Recommended AFX 5.5 book?

[mental]

when i started out with AFX years ago i picked up >

Adobe After Effects: Class Room In A Book.

AFX: Class Room In A Book is straight and to the point. above all else it will get you up and running with AFX in no time. i believe the newest version is for 5.0 but all of the lessons still apply to 5.5.

congragulations on the new job.

-mental :surprised

[John Swafford]

There are plenty out there, but the 3 current AE books by Chris & Trish Meyer are very good, with more extras than I can count (i.e. bonus chapters, lessons and tutorials). Also the best tutorial-based books on a graphics app that I've yet encountered. If your local bookstore has any books on AE, it probably has them.....flip through them if they're there.

After Effects In Production (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578200776/qid=1055656442/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-4952252-7612859?v=glance&s=books)
Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects, Volume 1: The Essentials (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578201144/qid=1055656442/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-4952252-7612859?v=glance&s=books)
Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Volume 2: Advanced Techniques (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578202078/qid=1055656442/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4952252-7612859?v=glance&s=books)

[alphatron]

Thanks for the input so far.

Is the New Riders book any good? "After Effects Magic", or the Visual Quickstart guide? What about the H.O.T. (hand on training) guide?

[hardev]

hi alphatron.
i have read the H.O.T from lynda.com. if u want to buy the book because of the included video tutorials on the cd-rom then dont!!
there are only about 5 or 6 videos and the last about 1 minute each. the book itself is very basic. so if u have any prior knowledge of after effects stay away from this book. go with creating motion graphics, i havent heard a single negative comment about the book.:applause:

[beaker]

I'm with John, get the Chris and Trish Meyer books. They run the motion graphics users group here in LA. They really know their tools and do a really good job at teaching it in their books.

[alphatron]

Thanks again everyone :--)

[jussing]

I have a book which I believe is After Effects Magic (but I'll check that when I get home this evening), and it sucks donkey balls.

Sure, there are several useful tips here and there, that I didn't know already, but I swear, some of the enclosed clips are PRE-manipulated, so they're easier to process succesfully with the examples of the book.

For instance, there's a sample greenscreen clip where the green background is ALL PERFECT 0-255-0 green, and looks nothing like a real-life green screen example.

Completely useless. :thumbsdow

Like I said, I'll check the title when get home. This is one you want to avoid.

'Till then,
- Jonas

EDIT:

Yup, just checked, "After Effects 5.5 Magic", by Nathan Moody and mark Christiansen. OK, maybe I excaggerated, I really isn't completely useless, there are lots of useful tips and techniques in it, but those pre-manipulated examples just really p*ssed me off... :hmm:

[roguenroll]

Originally posted by beaker
I'm with John, get the Chris and Trish Meyer books. They run the motion graphics users group here in LA. They really know their tools and do a really good job at teaching it in their books.


I have these, Excellent, get these!!!!!!!!!!

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