Which program to purchase?

Gary61

Gary61

Member
Hi, I need your help. I want to do special effects like in "Panic Attack." Mixing live action and SFX. I thought After Effects was designed for this purpose, but which version? Is there a better program? I want to be able to design space ships flying through space, create interiors of spaceships, aliens etc... I did try to find the answers on my own, which only lead to more questions. Thanks for your help.
 
I don't know what you mean by 'which version'. Are you considering buying a used copy and want to know what the older versions are capable of?

Certainly, After Effects is a very capable special effects package. But you mention 'creating interiors of spaceships' , 'design spaceships', and 'flying through space. That is not special effects. That is 3D modeling and 3D animation. After Effects is not what you need for that type of work.

You also mention mixing live action with SFX. That can mean many things, but yes, After Effects is capable of doing this.

To get an idea of what After Effects can do and what it is for, go to http://www.videocopilot.net/ and watch some of the tutorials.
 
First off, Im guessing you realise that most people that make stuff like this do just one of those things for a living, fx just modelling.... Just lighting..... Just animation.

After Effects have added some semi 3d over the years, but its not a fully fledged 3d program.
The industry, depending where on Earth you are, works with Maya, 3DS Max, Nuke and some After Effects.

Your specific idea smells like maya/max imported to After Effects.

All 3 programs are pretty expensive.
 
"I want to be able to design space ships flying through space, create interiors of spaceships, aliens etc."

AE is a compositing program. It puts together your final video image sequences.

Design and 3D modelling/animation require different packages that focus only on that area.

You can design and render animations within a single 3D modelling program with nice renders. The drawback being it will lack the post edting power of a compositor like AE.

I guess it depends on your entry level where you want to focus on first.
 
If you're getting your feet wet, and don't want to spend any money, check out Blender for the 3D modeling, and Fusion for the composting.
 
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