Which is easier...Photoshop or AE?

Which is easier (in your opinion) for creating special fx (like lightsabars)?

 

you've got to realise that you can' compare them, photoshop is for still images (which mean rotoscoping all effects)

AE is fantastic for a lot of effects and can be done quite easily on video.

anyway,

Nick "Shorty" Long

 

A better way to answer this question is that After Effects is for post-production effects on video. All the cool filters that you use in Photoshop can be implemented and animated with keyframes in After Effects.
Photoshop is just for still images.

There is no comparison between the two apps. But, there is a great working relationship between the two. I highly suggest you learn both inside and out. After Effects supports layered Photoshop documents perfectly. So you can do your really complicated image manipulation there and bring the final product right into After Effects.

Each are capable of things that the other is not. But, both are essential.

 

if you mean for saber rotoing specifically, I find that Photoshop is easier to use for curviness and partially blocked blades, but AE is easier for slower motion or HIGH motion blur. My preffered method is to roto in AE if I can, but if not, I filmstrip out the footage, roto, bring back the rotoed polys, and then apply the effects as if I had masked them in AE.