Every editor nowadays appears to be expected to have a basic understanding of After Effects. It is the new Photoshop, in that clients assume that you are able to use AE to achieve certain effects for their videos, whether it be removing logos, adding motion graphics or more advanced compositing.

In this episode we cover some ways that After Effects should be a part of your everyday workflow:

Do you currently use AE for your workflow? Here are some suggestions for how it can be a big part of your toolkit.

Should you use After Effects or Nuke or Fusion? There are differences between layer-based and node-based compositing programs.

Creative ways to polish your shots in After Effects.

Are your clients expecting you to know some of these compositing tools when they hire you?

Where can you get better training on After Effects to get you started?

Also, we are looking for some ideas for what the first pieces of Cmd+Edit merch could be. Rather than do the basic t-shirt or coffee mug, we want to do put our logo on something that's going to be especially unique and useful for you. It can be something for your desk, for your kitchen or even for your pet (thinking outside of the box here!). If you have any ideas for merch items that you'd like us to offer a limited run of, tweet them to @CommandEdit.

Did you see the ultra-cool video that mashes together about 20 different characters from popular movies and composite them all into the same nightclub? Serpico, Terminator, Blade, Pinhead, Obi-Wan Kenobi and many others appear in Hell's Club. It's an exercise in creative compositing and editing.