Hi!
There are very little differences between Combustion and AE so it really boils down to a matter of preference.
Here's my 2 cents worth of comments on the strengths/weaknesses of each:
- Combustion's interface is a bit easier to work with, especially if you are a starting compositor. The windows are pretty tidy and only the stuff that you need to work with are displayed. AE has everything all over the place so you have to develop your workspace layout.
- Most of the tools of compositing are available in both programs, but AE has an edge in the warping/distortion side. Combustion's tracker and camera tools are easier to use. Combustion uses full compliment of paint tools similar to photoshop so you could do retouching/wire removal/rotoscoping on your shots better.
- While most AE plug ins are compatible with Combustion, there are a number that tend to make the program crash or that some features are missing. It boils down to whether the software developer has an updated version written for Combustion.
- Combustion is slower on the rendering side than AE. Neither programs are as fast as Shake/Fusion/Nuke.
In conclusion, if you are doing compositing with tracking/retouching/keying requirements, Combustion would be the easier program to run. AE offers advantages in terms of plug-in compatibility, warping, and render speed.
jude