Adobe After Effects workspace.
A blue outline indicates an active panel.
AE -> Preferences -> Media & Disc Cache -> Move to temporary work.
Project Panel: library of assets.
File -> Import -> Import prepared files from wherever they have been saved (photoshop/illustrator/audio/etc…)
Timeline Panel (bottom): timeline and layers.
The right hand side is the time ruler.
Composition Panel: where we see what we are creating.
Every project in AE must have at least one composition.
Composition menu -> New composition.
Preset -> PAL D1/DV Widescreen Square Pixel
(NTSC is American)
Top section of options are standard definition.
Second section of options are high definition.
Width 1050px
Height 576px
25 Frames per second is the PAL frame rate.
Blue numbers means something is changeable - by sliding with mouse or typing.
Duration - how long? Hours : Minutes : Seconds : Milliseconds
Background colour - drag to select.
When something is selected in the project window, you get a preview and details.
The blue arrow in my timeline is the current time indicator.
Composition -> composition settings (if anything from setup needs changing afterwards)
Layer (make sure composition panel is selected) -> New -> Solid
Solid settings - change dimensions and colour.
When you add a still object to the timeline it automatically lasts for the whole duration in the same place. Use the mouse to shorten and mover the time when it is visible.
Temporal changes: Use the timeline to decide what happens when.
Spacial changes: using the composition frame to decide where objects will sit.
Keep making new layers for different components.
Move layers like in photoshop to change which is in front or behind.
You can copy and paste layers.
Double click a layer to view it in isolation.
Playing back in real time.
The preview tab lets you play/pause, skip straight to first frame or move between frames one by one.
fps - 25.00 real time 25 frames per second which is correct for this animation)
As the composition gets more complex, it will start to list a number lower than 25. It will be playing slower than it should, giving a misleading representation of time.
DONT USE PLAY BUTTON TO PLAYBACK COMPOSITION.
We need to see it at the correct pace.
Use the button on the far right instead - RAM PREVIEW.
Sometimes there is too much information to play back the while thing with RAM preview so it will only show a small section.
How to preview more of my composition:
Change the resolution (at the bottom of the composition panel) to half third/quarter.
There will be fewer pixels to process so more can be previewed in one go. Quality isn't an issue at this point because you are just looking at the movement.
->
OR
Select a certain part of the composition to be previewed.
The line below the time ruler is the workspace line which can be shortened to select a smaller section of the composition.
Layer properties
Right pointing triangle next to layer name.
Transform - all layers have these properties.
Anchor point is the centre of rotation or rescaling.
Each property has a value (blue numbers).
Rotation - first number is of full rotations, second number is for degrees.
Set different values for different properties at various points in time.
Keyframe - A point where a significant change happens during the animation.
Set up first key frame and click stopwatch next to property name that is going to be changed to set it.
Blue diamond on timeline shows a keyframe exists.
Move time ruler along and then move object and a motion path will appear.
After effects will have filled in all the in-between frames.
Add more key frames in-between if needed - represented by an anchor point.
Similar to when using vectors to manipulate a motion path.
These arrow buttons allow you to jump between keyframes, or add/remove keyframes with the middle button.
Exporting work
Composition -> Add to render queue.
Render settings -> Time span -> choose work are only or length of comp.
Output module -> format -> quicktime
Format options -> video codec -> H.264 (high quality but small file size)
Output to -> select where to save the file.
My work from today's session
After Effects Tutorial 1 from Naomi Smith on Vimeo.
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