Adobe After Effects CC Visual Effects and Compositing: Studio Techniques

If you have the previous book in the series, CS6, it is very similar. It goes over a few new techniques such as rotoscoping. It is not a purely step by step book. You will need some know how with After Effects. It really delves into a smattering of different "special effects" and how to incorporate them. It is for people who want to add to the basics of after effects and really get into some cool things you can do. It is not overly simple, but the author is very clear and concise. You may get lost and have to redo a couple things, but it is a logic step for beginners wanting to get better at fundamental effects. Do not start with this book if you are a complete beginner. Try CC classroom in a book first.Now the really bad.....The Kindle edition does not have a download code in the back of the book for the lesson files. I have contacted Peachpit, but they keep saying it is in the back of the book. They are not. I have used plenty of Kindle books with Peachpit download codes and none exist in this book. I did find the previous book's (CS6) download files after searching online for a while, but I believe they may differ a bit from this new one.Until I can get the download files the book is only somewhat helpful. I would normally give it 4 stars, but they gave me an incomplete product. When they do I will revise my review.EDIT-They acknowledged the missing download codes finally and sent them to me. They also stated the Kindle version would be updated.The book is worth-while if you don't have the previous version. I don't think there is enough different to warrant a successive purchase. Just look up the changes online to rotoscoping, etc. If you don't have the previous version or AE is still a bit new to you, then it is worthwhile.

The author of this book certainly knows his stuff. But a word of caution to those who are new to After Effects: this book is NOT for you. The author even says so, right in the intro: "This is NOT a book for beginners...it's not an effective primer on After Effects in particular or digital video in general." So, I am not being critical of the book when I say this. I am merely trying to save you some dollars if you are just starting out in After Effects. You'll find a wealth of insight into how AE works in various production scenarios, and along the way you may pick up some tips that will be helpful, but if you are an AE newbie, stick to the Classroom In a Book series and get a year or two of solid AE work under your belt, then maybe come back to this one.

Mark packs a lot of great information into this book. I have the CS6 version of this book, and bought this hoping to find new information that applies to the Creative Cloud version of AE. I haven't found anything that indicates what is new since the CS6 version, but I'm sure there are nuggets of info awaiting discovery. The CS6 version included footage and other files that have to be downloaded for anyone who purchases this edition of the book. Consequently, I feel the CS6 book is a better value, and thus I can only give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Regardless, I highly recommend this book as a resource and training guide for anyone who wishes to do compositing and VFX work with the Creative Cloud version of After Effects.

I use my computer for many transactions but find, for various reasons, that keeping track on a paper calendar works best for me. This 2021 Environmental Art calendar is the fourth year I’ve had featuring this kind of art. The photographs are beautiful and the art is interesting. There is adequate room on each day for scheduling. My whole life is on this calendar.

Very helpful and valuable info for any AE artist looking to step their game.

Aside from being grossly out of date in regards to the current version of After Effects, this book proves itself to be likewise sociographically out of date with the following comment on page 33:"A Chinese proverb in an earlier edition of this book stated, 'Men in the game are blind to what men looking on clearly see.' That may even be true for women, too, who knows?"Really? It's 2017. Are snarky sexist asides necessary? And hello, Adobe, Peachpit, et. al.: Do you really want to alienate women from the already-small pool of VFX designers who might actually consider buying this moldy tome?

As others have commented this is not for the beginner and I have to say some of went above my current knowledge. However, with the associated files, I think I will get the areas I was a bit puzzled by later. But I have dipped in and out of this, and am very impressed. This is not a rehash of all the same old effects, or walkthroughs. Rather, it explains the next stage - how to composite well, the problems and workarounds for e.g keying.Overall an excellent book, but if you're just starting out - try the Meyer book or online training.If you want to suddenly get some of the more advanced topics, this is the best book I've seen and there were quite a few "eureka" moments reading it.

Everything you wanted to know about AE in detail. The chapter on Roto Brush and rotoscoping is especially useful. Mark has really gone to town in his explanations in precise detail.

very rich content. lot of advance things are there.

Excellent book to do advance compositing at starpicturescorp.ca