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After Effects CS5.5

Tweaks for Geeks

Beyond the headline new features, every new release of After Effects tends to include numerous refinements, shortcuts, and enhancements that solve problems or otherwise save a few minutes each day performing common tasks. Here’s a few of those in CS5.5:

Edit This/Look At That

We review existing methods to work on one portion of a chain of compositions while viewing the final result in another, then introduce a new feature in After Effects CS5.5 that simplifies opening a second viewer for side-by-side work.

Searching and Sorting

Review recent enhancements for finding sources, effects, and parameters that may be buried deep inside an After Effects project, including the new-in-CS5.5 “Most Recently Used” search terms - plus the power of “and” versus “or” searches.

Source Timecode

As an extension of Adobe’s recent focus on metadata and being able to track information throughout a production, After Effects CS5.5 now has the ability to access the Media Start and End times as well as “tape” names for assets that include them.

Enhanced Caching

Gain a better understanding of how After Effects takes advantage of both RAM and disk caching for both individual layers and entire compositions to improve performance and reduce rendering times.

Expression Enhancements

We demonstrate the new 3D Point Control for expressions, plus the ability to tie together effects with complex arbitrary controls. We also list the additions and enhancements to both expressions and scripting in After Effects CS5.5.

Save Project as After Effects CS5

After Effects CS5.5 includes the long-requested ability to save a project file back to the prior version. We demonstrate how this interacts with the new features added in CS5.5, including the ability to remember CS5.5-specific effects.

And There’s More…

Of course, there are even more new features and enhancements that we didn’t get into in the videos above. After Effects documentation and support guru Todd Kopriva will no doubt point to an exhaustive list of all of the changes between AE CS5 and CS5.5 in his blog, Region of Interest (which is essential reading for After Effects users in between releases, as well).

If you have a lynda.com subscription, all of the videos above are also posted in higher fidelity as our After Effects CS5.5: New Creative Techniques course. We will also be incorporating CS5.5 into our After Effects Apprentice video series on lynda.com, including special movies on the new 3D and Warp Stabilizer features as part of the relevant lessons.

In the meantime, we’re already using After Effects and Audition CS5.5 as part of our workflow, so obviously we think they’re worthwhile upgrades. (One known annoying bug that we expect will be fixed not long after release: If you edit a text layer, you may get significant cursor flashing and other delays - especially if you have an effect such as Drop Shadow already applied to the layer. Move the cursor outside of the Composition panel’s frame, and it will be much more snappy.) Yes, there are a lot of areas of the program which did not get an update (everyone has their list - and each list is probably different), but we still think this is pretty darn good for a “dot” release. We hope these videos help you decide whether to upgrade yourself, and if you do, that they help you hit the ground running when the new versions arrives.

Mandatory (even if blindingly obvious) FTC disclosure: We have relationships with Adobe, Focal Press, and lynda.com. Adobe was so kind as to give us free access to the software mentioned here before its release, and Adobe TV paid us for the right to distribute our otherwise independently produced videos about their products. As will no doubt surprise no one, lynda.com pays us for that right as well; Focal Press even pays us when they sell books we wrote on the subject. Its how we can afford to spend the numerous hours we do learning the new software, and sharing what we learned with you our fellow users.

The content contained in Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, New Creative Techniques, and the CMG Blogs and CMG Keyframes posts on ProVideoCoalition are copyright Crish Design, except where otherwise attributed.

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