Join Chad Perkins for an in-depth discussion in this video Modifying shape layers, part of After Effects CS5 Essential Training.
This is where shape layers start to get really fun.…We're basically continuing where I left off in the last movie where I had this star. …I got rid of that nasty blue stroke though and added this pretty little…gradient in the inside.…What we're going to do is make this look a little bit more flowery.…Right now it's not blending in with the rest of this ensemble, so we're going to remedy that.…Oh, by the way, if you click here with this object selected and then this will give…you the Fill and the Stroke options and then we click in our Gradient Editor.…And I'm just going to go ahead and hit OK.…
But once you do that, you get this cool little Gradient Editor and we can click…and drag here on these little icons here to change where the gradient happens in…our shape, which is pretty cool.…I'm kind of going with a standard gradient here, just a plain old, start from the…center and go out to about the edge type thing.…But feel free to play with this as much as you like.…It's actually kind of a cool tool for playing with gradients.…
Author
Chad Perkins
Released
4/30/2010- Understanding the After Effects workflow
- Precomposing footage
- Explaining the basics and beyond of animating
- Creating glows, patterns, textures, and more with effects
- Color correcting footage
- Working with text
- Manipulating video playback speed
- Masking objects and shape layers
- Removing backgrounds with keying
- Compositing multiple pieces of footage
- Integrating After Effects with the rest of the Creative Suite
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Q: In the "Creating a fireball" movie in Chapter 6, the author showed how to make a fireball. Unfortunately, it all centered around a blob layer that he made without showing how to make a blob layer. How does one go about creating a blob layer like the one used in the video?
A: To create a blob layer, make a shape layer using the Pen tool. Animate the anchor points over time to make it move. These concepts are reviewed in depth in Chapter 4, "Learning to Animate."
Q: In the Chapter 5 video "Understanding precomposing," the exercise file provided does not seem to match up with the file the instructor uses. My file does not include a "Biker Body" layer. Is there an error in the exercise file?
A: Unfortunately, the exercise file originally distributed for this chapter was incorrect. A new file was issued in February 2011. If you downloaded the exercise files prior to then, you can download the corrected file on the Exercise Files tab of the course page.
Q: How do I transition from one piece of animated type to another in After Effects?
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1. Introduction
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Introduction1m 30s
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What is After Effects?3m 12s
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2. Introductory Project
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Working with layers3m 45s
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Applying effects3m 34s
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Previewing your work2m 46s
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3. Getting Started with After Effects
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Touring the interface6m 2s
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What is a composition?4m 52s
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4. Learning to Animate
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Animation basics7m 12s
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Animating opacity6m 40s
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Understanding anchor points4m 57s
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Animating position6m 8s
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Animating rotation4m 41s
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Animating scale7m 19s
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Using the Puppet tool7m 13s
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Animation shortcuts4m 57s
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5. Precomposing and Nesting Compositions
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Understanding precomposing6m 51s
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6. The Power of Effects
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A showcase of effects2m 34s
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Applying effects4m 54s
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Animating effect properties4m 29s
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Using Glow5m 34s
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Creating a fireball7m 9s
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Using the Cycore effects5m 58s
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Adding blur5m 45s
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Creating lightning bolts4m 3s
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7. Working with Video
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Working with image sequences4m 47s
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8. Color-Correcting Footage
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Brightening dark footage9m 12s
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Changing colors in footage6m 34s
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Creating a quick vignette3m 42s
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Using adjustment layers3m 36s
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9. Creating and Animating Text
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Creating and editing text7m 39s
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Animating text manually4m 43s
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10. Becoming More Efficient
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Let's get better37s
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Using work areas3m 37s
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Creating markers6m 17s
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Replacing layers2m 35s
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Selecting layers quickly1m 56s
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Cropping layers3m 43s
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Adjusting comp resolution3m 51s
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11. Painting
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Using the paint tools9m 35s
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Using the Roto Brush tool9m 25s
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Animating growing vines4m 53s
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12. Working with Masks and Shape Layers
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Creating and using masks6m 42s
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Exploring mask options7m 57s
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Making shape layers3m 43s
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Modifying shape layers9m 43s
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13. Working in 3D
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Creating lights and cameras6m 14s
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Creating shadows4m 23s
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Using depth of field4m 42s
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Working with 3D effects6m 3s
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14. Keying and Compositing
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Refining the matte4m 48s
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Compositing with blend modes3m 55s
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15. Intermediate Animation
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Easing keyframes5m 57s
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About the Graph Editor4m 25s
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16. Stabilizing and Tracking Motion
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Stabilizing shaky footage7m 46s
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17. Parenting and Expressions
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Setting up parent layers5m 49s
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Working with null objects2m 31s
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What are expressions?7m 17s
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Modifying simple expressions2m 20s
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18. Working with Audio
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Previewing and mixing audio3m 55s
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19. Rendering and Compression
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20. Integration
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Conclusion
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Goodbye11s
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Video: Modifying shape layers