As someone who teaches media, I have many of the books on AE out there and this is by far the most useful because it goes beyond the basics of the "how to use the program" while being detailed enought that those fairly new to the program, and the new features, can easily follow along. The case studies are especially useful as they detail the production process from concept to completion with suggestions on how to use these ideas in your own work. The tutorials and case studies are also for the most part very practical, make you realize just how powerful AE really is and the creative ways that others have used it (and helps me get out of some of my own creative stiffling ruts). Some books and videos show you how something works and what a slider does but you have no idea how you would ever actually use it in a real world production. Also, the book and CD are well laid out and the CD has some extra plugins, templates and additional articles. Got me excited about AE all over again!
This book is absolutely wonderful. The tutorials are beautifully crafted and the case studies are extremely enlightening. There is a lot of good stuff in this book! The tutorials are somewhat complex (which is a good thing) but very easy to follow. Beginners might want to start with their previous book - Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects - because the new one assumes you at least know your way around the program. It would be impossible for even an intemediate/advanced user to go through this book without learning a LOT of new stuff. There is a lot to be impressed with here. Not only do you get to dive into some complex animations but the authors constantly point out little details to improve the look of the piece and its synchronization with audio. You come away with a feeling that you have not only learned a lot about the mechanics of creating a complicated piece but also something about the artistic side of motion graphics design as well. In addition, the CD (as with their previous book) is a treasure trove of goodies, including bonus tutorials and free plugins. One can only hope that this is the begining of a series of books like this...
Wow, this book is amazing. The authors presents the software to you, but they also make you think about the techniques and concepts. They also have special guests in the book and various famous studios share their projects, visions and techniques. This book is mostly targeted for intermediate to advanced users of After Effects, but dont be intimidated if you are a beginner. The book comes with a fabulous CD ROM with the projects, movies, free tutorials and free plug-ins and an trial version of After Effects 5.0
