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MARCH 11, 2003 Total Training: Adobe After Effects 5.5
Set Two: Design, Animation, and Special Effects One of the things that is a vast improvement over other DVD collections from Total Training how easy it has become to navigate through the hours and hours of information. The team has done a terrific job of indexing the entire series. If you need to stop the DVD for any reason, or need to go back later and reference something important Steve or Brian discussed, you can find it within five clicks of your DVD remote. The second set is one that you may be referring back to a lot as this set dives into many of the effects you will be using daily in your compositions.[an error occurred while processing this directive]
The effects section is very good and explains how the effects work from a practical standpoint. The lessons covered in this section are ones that you will probably end up using (or variations of) in some of your daily productions. Disc three of this four DVD set (over 15 hours of content) is the one disc out of the entire series that I felt most let down on. On this disc, Brian covers Shatter, Card Wipe, Card Dance, Colorama, Radio Waves, Wave World, and Caustics. If you previously purchased What’s New in Adobe After Effects 5.0, you might feel as let down as I was. I came away feeling like I had learned nothing new from this disc that I already didn’t learn from the What’s New series. I almost felt like I was watching a rerun of the previous set. Brian does try to show a few variations on how these effects can be used, but because I have watched the previous What’s New offering, it gives the impression that some of these effects are one trick ponies. On the other hand, if you haven’t previously purchased or viewed the What’s New series, then all of the information on Disc three will be brand new, and you will learn a great deal. The set wraps up with Steve showing some great examples of how to use AE effects from a design standpoint. This was an excellent three hours of training. My only wish was there was another five hour DVD of real world training examples that followed this concept. For the beginner, Design, Animation and Special Effects is an excellent follow up to the first set. In order for the beginner to get the most out of their After Effects package, you will need to get this collection. Intermediate users will also find this collection valuable as effects are explained in greater detail than a manual or Adobe online help ever could. Advanced users too will also find this a valuable collection to have as a reference tool. Even though I felt a bit betrayed because of some of the repeat material, I feel this is a strong set and worth the price. Set two comes on four DVDs and runs $224. Related sites: • Animation Artist • Animation Supplement • AV Video • Broadcast Newsroom • Content Mastering • Corporate Media News • Creative Mac • Design Supplement • Digital Animators • Digital Media Designer • Digital Post Production • Digital Producer • Digital Video Editing • DTV Professional • DV Format • Film and Video Magazine • Hollywood Industry • Production Supplement • Siggraph News • The WWUG Related forums: [an error occurred while processing this directive] 
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