Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC

Develop your skills as a visual effects and motion graphics artist

David Dodds

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781789345155
• eBook ISBN: 9781789343526
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Desktop Applications
• Index: Computer Science

Discover techniques to enhance your videos with complex animation

Key Features

• Design, animate, and sequence a complete motion graphics project
• Work with compositions and pre-compositions to create animations speedily
• Maximize your motion graphics and visual effects skills

Book Description

If you're thinking seriously about making and publishing your videos with professional editing and animation, look no further! Adobe After Effects is a popular tool among video editors and YouTubers to enhance their videos and bring them to life by implementing visual effects and motion graphics.

This book will take you right from the basics through to the advanced techniques in Adobe After Effects CC 2018. You will start by setting up your editing environment to learn and improve techniques to sharpen your video editing skills. Furthermore, you will work with basic and advanced special effects to create, modify, and optimize motion graphics in your videos. Lastly, you will not only learn how to create 2.5D animations, but also get to grips with using Cinema 4D Lite to build and animate complete 3D scenes.

By the end of the book, you'll have learned how to package a video efficiently with the help of the projects covered.

What you will learn

• Create a lower third project for a TV show with complex layers
• Work with shape layer animation to create an animated lyrics video
• Explore different tools to animate characters
• Apply text animation to create a dynamic film-opening title
• Use professional visual effects to create a VFX project
• Model, light, and composite your 3D project in After Effects

Who this book is for

If you're a student, professional, YouTuber, or anyone who is interested in video editing, animation, and motion graphics, this book is for you. You'll also find this resource useful if you're an Illustrator looking to put your creations in motion.

Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC

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Table of Contents

Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC

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Contributors

About the author

About the reviewer

Packt is searching for authors like you

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

To get the most out of this book

Download the color images

Conventions used

Get in touch

Reviews

I. Section 1: Text, Layers, Characters, Animation

1. Getting Started with After Effects

Technical requirements

Computer requirements

Exploring the interface

Resetting the layout

Saving your project

The project panel

Importing images

Preferences – Autosave

Creating compositions

The timelines and the toolbar

Bringing layers into your composition

Tool panel

Preview panel

Composition window

Effects panel

Introducing layer properties

Layer panel

The footage panel

The timeline panel

The timeline lifespan

Zooming into the timeline

Navigating in the timeline

Current time indicator

The workspace area

Trimming layers

Creating composition markers on your timeline

Animating a property

Animating scale

Solid layers and masking

Duplicating layers

Identifying and turning off your layers

Solo layers

Tagging your layers

Looking at transform properties

Rulers and guides

Editing masks

Editing your mask shape

Editing masks

Using the subtract-masking feature

Creating an animated slideshow

Summary

Questions

Further reading

2. Creating a Lower Third for a Television Show

Technical requirements

Animating a television lower third with precomps and null objects

Designing with storyboards

Editing masks and using precomps

Nesting precomps and using the pen tool

Animations, nulls, text, and rendering

Parenting and Null object animations

Parenting null animations

Parenting

Positioning a lower third

Creating a dark blue solid layer

The triangle pick whip

Color correction and adjusting masks

Adjusting colors

Adjusting masks

Creating text, easy easing key frames, and rendering

The type tool

The type fill

Adjusting the text

Rendering options

Summary

Questions

3. Using Shape Layers to Create an Animated Lyric Video

Using shape layers to create transitions and background graphics

Creating shape 1

Creating a new polystar shape layer

Creating a transition shape

Importing audio, text animation presets, and background graphics

Importing audio and creating composition markers

Text animators

Editing your text preset key frames

Creating an animated background shape

Summary

Questions

Further reading

4. Creating an Infographic with Character Animator

Technical requirements

Infographics

Text

Creating text on a path

Animated text

Editing and importing Illustrator files

Creating a new layer in Illustrator

The Eyedropper tool

Animation principles

Animating a monitor

Character animation types

Puppet Warp animation

Jointed animation

Adobe Character Animator

Altering Illustrator files

Character Animator interface

Animation timeline

Recording your performance

Adjusting character properties

Blending takes

Starting recording

Project settings

Exporting your animation

Importing PNG sequences

Adding the character to an infographic project

Completing your infographic

Summary

Questions

Further reading

5. Producing a Film Title Project Using Text Animator

Creating a film title

Setting up your project

Creating 3D-looking text with bevel emboss

Light animation

Using track mattes

Lens flares

Summary

Questions

Further reading

II. Section 2: Video, Visual Effects, Compositing

6. Animating Sports Graphics with Compositing Effects

Creating sports motion graphics

Setting up your project

Creating an environment

Using custom light effects

Animating flashing lights

Animating your sports logo

Adding a reflection

Creating camera movement

Creating another light shape

Animating the light glint

Add a vignette to the comp

Camera tracking a video

Compositing a logo in tracked footage

Bringing it all together

Summary

Questions

7. Develo...

Table of contents

• Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC