I'm working on my After Effects chops by creating "2.5D" animation.
For those who don't know, 2.5D is pseudo 3D, where 2D images are placed in 3D space to create the illusion of a true 3D scene. The scene is then animated by moving a virtual camera in the 3D space (the point of view of the viewer), or moving the 2D images in the 3D space, or both.
For this animation, I started with this photo:
I then isolated the pitcher, batter, street, sidewalk and building into separate layers, with each layer placed at a different distance from the camera. Next, I adjusted the relative scales of each item in each layer such that their relative sizes were correct. Finally, I had the camera move in a path in the 3D space to create the animation.
After Effects (a software application from Adobe) makes this process fairly painless once one has learned how to use the program.
Fun stuff!