Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Vol. 1 (3rd Ed., Version 6.5): Volume 1: The Essentials [With DVD]

I bought this book as a person relatively new to After Effects. Several people pointed me to "Creating Motion Graphics" and I can see why. This book is so stuffed with valuable information. Whether you're new to AE or experienced, this is a valuable training tool. Instructions are clear and concise. You'll learn everything from the AE interface to mattes, masking, 3D camera work, and on and on... I felt like the book had paid for itself after the first chapter (and I already kind of knew my way around the program). If you're looking for a good resource to learn After Effects, the Creating Motion Graphics series is about as good as it gets.

This is a book about THINKING in After Effects. It's one of the best software tutorials I've ever read because it is written from a production point of view. It's not a catalog of features and effects, nor is it a series of technical monographs grouped by functionality and interspersed with a few screencaps (*cough* after effects 5 bible *cough*). It's grouped by things you need to accomplish in production and written simply & clearly with copious full-color screen grabs. Sidebars handle technical detail, workarounds, and asides. What Trish and Chris are doing you is guiding you through work habits they've garnered in 10 years of working with this app in a relaxed, conversational way. Thumbs Up!Hint for reading this book: When you start each chapter, read all the sidebars and callouts first as a warmup, then go back and read everything.

Now in an updated and expanded second edition which covers version 5.5, Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects Volume 1: The Essentials is an eye-opening, full-color reference and tutorial written for Adobe "After Effects" users of all skill and experience levels. "Learner friendly" step-by-step tutorials effectively teach the reader how to exploit the animation capabilities of the software from layering, to learning how to represent motion paths and velocity, to masking, track mattes, and lighting in three dimensions, and more. A superb "how-to" self-teaching and highly recommended reference for aspiring computer artists and digital video makers, Creating Motion Graphics With After Effects is accompanied with a CD-ROM containing a completed user-oriented and accessible tutorial enhanced with hundreds of movies, stills, objects and audio clips, as well as the tryout version of Adobe After Effects 5.5 for the Macintosh or Windows.

This is my second book for AE, i have the first edition and second edition now. It was a great book also. At first its a little more oriented for begginers but at least they show you how they have done some promos for some places. Now, if they do some effects to a movie, change its color, or just change anything.. they tell you why they wanted to change it. They give you a CD and the book is like an instruction booklet on how to use the CD, they give you instructions step by step on how to make the animation that they did. I recomend this book!I have been using AE for about a year and some months with this book I still have learned some new tricks. They also give you Free plug ins from various programs like Boris, Continuum etc.