User Guide

9
An Overview of Adobe After
Effects
This overview introduces you to the key features of After Effects. If you’re an experienced
After Effects user, you may want to scan this overview and then skip to “What’s New in
After Effects 5.0.”
After Effects is available in two versions. The Standard version provides the core 2D/3D
compositing, animation, and effects tools that motion graphics professionals, Web design-
ers, and video professionals need. The Production Bundle version meets the needs of
visual effects professionals, and includes all of the tools in the Standard Version plus addi-
tional keying, motion control, and distortion tools, audio effects, 3D channel effects, 16-
bit-per-channel color, vector paint, and support for network rendering.
Superior Adobe product integration
After Effects features the award-winning Adobe user interface, familiar to anyone who
uses Adobe Photoshop
®
, Adobe Illustrator
®
, or Adobe Premiere
®
. The tabbed windows—
along with Adobe’s popular tabbed palettes, similar tools, and common keyboard short-
cuts—make it possible to work more efficiently and move among the programs with ease.
After Effects, Premiere, and Adobe LiveMotion
™
use a similar time-based interface, so
moving among the applications is a snap. Productivity-boosting features such as the pen
tool, Align palette, rulers and guides, editing tools, and free transform mode work in After
Effects just as they do in other popular Adobe products.
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