After Effects Beginner

[Cal Johnson]

I’d recommend “Creating Motion Graphics” by Chris and Trish Meyer. Its now two volumes, I’d get both, go through them cover to cover, and you’ll be very comfortable with After Effects.

[Jim Kanter]

Adobe’s Classroom in a Book is a good place to start.

Trish and Chris’ books are good if you want “under the hood” understanding as well as a detailed set of tutorials covering a wide range of tools and techniques.

Antony Bolante’s Visual QuikPro Guide is a very useful reference, but not especially friendly as a tutorial set for beginners.

Angie Taylor has a nice book out on AE.

Also, don’t forget about some of the DVDs out there. Watching something being done is frequently easier to understand than reading words and looking at screen grabs.

Plenty of tutorials here on the COW as well as on the ‘net.

Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com