Creating Motion Graphics for After Effects

5th Edition for AE CS5

Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Fifth Edition for CS5 includes new chapters on Roto Brush, mocha v2 for AE, and using 3D effects. Please note that you need CS5 or later to open the projects on the DVD. Order CMG5 on Amazon.

After Effects CS5.5 and CS6 includes several significant new features that will be of interest to both motion graphics and visual effects artists - as well as smaller refinements that make everyday work easier. Rather than make you buy an entirely new edition of Creating Motion Graphics to learn them, we've created a series of videos about our favorite new and enhanced features. Nearly all of these videos use exercise files that are included with CMG5 as their starting point, so you can easily follow along:

– AE CS5.5 New Creative Techniques is available for free through AdobeTV. We've collected and indexed these movies in our CMG Keyframes blog at ProVideo Coalition.com. The CS5 videos appear at higher resolution on lynda.com as CS5.5 New Creative Techniques.

– The video series covering the After Effects CS6 New Features is available to subscribers at lynda.com. For a free 7-day pass to lynda.com, please see our Online Training page.

– Class on Demand also sells the CS5 and CS6 new feature videos as a bundle.

We also have a series on our PVC CMG Keyframes blog called "Creating Motion Graphics Hidden Gems" highlighting tips from each chapter of CMG.

Trish and Chris Meyer share seventeen years of real-world film and video production experience inside the critically acclaimed Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects. More than a step-by-step review of the features in After Effects, you will learn how the program thinks so that you can realize your own visions more quickly and efficiently. This 768-page full-color book is packed with tips, gotchas, and sage advice that will help users thrive no matter what projects they might encounter.

Creating Motion Graphics 5th Edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect the new features introduced in both After Effects CS4 and CS5 in one massive, essential reference. New chapters cover the revolutionary new Roto Brush feature, as well as mocha and mocha shape. The 3D section has been expanded to include working with 3D effects such as Digieffects FreeForm plus workflows including Adobe Repoussé, Vanishing Point Exchange, and 3D model import using Adobe Photoshop Extended. The print version is also accompanied by a DVD that contains project files* and source materials for all the techniques demonstrated in the book, as well as nearly 200 pages of bonus chapters on subjects such as expressions, scripting, and effects. (*Note: Project files are for CS5; they are not backward compatible with CS4.)

Topics include:

Mastering animation through the use of keyframes, motion paths, and the Graph Editor
Blending imagery using alpha channels, masks, mattes, modes, and stencils
Building groups and hierarchies through parenting and nested compositions
Extended coverage of type animation, paint tools and 3D space
New CS5 features including Roto Brush, mocha v2 for AE, and the Digieffects Freeform
Advanced subjects such as keying, motion tracking, mocha, expressions, integrating with 3D applications, and video issues
Extensive coverage of recently added features such as Shape and Puppet tools, Per-character 3D text, Brainstorm, Cartoon effect, color management, and more!
The DVD also includes almost 200 pages of additional information, including lengthy Bonus Chapters on Expressions and Effects.

USER LEVEL: All

Errata

If you own Creating Motion Graphics, we have an errata page that you might want to check out.

Book DVD

If a DVD that came with one of our books is damaged, please contact Dennis McGonagle at Focal Press for a replacement:

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Creating Motion Graphics – 4th Edition
for After Effects CS3

Essential and Advanced Techniques

ISBN: 978-0-240-81010-2
Paperback: 704 pages, full color, with DVD
Published by Focal Press, 2007

Download Table of Contents (PDF)

A free chapter outlining in detail the differences between After Effects CS3 and CS4 - with project files - is available from Focal Press at www.cmg4cs4.com. * Oops! Link seems to be broken at Focal Press's site. Click here to download ZIP (18MB) of PDF and associated project files.

Creating Motion Graphics – 3rd Edition
for After Effects 6.5

Volume 1: The Essentials

ISBN-10: 1578202493
ISBN-13: 978-1578202492

Published by Focal Press, 2004

Download Table of Contents (PDF)

Creating Motion Graphics – 3rd Edition
for After Effects 6.5

Volume 2: Advanced Techniques

ISBN-10: 1578202698
ISBN-13: 978-1578202690

Published by Focal Press, 2005

Download Table of Contents (PDF)

Creating Motion Graphics – 2nd Edition
for After Effects 5.5

Volume 1: The Essentials

ISBN-10: 1578201144
ISBN-13: 978-1578201143

Published by CMP Books, 2002

Download Table of Contents (PDF)

Creating Motion Graphics – 2nd Edition
for After Effects 5.5

Volume 2: Advanced Techniques

ISBN-10: 1578202078
ISBN-13: 978-1578202072

Published by CMP Books, 2003

Download Table of Contents (PDF)

Key to Translations

Please note that overseas publishers change the covers and titles of our books when they translate them. The list below is a key to the various translations of Creating Motion Graphics:

CMG3 Vol 1 Spanish SPANISH TRANSLATION
Creating Motion Graphics –
3rd Edition for After Effects 6.5
Volume 1: The Essentials