User manual ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0

© 2001 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe After Effects 5.0 User Guide for Windows and Macintosh If this guide is distributed with software that includes an end-user agreement, this guide, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. Except as permitted by any such license, no part of this guide may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Please note that the content in this guide is protected under copyright law even if it is not distributed with software that includes an end-user license agreement. The content of this guide is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the informational content contained in this guide. Please remember that existing artwork or images that you may want to include in your project may be protected under copyright law. The unauthorized incorporation of such material into your new work could be a violation of the rights of the copyright owner. Please be sure to obtain any permission required from the copyright owner. Any references to company names in sample templates are for demonstration purposes only and are not intended to refer to any actual organization. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All references to PostScript on the screen or in this manual are references either to the PostScript interpreter or to the PostScript language. Apple, Macintosh, and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U. S. and other countries. FireWire, QuickTime, and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used under license. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Macromedia and Flash are trademarks of Macromedia Inc. MPEG Layer 3 audio compression technology is licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and Thompson. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Contains an implementation of the LZW algorithm licensed under U.S. Patent 4,558,302. Notice to U.S. government end users. The software and documentation are "Commercial Items," as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. §2.101, consisting of "Commercial Computer Software" and "Commercial Computer Software Documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 C.F.R.. §12.212 or 48 C.F.R. §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users (a) only as Commercial items and (b) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein. Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. Adobe Systems Incorporated, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 94110-2704, USA. For U.S. Government End Users, Adobe agrees to comply with all applicable equal opportunity laws including, if appropriate, the provisions of Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (38 USC 4212), and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the regulations at 41 CFR Parts 60-1 through 6060, 60-250 ,and 60-741. The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference. Part number: 90027945 (3/01) iii Contents Introduction Registration ............................................ 1 ........................... 1 ........................... 1 Installing Adobe After Effects Learning Adobe After Effects Using Web resources Customer support Other learning resources ................................... 3 ............................... 5 ...................................... 5 .................... 9 An Overview of Adobe After Effects Superior Adobe product integration Powerful masking 2D & 3D compositing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Extensive motion controls Flexible media handling Web delivery Leading-edge video and audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Production Bundle features What's New in After Effects 5.0 Precise control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Enhanced productivity Versatile output options Working with Projects, Windows, and Palettes Chapter 1 Working in a project Planning your project Time basics Setting up a project Correcting mistakes Setting preferences Using context menus Using windows Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 . . . . . . 53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Selecting 16-bpc color depth (PB only) Customizing the workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Composition, Layer, and Footage window controls Info palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 iv CONTENTS Preparing and Importing Footage Chapter 2 How After Effects works with imported files . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Preparing a still-image file for import into After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Importing files into a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . . . . . 77 Importing a sequence of still-image files Importing Adobe Photoshop files Importing an After Effects project Importing Adobe Premiere projects Importing 3D-image files Importing an audio file Importing Cineon files Importing footage containing an alpha channel Importing an Adobe Illustrator, PDF, or EPS file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Preparing motion footage for import Using interlaced video in After Effects Removing 3:2 pulldown from video transferred from film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Setting pixel aspect ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Building a Composition Chapter 3 Working with imported footage Creating a composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 . . . . . . . 108 Replacing and substituting footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Understanding basic composition settings Adding footage items to a composition Nesting a composition Using the Composition window Using the Timeline window Understanding advanced composition settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Managing Layers Chapter 4 Adding layers to compositions Creating new layers Rearranging layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Customizing layer work and views Understanding trimming Using markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 v About After Effects Audio/Video switches Altering appearances on the layer level Using audio layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Animating Layers Chapter 5 About layer properties Understanding keyframes Setting keyframes Moving keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 . . . . . . 170 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Moving and copying keyframes Determining where to set and modify keyframes Setting layer position Modifying a motion path Changing the number of visible motion-path keyframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Using Motion Sketch to draw a motion path Smoothing motion and velocity Creating motion paths with masks Setting layer size . . . . . . . . . . . 175 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 . . . . . . . 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Flipping a layer using Scale property keyframes Setting layer opacity Setting layer rotation Rotating a layer along a motion path Setting and animating an anchor point Understanding parent layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Setting and animating a layer property in the Timeline window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Setting and animating mask properties Setting and animating effects Setting preview options Previewing animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Setting Video Preview preferences vi CONTENTS Fine-tuning Animation Chapter 6 Controlling change through interpolation Comparing interpolation methods Changing the interpolation method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Using the Value graph to change a layer property value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Adding keyframes to a Value graph Factors affecting speed Fine-tuning speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Controlling speed along a motion path Time-stretching a layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Using the Time-Reverse Keyframes keyframe assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Reversing the playback direction of a layer About time-remapping . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Working with Masks and Transparency Chapter 7 Using a footage item with an alpha channel Working with masks Creating masks . . . . . . . . . . . 238 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 . . . . . . . . . 245 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Drawing rectangular and oval masks About Mask Paths Drawing a Bezier mask with the pen tool Selecting masks and control points Changing the shape of a mask Feathering mask edges Adjusting the edges of a mask Adjusting the opacity of a mask Scaling and rotating selected masks or points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Specifying which parts of a mask are inside and outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Moving a mask and panning a layer behind a mask Specifying one mask as the target for animation Animating a mask . . . . 251 . . . . . . 253 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Importing masks from Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Applying effects to a mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 . . . . 256 Creating visible lines and solid shapes from masks vii Controlling how masks in the same layer interact Using mask modes Locking a mask Reusing a mask Using layer modes Modifying multiple masks . . . . . . 256 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Creating track mattes and traveling mattes Creating transparency using keying Applying Effects Chapter 8 Learning about specific effects Working with effects Changing effect property values Changing effects over time Positioning effects on layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Placing an effect using effect points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Applying an effect to several layers with an adjustment layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Changing rendering order Using audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 . . . 277 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Using cameras and lights with effects Using keying effects Using Adobe Photoshop layer styles in After Effects Effects included with After Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 3D Compositing Chapter 9 Understanding 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 . . . . . . . . 284 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Understanding 3D compositing in After Effects Working with 3D layers Understanding 3D views Using cameras Using lights Understanding 3D Transform properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 . . . . . . . . . 302 Using 3D compositing with effects Using 3D compositing with masks Previewing 3D 3D rendering Using third-party files with depth information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 viii CONTENTS Creating Expressions Chapter 10 Using expressions Creating expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Creating expressions with the pick whip Writing your own expressions Understanding the expression language Using the expression language menu Sample expressions After Effects expression language guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Managing Projects Effectively Chapter 11 Visualizing organization with Flowchart View Organizing a project using nesting Creating animations by nesting compositions Understanding precomposing Reducing the project . . . . . . . . . 339 . . . . . . . . . 345 . . . . 347 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342 Saving time by prerendering nested compositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Rendering a Movie Chapter 12 Understanding rendering and compression Making (rendering) a movie Changing render settings Using the Render Queue window . . . . . . . . . . . 354 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 . . . . . . . . . 360 . . . . . . . . . 364 . . . . . . . . . 365 . . . . . . . . . . . 368 . . . . . 369 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 Creating and using render settings templates Changing output module settings Creating and using output module templates Exporting to Macromedia Flash (SWF) format Saving a RAM preview as a rendered movie Rendering an item to multiple formats Choosing compression options Exporting footage using QuickTime components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 . . . . . . . 374 . . . . . . . . 375 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 Exporting a single frame of a composition Creating a filmstrip file for editing in Photoshop Rendering frames as a sequence of still images Rendering cross-platform movies and stills Collecting files in one location Rendering using a watch folder (PB only) . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 ix Working with overflow volumes Rendering movies at different sizes Testing the field-rendering order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 . . . . 387 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 Creating low-resolution movies for testing motion Using Property and Tracking Controls (PB only) Chapter 13 Adding randomness About tracking motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 Simulating a zoom lens Tracking different types of motion Tracking a moving region or object Stabilizing motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Using Motion Math (PB only) Chapter 14 Using Expressions instead of Motion Math Working in the Motion Math window . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Motion Math scripts included with the Production Bundle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Running and editing existing scripts Writing your own scripts Learning more about Motion Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 Using Vector Paint (PB only) Chapter 15 Selecting and modifying paint tools Editing your paint work Selecting Composite Paint options Playing back your painting Selecting viewing options Setting Wiggle Control options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Configuring a stylus for Vector Paint Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443 1 Introduction W elcome to the Adobe® After Effects® 5.0 application, the ultimate software tool for motion graphics and visual effects. After Effects is widely used for digital postproduction of film, motion graphics, video multimedia, and the Web. Registration Adobe is confident you will find that its software greatly increases your productivity. So that Adobe can continue to provide you with the highest quality software, offer technical support, and inform you about new After Effects software developments, please register your application. When you first start the After Effects application, you're prompted to register online. You can choose to submit the form directly or fax a printed copy. You can also register by filling out and returning the registration card included with your software package. When you register, several additional effects become available from the Adobe Web site, adobe.com, for download. For information, see "Effects included with After Effects" on page 278. Installing Adobe After Effects You must install the After Effects application from the Adobe After Effects CD onto your hard drive; you cannot run the program from the CD. Follow the on-screen installation instructions. For more detailed information, see the How_to_Install.wri (Windows) or How_to_Install.txt (Mac OS) file on the CD. Learning Adobe After Effects Adobe provides a variety of options for you to learn After Effects, including online Help and tool tips. You can also use the Adobe Web site to easily access a host of continually updated Web resources for learning After Effects, from tips and tutorials to technical support information. 2 Introduction Adobe Acrobat® ReaderTM software, included on the After Effects CD, makes it possible to view Adobe PDF files. Many of the files on the Adobe Web site are in PDF format. The phrase "PB only" means that the feature is available only in the Production Bundle version of After Effects. Using online Help The Adobe After Effects 5.0 application includes complete documentation in an HTMLbased help system. It contains essential information on using all of the After Effects commands, features, and tools, as well as keyboard shortcuts and full-color illustrations. The HTML format provides easy navigation online. Individual topics can also be printed out to provide a handy desktop reference. The online Help assumes you have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating conventions, including how to use a mouse and standard menus and commands. It also assumes you know how to open, save, and close files. For help with any of these techniques, please see your Microsoft Windows® or Mac OSTM documentation. To start online Help: Do one of the following: · Choose Help > After Effects Help. · Press F1 (Windows). Using tool tips Use the tool tips feature to display the names of tools, buttons, or controls. To identify a tool, button, or control: Position the pointer over a tool, button, or control, and pause. A tool tip appears showing the name and keyboard shortcut (if any) for the item. Note: Tool tips are not available in most dialog boxes. ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 3 User Guide Using Web resources If you have an Internet connection and a Web browser installed on your system, you can access additional resources for learning After Effects located on the Adobe Systems home page on the World Wide Web. These resources are continually updated. To access the Adobe home page for your region: 1 Open the Adobe U.S. home page at www.adobe.com. 2 From the Adobe Sites menu, choose your geographical region. The Adobe home page is customized for several geographical regions. Using the After Effects product section of the Adobe Web site The After Effects product section of the Adobe Web site provides a central source for registered After Effects users to access the latest Web content for After Effects. Here you'll find the following: · Step-by-step tutorials · Quick tips that provide fast answers to common problems · Updates, patches, and plug-ins · After Effects Top Issues, containing the latest After Effects technical support solutions · Technical guides · A searchable database of answers to technical questions · Links to user forums To use the After Effects product section on the Adobe Web site: 1 Go to the Adobe home page and search for After Effects. 2 Register your copy of After Effects. 3 Once you have completed the registration process, follow the link back to After Effects. 4 Introduction Using Adobe Online Adobe Online provides access to the latest products and features that expand your application's power, including professional services from Adobe and our partners. Bookmarks are also included to take you quickly to noteworthy Adobe- and After Effects­related sites. Adobe Online is constantly changing, so you should refresh before you use it. Refreshing through Adobe Online updates bookmarks and buttons so you can quickly access the most current content available. You can use preferences to automatically refresh Adobe Online daily, weekly, or monthly. When you set up Adobe Online to connect to your Web browser, Adobe can either notify you whenever new information for Adobe Online is available or automatically download that information to your hard disk and install it. If you choose not to use the automatic download feature, you can still view and download new Adobe Online files whenever they are available by using the Refresh command. To use Adobe Online: 1 In After Effects, choose Help > Adobe Online, or click the icon in the Adobe Online toolbar. Note: You must have an Internet connection and an Internet browser installed. Adobe Online will launch your browser using your default Internet configuration. 2 Do any of the following: · Click Refresh to make sure you have the latest version of the Adobe Online window and its buttons, as well as the latest bookmarks. It is important to refresh the screen so that the current options are available for you to choose from. · Click Preferences to specify connection options. General preferences affect how Adobe Online interacts with all Adobe products installed on your system, and Application preferences affect how Adobe Online interacts with After Effects. To see an explanation of each preference option, click Setup and follow the prompts. You also can set up an automatic refresh using the Update Options. ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS 5.0 5 User Guide · Click any button in the Adobe Online window to open the Web page to which the button is linked. · Click the bookmark button ( ) to view suggested Web sites related to After Effects and Adobe. These bookmarks are automatically updated as new Web sites become available. · Click Close to return to After Effects. Other learning resources Other Adobe learning resources are available but are not included with your application. Classroom in a Book Is the official training series for Adobe graphics and publishing software. This book is developed by experts at Adobe and published by Adobe Press. The Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book includes lessons about using After Effects. For information on purchasing Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book, visit the Adobe Web site or contact your local book distributor. The Adobe Certification program Offers users, instructors, and training centers the opportunity to demonstrate their product proficiency and promote their software skills as Adobe Certified Experts, Adobe Certified Instructors, or Adobe Authorized Learning Providers. Certification is available for several different geographical regions. Visit the Partnering with Adobe Web site at www.partners.adobe.com to learn how you can become certified. Customer support When you register your product, you may be entitled to technical support for up to 90 days from the date of your first call. Terms may vary depending on the country of residence. For more information, refer to the technical support card provided with the After Effects software package. 6 Introduction Customer support on Adobe Online Adobe Online provides access to FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and troubleshooting information that provides solutions to common problems. Additional customer support resources Adobe Systems provides several forms of automated technical support: · See the ReadMe file installed with the program for information that became available after this guide went to press. · Explore the extensive customer support information on Adobe's World Wide Web site (www.adobe.com). To access the Adobe Web site from After Effects, choose Help > Adobe Online or click the icon in the Adobe Online toolbar. (See "Using Web resources" on page 3.) 9 An Overview of Adobe After Effects This overview introduces you to the key features of After Effects. If you're an experienced After Effects user, you may want to scan this overview and then skip to "What's New in After Effects 5.0." After Effects is available in two versions. The Standard version provides the core 2D/3D compositing, animation, and effects tools that motion graphics professionals, Web designers, and video professionals need. The Production Bundle version meets the needs of visual effects professionals, and includes all of the tools in the Standard Version plus additional keying, motion control, and distortion tools, audio effects, 3D channel effects, 16bit-per-channel color, vector paint, and support for network rendering. Superior Adobe product integration After Effects features the award-winning Adobe user interface, familiar to anyone who uses Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator®, or Adobe Premiere®. The tabbed windows-- along with Adobe's popular tabbed palettes, similar tools, and common keyboard shortcuts--make it possible to work more efficiently and move among the programs with ease. After Effects, Premiere, and Adobe LiveMotionTM use a similar time-based interface, so moving among the applications is a snap. Productivity-boosting features such as the pen tool, Align palette, rulers and guides, editing tools, and free transform mode work in After Effects just as they do in other popular Adobe products. 10 An Overview of Adobe After Effects Adobe Photoshop You can transform layered Photoshop images into animations with complete ease. Import Photoshop files as compositions one at a time or in batches. After Effects preserves layers, common layer effects, adjustment layers, alpha channels, transfer modes, vector masks, and more. You can then apply visual effects to color-correct, stylize, or manipulate each layer, and animate these layers over time. Use Photoshop paths as mask or motion points. Move easily between Photoshop and After Effects to complete your work. When you import a layered Photoshop file as a composition, After Effects retains layers and other key Photoshop settings. Adobe Illustrator Want to add first-rate typography or eye-catching graphics to your motion graphics and visual effects? Simply import layered files as compositions one at a time or in batches. Choose whether After Effects preserves the layers or merges them on import. Then resize the Illustrator layers to any resolution without losing detail, and animate them with complete control. Copy paths in Illustrator and paste them in After Effects as masks or motion points. With Illustrator 9 files, you can preserve transparency and transfer modes. In addition, you can continuously rasterize Illustrator layers in both 2D and 3D.