Creative After Effects 5.0: animation, visual effects and motion graphics production for TV and video [Paperback]

Angie Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0240516222 | ISBN-13: 978-0240516226 | Edition: Bk&CD

In this dynamic new text Angie Taylor provides a comprehensive guide to the fundamental workings of After Effects, explaining how to think creatively with the software, so that you can achieve the most unique and professional-looking results. Also included are lots of invaluable tips, tricks, ideas, animation rules, design and typography rules and details of other resources you will find useful.




The free CD-ROM provides the necessary files to complete each tutorial in the book, as well as a plethora of free fonts, footage, plugins and demo software (including Adobe's After Effects 4.1 Tryout version). Readers are also encouraged to build their own, custom project, applying the techniques learned in each chapter, and completing the book with a totally unique piece of work. The associated website (www.angie.abel.co.uk/book.html) contains links to interesting related sites for up to date news, as well as inspirational work from other professional After Effects artists.

If you are a designer already using After Effects and want to improve and reconfirm your working methods, brush up on your creative skills, and improve your graphic and animation techniques, or if you simply need to learn After Effects from scratch, then this is the book for you.



FREE CROSS-PLATFORM CD-ROM INCLUDES:
AFTER EFFECTS TEMPLATES
EXTRAS
FREE STUFF
- FONTS
- FOOTAGE
- PLUGINS
MOVIES
SOFTWARE DEMOS (INCLUDES ADOBE® AFTER EFFECTS® 5.0 TRYOUT VERSION)
TRAINING MATERIALS

· Unique book and CD package shows you how to get the best out of After Effects 5.0
· Exclusive FREE password protected 5.5 tutorials covering various topics are available on the web when you purchase this book
· CD is a comprehensive resource with all the tools needed to complete the exercises in the book

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Of all the After Effects books I looked at whilst trying to learn it, I found Angie's was the most user-friendly and creative."
Chris Cunningham - director of music videos, commercials and video art

"Angie has a knack for demystifying the intricacies of After Effects and coming up with creative uses of the features."
Steve Kilisky, Senior Product Manager, After Effects, Adobe Systems Inc.

"Angie Taylor is the best After Effects teacher I know. She goes beyond technical descriptions of features, and shows you how best to use them in real-world projects."
Bruce Bullis, Senior API Engineer, Adobe Dynamic Media, Adobe Systems Inc.

"This book takes you on a roller coaster ride through the world of creating animation and special effects with Adobe After Effects. It is much more than just a software manual, Angie Taylor seeks to stimulate the creative use of computer animation. Complex technical issues are clearly and concisely explained, making it suitable for beginners and the more advanced users. Creative After Effects is the ideal companion for all students of computer animation and motion graphics."
Birgitta Hosea, Course Director, London Animation Studio, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London.

Angie Taylor's work is inspired. She is a highly creative animator - inventive, witty and naturally sympathetic to individual programme's styles.
Carys Edwards, Director, Children's BBC

'This book has an inventive approach to developing the creative skills of the reader. The upshot being that, whilst working through the book, readers actually create their own unique work that they can add to their portfolio, rather than spending time with unoriginal exercise material that they can't use.'
DIGIT magazine

'There's nothing more frustrating than devising the perfect solution to a design brief and then not knowing how to fully realise it. If you want to be able to create eye-catching motion graphics then "Creative After Effects 5.0" by Angie Taylor should be the answer... this is the book all After Effects users have been waiting for - written by an animator for animators. Taylor has obviously thoroughly researched her subject, and engages the reader with her personal approach. The book is well designed with clear, easy-to-follow instructions, and plenty of screen grabs. It will soon have even a complete beginner enthused and ready to create their own sequences.

What's different to other manuals is the lack of the usual 'do this, then this, to get this' feel. For technophobes like me, it allows - indeed insists on - the reader having fun in creating sequences and anticipates when you may come unstuck with uncanny accuracy.

The free CD (Mac and PC) is full of goodies, including some great technical guides and links. Taylor has included demo versions of the software, and all related files necessary to complete the tutorials.

It's great for those of you who already use After Effects to improve your skills, and via the associated Web site share hints and tips for an easier life. While it doesn't cover everything - and couldn't - it certainly gives the best grounding possible in comparison to other books available.

