TOC.indd 1 1/4/2008 12:06:59 PM This page intentionally left blank Chris Jackson TOC.indd 3 1/4/2008 12:06:59 PM Acquisitions Editor: Paul Temme Publishing Services Manager: George Morrison Project Manager: Andre A. Cuello Assistant Editor: Chris Simpson Marketing Manager: Rebecca Pease Cover Design: Chris Jackson Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, E-mail: permissions@elsevier.com. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier.com), by selecting “Support & Contact” then “Copyright and Permission” and then “Obtaining Permissions.” Recognizing the importance of preserving what has been written, Elsevier prints its books on acid-free paper whenever possible. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Application submitted British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-0-240-81031-7 For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at www.books.elsevier.com 08 09 10 11 12 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the China TOC.indd 4 1/4/2008 12:07:00 PM This eBook does not include ancillary media that was packaged with the printed version of the book. v Introduction 2 ix Chapter 1: Getting Started in After Effects Project Workflow 2 2 Creating a Project 2 .4 Setting Keyframes 2 . 13 Applying Effects 2 27 Rendering a Project 2 32 Chapter 2: From Flash to After Effects Flash to Broadcast Video 2 .38 Publishing SWF Files for After Effects 2 45 Using the QuickTime Exporter 2 51 Exporting ActionScript-driven Movies 2 .56 Chapter 3: From After Effects to Flash Exporting Vector and Raster Objects 2 64 Exporting SWF Files 2 66 Exporting PNG Image Sequences 2 77 Working with Flash Video (FLV) 2 83 Table of Contents TOC.indd 5 1/4/2008 12:07:00 PM vi Table of Contents Chapter 4: Alpha Channels What Are Alpha Channels? 2 92 Keying in After Effects 2 93 Adding Cue Points 2 .101 Creating an Interactive Video Game 2 .109 Chapter 5: Type in Motion Creating and Animating Type 2 .118 Animating Text Along a Path 2 123 Applying Text Animation Presets 2 126 Using Text Animators 2 .131 Chapter 6: The Third Dimension Entering 3D Space 2 140 Animating in 3D Space 2 . 147 Creating 3D Environments 2 .156 Chapter 7: Character Animation Flash Character Animation 2 . 170 Parenting 2 . 170 Parenting Plus Expressions 2 .177 The Puppet Tools 2 .185 Interactive Puppets 2 191 TOC.indd 6 1/4/2008 12:07:00 PM vii Chapter 8: Visual Effects Controlling the Weather 2 .200 Blowing Stuff Up 2 209 Playing with Fire 2 .219 Fun with Fractals 2 224 Chapter 9: Shapes and Sounds Shape Layers 2 232 Digital Audio Basics 2 241 Sound Visualization 2 249 Chapter 10: Optimization and Rendering Understanding Compression 2 258 Determining the Data Rate 2 . 262 Publishing for the Web 2 .266 Publishing to a DVD 2 . 272 Index 2 277 TOC.indd 7 1/4/2008 12:07:00 PM This page intentionally left blank Introduction Flash Designers: Take your projects to the next level with After Effects’ robust toolset. You are about to take a journey that combines these two powerhouse applications. Enter the world of Adobe After Effects. Welcome aboard. What Is This Book About? 2 x Who Is This Book For? 2 xi Book Structure and Layout Conventions 2 xi About the Author 2 xiii Acknowledgements 2 . xiii For Instructors 2 . xiv Credits 2 xiv Chapter_00.indd 9 1/4/2008 12:10:13 PM [...]... of effects and presets that help differentiate a Flash designer’s work For Flash animators, After Effects takes their project to the next level in 2D animation It provides Flash animators with an assortment of visual effects that are rather difficult or next to impossible to achieve in Flash Within After Effects, these complex effects can be applied through a simple drag-and-drop interaction After Effects. .. presence of video on the Web, Flash animators and designers are jumping on the bandwagon and integrating After Effects into their projects Why would someone who uses Flash care about After Effects? After Effects provides many features and effects that not only can enhance Flash projects but save on development time because of how these two applications are integrated After Effects implements a variety... About? This book will help Flash animators and designers understand how After Effects integrates with Flash Now that Adobe owns both Flash and After Effects, the two programs are becoming tightly interwoven together with every product update Flash provides a creative web tool for animation and interactivity After Effects provides an easy-to-use application for creating visual effects and motion graphics... visual effects in their Flash projects It clearly illustrates how these two applications complement each other and help raise the design bar for Web, CD/DVD, and broadcast Book Structure and Layout Conventions Flash + After Effects is designed to walk the reader through project-based exercises that effectively use Flash and After Effects To use this book, you need to install both Flash CS3 and After Effects. .. the Flash designer, to explore and unleash your Flash creativity by learning about After Effects So as Flash designers, where does one start in After Effects? You begin by exploring the structure of its user interface, referred to as the workspace So let’s dive in and get an overview of how After Effects works Project Workflow 3 Creating a Project In this chapter, you will build a typical After Effects. .. save your project 4 Chapter 1: Getting Started in After Effects 1 Launch Adobe After Effects It opens an empty project by default Whereas Flash can open multiple movies, only one project in After Effects can be opened at a time This is a key concept to understand If you try to open another project or create a new project within After Effects, After Effects will close down the current project you are... through time The animation process in After Effects is rather different than animating in Flash This is where the fun really begins 12 Chapter 1: Getting Started in After Effects Setting Keyframes Although Flash and After Effects allow you to create keyframe animation, each application handles time rather differently Flash is a frame-based application, whereas After Effects is time-based This is an important... CHAPTER 1 Getting Started in After Effects As your journey towards integrating Flash and After Effects begins, you first need to understand the similarities and differences between the two applications This chapter introduces After Effects and compares its project workflow to Flash 2 Project Workflow 2 2 Creating a Project 4 2 Setting Keyframes .13 2 Applying Effects 27 2 Rendering... tools do; rather, it shows how to use them to enrich Flash animation and interactive projects Flash is everywhere and with the enhanced video capabilities present in the new versions of Flash Player, showcasing After Effects content using Flash is the best way to go Regardless of how a reader approaches this book, using After Effects to enhance Flash content is growing in popularity This book teaches... the Flash movie is set to 30 frames per second A keyframe at frame marker 30 indicates that this is a one-second animation Figure 1.21: After Effects creates time-based animation After Effects deals with properties and time rather than objects and frames Figure 1.21 shows the Timeline in After Effects Here we have a similar object layer with only the position property keyframed Each layer in After Effects . book will help Flash animators and designers understand how After Effects integrates with Flash. Now that Adobe owns both Flash and After Effects, the two. introduces you to After Effects, its workspace and workflow. As you build a typical After Effects project, comparisons are made between Flash and After Effects.