Adobe After Effects facts for kids
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Adobe After Effects 2020 running on macOS Big Sur
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| Original author(s) | Company of Science and Art |
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| Developer(s) |
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| Initial release | January 1993 |
| Stable release |
2024 (25.1) / December 4, 2024
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| Written in | C/C++ |
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| Type | Visual effects, Motion graphics, Compositing, Computer animation |
| License | Trialware, Proprietary, term |
Adobe After Effects is a special computer program. It helps people create amazing visual effects and animation for videos. Imagine seeing a superhero fly or a dragon breathing fire in a movie. After Effects is often used to make those scenes!
This software is made by a company called Adobe Inc.. It's super popular for making motion graphics, which are like animated designs or titles you see in videos. It's also used in film making, video games, and TV shows. With After Effects, you can combine different video clips and images to make them look like one scene. This is called compositing.
You can also use After Effects for things like:
- Keying: This is like using a green screen to remove a background and put something else there.
- Tracking: This helps objects or effects follow movement in a video.
- Animation: Making things move and change over time.
After Effects can even do basic video editing and sound editing. In 2019, the program won a special Academy Award for its scientific and technical achievements in filmmaking!
Contents
History of After Effects
After Effects was first created by a team of people: David Herbstman, David Simons, Daniel Wilk, David M. Cotter, and Russell Belfer. They worked at a company called the Company of Science and Art in Providence, Rhode Island.
The very first version of After Effects came out in January 1993. Soon after, another version, 1.1, was released. In July 1993, a company called Aldus Corporation bought the Company of Science and Art, including After Effects. Then, in 1994, Adobe Inc. bought Aldus Corporation. This is how After Effects became an Adobe product. Adobe's first version of the software was After Effects 3.0.
How After Effects Works with Other Tools
After Effects can do even more cool things with the help of other tools. These tools are often called integrations. The most common ones are:
- Plug-ins: These are like extra features you can add.
- Scripts: These are small programs that automate tasks.
- Extensions: These add new panels and functions.
What are Plug-ins?
Plug-ins are special programs that add new features to After Effects. They can create amazing effects like:
- Particle systems: Imagine making rain, snow, or sparks.
- Physics engines: Making objects move realistically, like bouncing or falling.
- 3D effects: Creating objects that look like they have depth.
Plug-ins help After Effects connect with other software too.
What are Scripts?
After Effects Scripts are like a list of instructions written in a computer language called JavaScript. They help you do things faster.
Scripts can only use the main features of After Effects. They are great for:
- Doing repetitive tasks automatically.
- Making complex features easier to use.
- Performing difficult calculations quickly.
Sometimes, scripts can even do things that you can't find directly in the program's menus.
What are Extensions?
After Effects Extensions let you add new features using modern web technologies. This means they can be built using things like HTML5, which is what websites are made of.
Extensions use something called Adobe's Common Extensibility Platform. This means they can also work with other Adobe programs, like Photoshop or Premiere Pro.
Similar Programs to After Effects
Many other software programs can do similar things to After Effects. Here are a few examples:
- Nuke
- Flame
- Motion
- VSDC Free Video Editor
- Natron
- Autograph
- Video Star (for mobile devices)
- Boris RED
- Silhouette
- Fusion
- HitFilm
- CapCut
- Alight Motion (for mobile devices)
Also, a free program called Blender has some tools for combining videos. It can do basic things like removing backgrounds and blurring effects.
See also
In Spanish: Adobe After Effects para niños
- Lottie (file format), a way to export After Effects animations for websites.
- After Effects Supported formats.
