by Todd Kopriva / Angie Taylor / Video2Brain | Publisher: Peachpit Press | Release Date: November 2010 | ISBN: 9780132616430

This innovative product from Adobe Press combines an incredible 14 hours of  high-quality HD  video training and a full-color printed reference to teach the fundamentals of After Effects CS5 Experienced instructor Angie Taylor and Adobe Technical Support Lead Todd Kopriva present the video instruction, complete with lesson files, assessment quizzes and review materials. The video is wrapped in a unique interface that allows the viewer to jump to any topic and also bookmark individual sections for later review. The unique Watch-and-Work mode shrinks the video into a small window to allow the student to work alongside in After Effects. Project files used in the lessons allow viewers practice what they've learned, and interactive review questions help reinforce freshly gained knowledge.

1. Introduction: Basic Workflow and Interface Tour
   • Legacy Projects 00:03:34
   • Missing Fonts or Footage 00:07:02
   • Collecting Files 00:03:09
   • Missing Effects 00:01:35
   • Selecting Items and Live Update 00:03:23
   • Basic Workflow and Terminology Overview 00:06:31
2. Interface Tour
   • The Project Panel and the Flowchart Panel 00:04:23
   • The Composition Panel and the Layer Panel 00:11:34
   • The Timeline Panel 00:10:14
   • The Preview Panel 00:06:20
   • The Effect Controls Panel and the Effects & Presets Panel 00:05:16
   • The Tools Panel 00:03:48
   • Colors, Channels, and Color Bit Depth 00:08:27
3. After Effects Jumpstart
   • Creating a Cityscape in 3D 00:06:31
   • Lip-Syncing Animation with Expressions 00:07:39
   • Animating Characters with the Puppet Tools 00:06:32
   • Character Animation with the Paint Tools 00:05:36
   • Leaving One Color or Changing One Color in a Movie 00:03:32
   • Creating a Trail of Echoes Behind a Moving Subject 00:02:34
   • Converting a Movie to Look Like a Cartoon 00:02:44
   • Removing a Logo from a Moving Image 00:02:28
4. Setup: Memory, Hardware, and Preferences
   • Modifying Preferences and Keyboard Shortcuts 00:04:18
   • Configuring the User Interface 00:05:13
   • Setting Up After Effects for Optimum Performance with 64-Bit Systems 00:06:09
5. Creating Compositions and Layers
   • Creating Compositions and Changing Composition Settings 00:03:13
   • Creating and Formatting Text in the Character Panel 00:20:19
   • Controlling Blocks of Text with the Paragraph Panel 00:12:50
   • Working with Shape Layers 00:13:32
   • When to Use Solid Layers 00:06:21
6. Importing, Interpreting, and Managing Footage
   • Importing Movies 00:02:47
   • Supported Import Formats and Codecs 00:04:22
   • Importing Still Images and Image Sequences 00:04:24
   • Importing Photoshop and Illustrator Files 00:07:47
   • Importing Projects 00:02:51
7. Interpreting and Managing Footage
   • Interpreting Footage Manually and Automatically 00:04:44
   • Fields and Interlacing 00:05:15
   • Pixel Aspect Ratios 00:04:31
   • Trimming Footage and Layers 00:04:00
8. Basic Animation
   • Introduction to Animation Terminology 00:03:56
   • The Five Transform Properties 00:19:54
   • Working with Motion Paths 00:11:26
   • Using Motion Sketch to Record Motion 00:21:06
9. Panning and Zooming
   • Optimizing After Effects for Easy Animation 00:05:47
   • Animating in the Layer Panel 00:10:27
   • Introduction to the Graph Editor 00:11:18
   • Cool Tricks with the Graph Editor 00:09:53
   • Saving and Applying Animation Presets 00:12:06
   • Using the Align Panel for Animation 00:15:01
10. Animating Effect Properties
    • Animating Effects 00:09:17
    • Working with Layer Styles 00:05:50
    • Applying Basic Expressions 00:08:33
11. Text and Shape Animation
    • Applying and Editing Text Animators 00:10:37
    • Adding Properties to Preset Animators 00:04:41
    • Working with Imported Text 00:03:24
    • Applying Multiple Animators 00:04:47
    • Modifying Preset Text Animators 00:03:35
    • Building Custom Preset Animators 00:07:19
12. Animating Shape Layers
    • Understanding Shape Categories 00:10:42
    • Animating Shape Layer Properties 00:10:38
13. Basic Compositing
    • Alpha Channels and Transparency 00:04:52
    • Isolating a Subject with a Mask 00:06:06
    • Track Mattes and Preserving Underlying Transparency 00:04:46
    • Color Keying 00:11:30
    • Isolating a Subject with Roto Brush 00:12:30
    • Motion Tracking and Rotoscoping 00:10:14
    • Removing an Object with Clone Stamp 00:06:10
    • Blending Layers with Blending Modes 00:04:13
14. Effects
    • Understanding Effect Categories 00:09:03
    • Understanding Effect Properties (Turbulent Noise) 00:12:09
    • Creating Cool Effects with Turbulent Noise 00:10:57
    • Using Compound Effects 00:06:35
    • Understanding Distortion Effects 00:08:31
    • Color Correction Tools 00:12:09
    • Perspective Effects 00:16:06
    • Using Layer Styles 00:07:11
    • Effect Presets 00:09:44
    • Looping Effect Properties and Presets 00:13:39
    • Brainstorming 00:16:29
    • Adding Adjustment Layers 00:14:20
15. Time
    • Frame Rates 00:08:52
    • Frame Blending 00:07:18
    • Time-Stretching and Time-Remapping 00:08:09
    • Slowing Motion, Freezing a Frame, and Reversing Time 00:08:40
16. Grouping and Linking
    • Nesting 00:13:55
    • Pre-Composing 00:13:48
    • Changing Render Order 00:09:31
    • Collapsing Transformations 00:04:06
    • Parenting 00:15:39
    • Nulls 00:11:20
    • Expressions 00:14:07
17. Introduction to 3D
    • 3D Layers and Axis Modes 00:14:18
    • Working with the 3D Tools and Interface 00:20:17
    • Manipulating 3D Layers 00:06:18
    • Auto-Orienting in 3D 00:08:42
    • Cameras and Nulls 00:13:43
    • Lights and Material Options 00:13:08
    • 3D Text 00:07:37
18. Render Order and Troubleshooting
    • Standard Render Order and the Transform Effect 00:10:40
    • Collapsing Transformations 00:04:30
    • 3D Layer Interactions, Shadows, and What Breaks Them 00:07:15
    • Removing Seams with Alpha Add 00:04:15
19. Output Options
    • Rendering and Exporting with the Render Queue 00:05:45
    • Exporting to Flash Player or Flash Professional 00:04:53
    • Exporting with Adobe Media Encoder 00:05:06
    • Using Output Templates 00:03:30
    • Color Management 00:05:03