Yes, I am a child of the video revolution. I grew up a fan of black & white cartoons on Saturday mornings. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Speedy Gonzales, Foghorn Leghorn, Tom & Jerry, Popeye, and the list goes on. I was also introduced to science fiction at an early age. The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and of course Star Trek were regular staples of my TV viewing agenda. All of which set the stage for me to become the animation and special effects movie junkie that I am today.

Early in my career as a TV station Art Director, I dabbled in basic animation and video effects. I grew to understand the nuts and bolts of animation and effects, but I never had the tools that are available today. I should say, I never had them… until now.

I picked up this book in hopes of learning the basics of both Adobe After Effects and Flash. (Kill two birds with one stone.)  I am pleased to report that my instincts were correct in choosing After Effects for Flash – Flash for After Effects. (AEF-FAE) This book by Richard Harrington & Marcus Geduld has proven to be a great tool for my introduction to both of these mammoth applications.

Besides providing detailed instructions about the workspace and tools available, the book also comes with a DVD crammed full of goodies in the form of After Effects and Flash project files so you can easily follow along and perform the functions outlined in the book. AEF-FAE gives you pre-built projects and detailed explanations of how each project was constructed. Then, a follow-up lesson shows you how to import the elements into your own project along with some basic time-saving short-cuts so you can reconstruct the project yourself, step-by-step.

For example, in one of the After Effects lessons, AEF-FAE shows you how to import an Adobe Illustrator file into the project as a flattened file, or by importing the file as a Composition; it becomes a folder containing all the separate layers of that file. A neat trick and a real time-saver.

The easy-to-follow instructions extend to the Flash side of the book as well, but the rubber really meets the road with AEF-FAE in understanding how to combine the strengths of these two powerful applications. Each compliments the other in ways that a novice like me can truly appreciate.

The book itself won’t win any awards for the layout or graphics. It is a functional book with wide outside margins that leave plenty of room for making your own notes. Personally, I am prone to that sort of thing. I find that it helps my retention and lets me easily find stuff later if I need a quick refresher on a function. The illustrations are all printed in full color throughout the book. You see it in the book as you see it on your screen. A real plus for me.

After Effects for Flash – Flash for After Effects is a book I would recommend to anyone looking to expand their creative toolkit. Th-th-th-that’s all folks!