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V.Sunil
V.Sunil
Known Participant
June 7, 2020
Question

Does anyone own the After Effects Classroom In A Book 2020 release? I'm stuck in Chapter 3

  • June 7, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 1419 views

In chapter 3, which is Animating Text, on pg 71, it says to end the current work area which is being set to 3.00 secs. Then on pg 74, you are asked to go to 5.00 secs in the timeline. How can I jump to this timeline when the work area end time has been already set to 3.00 secs?

 

I'm stuck here. Anyone who has this After Effects Classroom In A Book 2020 release can probably relate to my issue and give me a helping hand please.

 

Thank You!

 

Regards,

Sunil

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

K
Kranque
Participant
January 13, 2021

I'm having the same problem.  I've tried moving the text (LOCATION) in the FISHSWIM composition so that it is present at 5:00.  I've tried a time stretch.  I've tried applying the effect to each composition.  Nothing works.  I'd love to find out why and how to fix it...

    K
    Kranque
    Participant
    January 13, 2021

    Figured out a solution:

    In the LOCATION composition, I went to composition settings and changed the duration to 13 seconds.  Then I followed the directions and they worked!

      hirohito995319753
      hirohito995319753
      Participant
      June 8, 2020

      I just got to this chapter and am having the same problem.  Checked the work area and it is set for the length of the overall comp.  Alos checked to see if there is an animation timeline in the psd file (there is not one) so I'm at a loss.  If anyone could help Sunil and me, please chime in.

      V.Sunil
      V.SunilAuthor
      Known Participant
      June 9, 2020

      Hi Hirohito,

      Exactly my friend! Now I have some company. I don't feel so alone anymore. I went through Chapter 3 right from the start again. I currently stopped at pg75.

       

      Ok. Here's what I did. You don't follow their instructions to set the work area at 3.00 or 5.00 as mentioned earlier. I skipped that part. I just let the work area to be as long as 13 secs which is the actual length of the video footage. Now I'm able to see the animated effects added on to ISLA MUJERES text. I also can see the two keyframes created at Range Selector 1 Offset at 5.00 and at 7.15.

       

      I'll continue from Animating type tracking title from pg75 later. Was just eager to mention you about this 'solution' first. Haha! Ok. So, the key is not to set the work area to anything for now. Just leave it as it is. I'll probably set it when I'm done with all the compositions on other layers in the end.

       

      Did you also realize that they assume you have some background knowledge on how to change the stroke colours of the words? They just provided you with the RGB colour codes. But they did not tell you that you can click beside the RGB indicators to type in the colour codes. I have experience using photoshop and illustrator. So, that's why I knew.

       

      Regards,

      Sunil

      Martin_Ritter
      Martin_Ritter
      Legend
      June 7, 2020

      I don't know the book, but the work area can be shorter than the composition length.

       

      You can have 10 sec composition and 3 sec work area. Only the work area is rendered and sometimes it's useful to have a longer comp and just render and export a shorter area.

       

      *Martin

        V.Sunil
        V.SunilAuthor
        Known Participant
        June 7, 2020

        Hi Martin,

         

        Thanks for your reply! I'm new to AE. Trying to learn the trade as much as I can. Seriously the timeline panel gets more complicated when more animations are being added. I really get lost here.

        So, why would you want a 10 sec composition when the work area timing is only 3 sec? Then 7 secs of the composition will not be rendered.

        I'm hearing something new here. Enlighten me!

         

        Regards,

        Sunil

        Martin_Ritter
        Martin_Ritter
        Legend
        June 7, 2020

        Imaging having a 10 sec animation and now you want to add music. The music track is 5 min long and has different parts. You want to see and hear, which part fits best to your animation, but moving the music layer in 10 sec steps, because that's the length of your comp, is really annoying.

         

        Another example:

        You have to create several short similar animations. For the sake of overview and workflow you put all animations in one long comp and export only the short animation parts.

         

        Another one:

        You copy a layer with a your animation into a new comp to reuse it. The source comp was 5 mins long and the layer was at the end. The target comp is 10 secs long, but the layer is pasted with the source time position, so around 5 mins. You can't see it, you can't drag it. You can only switch on the timing-controls in your timeline and set a new inpoint, or enlarge the comp to grab the layer. Working with long comps by default prevent this.

         

        And another one:

        You can create and store animations and layers for later use at the end of the comp, but outside of the working area.

         

        I always work with longer comps. It gives me a feeling of "freedom", like I can see beyond the edges of my animation.

         

        I hope this was enlightening 😉

         

        *Martin

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