Revolutionary After Effects 5.5

However, if you know already know anything about bezier curves & keyframes, you'll want to go with a more advanced book on AE. For beginners, though, the pace is perfect. You'll find yourself ready for more after wading through this one.

This is a great book to get up to speed fast with After Effects.It also has some excellent explanations as to when and why you use certain options for imports, exports, renders, fields, 3:2 pulldown, etc.The book has some examples to work through that teach you a lot, but its also a great reference book, when you come across issues while you're working, you can usually find an answer quickly from the index or table of contents.I've worked through the whole book and feel I know After Effects really well now, but I still get use out of the book as a reference for some of those sticky situations you encounter with FX and motion graphics.

This book really rocks. Within minutes you are knee deep in After Effects tools & menus and really getting to grips with the program. The content is meaty and the exercises can be applied time & time again to different projects. What really appeals to me is the Case Studies with the project files on CD. This is a great way of getting familiar with the variety of options in After Effect and also a bit of an insight as to how each author tackles their projects.I've been editing video for years and have always used these study manuals to improve my technique,this book really is a cut (pun intended) above the rest. No time wasting, no jargon, just learning through practice. As a novice to After Effects I may not be totally qualified in reviewing this book, but all I can say is that it has helped me considerably in understanding how After Effects works, it is a book I shall be returning to time & time again for reference and for progressive learning (The Case Studies really are cool). Finally the book is easy to read, simple to follow and the step-by-step sequences keep you in control all the way.