After Effects Essentials: Complete VFX and Motion GFX Guide

Explore 30 After Effects from beginner to advanced in a free, self-paced course. Watch modules in any order, ask questions, and mark your completion after finishing the first video.

Create a cardboard cutout animation in After Effects using cardboard textures, a traced giraffe, and layered body and neck; animate with keyframes or frame-by-frame motion.

Adjust the exposure on a face in After Effects by masking the face, tracking the mask, applying an exposure effect, and softening edges for a natural look.

Create realistic handheld camera shake in After Effects by tracking motion to a null object, linking a tripod shot, and reusing keyframes for natural camera movement.

Create a 3d grid effect in after effects without plugins by camera tracking a clip, building a 3d grid with shape layers and repeaters, and revealing it with mask animation.

create dynamic title reveals in after effects by using the saber plugin, setting up a composition with a text layer, and animating start/end offsets and saber evolution.

Create a crash zoom effect in After Effects by moving from a wide shot to a close-up with a 3-D wide shot and Z-position keyframes, then enable motion blur.

Learn to create the Captain America The Winter Soldier opening title in After Effects using only built-in plugins, with 3D text extrusion, bevels, a shield, and a camera pullback.

Create professional end credits in After Effects by building a two-column text layout, adjusting fonts and color, and animating a scrolling crawl with keyframes.

Learn to use mattes in After Effects to apply effects to specific areas by masking and track mattes, with luma matte adjustments.

Create a 2D South Park–style vector animation by turning a simple Illustrator character into layered vector art, then animate in After Effects with camera moves, pivot points, and keyframes.

Create a simple lip syncing rig in after effects using seven mouth PNGs with alpha above the character, controlled by a slider and opacity expressions.

Apply a lookup table in an adjustment layer to grade CG elements in After Effects, matching saturation and contrast to a flat plate. Compare with the original flat look.

Learn to create an After Effects tracker that goes outside the frame by using an alt-drag search point and apply the x and y coordinates to a new tracking object.

Learn how to create audio waveforms on text in After Effects by converting text to mosques, applying audio waveform to a solid, and refining with color, thickness, and glow.

Learn to change the color of an object in your scene with After Effects by creating a color matte, using key light, and refining with color correction and a mask.

Learn practical compositing tips in After Effects to integrate 3D elements into live-action footage by matching saturation, blur, and grain using color correction and noise effects.

Create a cool text stroke animation in After Effects by building a short composition, styling text with an orange stroke, and animating the stroke offset from −100% to 100%.

Create pixelated backgrounds and animate them in After Effects with turbulent noise and mosaic. Apply color correction with an adjustment layer and set evolution from first frame to ten seconds.

Learn to remove unwanted elements from a shot in After Effects using the clone stamp tool, freeze frame, and track motion with a mask.

Master the rotobrush in After Effects to isolate a subject, refine edges with feather, freeze the roto, and enhance with exposure and color correction.

Learn to create a selective color effect in After Effects by masking the subject, tracking the mask, and using Leave Color with color correction to keep red.

Create a mobile text message popup in After Effects by motion tracking the phone, pre-composing the text with a gray solid, and animating a connecting line.

Import a clip in After Effects, create a mask around the eye, track masks to follow motion, then apply a curves adjustment to boost the green channel.

Create a looping video from a 360 photo in After Effects using the horizon effect (Trapcode Horizon). Animate a 15mm camera orientation for immersive 360-degree motion.

Create a video to newspaper effect by masking a video over a newspaper image, freeze framing, then fade from color to black and white while moving the camera with easing.

learn to create a whip pan in after effects by panning between clips, using a null object to link layers, and applying a directional blur with keyframe opacity.

learn to create lightsaber effects in After Effects with the free Video Copilot Saber plugin; animate with keyframes, mask hands, adjust alpha, and apply motion blur for glow.

Learn rotoscoping with mocha inside after effects, using track and three points to define a precise roto shape, adjust with keyframes, and export shape data for seamless integration.

Remove a tattoo using Mocha Pro by tracking a moving arm, generating a clean plate in Photoshop, and blending with a dissolve to eliminate lighting changes.

Learn to remove tracking markers from footage with MacPro by creating a clean plate in Photoshop, linking markers to the main track, and finalizing a seamless result.