Chapter 4. Optimize the Pipeline

Optimize the Pipeline
 

Build a system that even a fool can use and only a fool will want to use it.

 
 --George Bernard Shaw

This chapter examines how image data flows through an After Effects project in detail. That may not sound gripping until you realize how much your creativity is hampered by remaining ignorant of this stuff.

Sometimes you take the attitude of a master chef—you know what can be prepped and considered “done” before the guests are in the restaurant and it’s time to assemble the piece de resistance. At other times, you’re more like a programmer, isolating and debugging elements of a project, even creating controlled tests ...

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