Covers the basics of Adobe After Effects, from color correction and keying to selection methods and motion tracking and provides tips and techniques to help readers become more productive with the program.

This is the only book on the market to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects users, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals - managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more - so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects, written by contributor and expert Dan Ebberts. An incredibly useful appendix on scripting in After Effects is included as well, written by Adobe engineer Jeff Almasol. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that are commonly seen in films and games which readers can re-create. Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new and makes this version of Adobe's effects programa must-have update, including the revolutionary new Roto Brush, all new effects such as the New Refine Matte effect, new support for Color Look-Up Tables, workflows that take advantage of the all-new 64-bit support, inclusion of third-party tools for additional creativity, and much more. Note from the publisher: FREE Adobe After Effects CS5.5 updates are available for this title. Simply register your product at www.peachpit.com/register and you will receive the updates when they become available.

This is the only book to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals—managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more—so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that readers might want to re-create. Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all new features, including the new workflow between After Effects CC and CINEMA 4D, coverage on the 3D Camera Tracker, and examples of the Refine Edge tool for high-quality matting results. Included with the book are HD media files and After Effects project files used for many of the techniques in the book, as well as demos of plug-ins that you can use to experiment with in your own effects. To access these files goto www.peachpit.com/redeem and redeem the unique code provided inside this book. Information on where to locate the code can be found on page xxvi. Author Expertise: Mark Christiansen (christiansen.com) is a visual effects supervisor and creative director and has worked on features including Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Beasts of the Southern Wild, and has served as a director, producer, designer, and compositor/animator on commercials, music videos, live events, and television documentary productions. Mark has done work directly for the Adobe After Effects development and marketing teams, is a founder at provideocoalition.com, and has taught courses at fxphd.com and Academy of Art University. He has been a guest host of popular podcasts such as “The VFX Show” and has written all editions of this book and coauthored After Effects 5.5 Magic. Mark is also founder of New Scribbler Press.

Annotation Everything you need to know to become a professional VFX whizz in one thorough and comprehensive guide.

This is the only book to focus exclusively on the creation of visual effects for After Effects, and is a one-stop resource for anyone who wants in-depth explanations that demystify the realm of visual effects and how they were created, thanks to veteran author Mark Christiansen's friendly and accessible style. A thoroughly packed, informative read, this masterful guide focuses on explaining the essential concepts, features, and techniques that are key to creating seamless movie-quality visual effects. Users who are comfortable with After Effects will find a helpful review of the fundamentals—managing footage, viewing and editing layers, animating type, and more—so they can learn how to work smarter and more efficiently. Readers of all levels will learn core techniques for effects compositing including color matching, keying, rotoscoping, motion tracking, emulating the camera, and concluding with using expressions in After Effects, written by contributor and expert Dan Ebberts. The final section of the book delves into creative explorations, demonstrating professional effects that readers might want to re-create. ¿ Readers will also find comprehensive coverage of all that's new in CS6, including variable mask feathering, Rolling Shutter Repair, Camera Tracker, and the new ray-traced 3D rendering engine which allows users to quickly design in 3D space. ¿ Included with the book are files used for many of the techniques in the book: Sample clips and projects include HD footage from Pixel Corps and Artbeats, as well as demos of plug-ins that you can use to experiment with in your own effects. All of Peachpit's eBooks contain the same content as the print edition. You will find a link in the last few pages of your eBook that directs you to the media files. Helpful tips: If you are able to search the book, search for "Where are the lesson files?" Go to the very last page of the book and scroll backwards. You will need a web-enabled device or computer in order to access the media files that accompany this ebook. Entering the URL supplied into a computer with web access will allow you to get to the files. Depending on your device, it is possible that your display settings will cut off part of the URL. To make sure this is not the case, try reducing your font size and turning your device to a landscape view. This should cause the full URL to appear.

Build your VFX arsenal with quick-access, step-by-step instruction on how to create today's hottest digital VFX shots. This essential toolkit provides techniques for creating effects seen in movies such as 300, Spiderman 3, Predator and others, with lessons on how-to: * splatter blood or digitally lop someone's arm off * create a scene with actors running from an explosion * create the "twin effect" (same actor, same location, 2 performances) * produce space-ship dog fights Organized in a ?cookbook? style, this allows you to reference a certain effect in the index and immediately access concise instructions to create that effect. Techniques are demonstrated in each of the most popular software tools- After Effects, Final Cut Studio, Shake, Photoshop, and Combustion are all covered. Brilliant, 4-color presentation provides inspiration and stimulating visual guidance to the lessons presented, while the companion DVD contains project media files enabling you to put concepts learned into immediate practice.