Macworld's buying advice: I defy anyone in computer animation and motion graphics not to benefit from this excellent book.'
Kerry Cathro, Macworld magazine (this book was awarded a Macworld 5-Star rating ***** as a result of this review)

'The book is designed as a course in After Effects 5.0 and is accompanied by a CD-ROM with all the files needed to complete the tutorials. There is also an associated website with information and help from other After Effects users.'
Dope Sheet the ASIFA UK magazine

'...your knowledge of After Effects will be enhanced by the book. Enjoyable read. Rich chapters on Time, Tracking and Type... Buy Angie's book. No question. Buy it.'
David Bogie, review for CreativeCOW.net

"An invaluable read"
Zerb

From the Publisher

The free CD-ROM provides the necessary files to complete each tutorial in the book. Readers are also encouraged to build their own, custom project, applying the techniques learned in each chapter, completing the book with a totally unique piece of work. The associated website contains links to interesting related sites for up to date news, as well as inspirational work from professional After Effects artists.If you are a designer already using After Effects and want to improve and reconfirm your working methods, brush up on your creative skills, and improve your graphic and animation techniques, or if you simply need to learn After Effects from scratch, then this is the book for you.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; Bk&CD edition (September 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240516222
• ISBN-13: 978-0240516226
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Angie Taylor is an art director, animator, illustrator and motion graphic designer. The author of three books; two "Creative After Effects" books (versions 5 and 7) , and "Design Essentials for the motion media artist" published by Focal Press. She is the author of "After Effects CS5 Learn by Video" DVD training title published by video2brain.

Angie studied Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art (Heriot-Watt University) and has enjoyed a successful, fourteen year career as a Motion Graphic artist producing animation, visual effects and motion graphics for companies such as the BBC and Channel 4 television. She has worked on music videos and films with several renowned directors such as Chris Cunningham and John Williams.

She now runs her own business in the UK helping other creative professionals realize their goals. Angie has provided bespoke training and consultancy to companies including; BBC; Channel 4; Channel 5; Carlton; HTV; B Sky B; MTV.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Add it to your AE resources, December 26, 2001

By 

David B. bogie "bogiesan" (Boise, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative After Effects 5.0: animation, visual effects and motion graphics production for TV and video (Paperback)

Angie's instructional materials and projects will definitely help you learn how to begin using AE5's 3 major new features: 3D, Expressions, and Parenting. Tracking and keying get thorough treatments. She also offers some background in the history and craft of animation as well as advice on how to nurse a project through the creative mill from concept, storyboard, client pitch, and revisions.
The work is not without flaws but, compared to the other After Effects resources in print, this is a valuable book to have on your shelf, in my opinion. I enjoyed it very much.
I've got every AE resource in print, I think. Two or three of them were complete wastes of paper and you can probably find my opinions of them ...
For beginners, I always recommend Adobe's CIB for AE5. After slogging thru those projects either Angie's book or Creative Motion Graphics would beq worthy followup. For the advanced power user, there is no question that the Meyer's two books are THE standard reference pieces. For additional inspiration, another approach to effects design, and some lighthearted whimsy, Angie's book comes in a decent third place.

You can see an extensive review of Angie Taylor's After Effects 5.0 book that I have written at ...

david bogie, boise ID

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars From someone who's read it.........., October 18, 2001

By 

Chris Carson (London UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative After Effects 5.0: animation, visual effects and motion graphics production for TV and video (Paperback)

This book is good. Although it could possibly be a little advanced for most people. Especially absolute beginners. The author, because she's had several years of experience and has got the program down to a fine art, mistakenly expects the same level of technical expertise from her readers. She also doesn't explain herself very well, which makes it difficult to follow. A few little words such as "Let me show you a few examples", for instance would differentiate between doing the exercise, which you think you are, and being given examples with which to observe. Instead of getting yourself tied up in knots not knowing what you're supposed to be doing. After each chapter you're expected to put what you've just learned into your own project and be able to draw upon the same level of technical expertise as the author. Which in most cases ordinary folks aren't going to be able to do. This makes for a frustrating reader experience. It's like the educator who rattles off the subject at 90 mph, and then can't understand why the students can't keep up (as one of the acknowledgement contributors listed on the back cover, has a habit of doing, and then stands back in amazement as the students drift away). Be prepared to use your initiative (several files are missing from the cd), have patience and possibly read the book twice in order to get the best from it, and you wont go too far wrong. It's also an early example of the short & concise, to the point, generation of books we've all been looking forward to. That hopefully will quickly replace the fat bloated, time consuming, long winded volumes we've all had to painfully endure in the past. In this respect Angie Taylor leads the way.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a must have book!, October 15, 2002

By 

Tina Fratnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia Slowenien) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative After Effects 5.0: animation, visual effects and motion graphics production for TV and video (Paperback)

When i first got the AE,i just opened them,felt totally stupid and after 1 minute i closed them and i swore never to open them again ( sounds familiar to you? )...until i bought Angie's book on AE.It's basically an excellent book,you start off with simple things and you even learn the intimidating stuff like scripting, expressions,parenting and 3D with total ease (i never even dare to dream about scripting...).The book is far away from those dull&boring "computer" books with just plain theory and no practice.So if you wanna learn AE,look no further,just go and get this book!