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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| Initial release | January 1993 |
| Stable release |
2024 (24.2.1) / February 7, 2024
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| Written in | C/C++ |
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| Type | Visual effects, Motion graphics, Compositing, Computer animation |
| License | Trialware, software as a service (SaaS) |
Adobe After Effects is a powerful computer program made by Adobe. It helps people create amazing visual effects, cool motion graphics, and combine different video clips or images. This process is called compositing.
After Effects is used a lot in making movies, video games, and TV shows. It's part of the post-production process. This means it's used after filming is done. You can use it to remove green screens (called keying), track moving objects, and create animation. It even won an Academy Award in 2019 for its scientific and technical achievements!
Contents
A Quick Look Back: How After Effects Started
Adobe After Effects was first created by a group of clever people. They worked at a company called the Company of Science and Art. This company was located in Providence, Rhode Island. The very first versions of the program came out in January 1993.
Later, in July 1993, another company called Aldus Corporation bought After Effects. Then, in 1994, Adobe bought Aldus. That's how After Effects became part of the Adobe family! Adobe's first new version of the program was After Effects 3.0.
Making After Effects Even Better: Add-ons
After Effects can do even more cool things. This is thanks to special add-ons made by other companies or clever programmers. These add-ons are called plug-ins, scripts, and extensions. They help artists create amazing visuals.
Supercharge Your Effects: Plug-ins
Plug-ins are like extra tools you can add to After Effects. They are often made by other companies. These tools give After Effects new and advanced features. For example, they can create amazing particle systems. They can also add realistic 3D effects. Plug-ins help connect After Effects with other special programs too.
Automate Your Work: Scripts
After Effects Scripts are like mini-programs. They are written in special computer languages. Scripts help automate tasks that you do often. Imagine doing the same thing many times. A script can do it for you quickly! They can also simplify complex features. This makes it easier to create cool effects. Scripts can even do things not directly available in the program's menus.
Connect with Other Apps: Extensions
After Effects Extensions let you add new features using modern web technologies. This means they can be built more easily. Extensions use something called Adobe's Common Extensibility Platform. This allows them to work with other Adobe Creative Cloud apps. So, After Effects can talk to programs like Photoshop or Premiere Pro!
Other Programs Like After Effects
Many other computer programs can do similar things to After Effects. They are also used for visual effects and motion graphics. Here are a few examples of similar programs:
- Nuke – Made by The Foundry
- Flame – Made by Autodesk
- Motion – Made by Apple Inc.
- VSDC Free Video Editor
- Natron
- Boris RED – Made by Boris FX
- Silhouette – Made by Boris FX
- Fusion – Made by Blackmagic Design
There's also an open-source program called Blender. It's mostly for 3D modeling and animation. But it also has some tools for combining images and videos. It can do basic effects like removing green screens.
See Also
In Spanish: Adobe After Effects para niños
- Lottie (file format), a way to export After Effects animations for websites.
