Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Essential and Advanced Techniques, 4th Edition

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Just about everything you need to know about After Effects, November 23, 2009
By Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA)
Winter is coming to Chicago. Lots of evenings at home ahead, while the temperatures drop and snow falls outside. Good time to (at last) learn how to use he After Effects program included with Creative Suite 3 (CS3). Since Adobe no longer includes anything that could be considered as an actual user's manual, a person hoping to learn the program on his or her own needs to turn to the web where there is a lot of good, but disconnected, material or a book.

"Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Essential and Advanced Techniques, 4th Edition" is an absolute gem. In 671 densely packed pages, husband and wife team Chris and Trish Meyer walk you through After Effects from start to finish. It is quite a trip.

There isn't much warm-up, no cuddly language describing the history of After Effects or silly jokes: the Meyers dive right into the interface and never stop. The approach is one power users and, particularly, power learners will appreciate. The book moves at a very fast pace and assumes you are very familiar with your computer, operating system and at least passingly familiar with other pieces of the Adobe Creative Suite. The authors suggest that those wanting a "more structured, tutorial=oriented approach" look at their other book, "After Effects Apprentice.

"Creating Motion Graphics" is essentially a textbook intended for teaching. The chapters are arranged logically and move very quickly. From an introduction to the interface, you are plunked into the After Effects concept of a "composition", the essential working environment and then into basic animation. There are few wasted words in this book. The examples - and there are many of them - are well thought out and all the material you need is provided on the accompanying CD.

The Meyers' writing style is well suited to teaching. It is direct and unconvoluted. The design really adds to the usability of the book as a teaching aid. There are numerous call-outs for tips, warnings and the occasional factoid.

This is a fast-track teaching tool, but that doesn't mean you'll whiz through it in a few days. After Effects is a program very rich in features and to their credit, the Meyers describe what appear to be all of them. It will take weeks, if not a few months, to work your way through this book and that is with the assumption that you are devoting a couple of hours a day to it.


With another Chicago winter about to begin, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be doing while the cold winds blow outside. Thank you, Trish and Chris for truly putting a classroom on Adobe After Effects into a book.

Jerry



Two Thumbs Up!, November 19, 2009
By TomR
When I first wanted to learn how to use After Effects some years ago, I purchased an earlier edition of Creating Motion Graphics and went through the tutorials in the book. I could tell Trish and Chris Meyer take great care in pulling together the content for their books.

With the 4th Edition, I used it more as a reference book, just looking up the newer features and changes to the After Effects interface to get myself back up to speed. No matter how you decide to use Creating Motion Graphics, it is chock full of valuable tips and hints drawn from the Meyers' years of experience working in After Effects. I highly recommend this resource to anyone.



Review, November 11, 2009
By Emily Price
I was required to get the book for a specific class, It was delivered on time, and has helped me learn After Effects much more efficiently than if I had not purchased the book. It is a good read if you are learning on your own.



Good book. Very cheap binding, October 22, 2009
By Mark Twain (USA)
Comprehensive companion book to AE. Binding is stupidly cheap. After little use, pages are falling out of the book.



Awesome, June 12, 2009
By Shannon M (Arizona)
This is an incredibly thorough book. I am new to After Effects and this book has been very helpful in teaching me this complex program. The DVD that comes with the book is great too as it allows you to practice the techniques as you read about them. And at almost 700 pages plus additional digital chapters, you are definitely getting your money's worth.

One caveat is that if you have no experience at all with motion graphics, effects and the like, this book may be a little complex for you. However these authors also have a book called "The After Effects Apprentice" which is supposedly more basic, although I have not used it.