If you're interested in learning the basics of Adobe After Effects, or you just wanna know what the heck the program is actually used for, then this guide is for you. Before we start, I'll say After Effects (referred to as just AE from here on) is not a program for beginners. This guide is written with the assumption that you have a decent amount of experience with your primary editing tool, presumably Premiere. This guide is not intended for complete beginners in editing.

First off, let's discuss exactly what AE is and what it can be used for. AE is designed for producing motion graphics and for applying effects to existing footage (hence the name After Effects). AE is NOT a video editing utility like Adobe Premiere! As such, it doesn't replace your current video editing program, but rather it compliments it. While video editing software like Premiere is used for cutting up and joining clips together, AE is designed to take footage and add whatever your imagination can come up with.

Now, "What exactly ARE motion graphics?" you ask. Let's say you want to put something in your video, such as a small image that moves around the screen. While this is possible in most editing programs like Premiere, the motion controls are often very primitive. With AE, you have MUCH more control over motion. Motion blur can also be added to a layer with a click of a button, to make your motion look more realistic. Motion graphics are becoming increasingly common in AMVs today, as people have the need to express themselves using more than what is already available in the anime footage. To see an great example of motion graphics, one need look no further than the excellent AMV, Euphoria, made by Koopiskeva. While this video was not made in AE, it is a great example of using motion graphics (and it COULD have been done in AE, had the creator had chosen to). Another good example of motion graphics is my own video, Doujin Addiction, in which manga is flying onto the screen.

You're probably also wondering what sort of special effects can be produced within AE. AE has a ton of different effects that do all sorts of various things to your footage. For example the shatter effect, where the footage appears to break into glass shards, is not completely uncommon any more. There's a also variety of distortion effects that create ripples/bulges/etc. in your footage. There's color adjustment effects, stylize effects, and almost anything else you could want. While effect keyframing is probably already available in your current video editing software, AE has an excellent keyframing control system that lets you control every aspect of your effects with ease. Aside from effects that you just apply to your footage, AE also offers great features such as masking, motion tracking, and 3d capabilities.

One aspect of AE that especially shines is the HUGE library of 3rd party plugins available for purchase or download. While this is by no means a complete list, but here are some of the plugins I find the most useful:

• Some of the coolest plugins are made by Trapcode. Just check out their website to see these awesome plugins (with video clips showing what you can do with them) and to download demo versions.
• Sapphire Plug-ins includes a WHOLE BUNCH of nifty little effects.
• Here's a great FREE package of plugins, that I stumbled across, called "Pete's Plugins". http://www.petewarden.com/
• For a larger listing of available plugins, try this page on Adobe's website: http://www.adobe.com/products/plugins/aftereffects/main.html

That's my basic explanation of what you can do with AE. Next, I'll walk you through getting started with the program. If you do not have AE but would like to participate in the following tutorial, you can download a demo version from Adobe's website. http://www.adobe.com

On to part 2: Getting Started Tutorial