The author shares the techniques he uses to elevate an image from the everyday to the extraordinary, showing you how to make seemingly impossible scenarios come to life. Starting with an overview of the Adobe Photoshop interface that focuses on the hidden tools you need to know to create stunning composite imagery, this informative guide walks through all the necessary stages, from the first planning sketches to the final finishing touches, of making all kinds of unique creations. Beyond the orientation of tools, layers, adjustments and more, Bret uses step-by-step tutorials to break down a wide variety of his Photoshop artworks. Additional detailed project walkthroughs offer tips on everything from creating a superhuman to compositing an epic fantasy landscape. And interviews and spreads featuring various established and emerging artists provide a range of inspirational imagery, creative insight, and professional know-how.

Ready to learn not just the hows but also the whys behind the most powerful features of Adobe Premiere Pro? Whether you need to boost your editing skills, composite shots, or fix your audio, you’ll see immediate results when you incorporate these tested and proven techniques from the pros. Adobe Premiere Pro Studio Techniques inspires you to take your work to the next level with real-world examples and insider techniques. In it, you’ll get an in-depth view into Premiere Pro and how it works, cutting through the fat to focus on the most essential features and workflows to help busy professionals perform their jobs faster and smoother. This book goes beyond conventional step-by-step instruction, teaching you the art behind editing video that you can adapt for countless projects. Real solutions from real professionals: Learn from the top trainers and pros who know Premiere Pro in and out and explain the concepts in a clear, easy-to-read format. Editing essentials: No matter how sophisticated your editing projects, they all begin with the same building blocks. Find out what you’ve been missing about Timeline edits, trimming, creating transitions, setting audio levels, color and light matching, keying and matting, working with a variety of video formats, and more. Advanced techniques: You’ll learn best-practice techniques for setting up your system, organizing your projects, editing for single and multicam shots, perfecting the audio mix, fixing problems with color, compositing your shots, exporting your projects, and managing your workflow, including workflows with other Adobe Creative Cloud tools such as SpeedGrade and Audition. Project files provided: Work along with many of the techniques using the provided HD video clips and project files. For access, go to www.peachpit.com/redeem and redeem the unique code provided inside this book. Adobe Premiere Pro Studio Techniques will thrust you deeper into ideas and advanced methods of working with the tools. Along the way you’ll learn a bunch of tricks that make you more proficient in not only the end result, but in the details of getting there; quicker ways to get things done, shortcuts, workflow tips and ways to make your content look better and your flow to be more efficient.–From the Foreword by Jacob Rosenberg, director of Waiting for Lighting and CTO of Bandito Brothers

Covers the entire compositing process to create a variety of realistic photographs, with details on such topics as lighting, camera setup, background color, shadowing, and special effects.

Produce mind-blowing visual effects with Autodesk Maya. Gain the practical skills and knowledge you need to recreate phenomena critical to visual effects work, including fire, water, smoke, explosions, and destruction, as well as their integration with real-world film and video. In Creating Visual Effects in Maya, Maya master Lee Lanier has combined the latest studio techniques with multi-chapter, hands-on projects and professionally-vetted workflows to bolster your CG toolkit. Engaging, full-color tutorials cover: Creating foliage, fire, and smoke with Paint Effects Growing Maya Fur and nHair on clothing, characters, and sets Replicating water, smoke, sparks, swarms, bubbles, and debris with nParticles and nCloth Controlling scenes and simulations with expressions and MEL, Python, and PyMEL scripting Adding dust, fog, smoke, rippling water, and fireballs with Fluid Effects containers Creating damage with Effects presets, deformers, and animated textures Matchmoving and motion tracking with Maya and MatchMover Creating complex destruction by combining rigid bodies, nParticles, nCloth, and Fluid Effects Setting up, rendering, and compositing mental ray render passes with Autodesk Composite, Adobe After Effects, and The Foundry Nuke The companion website (www.focalpress.com/cw/lanier) features a treasure trove of Maya, MatchMover, After Effects, and Nuke project files, image sequences, texture bitmaps, and MEL, Python, and PyMEL scripts, allowing you to immediately apply the techniques taught in the book.