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Should I learn Flash or After Effects?
Part of it depends on what you plan on doing. After Effects makes special effects for movies
and video, while Flash Professional is for interactive apps or applications.
I think I'll do whatever they'll pay me to do.
Flash is one of the dominant 2D digital tools on the market right now.
That's probably because it is a third cheaper than After Effects' cheapest version. After
Effects pro is around a thousand dollars.
After Effects does a lot of special effects, and there are people clamoring for it from
movies to television to advertising. And you can find projects without having to go to
work for a special effects studio in California.
I don't think I could afford to live in California unless I got a job with Google.
You can't get a job at Google unless you've got a master's degree in computer science,
and then you work on the help desk taking questions handled by someone paid $10 an hour
at other companies.
I'd love to be able to make money as a digital artist.
Now you're looking at Flash.
I thought you could do artistic work in After Effects.
After Effects will let you turn pictures into animation. You'll need to use Flash to do
animation or compositing.
I thought After Effects did everything. I heard that you can even use After Effects
to automate lip syncing.
I think there are plenty of people who will do that for free, without bothering with special
effects. All they need are minimal acting skills.
What do you think of the web animation market?
If you'll be doing animation with vector graphics, use flash. After Effects handles bitmap images
better.
Which application handles Illustrator images?
After Effects has more tools for manipulating imported Illustrator images, though you can
do a lot of work in Flash, too.
Which one do you think is better?
Get a job with Flash creating those annoying pop up ads and creative introductions to a
webpage. Learn After Effects if you want to turn YouTube videos and news clips into something
entertaining with special effects.