Hello and welcome to the first video in this Beginner's Guide to Adobe After Effects.
In this video I'm going to discuss what After Effects is.
I will also be discussing the difference between Adobe After Effects and Adobe
Premiere Pro. So as a beginner you will have a good understanding of the
differences between them, what they are used for
and which one is what for you and your project.
So since 2003 Adobe Premiere Pro has been available to
amateur and pro video editors and is purely a video editing software.
Premiere Pro has powerful tools to edit raw footage to create small or large video productions.
If you simply want to focus on video editing and apply color effects
and simple transition effects, Adobe Premiere Pro is the program to use.
Adobe Premiere revolves around a timeline paradigm, where you layer and chop
footage together with simple transition effects. Lots of video clips can be
placed together on one or few layers, chopped up and moved around quite
swiftly. Here is an example of a simple Premiere Pro project.
Here we can see 10 video sources all chopped up neatly
on one layer. The workflow in Premiere is pretty streamlined
and really comfortable. it's really easy to select
multiple files, move them around cut and edit.
So Premiere Pro is used for the
production of your raw video edits. Now Adobe After Effects is used in
post-production, after the video footage has been produced and exported from
programs such as Adobe Premiere hence After Effects. Since 1995 with its first release
Adobe After Effects has been available to add visual effects to video,
create motion graphics and animation sequences. In the industry After Effects
is used in the post-production process of filmmaking and television production
and also in design and social media. Now for those not familiar with After
Effects it may help to imagine After Effects as a mix of Premiere and Photoshop.
If you're familiar with Photoshop you will be aware of all the color effects
masking and blending mode capabilities that can be applied to 2D images
In After Effects very similar effects can be applied just like in
Photoshop but to video footage across time. After Effects is also commonly used
for keying, tracking, transitions, light particle and 3D effects.
Now After Effects is based on compositing and works not only with video footage but
with image, audio, type and files brought in from other programs like Adobe
Photoshop, Illustrator, 3D programs and also Premiere to create video presentations.
So here is an example of the same edit previously shown in
Premiere, but now here in After Effects. Like Premiere Pro After Effects also
revolves around a timeline paradigm but with more management and focus around
layers like in Photoshop. Here we can see that a video edit of the same ten Clips
can create a more complex workflow. We cannot chop up footage as easy as in
Premiere. We have to work in layers which stack up on top of each other.
Simple video edits can be quite clunky and awkward in comparison. Now simple video
editing can be done in After Effects but it is not as streamlined as Premiere Pro
To do proper video editing you really want to use Adobe Premiere.
So Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects are powerful software tools used for
specific jobs. These are two amazing programs and used together there is
nothing you cannot create. Now when I create my videos I always edit first in
Adobe Premiere, then once I have edited I will export out my footage and open in
Adobe After Effects where I will colour grade and add visual effects, audio and
motion graphics. So to recap some key things to remember are:
Adobe Premiere Pro is mainly used for editing and After Effects is mainly used for post-production,
visual effects, motion graphics and animation sequences.
So that's a brief introduction to Adobe After Effects. In the next video we are
going to take a look at the After Effects interface.
So I'll see you in the next video!