The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide [Paperback]

Chad Perkins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240811453 | ISBN-13: 978-0240811451 | Publication Date: January 29, 2009 | Edition: 1

Covers CS4 This cookbook contains recipe after recipe that allow you to harness the full power of the native plug-in effects in the After Effects application. In a step-by-step manner, author Chad Perkins guides you through the creation and application of each and every native plug-in effect available for use in the AE toolset. The book also shows you how each can be used optimally in your media project, when and why it makes sense to use each, and also how to combine multiple effects. From color correction effects to distortion effects to stimulation effects and all in between, this book puts the full power of the AE plug-in effects in your hands. It shows you how to create, among others: - the shatter effect - the fractal noise effect - the glow effects - the Particle playground effect - the 3D Channel Extract effect - the Colorama effect A CD that contains tutorial project files is included with the book, allowing you to work hand-in-hand with the lessons in the book. All exercise files on the CD are for use in CS4 only. Non-exercise files on the CD are compatible with any version of After Effects.

* Fully harness the power of AE with ingredient-by-ingredient recipes for creating effects using the native plug-ins in After Effects
* Features inspiring 4 color presentation and insight into when and why certain effects should be used
* Companion CD features tutorial project files allowing you to work hand-in-hand with the lessons in the book
* All exercise files on the CD are for use in CS4 only. Non-exercise files on the CD are compatible with any version of After Effects.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...grouped into chapters that follow the same listings as the sequence the effects appear in the plug-in menu.... the book is well written and copiously populated with full colour images illustrating the concepts... a disc is provided which is packed with project files that relate to the examples in the book and allow you to jump straight to the learning without having to set up each new example to match the lesson.

Also included on the disc are three more short chapters designed to give you a mental jump start when you are running low on ideas. Suggestions about combining effects to achieve new results can often fire a spark in your mind that can lead to a new solution for a problem you are stuck on.

This book is going to remain on my desk for the foreseeable future, ready whenever i need a quick fix of inspiration or just to refresh myself about a specific effect.
If you use Adobe After Effects, then the chances are you will find something useful, informative and inspiring in this book. Highly recommended."
-- Adam Taylor, Studio Manager, Character Options Ltd

About the Author

Chad Perkins is an Adobe Certified Instructor and Expert in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects, Premiere, and was one of the first in the world to be a Certified Expert in Adobe Encore DVD. Chad also owns Aveconta, an architectural rendering studio that creates photo-realistic renders from AutoCAD drawings and blueprints. Chad served for over two years as the Digital 3D and Animation Specialist at a leading lenticular art creation facility in Southern California, where he produced finished art for Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Disney, among others. True to his passion for movies and animation, Chad is currently directing and producing an all-CGI short film.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (January 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240811453
• ISBN-13: 978-0240811451
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but still slightly disappointing, August 28, 2009

By 

GameMaker (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide (Paperback)

First let me say that I'm a big Chad Perkins fan. His books and especially his video training series are great. You can't help but love his enthusiasm and depth of knowledge. So I eagerly snapped this book up when I was faced with a project that required me to do a lot of special effects that I basically had no clue how to do. This seemed like the perfect book for that.

Well, after having it a while, and reading some of the sections, I have kind of mixed feelings. What I was really hoping for was a good reference. A book that I could keep on my bookshelf and when I wanted to figure out how to use a certain effect in After Effects, I'd look up that effect in the appendix, turn to the chapter, and read what the various knobs mean and how to effectively use it. Sadly, it's not really that kind of book. It is well organized, and it contains a lot of good information. But when you look up an effect, instead of getting a very concise explanation of how it works and what the knobs do, Chad give you more of "here's one way you can use it".

Anyhow, decent book, I'm glad that I got it. Reading through the chapters is interesting and instructive, but I'm still left looking for an ideal reference manual to the effects in After Effects.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the BEST, January 31, 2009

By 

Daniel D. Orlando "Dan Orlando" (Tempe, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide (Paperback)

I've recently been reading a lot of books on creating motion graphics, and I must say that "The After Effects Illusionist" is definitely top 3, and quite possibly my number 1 favorite. I absolutely love the simplicity of the organizational structure of the book. Instead of organizing the content in a way that the author assumes the reader should see it, the author instead simply goes through every single one of the 189 effects included with After Effects CS4 in alphabetical order, the same exact way that they are listed in the Effects and Presets panel in After Effects. Additionally, the tutorials are incredibly easy to follow, and my favorite thing - the best part of this book - is the DVD that comes with it... It is quite apparent right away the amount of time and effort author Chad Perkins must have put into writing this book by the 1.96 gigabytes of data on the DVD. On this DVD, I was pleasantly surprised to find a boat-load of example projects that the author made for you to use as "starting points" so you can literally learn by doing. Often I will go through a particular tutorial on an effect, and then put the book down and just continue to mess around with the project based on the information I just learned.

Bottom line - this is an incredible learning tool if you want to become the next multimedia "illusionist" using After Effects. This is one of few books I can honestly say has far more value than it's price.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Time, May 6, 2009

By 

D. B. Ross - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The After Effects Illusionist: All the Effects in One Complete Guide (Paperback)

As an After Effects user for more than 10 years, I can't recommend this book highly enough. To have a resource that illustrates and explains ALL of the effects that ship with the program, you know, the ones you generally pass by on your way to your favorite third party plug ins, is long overdue. Though the subject has the potential to bog down and be dry, it never does thanks to the excellent humor and fullness of understanding of the author. Chad seems to be the sort of instructor that is infinitely patient, totally prepared and completely sincere while passing on a great deal of knowledge and keeping things fun. Again, I highly recommend this book.