Customer Reviews

Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects (With CD-ROM) (DV Expert Series)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No matter if you are a very experienced Motion Graphics or VFX artist, or trying to break into the Industry, this book is a great tool to have in your arsenal.

I bought this book the second it was released, and it's been one of the best purchases I've made. I already own 2 other After Effects books, and this one is head and shoulders above the other two by providing complete, informative tips and suggestions for tools, including real world examples.

Also the writing style and layout is visually and interesting to read. So many of these books, are very dry, making you want to quit immediately, but not with Trish & Chris, they engage, the ready, and make it visually appealing too. In fact so much of the book is in Full Color (read every page) that I'm surprised it isn't more expensive, the printing costs alone must be very high.

There are lots and lots of projects that come with it. I haven't been through all of them yet, but those I have, were all top notch.

My advice to everybody, this is it, this is the one, go out buy it, and you'll be happy. I'm giddy over it;)

Barry Berman

This is a beautiful and amazing book in both content and style. If you have ANY interest in After Effects you simply must get this book.

The tutorials are numerous, thorough, and well thought out. Besides just teaching you the mechanics of how to use After Effects effectively, there is a lot of good information on how After Effects works internally which helps immensely in understanding how to get the most out of the program.

The companion CD ROM is a treasure in itself. It contains enough additional chapters and tech notes to fill another book as well as lots of source material to practice with and some fully functional 3rd party plug-ins to play with.

In addition to having a great teaching style, Chris and Trish obviously have a lot of real-world experience actually using After Effects to create motion graphics for paying clients. So, as an extra bonus, you get the educational benefit of seeing their design aesthetic, which is pervasive throughout the book.

You can't go wrong with this one!

If you are only going to buy one book about AE, then get this one. Is not only the best book on the subject - that I have read - but the best book about about any program I have worked with... And I have quite a collection. This two know the program like if they made it themselves. They are never patronising, they have a wonderful sense of humour at the right times, and best of all they manage to really teach you the program in such a way that you feel really really competent with it. A lot of extras includedin the cd, they went to the trouble of creating lots of versions of everything they talk about so you understand exactly. You also learned a lot about general stuff. Like video and film standards, vector and pixel art import methods and handling, etc... Nothing was overlooked. A really great book

"Creating Motion Graphics" is quite possibly the BEST aftermarket book for any software product I have ever used. Other authors would do well to take note of the Meyer's exhaustive coverage of every conceivable topic. What makes this book stand out is its focus on the "real world" aspects of AE, and not page after page of boring, un-inspiring step-by-step "tutorials" that just teach you what buttons to push. To use an old cliche, this book doesn't just give you "fish" (like the Classroom in a Book and that terrible "Real World After Effects" by Sherry London), it teaches you HOW to fish. The sections on effects, for example, explains what each effect does, but they go further by showing you interesting and novel uses of the effect that aren't entirely obvious (such as using the Polar Coordinates effect to "radiate" a text scroll).

The Meyer's actually USE After Effects daily for "real" high-level projects, and as such they have uncovered all of the tricks, nuances and gotcha's of the product that most other people don't realize until its too late. CMG is like a compilation of all the great wisdom and tips from the AE mailing-list. Every page is filled with useful information.

The attention to detail is mind-boggling. Just yesterday, in fact, I was tearing my hair out over some wierdness with Time-remapping that I couldnt figure out, so I decided to read "the bible" and learned of a obscure time-remapping "feature" which wasn't mentioned in the AE manual, and which was causing my remapped footage to not matchframe properly. This is the kind of thing that you can only figure out if you spend thousands of hours banging away at the program. There are hundreds of little gems like this throughout the book.

A wonderful added bonus is an article by one of the original creators of After Effects (during the CoSA days), recounting the interesting history behind the development of the product. I can't imagine that there was actually a time when AE didn't have transfer modes and only allowed one effect per layer!

I would agree with other reviewers that CMG is probably not the best book to start learning with if youre a complete AE newbie. It's hard to appreciate the true value of this book unless you've trudged through the AE Classroom in a Book and AE manual itself, and used the software for several "real" projects. This book fills in the gaps that all other AE references and "tutorial" books dont cover.

And please ignore all the other whiny reviewers who give CMG a low-star rating because it only shows Macintosh screenshots and keyboard shortcuts. I'm a Windows AE user, and this doesn't bother me at all, because it has no bearing on the usefulness of the information. AE on Windows and AE on the Mac are nearly identical, as are the vast majority of keyboard shortcuts. If you're too lazy to do the simple "<command key> = <control key>" and "<option key> = "<ALT key>" conversion in your head, then I can't imagine how you can have the patience to even learn AE in the first place!

Also ignore the whiners who complain about the lack of "whitespace" in the book. This is a rather petty, and even stupid thing to complain about, because considering how thick the book is, the "lack of whitespace" means you're getting even more information than you get in an offering such as Adobe's "Classroom in a Book"--which is annoyingly rife with whitespace. This book is about information, and not looking pretty on your coffee-table. Though I must say I am a bit surprised that Trish designed the type layout for the cover, as it seems very amateurish compared to her other work.

