And if you join fxphd you get more than just the one class. Tim Clapham is offering a new After Effects motion graphics course that will undoubtedly be fantastic. There are a number of courses that will reveal the process of creating visual effects for the popular Red Dwarf premiere that aired in the UK last week – this is a glimpse into real production and an opportunity to get your hands on real elements.

There’s even a course on Python scripting for compositors, and there’s the always excellent Background Fundamentals course hosted by Mike Seymour included with the price of admission.

Check out the orientation video for more of what’s there.

I’m looking forward to seeing new things at this show despite dampened expecations; this morning came the news that Autodesk plans to bring Mudbox and Toxik to the Mac, and we can expect more surprises as the week progresses.

Cool it now, people, but soon After Effects CS4 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques will be on its way from the printer to warehouses and then out to the world. The title is certainly a mouthful: it went double-wide to make it easy for the casual searcher to find it when looking for an intermediate/advanced, practical book about compositing a realistic or fantastic shot. Admittedly designers have also benefited from this book; why, even Ron Brinkmann now includes “motion graphics” in his subtitle.

The main question among readers of this blog is likely, “What’s new?” Or more specifically, “I own version X of the book; do I really need to upgrade?” Version CS4, the fourth edition, brings:

• a brand new Expressions chapter written by the master of expressions himself, Dan Ebberts. This includes many new examples presented in an order which will make sense even to the expressions-phobic, but will also cater to veterans. Dan worked hard to pack a lot into a single chapter.
• a JavaScript for After Effects PDF guide (also from Dan) which fills in many gaps where Adobe’s own documentation advises you to use a third-party text (all of which are more focused on JavaScript for the web). Finally, a third-party JavaScript guide tailored to After Effects.
• a Scripting PDF appendix (chapter really) by Jeff Almasol, master of all things scripting and member of the After Effects development team. Scripting is the gnarliest, most technical area of After Effects and yet Jeff is able to describe it in a clear and friendly manner, with examples which gradually increase from basic to more complex.
• exclusive scripts designed to do previously tricky setups described in the book, including light wrap and camera mapping, also courtesy Jeff Almasol.
• a radically revamped Section I, more clear and concise than in previous editions. This is an intermediate/advanced book, but I felt I was unnecessarily losing more novice readers with language and an approach that was not as approachable as it could be.
• new examples and refinements throughout, including clearer and more concise methodology for the fundamentals: keying, roto/paint, color, and most of all, tracking (now that MochaAE is included with After Effects)
• new outside contributions including a light saber scene and related info from Ryan vs. Dorkman, courtesy Michael Scott, a.k.a. Dorkman
• more HD examples on the disc

So while I agree with the assessment of many folks that version CS4 does not include many huge, game-changing features that render the information in a CS3 book obsolete, I took the opportunity to improve the book itself.

I certainly hope you like it.

I also have it in mind to talk about a MAJOR OEM agreement – Imagineer’s MochaAE now ships with After Effects, which is FANTASTIC news – planar tracking to augment a tired and slightly senile corner pin tracker – and my favorite little addition to After Effects, MiniFlow.

But for now I have to get back to it. Watch this space.

There at least one major change to this one which I’ll share as we get closer to publication.

Meanwhile – I take requests – if there are sections of the book you think could be clearer (I already have my picks – in particular Section I) or other topics you’d like to see covered, let me know.

Also, if you have work that you’re proud of and you’d like it immortalized in a popular publication, send me a still; there are all kinds of cinematic images I can put to use.

This plug-in has been in heavy rotation at my studio, where it allows an artist to render in the background, locally, while continuing to work, and without the need for a copy of Nucleo Pro or the ability to set up a command-line render (which is what BG Renderer is actually doing for you). On a multiprocessor machine, if you un-check Use Multiprocessing and leave the priority Low, you can render in the background, gradually, and continue to work. Or you can crank it up to full render power, damn the consequences.

As Michael Bay would say, “Awesome!”

I’ll be helping out with a class called “After Effects Masters” (afx302) that will feature the amazing UI work of Mark Coleran. I’m psyched!

Or rather, it’s at least safer than it was in 7.4, so if you’ve been stuck trying to downgrade to 7.3, there’s an official way out.