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Adobe After Effects 5.5

PCQ Bureau

05 Dec 2002 10:27 IST

New Update

Adobe After Effects is one of the most popular desktop compositing environments for Mac and PC, and is used in all kinds of production houses, small or big. The new version of After Effects focuses on 3D design. While 3D support was brought into the product in version 5, the new version has improved upon it with several new and interesting features.

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There’s an effects palette to manage the plethora of built-in and external effects

Those conversant with 3D software are accustomed to working on multiple views at the same time. This was a problem with the earlier After Effects, and the new version now supports multiple and simultaneous views of the 3D space. A host of new import options have also been added, including two new file formats for Maya (both 8 and 16-bits per channel), enhanced support for SGI files and Macromedia Flash .swf support. You can even import Maya camera positions as ASCII files.

Many new effects have been added, and the ones we found noteworthy are: Adjust Levels, Color Stabilizer, 4-Color

Gradient, Cell Pattern and Grid and Roughen Edges. An effects palette has been provided in the effects menu to manage them. You can club them into folders like distortion, blurs and keying. This makes working with Effects a breeze, as one doesn’t get confused in the swarm of effects in the menu.

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Snapshot

Price:

Rs 33,600 (standard version), Rs 78,000 (production bundle)

Meant for: Production houses Key specs Colored shadows and projection layers, adjustment lights, multiple 2D/3D views, plug-in for adding custom 3D elements, 3D text and 3D compositing, import data from Maya

Pros: Multiple views of 3D space, easier effects management

Contact: Adobe Systems, Noida, UP. Tel: 444711.

E-mail: Sandeepm@adobe.com

The Zaxwerks Invigorator plug-in is now integrated with After Effects Production Bundle. This helps you extrude Adobe Illustrator line art and images into 3D using an After Effects like 3D workspace. The best part is

that the model that you are editing in invigorator gets updated in realtime on the composition you are working on.

Some minor things that need improvement in After Effects are the built-in color correction tools and the 2D tracker.

The Bottomline: Overall, it’s a good choice given the new features like Maya camera support, the large collection of built-in and third-party effects and plug-ins. Plus, its tight integration with the other Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator make even more desirable.

Geetaj Channana

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