Sick of losing past versions of After Effects on your machine? Keep them installed with this After Effects quick tip.

1. Adobe Creative Cloud After Effects Cc
2. Creative Cloud Concepts

There’s a good chance that, by now, you have updated from the Creative Suite to the Creative Cloud — and rightfully so. With ‘free’ updates and the entire range of creative applications, Creative Cloud outmatches every other collection of software. However, one problem that creative professionals have begun to notice is that when they update to a new version of their programs they lose the previous version.

For the average videographer, this is only a minor issue, but if you do a lot of work with After Effects templates or the Creative Suite, it can be quite annoying. However, there is a simple workaround that ensures that you don’t lose your previous versions. Let’s take a look at how it’s done:

I have recently updated my creative cloud to the 2019 version. I know have that problem that After Effects won't export through Media Encoder. When i click Export Add to Adobe Media Encoder, the Media encoder opens up, but there isn't anything that i can begin export. The Media Encoder works fine with Premiere Pro. The program includes Beta builds of Premiere Pro, Premiere Rush, After Effects, Audition, Character Animator, and Media Encoder. Beta builds are available from the “Beta apps” tab in the Creative Cloud Desktop app.

Step 1: Close Out After Effects

In order to update any of the applications in the Creative Suite, you will need to close out any version of that software running on your machine. To do this simply close out After Effects.

Step 2: Hit Advanced Options

Hit the Update button under After Effects on the Creative Cloud dropdown menu. Before you confirm the update, hit the Advanced Options button.

Step 3: Deselect “Remove Old Versions”

Under the Advanced Options menu, simply deselect Remove Old Versions. This will ensure that After Effects will not be uninstalled from your machine.

That’s all there is to it! If you continue to perform this step each time you update, you will have a collection of various After Effects instances on your machine.

Want even more After Effects quick tips? Check out the rest of the blog here on Rocketstock.

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Adobe Creative Cloud After Effects Cc

Creative Cloud Concepts

1. In your after effects file, select the layer that you want to shake.
   For this example, I have an image of pancakes and then some stars. I want to apply a wiggling or shaking effect to both of these layers, so I will repeat these steps for both objects.
   
2. Pressing the alt/option key, click the stopwatch beside “position.”
   When you see the position text turn red and begin typing in the timeline, you are creating what is called an “expression” in After Effects. Using a coding language adapted from javascript, you can use all sorts of customizable commands to apply complex motion to layers. Discover the other things you can do with expressions here.
   You can edit your expression at any time by hitting alt/option on the stopwatch again—or by pressing the down arrow beside “position” and then double-clicking the text in the timeline.
3. Type “Wiggle (3,8)” and adjust the settings as necessary.
   The first number in this expression represents the frequency of the wiggle—essentially, how fast it appears to shake. The second number represents the amplitude of the wiggle, which is how far it moves. You can adjust these numbers however you would like. Wiggle (2,40) will make a layer shake dramatically, but slow. Wiggle (10,3) will make a layer dart around quickly without moving too much in any one direction.
4. Optional: Adjust the frame rate of your composition.
   If you want more of a jerky wiggle instead of something smooth, you can reduce the frame rate of the video to make the overall effect more “choppy.” Go to Composition > Composition settings and lower the frame rate. 24.5 is standard in After Effects. Something like “12” will give you a choppier feel, but you can go as low as “8.”
   Note: Reducing the frame rate will make your entire composition choppier—so if you have other moving elements in your comp, it might not make sense to apply to everything. If you only want the frame rate to affect your wiggling object, create a pre-comp containing the wiggling layer(s) and adjust only that frame rate.