(Page 4 of 4 pages for this article « First  <  2 3 4)

Filed under: *VIDEO* •CS4 •Motion Graphics •Visual Effects •

After Effects CS4

Separate XYZ Position

We’ve saved for last what many users might consider the best new feature in After Effects CS4: the ability to separate X, Y, and Z Position values into their own independent parameters with their own keyframes and Graph Editor curves. Although an awful lot can be said for the ease-of-use behind AE’s standard bundling of the X, Y, and Z position values into one keyframe with the ability to directly edit the motion (spatial) path, some complex movements - like camera track+dolly moves, or bouncing ball animations - are much easier when you get separate access to these parameters, and give each their own velocity treatments.

For example, in the case of the bouncing ball (pictured above), you can make the ball travel at a constant speed in X (or Z, or a X+Z), while it bounces up and down in the Y dimension. The mind-shift required here is that you are no longer editing the motion path in the Comp panel; you are editing it indirectly in the Graph Editor - but many will consider that a worthwhile tradeoff. (And if you don’t, you can always use the default system of joined X, Y, and Z.) Not all parameters with X, Y, and Z values have the ability to be separated in CS4; that’s definitely a wish list item for the next release.

And There’s More…

This is hardly an exhaustive list of the new features in After Effects CS4; we’ve only hit the major highlights above. But there are dozens of other new features in AE CS4, including:

• a new Unified Camera tool that allows you to quickly switch between Orbit, Track XY, and Track Z movements with a three-button mouse
• the 3D light icons now differentiate between light types
• Shape layers have a new Wiggle Transform operator that makes randomized movement much easier to set up - especially for repeated objects
• Shape layers also get more internal blend modes
• you can save and load AE CS4 projects as text-based XML files (scripters, rejoice)
• deep support for XMP metadata across multiple Creative Suite 4 products, including After Effects
• OpenGL now supports Adaptive Resolution to further increase interactivity when editing parameters
• the revamped Welcome screen allows you to directly access recent projects, open a new project, launch Bridge, and perform other common actions
• improved multiprocessing management (although remember, AE CS4 will no longer run on pre-Intel Macs)
• translation of time remapping from Premiere Pro into After Effects
• P2 and XDCAM support, plus support for working with layered HDR ProEXR files
• a shortcut key (FF) to find missing effects
• center-cut 4:3 safe areas displayed in widescreen comps along with the normal 16:9 safe areas
• new Center In View command
• Composition panel zoom and resolution are now automatically linked (for better or worse)
• new Layer > Transform > Flip Horizontal/Flip Vertical functions (which automatically alters the Scale values)
• when you split or duplicate a parent layer, its children now get duplicated as well
• option to decide if a Text layer can be converted into a Shape layer, or a masked solid (it was one way in AE7, then the other way in CS3; now we get a choice)
• ...and loads more…

As mentioned back at the start, as time goes by we’ll be looking at some of these features in more detail over in the CMG Keyframes channel. In the meantime, we hope this gives you a good idea of what’s coming, so you can decide how soon you want to upgrade.

Special thanks to Adobe, who provided some of the source materials pictured in this article. Thanks to Artbeats for providing additional footage.

Adobe, Adobe Device Central, After Effects, Creative Suite, Flash, and Premiere Pro are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are retained by their respective rights holders.

(Page 4 of 4 pages for this article « First  <  2 3 4)

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below: