If you're new to After Effects and want to get up to speed quickly, After Effects Apprentice was created just for you. With 11 core lessons plus a hip final project that pulls it all together, 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.

Fully updated to cover After Effects CS4, this book presents 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.

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.