Learn how to use Adobe After Effects to animate photos, text, and video, as well as add music and sounds. You can even import files from Illustrator (like a logo) or Photoshop and animate their elements. Get started with this course, or dive in deeper with our After Effects Bootcamp.
Basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is helpful but not required. If you've never used Photoshop, consider taking our Photoshop Bootcamp, and if you've never used Illustrator, consider taking our Illustrator Bootcamp. Design skills are also helpful but not required.
What You Will Learn
- Build animations using graphics like logos and photos
- Get familiar with the interface, timeline, and layers
- Import a logo made in Adobe Illustrator and bring it to life with animation
- Create fluid, natural motion using easing
- Add transitions like fade-ins and fade-outs
- Export a video of your final animation
Course Outline
Section 1
Intro to After Effects
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The Project, Composition, & Timeline panels
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Importing a Layered File with all its Layers Intact
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Using Title Safety to ensure TV viewers can see the text
Working with Keyframes
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Animating in the Class Names
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Previewing in real time
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Adding Easing
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Sliding Over the Entire Class List
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Animating the Icons
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Animating the “In a Day” Title
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Adding Motion Blur
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Trimming Off Extra Time
Outputting to GIF
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Exporting from After Effects
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Making the Animated GIF in Photoshop
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Reducing the Number of Frames
Section 2
Noble Logo Animation: Anchor Points & Animating with Overshoot
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Converting an Illustrator file from CMYK to RGB
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Animating the black square to overshoot its final size
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Changing where the rectangles scale from by moving layer anchor points
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Setting layer in points using the In column
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Keeping vector layers sharp as they scale up
Noble Logo: Masking Layers & Parenting
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Pre-composing layers
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Hiding the letters before they animate using masks
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Moving the entire logo away from the rising letters using parenting
Noble Logo: Rotation, Fade-Outs, & Rendering
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Adding anticipation keyframes before a major animation
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Animating the Rotation property
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Adding a fade to white using a solid color layer
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How to find missing project files
Optional Bonus: Preparing an Illustrator File for Animation
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Resizing artboards & vector graphics
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Setting up layers to individually animate elements in After Effects
Bonus: HBO Intro Sequence
Importing Flattened Files & Adding Easing
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Importing a layered PSD as a merged file
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Isolating HBO logo, Feature & Presentation text using masks
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Creating fade-ins & fade-outs
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Adding automatic easing to slow down portions of the animation
Working with Numerous Layers
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Familiarizing ourselves with the Photoshop layout: layers extending outside canvas bounds, guides
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Scaling up each tile using a single null object and Parenting
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Randomizing the order in which the photos animate in
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Orchestrating the exit animation so the tiles fall down in diagonal groups
Vector Layouts
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Animating vector shapes using the Trim Paths feature
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Continuous rasterization
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More null objects: animating the three pay television content descriptors
Putting It All Together & Adding Audio
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Sequencing multiple compositions
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Animating like an editor: overlapping shots & using blending modes
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Adding audio to a composition
This course is available for 30 days. You can choose when to start your access period. Once you activate, you will have 30 days to complete it (access the course materials, quizzes, projects and videos). You may request one extension of seven (7) days. Other extension requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Videos are not downloadable.
