Adobe Practice - 1 (After Effects)

Adobe After Effects

Adobe Effects is often the 2nd stage in developing a film using the Adobe software. It allows the editor to add different effects to their projects which include altering aspects such as titles and clips. It is a professional programme that makes projects look more appealing to the audience if the programme is used effectively and properly since many of the features on the programme can seem complicated to the user.

Tutorial summary

This is a suitable video because it explains the most important features of the Adobe After Effects programme that can get any inexperienced user into using it without causing confusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tR3fpv4Aco

• Layout

The layout of the After Effects interface is similar to the Adobe Premier programme because it contains multiple editing boxes but both boxes are different.

1. Project panel - The box, like the one in Premier, is used as an overview of the different media pieces (audio, footage, and images) inserted in along with the effects control area.
2. Composition panel - This is where all the editing is monitored as a visual form, all the media and editing did to the image or footage will show in the box. This is to give the editor an idea of what he/she has done, and what he or she needs to do and change.

• Starting the project

This stage is similar to the process on the Adobe Premier. To start a project, a form of media must be selected from a file and inserted into the project box to then be edited later. Multiple files can be selected and inserted at one time for the editor to decide which ones need deleting and which ones need altering. Once the files are put into the panel, there will be information that tells the editor information such as how many frames per second has been selected for it, the resolution of the media, and a number of colours that are involved in the chosen image or footage.

In order to create a new composition, the user will need to press the ‘new composition’ button on the ‘composition’ tab, all the date put into the project box will create a visible layout of the whole, or part of, the project on the composition table.

• • Adding extra media

  There are two ways of putting a layer of images or clips onto another layer. One way is to drag the media onto the needed media onto the composition panel; this is used when the editor wants to place it at a specific place in the projects and can be enlarged or shrunk using the points around the border. Another way is to drag the needed media onto the timeline and this method is used to place it at a specific time on the project to later be lengthened or made shorter for how long it is in the composition for. Extra media can be useful for using emblems or logos in videos or just adding another video to juxtapose the video to entertain or compare.

  In our video, we had our character walk through leaves with a close-up of his feet, the problem with this was that the audio was not adequate for our film. To overcome this issue, we edited a sound of a sweet wrapper being crumpled to simulate the sound of rustling leaves.

• Adding motions to media

To start the effect adding process, a time on the timeline must be selected and then a keyframe can then be put onto the timeline with a keyframe at the place that the editor wants the effect to end. After this step has been completed, the image, or video, needs to be moved across the frames on the timeline. This speed of how the media reaches its final position is changed by dragging the keyframe in and out to make it so that there is more or less time between those 2 keyframes. Both keyframes can be selected at the same time by holding a left click and dragging it over so that the image timing is not affected and so it can be dragged across the timeline.

• Adding Effects

One of the ways of choosing which effects to use is to find it on with the ‘effects’ tab on the toolbar, it will have features such as ‘distort’, ‘colour correction’, ‘blur and sharpen’, and it also allows the editor to add or alter noises and other different effects.

Another way of choosing effects is to use the ‘effects and presets’ tab on the right of the screen, this allows the editor to search for his or her favourite or most suitable/appropriate effects for the project and keep track of which effects have been used.

The chosen effect will then need to be dragged onto the left side of the timeline where the area of media that the designer wants to add an effect to, the effect’s options will appear on the ‘effect controls’ panel. To have the chosen effect to make a difference to the video, the different properties will need to be altered to make them visible on the project. It is possible to temporarily remove or turn off an effect by pressing an ‘FX’ button next to the effect name, this also works for the features on the timeline if the ‘eye’ icon is pressed and this allows the editor to see hidden areas or see things the features differently. Multiple effects can be added to one or more media pieces but this affects the render time and can interfere with other effects. With regards to our projects, we will use a variety of effects in our film, for example, we will have effects over the top of certain shots and we will include a variety of shots and transitions. In the title sequence, we will use lots of effects such as dissolve and fade.

• Adding text

To add text, there is a ‘T’ button in the top left corner. Once the button is pressed, the editor will need to then click on the composition tab to open up a text box where the editor wants it to be placed. The text colour can be changed to how the designer wants it by using the colour selection pad on the right side of the screen as the text has been selected. The area around the colour selection tool also allows the editor to change the size, font, and also the distance between each letter. The text can then be edited with special effects to look good for the audience as they are informed about a specific subject. We will use different forms of text in our production because it can inform the audience of who is in it along with who created it but it can also create a creepy atmosphere for our film.

• Creating a ‘solid’

A ‘solid’ is a canvas that can be any colour and it is a layer that can be put in front of another layer. To put this into effect, a shape needs to be selected from the shape toolbar and click to drag the shape onto the composition to put it over the area of where it is needed, the fill of the shape will be the chosen colour from the ‘solid’ feature. It is possible to switch the black fill to be on the outside of the shape by switching the ‘add’ option from the ‘mask’ bar and change it to ‘subtract’.