- Adobe After Effects
Infobox Software
name = Adobe After Effects
caption = After Effects CS3 (8.0) under Windows XP
developer =Adobe Systems
latest release version = CS4 (9.0)
latest release date = release date|2008|09|23
operating system =Mac OS X ,Microsoft Windows
genre =Motion graphics /Visual effects /Animation
license = Proprietary
website = [http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/ Adobe: After Effects]Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and
compositing software published byAdobe Systems . Its main purpose is for film and videopost-production .Description
After Effects and NLEs are generally track-oriented. This means that in After Effects, each individual media object (video clip, audio clip, still image, etc.) occupies its own track; in contrast, NLEs use a system where individual media objects can occupy the same track as long as they do not overlap in time. This track-oriented system is more suited for editing and can keep project files much more concise. The layer-oriented system that After Effects adopts is suited for extensive effects work and
keyframing . Although other compositing packages--especially ones that employ tree or node workflows, such asApple Shake --are better suited to manage large volumes of objects within a composite, After Effects is able to somewhat counter the clutter by selectively hiding layers (using the Shy switch) or by grouping them into precompositions. (After Effects does feature a Flowchart panel, which is similar to tree or node graph, but this view of a composition is mostly for display purposes and is not fully functional.) The main interface consists of several panels (windows in versions prior to After Effects 7.0). Three of the most commonly used panels are the Project panel, the Composition panel, and the Timeline panel. The Project panel acts as a bin to import stills, video, and audio footage items. Footage items in the Project panel are used in the Timeline panel, where layer order and timing can be adjusted. The items visible at the current time marker are displayed in the Composition panel.After Effects integrates with other Adobe software titles such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Encore, and Flash.
History
After Effects was originally created by the [http://www.cosa.com/ Company of Science and Art] in
Providence, RI , USA. Version 1.0 was released in January1993 . Version 2.1 introduced PowerPC acceleration in 1994. CoSA along with After Effects was then acquired byAldus corporation in July1993 ; this company was then acquired by Adobe in1994 , and with it PageMaker and After Effects. Adobe's first new release of After Effects was version 3.0.Plug-ins
After Effects has extensive
plug-in support; and a broad range of third party plug-ins are available. A variety of plug-in styles exist, such as particle systems for realistic effects for rain, snow, fire, etc.Using third-party plug-ins, After Effects can create 3D effects. These sorts of 3D plug-ins use basic 2D layers from After Effects. Illustrator graphics can also be loaded and rendered in 3D using plug-ins such as Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator Pro. Some well-known plug-in vendors are Automatic Duck, BorisFX, Conoa, Cycore Effects, DigiEffects, Digital Anarchy, Digital Film Tools, The Foundry,
FXhome , Gen Arts, GridIron Software, RE:Vision Effects, Red Giant Software, Synthetic Aperture, Trapcode, Video Copilot, and Zaxwerks.In addition to 3D effects, there are plug-ins for making video look like film or cartoons; simulating fire, smoke, or water; particle systems; slow motion; creating animated charts, graphs, and other data visualization; calculating the 3D movement of a camera in a 2D video shot; eliminating flicker, noise, or rigging lines; translating timelines from FCP or Avid; adding high-end color correction; and other workflow improvements and visual effects.
ee also
Competitors to After Effects include Autodesk's Combustion, Flame and Inferno; Apple's Shake and Motion;
eyeon Fusion ; The Foundry's Nuke; Boris RED; Pinnacle Commotion; and the entry-level FXHome. As far as open-source alternatives go, onlyJahshaka exists, though its feature set suffers by comparison with that of After Effects.External links
* [http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/main.html Official web page]
* [http://www.planetaep.com/ After Effects Projects by PlanetAEP]
* [http://www.videocopilot.net/ After Effects Tutorials by Andrew Kramer]
* [http://www.maltaannon.com/ After Effects Tutorials by Jerzy Drozda]
* [http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffects After Effects Tutorials by Creative Cow]
* [http://www.inerxia.net/ After Effects Blog (Spanish)]
* [http://www.videomakers.net/content/compositing-special-fx/adobe-after-effects/35/ Tutorials/Videotutorial After Effects (Italiano)]
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