Adobe After Effects 4.1 Standard Upgrade from 3.0 Standard

After Effects 4.1 is light-years ahead of the venerable 3.1. For thoseunfamiliar with the tool, here's what there is to know: there are few featurefilms, TV show title sequences, broadcast and cable shows, and TV commercialsthat make it through production without being touched by After Effects. It isthe animation and compositing tool of choice among the majority of workingprofessionals, and with good reason.

After Effects is a different program to different people. For some, it is a toolfor creating motion graphics for film titles. For others, it is a tool forcompositing layers of animation on top of live action. And, for still others, itis ideal for creating animated textures for backgrounds, or for use as decals ina 3-D application. It can import and export almost any type of graphic format,including QuickTime movies, AVI movies, TGA sequences, TIFF sequences, andanimated GIFs.

There are numerous new features with 4.1, including a project flowchart view,where one can see diagrammatically how compositions and layers are being usedand which ones are nested in other comps. Also, RAM previews can now be saved todisk after previewing as QuickTime movies, and the values of effects sliders canbe customized, allowing for very fine control of any effect property.

An important new feature is Collect Files. Save a copy of the project file andall imported elements into a specified folder, and you're ready for archiving ortransporting to another site for rendering. Be careful with this action, though:if your project uses any large video clips, make sure you have enough free spaceon the destination drive to accommodate everything.

All these features (and the flexibility) come at a price: After Effects isreasonably easy to use for very simple work, but it requires some effort tomaster for professional-level output. Although the tutorials in the manual areenough to get one started, a good companion book for deeper learning isClassroom in a Book: Adobe After Effectsfrom Adobe Press.

After being idle for literally years (referred to as the "3.1 years"), After Effects has rocketed through a growth spurt and is maturing into a deepand respected program. For any serious film or video animator, motion graphicsartist, or compositor, this upgrade to After Effects 4.1 is must-have.--MikeCaputo--This text refers to the Mac version of this software.