After Effects cs3 Training
 

I am a student getting after effects cs3 for mac off of academicsuperstore.com. I was looking for advice on the best training dvd's. On academicsuperstore, they show, the total training series and the one from lynda.com. I have already watched everything at videocopilot.com and any other tutorials i could find on the web. I was also wondering about recommended plug-ins. I like the pro bundle off of videocopilot.com, but would like some advice.

Hi Joshua,

I've been learning AE from the series by Chad Perkins on Lynda.com and have been very happy. He's funny and makes learning AE interesting. You can watch some of the first chapters and also do a search for Lynda.com coupons and you can get a 10-day full use trial pass.

Good luck, Marc

I also subscribe to lynda.com the nice thing is that you get tutorials on other programs as well. Like Final cut Studio. Lynda.com has a great set for Color. All for 25 bucks a month.

If you can afford it the Total Training series is great.

Hi Joshua,

I also reccomend the Lynda.com tutorial, plus if you get an account there you have access to all of their other tutorials.

As far as Plug-Ins, the main ones I would recommend personally are Magic Bullet Looks ( the new version interface is sweet!). You can litterally recreate the look of just about any movie type you want, and many of the presets get you to at least 80% of where you want to be. There is a demo version on the Red Giant site that is fully functioning, it just draws an x through your render, but the demo is 100% fully functioning as an image filter (that was a secret easter egg!!!). I also recommend all Trapcode plug-ins, but especially Particular, it is a really powerful particle generator and amazing. In general I think they are the best value for the money. They are all available through Red Giant now I believe. Aside from that you may want to get a really good 3rd party keying program (the one in AE is okay, but there are much better).

Enjoy it! After Effects is a really cool world for a creative mind to play in. You can animate just about anything if you plan your project out well.

Jeff

thanks for the advice, im excited about what ill be able to do.

What are good third party plug-ins for keying? Ive heard about keylight, but its around 400 dollars, and i thought there might be something out there cheaper, or that i can get a student discount on.

Don't worry
 

Joshua Keylight is bundled with AE. Unless the Student version does not include it for some reason.

Yeah the student edition doesnt have it, i called adobe and they didnt tell me exactly what wasnt in the student thats in the professional, but keylights one thing