A solid investment that will broaden your After Effects skills
A New Solid is the latest training release from Creative Cow host Eran Stern. The DVD includes a wide range of After Effects tutorials, consisting of a combination of full-size versions of Eran’s Creative Cow Podcast tutorials and five more advanced, previously unreleased tutorials.
The content includes motion graphic and visual effects techniques and is suitable for beginner to advanced After Effects users. None of the lessons are complicated but beginners should understand the interface before jumping in to this title.
As an advanced user I’ve found the tutorials worthwhile; I’m about half way through the 8 hours of lessons and have already used some techniques in my own projects, including working with Open Type fonts in Illustrator to customize text – I always wondered how Open Type worked!
It should also be noted that a number of lessons include 3rd party effects such as Trapcode Echospace, Red Giant Warp and Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator which aren’t included so need to be purchased or downloaded as demos to complete those tutorials.
As far as the presentation goes, Eran has a friendly and warm teaching style and the tutorials are clearly explained step-by-step. I never felt rushed or that I didn’t understand workflow. If you’re used to presenters such as Andrew Kramer you may find Eran’s presentation style a little stiff, but it’s a style you quickly get used to.
It’s hard to find points for improvement in this release. Minor issues include the use of expressions in some tutorials that could have benefited from further explanation to help viewers understand the syntax. I personally am not a fan of comedy in tutorials and did find that sometimes the jokes were unnecessary but not enough to become annoying.
While you may not watch this training to see ground-breaking design or to learn how to create the next cool look, you will learn a huge range of tips and techniques and workflow from a true After Effects master. Eran actually wrote the exam for the Adobe Certified Expert certificate so he knows his stuff. Follow this link for a promo video and a full breakdown of the content of A New Solid.
Summary
If you’ve watched all of Eran’s podcasts check out the examples of the advanced tutorials here and decide if the $39.95 price tag is in your budget. If you’re like me and haven’t watched the podcasts, then this release, along with the extra previously unreleased tutorials, is a solid investment that will broaden your After Effects skills.
Positives: Wide range of useful techniques. Easy to follow. Short, concise tutorials.
Negatives: Much of the content is available as free podcasts.
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