The fact is, this book is absolutely invaluable to ANY After Effects user, no matter how "advanced" you think you are. Like the Brian Maffitt Total Training tapes, you'll learn things you never knew before even in the "basic" sections of the book.

In short, get this book. It will be the best purchase you make in a long time.

As one of the first purchasers of this book, I must address the few negative comments that are in this review section. A) This book is NOT just for novice or begining users. It is an extremely thorough reference. Our company owns every book available on AE, and this is by far the best. Very well laid out, and covers nearly every topic. B) The screenshots in the book are on the Mac Platform. Finally! Nearly every designer I know is on the Mac platform (and the Mac is what AE was created on), so it makes complete sense to the 90% of the AE users out there who are on a Mac. To address one of the complaints below: If you want to know how to use Cinelook, contact DigiEffects. This book is not a dissertation on how to use every plug-in. It IS an excellent example of how a book can teach both novices and even experts a few new tricks. Kudos to the awesome illustrations!

If any book qualifies as the After Effects bible, it most certainly should be this one! Need inspiration for a certain project? Want to know the ins and outs of how to do something? Do you have trouble visualizing how this effect would affect a project? Trish & Chris are the masters of AE and they fully demonstrate that mastery here. The book even comes with a try-out version of AE4.1 and you can follow each example via a project file on the CD - and there are dozens of examples!

To be sure, this is not a book for the beginner. Get Adobe's 'Classroom in a Book' for your version and learn your chops that way. But graduate straight to this book after learning the difference between a Bezier curve and a Randy Johnson curve. You won't regret it. This book never leaves my project table - except when I take it to lunch to find another pearl of wisdom over my bagel sandwich.

I purchased AE and this book at the same time. I had to create motion graphics for a new television program our company is now producing. We learned from scratch and produced shows that are now airing on satellite TV! I could not have done it without this book. The instructions are very well written and I have succeeded in creating each and every project. The book has helped me create the graphics needed for our shows by giving me great samples and instruction that, as a beginner - I could understand easily. I should also state that my indepth knowledge of Photoshop was a definite advantage. I simply cannot wait for the sequel due in August and have already pre-ordered it. The CD-ROM included has been invaluable as well. I highly recommend this book for anyone new to AE.

I wisely decided putting off learning AE for the first few days after I got the program waiting for this book. The learning curve is indeed steep and I can't imagine learning it without some training.

Already, I've learned about keyframes and how to navigate the AE timeline fluidly. The book appears to give great tips and is well laid out-let me rephrase it has superb layout. Coupled with CD-ROM tutorials and the fact that the chapter's examples are on CD make this an all-in-one instruction kit, for those who like to read and for those that like to get hands on work right away.

"Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects" is a rare tome indeed. The book is an indispensible reference library that can be referred to when in a bind. The book acts as a great addition to Abobe's documentation, but takes the concept a step ahead.

The book also allows the AE user to add new skills and tricks to their bag. The book's elegent design is intuitive and cross-referenced and allows for learning in a myriad of ways.

CHAPTERS: The chapters are laid out in a logical way covering the broad aspects of AE. This allows the user to pick up the book and brush up on features that they need to learn or might have forgotten.

IN CHAPTER TUTORIALS: The authors also supply tuorial artwork and movies on the accompanying CD-ROM, allowing the reader to follow along with the concepts in each chapter. This is done without excluding people who might just want to read and learn without doing.

CD-ROM PDF TUTORIALS: These are my favorite. The authors have chosen some great effects that you see on current TV everyday, and they have broken them into tutorial Adobe PDF files on the CD. The files are listed according to difficulty in the book, and are tagged "Step-by-Step" or "Guided Tour." The simple presence of these is great, but the fact that they are beautiful designs make them extraordinary.

On top of all of this, the books also supplies a neat little history of the After Effects team originating with their days at CoSA.

All in all a terrifically designed book by a couple of terrific motion graphic designers, Trish & Chris Meyers.

Here you learn techniques that you can't find in any other trainings. In my opinion, you will thank to God for this book, but for a beginner that knows nothing about AE, an video training (like the Adobe Total Training by Brian Mafitti, or Boot Camp by Taz Goldstein) is necessary first. It's very dificult to learn a complex software like AE, just with a book. It has almost 500 pages. But it's the best complement for a video training available in the market, because it focuses techniques that you'll never find anywhere. It's deep and very well done. I really don't know anyone that knows After Effects so deeply as Trish and Chris Meyer. Or at least others don't show it.
For an experienced user, the second book ("After Effects in Production"), more than an complement to this first, it's something unique. Imagine yourself doing the "Adidas Performance" television commercial and so other award winning productions. You can adapt these techniques to your own motion graphics work. Can you imagine how could this change your lifes?

Thank you so much, Trish and Chris to share with us so much of your precious knowledge.