
After Effects CS5 Bootcamp
Class timetable | Course outline
Course Description
Adobe After Effects CS5 is a powerful software program used for creating special effects for video and motion graphics. This comprehensive hands-on workshop will take you from After Effects novice to master over 5 days.
Target Audience
Graphic and Video professionals who need an essential understanding of video editing, motion editing and compositing. Experienced users will also benefit from many hands-on projects and tricks learnt on the class. No prior experience of After Effects is required. Training available on both Mac and Pc.


For added peace of mind, Training Connection’s Adobe After Effects training comes with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. If by lunchtime on Day 1 you don't feel that the program is for you, then you can leave the course at this point and receive a full refund of your course fees.
After Effect Bootcamp Classes
| Chicago | Jun 11 - 15 ! | Register |
| Los Angeles | Jun 18 - 22 ! | Register |
| Chicago | Aug 13 - 17 | Register |
| Los Angeles | Aug 20 - 24 | Register |
| Chicago | Oct 15 - 19 | Register |
| Los Angeles | Oct 22 - 26 | Register |
* Class almost full ! Class guaranteed to run † Class is full
INTRODUCTION: Real-World Usage of After Effects
- What is After Effects?
- What kind of media can it be used to create?
- What kind of media can be imported into After Effects?
- The advantages of Adobe product integration
- The components of an After Effects file
- After Effects workflow: Best practices
- Utilizing nested Compositions and Pre-Composing
BEFORE YOU BEGIN: After Effects Project Management
- What kind of media output is required?
- What is the playback format for final output?
- What restrictions are there for the project’s physical window frame size?
- What restrictions are there for the project’s frame rate?
- What restrictions are there for graphical screen-based assets?
HANDS-ON UNIT 1: Setting Up an After Effects Project
- About RAM and real-time rendering
- Understanding linked media; reloading clips
- Setting Preferences and Project Settings
- Creating a project and importing footage
- Creating a Composition and arranging layers
- Customizing the After Effects Workspace
- Adding effects and modifying layer properties
- Animating a Composition
- Working with the Time Controls Panel
- Working with Switches and Modes in the Timeline
- Optimizing performance in After Effects
- Deployment: Rendering versus Exporting a Composition
HANDS-ON UNIT 2: Creating Basic Animation With Effects and Presets
- Importing footage using Adobe Bridge
- Working with imported Illustrator layers
- Applying effects to a layer
- Applying an animation preset
- Previewing effects
- Adding transparency
- Rendering a Composition
HANDS-ON UNIT 3: Working with Text
- Title design: Adding text layers
- Creating and formatting text
- Creating a lower third title
- Using text animation presets
- Animating with keyframes
- Animating using parenting
- Animating imported Photoshop text
- Animating text using a path animation preset
- Animating type tracking
- Animating text opacity
- Using a text animator group
- Cleaning up path animation
- Animating a layer on a motion path
- Adding motion blur
- Exporting to Adobe Flash Professional CS5
HANDS-ON UNIT 4: Working with Shape Layers
- Adding a shape layer
- Creating shapes
- Incorporating video and audio layers
- Applying a Cartoon effect
- Adding a title bar
HANDS-ON UNIT 5: Skills Summation Project
- Adjusting layer anchor points
- Masking video using vector shapes
- Keyframing a motion path
- Applying effects
- Creating an animated slide show
- Adding an audio track
- Adjusting audio levels
HANDS-ON UNIT 6: Working with Masks
- Transparency in the After Effects environment
- Understanding alpha channels, masks, mattes, and keying
- Importing masks from Photoshop
- Animating masks
- Basics of keyframe interpolation with the Graph Editor
- Creating masks with the Pen tool
- Editing a mask
- Feathering the edges of a mask
- Replacing the content of a mask
- Creating a vignette
- Balacing color
HANDS-ON UNIT 7: Working in 3D
- Manipulating text and objects in 3D space
- Adding 3D lights
- Shading and shadowing layers
- Animating 3D-enabled layers
- Incorporating third-party 3D capabilities
HANDS-ON UNIT 8: Color Correction
- Adjusting color balance
- Replacing a background
- Removing unwanted elements
- Correcting a range of colors
- Warming colors with the Photo Filter effects
HANDS-ON UNIT 9: Rendering and Exporting
- Testing for final Renders and Exports
- Understanding video and audio compression
- Working in the Render Queue
- Creating templates for the rendering process
- Rendering and Exporting to a variety of media types:
- High-resolution recompositing
- DVD-V
- Web video (including Flash video formats)
- YouTube
- Mobile devices
- Flash XML
HANDS-ON UNIT 10: Motion Tracking
- Using motion stabilization
- Working with track points
- Using single-point motion tracking
- Using multipoint tracking
- Importing Mocha data
HANDS-ON UNIT 11: Particle Simulations
- Applying Particle Simulation effects
- Adjusting birth rate, longevity, and other effect properties
- Adding additional effects
- Compositing Particle Simulations
HANDS-ON UNIT 12: 3D Advanced Concepts
- Switching views and perspectives
- Working with multiple views
- Adding and animating lights
- Adding and animating cameras
- Cutting between multiple cameras
- Working with DigiEffects Freeform
HANDS-ON UNIT 13: Advanced Masking
- Adapting complex masks
- Positioning and scaling complex mask elements
- Feathering complex masks
- Animating complex masks
HANDS-ON UNIT 14: Color Keying
- Understanding blue and green screen keys
- Creating garbage mattes
- Refining mattes and masks
- Using Keylight
HANDS-ON UNIT 15: The Roto Brush Tool
- Rotoscoping with the Roto Brush tool
- Creating a segmentation boundary
- Using multiple base frames
- Fine-tuning a matte
- Animating a matte
HANDS-ON UNIT 16: Cloning and Painting
- Understanding the Paint tools
- Modifying and saving custom Brushes
- Creating Brush strokes
- Animating strokes
- Duplicating video with the Clone tool
- Animating with the Eraser tool
HANDS-ON UNIT 17: Distorting Objects with the Puppet Tools
- About the Puppet Tools
- Adding Deform pins
- Stiffening an area
- Animating pin positions
HANDS-ON UNIT 18: Time-warp and Time-lapse Simulations
- Using the Timewarp effect to retime video
- Establishing keyframes to control speed
- Using the Graph Editor to adjust fast or slow motion
- Simulating Time-lapse photography
- Manipulating light over time
- Duplicating an animation using the pick whip
- Creating a track matte
- Animating shadows
- Adding a lens flare effect
- Working with Edit Time Remap keyframes
HANDS-ON UNIT 19: Using Expressions
- Writing Expressions
- Pick Whip Expressions
What's included
Adobe After Effects Training Manual
Adobe Certificate of Course Completion
6 Months FREE Repeat Policy
2 AMC Movie Vouchers
Related Courses














