Cross-platform project considerations – Adobe After Effects CS4 User Manual
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USING AFTER EFFECTS CS4
Workflows, planning, and setup
Last updated 12/21/2009
Use these tips when shooting video for mobile devices:
•
Tight shots are better. It’s hard to see a face on a tiny screen unless it’s shot in relative close-up.
•
Light your subjects well, and keep them separated from the background; the colors and brightness values between
background and subject should not be too similar.
•
Avoid excessive zooming and rolling, which hinder temporal compression schemes.
•
Because stable (non-shaky) video is easier to compress, shoot video with a tripod to minimize the shaking of the
camera.
•
Avoid using auto-focus and auto-exposure features. When these features engage, they change the appearance of all
of the pixels in an image from one frame to the next, making compression using interframe encoding schemes less
efficient.
Use these tips when working in After Effects:
•
Use a lower frame rate (15-22 fps) for mobile devices.
•
Use motion-stabilization tools and noise-reduction or blur effects before rendering to final output, to aid the
compressor in reducing file size.
•
Match the color palette to the mobile devices that you are targeting. Mobile devices, in general, have a limited color
gamut. Previewing in Adobe Device Central can help determine if the colors used are optimal for an individual
device or range of devices.
•
Use Format Options presets available through the output module in the Render Queue panel. Presets are available
for 3GPP mobile devices, iPod video, and PlayStation Portable.
•
Consider using cuts and other fast transitions instead of zooming in and out or using fades and dissolves. Fast cuts
also make compression easier.
After you’ve rendered your movie, you can view it exactly as it will appear on any of a large variety of mobile devices,
using Adobe Device Central.
More Help topics
Output modules and output module settings
Cross-platform project considerations
After Effects project files are compatible with Mac OS and Windows operating systems, but some factors—mostly
regarding the locations and naming of footage files and support files—can affect the ease of working with the same
project across platforms.
Project file paths
When you move a project file to a different computer and open it, After Effects attempts to locate the project’s footage
files as follows: After Effects first searches the folder in which the project file is located; second, it searches the file’s
original path or folder location; finally, it searches the root of the directory where the project is located.
If you are building cross-platform projects, it’s best if the full paths have the same names on Mac OS and Windows
systems. If the footage and the project are on different volumes, make sure that the appropriate volume is mounted
before opening the project and that network volume names are the same on both systems.