After Effects Apprentice, Third Edition: Real World Skills for the Aspiring Motion Graphics Artist (Apprentice Series)

After Effects is an extremely powerful program with a dizzying number of features. If you can imagine it, you can probably create it with AE. However, before you can build the complex effects you have to know how to build the simple ones. Let's face it, if you are going to become an automobile mechanic, someone has to teach you where the engine is and how to change the spark plugs (unless your car has fuel injection - which is a whole 'nother analogy). Chris and Trish Meyer are the defacto experts on this software. So, when I was searching Amazon for books to help me cut my teeth on AE, these were the authors that I wanted to find.I have used other motion graphics software (such as Boris RED) that can do a great deal of what AE does. But, when you want to create the really great, complex stuff, you need After Effects - it is the industry standard. Proficiency in this software can open doors to any aspiring motion graphics artist. When it comes to learning really complex software, I like to attack it in increments, learn something new, absorb it, try it, come back to it again and again until it becomes second nature. This book helps me meet those goals. While I understand the basic principles that are being outlined in this book (due to my experience with other similar software), I don't always know WHERE those functions are in AE and how best to utilize them. The Meyers present the basics - with each new chapter building on the previous lesson. The materials included on the DVD (included with the book) gave me just what I needed to get started.Additionally, once you are done with each lesson, the Meyers were careful to include a finished version of what the compostion should look like, You can compare your projects against their versions and get a good sense if you are "getting" what they are trying to teach you.Once I am done with this book I will look to get something with more depth to it. But you have to learn to walk before you can run. This is just the book to help you to do that.

Starting to use the application After Effects is like beginning a journey through the centre of the Amazon rainforest. It's big, scary, mysterious and amazing. After Effects Apprentice is a guide to get you deep into the forest without getting hopelessly lost. It is laid out well, and clearly explains the important concepts and techniques you'll need to attain at least the beginnings of mastery of AE.But, I have to confess that I have also purchased the Class On Demand online version of this book, and therefore use the book more as a supplement and reference than the primary source of my learning.Extracts from the video/online course are included in the extras/resource disk that comes with the book.I suspect that learning with the book alone would be a significantly greater struggle for me. That's because there are so many details to be aware of - so many tricks and traps that are covered and reinforced in the videos, but exist only as sidebars, or are mentioned once or twice in the body of the text. On the other hand, I'm extremely pleased to have a hard copy of the book, so that I can easily turn to the appropriate page to remind myself about something that is buried in the videos. AE Apprentice is a fine book, but becomes exceptionally valuable when used in parallel to the video version.

PhotoDelux which is the 1980s and 1990s version of Photoshop, was intuitive and easy to use. Since then, Adobe had gone the anti-intuitive route, using symbols and hard to understand formats which must be deciphered as if the are hieroglyphics. After Effects is a continuation of the anti-intuitive mind-set . Tremendous patience, and a lot of time, is not enough. Nor do online videos do the trick.The After Effects Apprentice is an extremely helpful tool, which takes a step by step approach, and presenting lots of self-explanatory pictures and illustrations to guide the way. Unfortunately, not all the pictures/illustrations are self-explanatory, and not uncommonly the reader will be presented with an illustration of some AE features or components which have not been explained but which are essential to continue with the lesson plan of the book.Likewise, on almost every other page, the authors of The After Effects Apprentice, ask the reader to perform some operation some aspects of which require advanced knowledge but without any explanation of how to do it or what they mean. In other words, this book is written for those with no knowledge and those with advanced knowledge, or who already are familiar with AE.I'm a smart guy. I've mastered quantum physics, but I have found that I spend a lot of time on each page, just to follow the lesson plan and track down the advanced concepts or operations the authors did not bother to adequately explain.What about the video-lesson plans they offer in the DVD which comes with the book? Sorry. There are no video-lesson plans. Instead, the authors refer the reader to their website and offer a 'free pass" to view these videos. Sorry again. That page and that "free pass" does not exist. Instead, if you wish to view those videos, you have to pay.Even so, despite these short-commings, this is still an excellent book. In fact, unless you have a private instructor, this book is essential if you want to learn After Effects. The positives far outweigh the negatives. Yes, I have found it very slow going, but I strongly recommend this book.

Ben spiegato con esercizi da seguire, non esistono pari in lingua italiana che io sappia. Consigliato per iniziare a muovere i primi passi con questo programma.

Clear,concise and great for all levels whether beginner or advanced

Imprescindible si quieres aprender a usar AE desde 0.Totalmente práctico, con ejercicios, ideas y trucos.Al ser eminentemente práctico estarás creando composiciones en AE desde la página 1, lo que lo hace divertido, ameno y muy muy útil.Lo recomiendo a cualquiera que está empezando con AE y quiera progresar de una forma gradual y rigurosa.

You really learn something from this book+videos.Complex subjects made simple bij cris en trish. I even make expressions now and than tnx to them

ottimo libro .Indicato per tutti quelli che vogliono imparare bene a usare bene After Effects .Ricordo che Chris e Trish Meyer ( autori del libro ) sono dei veri master guru