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After Effects for a 14 year old boy
I am a graphic designer currently working in Adobe Design Premium CS3. My 14 year old son has mastered Flash and is now bugging me for After Effects for his animation projects. It will be a big chunk of money to upgrade to the Master Collection or to purchase AE as a stand alone. My question is is if this is too much of a program for a boy of his age? I have a 2GHz Intel Core Duo iMac with 2GB. Will I have to upgrade the iMac as well?
Thanks in advance.
Lyn
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6 Replies
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Hi,
If he can handle Flash, he can certainly handle After Effects. The only issue is will his knowledge of Flash create confusion in trying to understand After Effects. I’m a bit older than 14 at this point and maybe that effects my learning abilities, but I have had a heck of a time trying to understand Flash after many years of working with AE. I don’t know… maybe it’s easier going the other direction.
In regard to upgrading, the iMac should be able to handle a lot of things. I use my MacBook for simple AE work at home. It will be painful to do really complicated stuff, but there is no point in upgrading the hardware until you know you need something more powerful. At least to begin with, if you choose to get AE for the iMac, it will work. it may not be the fastest thing around, but if your kid starts making more money than you because he’s mastered After Effects, then he can pop for the new Mac.
Lars
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With college starting in 3 years, if this is a career path he is interested in, then why not give him a head start!? Try checking for previous releases of After Effects (7.0 or 6.5), i’m sure they are much cheaper – and for a beginner there is no substantial difference.
Soon you may need an editing program also! 🙂
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As a student he is eligible for academic discounts on software. AE CS4 is only $350 at dealers like Academic Superstore or Creation Engine.
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Though Flash and After Effects share a lot of features and follow the a lot of the same concepts, they can also be vastly unlike each other. After Effects is really a different animal. But a passionate 14-year-old would probably soak it all up and make it dance eventually. Especially if you got him a project-based book for beginners like “After Effects Apprentice” by Trish and Chris Meyer.
Boy, I wish I had After Effects when I was 14. I didn’t pick it up till I was 38. If you get it for him you’d be the best mom ever in my book.
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Show him how he can intergrate AE with his Flash work. Thats how I originally got turned on to AE. There are a couple of books on this, one is written by Tom Green. Then later on down the line he can take a consumer video camera, put up a green sheet on the wall, and with key light, cue points and a little actionscript he can create his own interactive video games (I think the book has a good example with a quick draw shooting game), once he touches the video he’ll want to look at Premiere and then hopefully Soundbooth to clean up his sound and the next thing you know he’ll be cleaning up the newgrounds awards.
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Thank you all for your responses and wisdom. I’m looking around for a CS3 version for the boy. I did think about the academic discount but didn’t think they’d give me one for an 8th grader.
Great points on the money making part of my son’s learning AE. If he wants to go to art school he’s got to start earning now.
Thanks a million.
Lyn
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