects, step 3: The last word "X=320" should read "Y=320".

Chapter 7, Trimming, project file: If using CS5.5, set Project Settings to Time Display > Timecode Footage > 00:00:00:00.

Chapter 7, page 117: Step 3: "4:14" should read "4:07". Step 4: again, "4:14" should read "4:07".

Chapter 8, page 128, 2nd caption: [Ex.04] should read [Ex.05].

Chapter 8, page 129, 1st paragraph: [Ex.04] should read [Ex.05].

Chapter 8, page 132: The last line of the Third-Party Games sidebar is missing. It should read "which frame should play at what time."

Chapter 10, pages 177, 179: Oops. Whenever we say "File > Copy" we meant to say "Edit > Copy". But since you use the shortcut Command+C (Ctrl+C), that shouldn't matter!

Chapter 10, page 182, Mask Interpolation, first bullet: Before starting, select Restore Default Settings from the Mask Interpolation’s Options menu (previous settings may be carried over).

Chapter 14, page 240: Before starting the Angle of View section, delete the existing camera and make a new 50mm camera. (Errant settings were carried over.)

Chapter 15, page 260, Step 8, 2nd paragraph: Values are incorrect. Should be "enter a Point of Interest of 360,243,0 and a Position of 360,243,–115."

Chapter 15, page 262, Spot Light: Project file, [Ex.02a], is saved with a Light Type of Parallel. When we say "Let's start with the Light Type of Spot" we should have specifically said "Select Spot from the Light Type popup menu in the Timeline panel."

Chapter 15, page 280, Adjustment Lights: [Ex.09a*starter] comp in the project file was accidentally saved with the adjustment light already created. Delete the Adjustment Light layer.

Chapter 19, page 328, Mask Feather Foolery section: The example comp [Ex.08a] is missing from the project file. To create a similar example, in a new comp, apply a mask to a small layer but only feather the top and bottom (not the sides), as shown in the first figure in the set of six microphones. Then rotate the layer from 0 to 360 degrees. This should be enough to see the difference in how Mask Feather is rendered when turning collapsing on and off.

Chapter 20, page 347, first caption: Reference to [Ex.07b] should be [Ex.12b].

Chapter 21, page 367, Copying and Pasting Effects sidebar, 1st bullet: First sentence should read "If you select the effect name..."

Chapter 21, page 377: At the very end of this sidebar we mentioned that a chapter from Richard Harrington's book Photoshop for Nonlinear Editors book was included in the Goodies folder on the DVD. This was true for CMG 3rd Edition, but due to a change of publisher, we were not able to include this PDF in the CMG4. Note that Richard's book is now called Photoshop for Video (4th Edition) [Amazon link].

Chapter BC22B, page 2: Project file, in the "Instant Sex – Light" comp, turn on the layer’s fx switch.

Chapter 23B, Effects Roundup Bonus Chapter PDF: On page 26 of the PDF, the Mesh Warp effect description refers to the "Grid Values" parameter; this is now called "Distortion Mesh".

Chapter 30, page 487, Corners and Caps, first paragraph: "Twirl open Shape Layer 1 > Polystar 1" should have read "Rectangle 1".

Chapter 30, page 493: The process of converting multiple Illustrator paths into Shapes is made easier with the free Redefinery script "rd_MaskstoShapes". First paste in all the paths as a group onto a dummy solid layer, then run the script. (Note: In CS6, this feature is a menu item, Layer > Create Shapes from Vector Layer.)

Chapter 33, page 537, 3rd paragraph: We say "You cannot animate the location of Overlap pins". At some point this shortcoming was addressed and we missed it – you can animate them now.

Chapter 39, page 622, last paragraph: [Ex.05] should read [Ex.06].

Creating Motion Graphics: 3rd Edition, AE6.5 (2004)
Volume 1 – The Essentials

Chapter 1, Pages 27-28: Step numbers 49, 50, and 51 were used twice. The text and figures are all in the correct order, just the step numbers are off: The final 4 steps at the end of the tutorial should have been numbered from 52 through 56.

Chapter 3, Page 60: In the figure caption, the shortcut for Windows should have read Alt+Shift+P to turn on the stopwatch for Position. (Needing to use the Shift key is new. Mac users can continue to use Option+P, as least through v6.5.)

Chapter 3, Page 77, 2nd paragraph, 2nd line: Should have read "for two seconds from 00:00-02:00", not one second.

Chapter 4, Page 103: In the second to last paragraph, the reference to [Ex.18c] should have read [Ex.18b].

Chapter 11, page 164, "Simple Selection Moves" sidebar: The 4th bullet point should have made clear that this tip only refers to editing masks in the Layer window. If you are editing masks in the Comp window, the Layer and the Mask itself needs to be selected if you are going to marquee, otherwise After Effects will assume you are just selecting a layer as normal.

Chapter 11, page 180: In Step 2, the reference to [Ex.06c] should have read [Ex.17].

Chapter 25: "Textacy." In the AE Project file, there is an incorrect setting saved in example comp [Ex.07b]. In the Text layer, the Randomize Order setting should be OFF in Range Selector 1>Advanced section. (Note that this was fixed in the 2nd reprint edition (Sept. 2005).

Creating Motion Graphics, 2nd Edition, for AE5.5 (2003),
Volume 2– Advanced Techniques

Chapter 10: "The Blue Riders." Page 158, under "Fixing it in the Mix" section. 4th paragraph: the Channel Mixer effect is found under Effect>Adjust>Channel Mixer (not the Channels submenu).

Further Tech Support:

If you have problems not being able to read the CD or DVD that came with a new book, or if the CD/DVD was missing, you should work with the vendor you bought the book from to make good on your purchase. If you later encounter problems reading from a CD or DVD, and you're sure it's not your drive, again, you can get a replacement (see above). There may be a small shipping and handling charge. Be sure to include a descriptive subject line.

Obviously, we are not in a position to provide technical support for After Effects itself. If you are having problems with the applications used by or included on the CD, such as any Adobe product, or your operating system such as Apple MacOS or Microsoft Windows, please contact those manufacturers directly.