Datasheet

■ Interview: Richard Shackleton, The Foundry, London 37
LL: There is a great deal of competition when it comes to compositing software. How does
After Effects differentiate itself from the pack?
MC: After Effects is surprisingly easy to use and has a great deal of flexibility to handle
a broad range of projects. It integrates very well into broader workflows, and it’s almost
guaranteed that the people you hire already know how to use it.… When it comes to other
compositing products, I think you’ll find that After Effects is more of a complement than
a competitor. If you ask someone who owns another compositing product if they also use
After Effects, the answer is probably yes.
LL: After Effects is layer-based. What is the greatest advantage of a layer-based system
when compared to a node-based system?
MC: Most people have a mental model of a composite that looks like a stack of layers. The
After Effects user interface is organized around a timeline that reflects the stacking order
of the layers.… When animation and timing come into play, the advantages of a layered
timeline begin to shine. After Effects has the best timeline in the industry, and it’s truly a
joy to animate with it.… [With After Effects CS4, we] introduced a new feature called the
mini-flowchart that visualizes the nesting structure and makes navigating among composi-
tions much faster. It’s quite handy and provides some of the advantages of nodes within the
layered timeline. Our goal is to have the best of both worlds.
Additional Resources: The Full Interview
To read the full interview with Michael Coleman, see the Interviews folder on the DVD.
Interview: Richard Shackleton,
The Foundry, London
Richard Shackleton graduated from the Imperial College
of Science, Technology and Medicine in London with a
degree in software engineering. He began his career at
Nortel Networks and Avid Technology, where he special-
ized in software development for the visual effects and
editing markets. Richard joined The Foundry in 1999
but left to work with Digital Vision. He returned to The
Foundry in 2008 and now serves as product manager for
Nuke.
The Foundry was founded in 1996 by Bruno
Nicoletti and Simon Robinson. The company developed
the Tinder plug-in set for Flame and went on to create a
wide range of tools for all the major compositing pack-
ages. At present, The Foundry is a leading developer of
visual effects and image processing technologies for film
and video postproduction.
Richard Shackleton
52615c01.indd 37 10/20/09 12:34:25 PM