Adobe After Effects CC Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques

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.

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.

Table of Contents
Ch 1: Composite in AE
Ch 2: The Timline
Ch 3: Selection: the Key to Composititng
Ch 4: Optimize Projects
Ch 5: Color Correction
Ch 6: Color Keying
Ch 7: Rotoscoping and Paint
Ch 8: Effective Motion Tracking
Ch 9: The Camera and Optics
Ch 10: Expression
Ch 11: Adv Color Options and HDR
Ch 12: Color and Light
Ch 13: Climate and the Environment
Ch 14: Pyrotechnics: Heat, Fire, Explosions