Adobe After Effects

Adobe After Effects

After Effects CS5 Icon
Developer(s)	Adobe Systems
Stable release	CS5 (10.0.1) / September 3, 2010 (2010-09-03)
Operating system	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows
Type	Motion graphics / Visual effects / Animation
License	Proprietary
Website	Adobe After Effects Website

Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. Its main purpose is for film and video post-production.

Description

Adobe After Effects is primarily used for creating motion graphics and visual effects. After Effects allows users to animate, alter, and composite media in 2D and 3D space with various built-in tools and third party plug-ins, as well as individual attention to variables like parallax and user-adjustable angle of observation.

After Effects and some non-linear editing systems (NLEs) are layer-oriented, meaning that each individual media object (video clip, audio clip, still image, etc.) occupies its own track. In contrast, other 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 as Apple 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 pre-compositions.

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, Flash, and third-party 3D programs like Cinema 4D.

History

After Effects was originally created by the Company of Science and Art in Providence, RI, USA. Version 1.0 was released in January 1993. Version 2.1 introduced PowerPC acceleration in 1994. CoSA along with After Effects was then acquired by Aldus corporation in July 1993; this company was then acquired by Adobe in 1994, and with it PageMaker and After Effects. Adobe's first new release of After Effects was version 3.0.

Provider	Date	Version	Codename	Major features added
CoSA	January 1993	1.0	Egg	layered compositing with mask, effect, transforms, keyframes; Mac only
	May 1993	1.1		more effects
Aldus	January 1994	2.0	Teriyaki	Time Layout window, multi-machine rendering, frame blending
Adobe	October 1995	3.0	Nimchow	render queue, bezier masking, time remapping, keyframe assistants, multiple effects per layer, velocity graph, motion tracker, motion math, first Japanese version, layer transfer modes, continuously rasterize Illustrator files, Photoshop as comp import with layer/transfer mode/alpha channel support, 3:2 pulldown, non-square pixel support, proxies
	April 1996	3.1		file formats, multiprocessing, advanced keying, wiggler, motion sketch, smoother; last Mac 680x0 version
	May 1997	3.1 (Windows 95/NT)	Dancing Monkey	first Windows version, contextual menus, first French & German versions
	January 1999	4.0	ebeer	tabbed windows, movable time layout columns, multiple masks per layer, warping effects, particle playground, audio effects, transform effect, adjustment layers, align palette, rulers & guides, RAM preview, glows/blurs no longer clip at layer edge, Premiere import, label colors in timeline; first simultaneous Mac & Windows release
	September 1999	4.1	Batnip	flowchart view, watch folder, 3D channel effects, collect files command, watch folders, auto deinterlacing, sequence layers, save favorite effects (.ffx), separate text fill/stroke, 30,000×30,000 image support
	April 2001	5.0	Melmet	3D layers, 3D lights, dynamic previews, parenting, vector paint, expressions, pick whip, draw/edit masks in comp window, integration of Atomic Power plug-ins (foam, wave world, card dance, shatter, vegas), 16 bits per channel color, Illustrator transparency support, SWF export, mask colors, mask motion blur, mask expansion, RAM Preview region of interest, Photoshop 6 vector mask import, PDF import, solo switch, scrubbable property values, custom workspaces, effect reordering, PAR correction, reveal file on disk, reduce project, trim comp to work area, >2GB movie output
	January 7, 2002	5.5	Fauxfu	advanced 3D renderer, multiple 3D views, import camera data, colored shadows, projection layers, effects palette, post render actions, advanced lightning, adjustment layer lights, smart mask, looping via expressions, RealMedia output, expression controllers, Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator Classic bundled; first OS X version
	August 2003	6.0	Foodfite	paint, scripting, text animators, OpenGL support, new motion tracker, Rotobezier, Keylight, Liquify, Scribble, Dust & Scratches, background rendering of RAM Previews
	June 16, 2004	6.5	Chambant	advanced clone tool, presets gallery, grain management, integration of Final Effects plug-ins, Color Finesse bundling, Photoshop & Illustrator layers support, Photoshop text editing, disk caching, Firewire video output, 1/2/4 point motion tracking, interface light/dark controls, motion track with scale, Grain Surgery bundling, AAF & OMF support
	January 2006	7.0	Clamchop	new unified window UI, timewarp, graph editor, OpenGL 2.0 support, 32 bpc HDR color, 32-bit audio, Adobe Bridge support, display color management, dynamic link with Premiere Pro, script editor, auto save, Photoshop file creation, smart blur, lens blur, per-character text blurring, first Spanish & Italian versions
	July 2, 2007	CS3 (8.0)	Metaloaf	shape layers, puppet tool, brainstorm, clip notes, Photoshop vanishing point import, adaptive motion blur, per character 3D text animation, real-time audio playback, simultaneous multi-frame rendering, SWF vector import, 32-bit linear blending, full color management; first Universal Binary Intel Mac version
	February 22, 2008	CS3 (8.0.2)	Metaloaf	Panasonic P2 support; last Mac PowerPC version
	September 23, 2008	CS4 (9.0)	Chinchillada	QuickSearch in the project & timeline, mini-flowchart, breadcrumbs, live PSD 3D layer import, separate XYZ, Imagineer Mocha bundled, cartoon effect, XFL export, XML export, XMP metadata,
	December 10, 2008	CS4 (9.0.1)	Chinchidotta	RED R3D file support (via REDCODE v1.3 plugin)
	May 29, 2009	CS4 (9.0.2)	Lottadotta	fixes several types of crashes, clip-level RED R3D support (via REDCODE v1.7 plugin), XDCAM HD (Avid-style MXF) support
	April 30, 2010	CS5 (10.0)	Esgocart	64-bit native (mandatory) on OS X and Windows, roto brush tool, refine matte effect, mocha v2, LUT support, AVC-Intra import and improved RED (R3D) support, Align panel improvements, Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse 3, Digieffects FreeForm, auto-keyframe mode
	September 3, 2010	CS5 (10.0.1)	Esgodot	fixes several types of crashes and bugs (jumbled AIFF audio, .cube LUT channel swap, etc.), RED updates (color science v2, ROCKET, RMD metadata), improved LUT compatibility (.3dl with floating-point values or 3DMESH/Mesh keywords, or saved from ASSIMILATE SCRATCH systems), updates to bundled third-party plug-ins

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.

With or without third-party plug-ins, After Effects can render 3D effects. Some of these 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, GenArts, GridIron Software, Noise Industries, 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.

Comparable products

Competitors to After Effects include The Foundry's Nuke; Autodesk's Combustion, Toxik, and Smoke; Apple's Motion; eyeon Fusion; Sony Vegas Pro; Boris RED; and the entry-level FXHome. As far as open-source alternatives go, only CineFX exists as a dedicated package but its feature set suffers in comparison with that of After Effects.

External links

• Official web page
• How to use After Effect Video