Upcoming Courses

We are currently planning our forthcoming programme of training and workshop opportunities.  If you would like to register for  information about these activities as it becomes available please register to receive our newsletter at  Email Sign Up
Cost: £80.00
Date: TBA
Time: 10am till 4pm
Venue: Tower House, Town Quay Road, Southampton, SO14 2NY
Adobe After Effects with Rakesh Thind

This workshop will outline the basics of Adobe After Effects, which is a powerful tool for the aspiring filmmaker.  It allows users to add effects, create title sequences, composite digitally extended sets and much more. On this course you will learn the necessary skills to get the most out of this great application.

Please Note:
We encourage attendees to bring their own laptops with their own versions of Adobe After Effects software on it (CS3 and up) as this encourages and enables continued learning for participants.  If, however, you would rather we provide you with a laptop then please contact a member of staff at City Eye.

Course Outline:

Introduction
  • Setting preferences
  • Setting up a project and planning ahead
  • Overview of all the windows
  • Using the tools in the tool palette
Creating Compositions
  • Importing and using images from Photoshop (including layers and Alpha channels)
  • Importing and interpreting video clips
  • Importing external files as compositions
  • Understanding key frames
  • Mixing footage from different sources
  • Pre-composing; Nesting compositions to create complex animations
  • Using the Puppet Tool
Layers & Masks
  • Layer properties
  • Working with layers in time and space
  • Adjustment layers
  • Animating layer properties over time
  • Understanding layer masking
  • Multiple masks and their parameters
  • Mask animations
  • Animating Masks - Rotoscoping
  • Layer Transfer Modes and Track Mattes
  • Chroma keying (green screens)
  • Colour correction
  • 3D compositing - manipulation layers in 3D space, animating lights & cameras
  • Parenting - animating layers hierarchically & synchronizing their motion
Animation Presets
  • Text
  • Backgrounds
  • Simulations
  • Transitions
Playback
  • The RAM playback engine and its parameters
  • Previewing your work
  • Using markers
  • Fine-tuning animations by manually and numerically altering key frame parameters
  • Understanding and applying Filters and Effects
  • Using slow motion and variable speed during a clip
  • Controlling speed, acceleration and deceleration along a motion path
Output
  • Safe zones, frame rates and compression
  • Export and output options
  • Pixel Aspect Ratio settings
  • Rendering the final output (for output to video and for web playback)
  • Working with DV/Mini DV/HDV
  • Organising large projects
  • Disk Caching
  • Output to Macromedia Flash (SWF) - creating animations for Web sites
  • Enhanced masking - drawing masks in the Comp window; adding Motion Blur to masks
Integration
  • Photoshop
 
About Rakesh Thind
Rakesh’s professional background is in graphics design/advertising, although he specialised in a 3D animation/motion graphics degree at University of Portsmouth. His passion however lies in film and his work includes music videos, corporate reels, shorts and key poster art work for British feature films. 
For advice on other future courses not yet listed here, please contact a member of staff at City Eye.

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