Adobe After Effects 6 Hands-On Training

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Beginners' Guide
Review: Before turning the first page of this book, the only thing I knew about After Effects was that it was an Adobe product. I breezed through the trainings with no problems, and by the end had a firm grasp of the program. The exercises are well written and straight forward. I found the instances of repetitiveness helpful because of the sheer volume of information covered. I flagged all the major charts and definitions for review, as I am sure this book will be a handy reference long after the last page. Familiarity with Adobe products such as Illustrator and Photoshop will help, but are not essential. I only wish Lynda had written a second volume to cover more advanced techniques as well, but I plan on using her H.O.T. line of books next time I plunge into unfamiliar software.

Rating:
Summary: Manna from heaven!
Review: I'm brand new to After Effects. This book held my hand and walked me through it and gave me understanding. I'm still in the early chapters, but I find I can't wait to get to the next one. Lynda is so clear and complete in her explanations that it would be difficult not to understand and learn.

Rating:
Summary: Great intro
Review: I've read most of the books on After Effects. This one stands out for clarity of instruction. Unlike many of the others, this is both broad in its coverage and it avoids the "just do this" that a lot of introductory books have. It explains the reasoning for picking certain keyframes and has an especially good coverage of 3D space in After effects. It is an introductory book, however, so you will find little on rotoscoping, only introductory information on expressions, and no coverage of keying, image stabilization, or advanced masking.

Rating:
Summary: Good place to start, but a bit annoying
Review: I've read most of the books on After Effects. This one stands out for clarity of instruction. Unlike many of the others, this is both broad in its coverage and it avoids the "just do this" that a lot of introductory books have. It explains the reasoning for picking certain keyframes and has an especially good coverage of 3D space in After effects. It is an introductory book, however, so you will find little on rotoscoping, only introductory information on expressions, and no coverage of keying, image stabilization, or advanced masking.

Rating:
Summary: Below expectations
Review: If you used books by Lynda, you're expectations are usually high. This book is easy to use but at the expense of depth. To be honest, I could not go past lesson 5. The use of a poorely animated monkey turned me off. I could not imagine myself exposing this book to my students. After effects students are usually demanding. Most of them have been through Photoshop, premiere classes, etc. They expect a book that teaches them Hollywood style effects. I had to use the AE books by Meyer. They meet student expectations.

Rating:
Summary: ha!
Review: Okay, first things first. If you've got After Effects and need to get up to speed quickly, this book covers just about everything. Poorly animated monkey? You bet, but I can get past that. The concepts are here, for sure, but this one's just the start. You must also get the Adobe Classroom-In-a-Book and, most assuredly, the first Meyer. All three in tandem, okay?