How this book was written

This book was the brainchild of LA-based motion graphics pro and teacher, James Rankin. James said, "The original concept of this book was inspired by a comment from an audience member at one of my speaking engagements on After Effects. He said, 'I love these sessions. They're like a cookbook of recipes for people who do this for a living and used to have to figure it out from scratch.' Then he asked, 'Do you have a book out like this?' There wasn't one like it then, but thanks to the good people at New Riders, there is now."

The After Effects projects featured in this book were crafted by James Rankin and contributors Jason Croatto and Danielle Heitmuller. Jason designed the projects for chapters 8, "Animating with Illustrator"; 12, "Sonic Promo"; and 22, "Video Cubes." Danielle designed the projects for chapters 1, "Spinning Squares"; 2, "Falling Squares"; and 3, "Wall of Squares." And James designed the remaining chapters' projects.

Co-author Anna Ullrich expanded on the finished developed projects, in some cases generating simpler solutions for some tasks and restructuring others. She crafted the step-by-step language that will enable you to make quick and effective use of the wealth of creative ideas found in these pages.