After Effects Apprentice

Adobe After Effects is one of the most powerful, amazing, and overwhelming video applications in existence, and After Effects Apprentice is the perfect guide for it. Why? Here's a quick list:The books images show exactly what you need to see both to understand what's happening and what to do, but also to give you ideas of the possibilities of what can be done with AE. Similarly, the instructions are clear and presented in a step by step method that won't confuse and with enough style and humor so that you won't get bored. The book is physically excellent -- the layout and graphics are all one could ask for. Heck, even the binding and cover are well done; I've opened and handled this book endlessly and it is still holding up. Apparently, it was built to last as well as to look good.Perhaps more importantly the book teaches me the way that I like to learn -- by doing. The examples are well constructed and detailed and in every one of them there was some sort of "ah ha!" moment of discovery. But the authors are not content to show you that this button does that or that that mode does this; they also explain the whys and offer ideas about how might one use these effects and activities in the real world.Finally, I have CS5, and almost everything in this book (covering CS4) is applicable to the new software version. If you're new to AE, and maybe a bit intimidated by it, this is the perfect book.

This is a good starter book for anyone new to After Effects. I like the way several topics are covered with related in depth materials. The biggest issue I have with this book as well as other AE books that I have worked with are the terrible example files. They tend to be very cheesy and not very real world. I know that they are used for the sake of learning, but I think more effort could go into using some great footage and graphics. There are so many examples in this book that are just laughable silly. They seem to get worse and worse as you get toward the end of the book.In addition, I have found that the CD-roms that accompany these books don't copy over properly to your hard drive.If you can overlook these issues, then I am sure that you will find this book to be a great beginning to intermediate level resource.

The authors are knowledgeable and the book is an excellent way to learn After Effects.The chapters progress in order, they are well laid out and the approach is project based. The information is solid but is of less use to someone looking for basic information as it works best reading in this step by step format. I purchased this book to learn After Effects and it is an intermediate book (IMHO). I will purchase a book with a more traditional approach so that I can back reference. And search for information as I need it.It's a good book for your professional library and will probably be even more worthwhile as I become more experienced in the program. Good job!

After Effects Apprentice, Second Edition ; Real-World Skills for the Aspiring Motion Graphics Artist by Trish and Chris Meyer2nd Edition Version CS4Includes DVD TutorialPublished by Focal Press321 Pages12 ChaptersEverything you need to know to get up to speed with After Effects by two authors who have made their careers mastering these skills. Trish and Chris Meyer have authored other books on the subject as well including Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects and After Effects in Production.After Effects Apprentice is an introductory textbook that covers everything you need to know to communicate visually including basic animation, manipulating keyframes, grouping layers, mattes and masks, motion graphics, 3D, titles, rendering, and working with special effects. The book uses practical exercises designed to teach you by doing.Add this one to your VFX success library!

The book gives a step by step approach to gaining knowledge in using and applying Adobe After Effects, which is a software that is not too user-friendly and is difficulty to master on your own without guidance.After practicing several chapters of worked examples, I am now able to produce work of my own. Each chapter reveals interesting new capability and power of the software. The examples included in the DVD are practical and useful.I would recommended the book for the novice as well as the more experienced.

This is the second book that I bought by this author(s).They delivered the quality that I expected.

This is the first book i ever bought. I went through it cover to cover. AWESEOME!! I have bought a few books since and many of them rehash things I've learned in this book. So far my most recommended book to learn after effects as a whole. To make it work for you and be able to create your OWN work and not rehash web site stuff. I am now able to reverse engineer many things i see on TV or Movies mostly due to this book.If you are looking to have a resource book for many techniques or to learn from a well worded and solid teaching style, this book is for you!

The authors clearly spent a lot of time carefully constructing the tutorials. Every feature has a clear, motivating example. Each page teaches several new fascinating and useful techniques. It's unbelievable how dense this material really is. What would take another author 1,000 pages to teach, Meyer & Meyer do in 300. Along the main text, the side photos illustrate the detailed steps. No step is left out. Starting with the preconfigured tutorial files lets you focus on learning each features without tedium.I can't figure out which is more fun: reading this book, or playing with After Effects. This book is a joy to read!

Love the product and the book. For an Adobe piece of software it is as usual magnificently endowed with tips and functionality and this book explores and demonstrates them all. For the more advanced the pace is a little slow especially on trimming videos which can make it seem more complex than it really is. Buy it and enjoy.

If you are plannig to learn such a wonderful piece of software like After FX CS4, this book will really help you to understand it. Best price at Amazon... says a long time returning customer.

C'est LE livre avec SON DVD pour apprendre, découvrir et maitriser AE CS4.Seul bémol: qu'il ne soit pas encore traduit en français pour gagner un peu de temps de lecture ....