Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/914212
97 Q4 2017 / CINEMONTAGE TECH TIPS AFTER EFFECTS Creative Cloud 2018 includes new ways to animate content with data-driven animations. Now you can import JSON data files and use the data to do things like develop automatic charts and graphs, build show promos, communicate schedule changes, localize graphics to different regions, or create any other kind of data-reliant motion graphics projects. JSON is an open- standard data interchange format, based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language. You can import JSON data files as footage in the project window and add it as a layer to a composition. You can then use After Effect's pick-whip to quickly link parameters in your comp to the data values in the file (see Figure 5). But there is another new feature in After Effects that I especially like. It is the ability to control individual points on a Bezier path through expressions. This is a feature that people have been requesting for a long time. It will make complex graphics animations and effects much easier, opening the door to a whole world of creative possibilities. Link path points to effects or layers so that they follow the motion; or do the opposite — let the path points drive the action. As many know, Cinema 4D Lite is included with After Effects and, in CC 2018, it has been upgraded to C4D Lite R19. With this new version comes an enhanced OpenGL viewport as well as support for Cinema 4D's Take System, which allows you to non-destructively create unlimited revisions to a single C4D file without having to save multiple copies of it. Many more new features can be found in all of the applications in CC 2018, including Audition, Photoshop, Illustrator and more. We've focused mostly on Premiere Pro and After Effects here, but I would encourage you to learn more about the rest of them by visiting Adobe's website, www.adobe.com/products/ premiere.html. That might be a smart thing to do while you're upgrading all the CC apps on your computer. f Creative Cloud CONTINUED FROM PAGE 88