After Effects Apprentice is aimed at those who want to get up to speed quickly. This 336-page full-color book contains a series of 12 lessons with numerous step-by-step exercises that will introduce you to the core features in After Effects, including how to use them in the real world. You’ll learn how to tap this program’s vast potential – whether you want to create motion graphics for network television, corporate communications, or your own work.

The 2nd edition cover After Effects CS4, presenting a professional perspective on the most important features a motion graphics artist needs to learn in order to use this program effectively. You’ll learn to creatively combine layers, animate eye-catching titles, manipulate 3D space, key and stabilize a shot to place it in a new environment, and use effects to generate excitement or enhance the realism of a scene. Easy to follow step-by-step instructions take you through each technique, including projects that encourage you to express your own creativity. You’ll learn more than just the tools; you’ll learn skills that you can immediately put to work in your own productions.
Topics include how to:

Animate, edit, layer, and composite video and still images.
Manipulate keyframes and the way they interpolate to create more refined animations.
Use masks, mattes, stencils and blending modes to add sophistication to your imagery.
Create and animate shape layers and text.
Place your layers in 3D space.
Use tracking and keying to create special effects, such as replacing screen displays.