How to Make a Professional 2D Animation for a Promo Video

Name: How to Make a Professional 2D Animation for a Promo Video
Rating: 3.9 (40 reviews)

Create an animation in After Effects with Cinema 4D and Illustrator in a real world project step by step from scratch.

Created byKenedy Torcatt

Last updated 2/2016

English

What you'll learn

Approach and animate a professional promotional 2D animated video for a client according to a provided script and how to use Adobe After Effects along with vector assets and a 3D model to create the final motion graphics piece.
Apply best practices to deal with big animation projects using After Effects while being organized at the same time.
Organize vector assets for animations and basic rigging inside After Effects
Prepare a 3D model in Cinema 4D to use in your 2D animations.
How to maintain vector assets looking sharp when scaling them at any size inside after effects.
Create good looking animations using tips and scripts without having a deep knowledge of animating with the graph editor.
Understand the real work (tweaking keyframes and refining the animations) behind a complex motion graphics piece like this.

Course content

4 sections • 30 lectures • 4h 12m total length

What you can Expect from this course2:56
A summary about the course, what I will be covering, and about myself as your instructor.
What you will create (Original Video for the Client)0:20
The final video we will be creating along the course
What you will create (English Subtitled Video)0:20
After effects project overview4:49
Here you can see the layout for the final project, the complete structure and a general insights of the final after effects file.
Installing After Effects Scripts (text)1:07
A brief overview on how to install DUIK and Motion V2 Script for After Effects.
How to install the scripts for After Effects (video)3:29
If you want to be a pro with after you will need to go faster and more proficient. Scripts can help you with that, so let's install them!

Read the client's script and analize it6:41
The first contact with the script provided for the client, understanding what he wants and what it means. Here we discuss how to divide the script into sections to animate it later.
Thinking in transitions for the animation6:51
Transitions are always an important step in the animation process, but sometimes overlooked and they are critical to put the whole animation together and the secuencual ideas for the final product.
Set the color palette4:39
Resources on where to look for a color palette and how to create a color template to use it efficiently.

And the color palette for you to use later on inside After Effects.

The common media folder2:43
A ninja tip on how to be organized and be more productive when you have to link many assets using dynamic linking with Adobe CC programs to work more efficiently without losing files when moving projects.
Speed vectorization process and considerations for assets1:58
Even though this is not an illustrator course I wil provide you with the main principles on how to vectorize your assets in AI.
How to prepare your AI assets for animation inside AE5:19
You always need to provide the animator with a well exported vector assets from Illustrato, this way the animator could avoid extra steps and headaches. Always optimize and prepare your vector files inside Adobe Illustrator before going to the animation phase.
Prepare an Ipad 3D model asset inside Cinema 4D for 2D Sketch Style10:05
Learn how to manage your 3D model to create a 2D sketch look in AE using Sketch and Toon
Background music and Voice Over0:38
It's CRUCIAL to have the voice over recorded first before you start animating. Learn why...
Tips and on how to edit your voice and music13:15
A basic overview on how to use Adobe Audition to edit your voice over and background music. Even though this is not an Adobe Audition course I will give you the basic tools to clean your recorded or provided voice over in case you need it, and basically mix it with your background music to have a product to start animating in sync inside After Effects.
Importing your assets inside After Effects7:35
In this lesson you will learn how to properly import your files inside after effects to be animated inside after effects and a pretty neat trick on how to sort all your files inside your project tab with just a single click to avoid wasting time!

Revealing the Ipad with Shape Layers and Mattes16:18
You will learn a cool and useful trick to reveal your objects to animate inside after effects using shape layers and mattes.
Integrate people and world on the Ipad Screen19:46
This lesson covers techniques on how to integrate a C4D file (previously prepared) into AE and create a tracked composition for the Ipad's screen content.
Animating the World and People Inside the Screen16:01
In this lesson you will learn how to animate your composition by shifting AI layers, changing scales, easing your animations and trimming paths by using shape layer animations.
Transition between world connections and the cake19:29
In this lesson you will learn how to create and sliding effect for the cake plate using masks to reveal and animate positions for a whole composition, create a bouncing effect for the cake using Motion V2 Script and a really cool way to reveal the cake.
Transition using the hook to reveal the next scene19:04
In this lesson you will learn how to use puppet pins to simulate a curtain being dragged by a hook from bottom to top while creating a transition and revealing the next scene.
Rigging the mechanical arm with the block9:17
In this lesson we will look for a realistic movement using DUIK while the animation continues fluidly.
Camera movement along the scene for the moving car17:06
Camera movements are crucial to keep the viewer's attention focused on what we want. In this lesson you will understand how to deal with complex camera movements, fixing problems tweaking keyframes and deal with custom views to refine null objects as camera controllers for your animations.You will see real problems for the camera movements and how to approach them to find the best way to fix them. I highly encourage you to try it for yourself to learn by doing.
Animating schemes and mechanical arm11:06
This lesson covers how to animate the secondary parts of the workshop scene to make it look more complex and appealing while the camera moves along.
Animating the text revealed from the car passing through14:00
In this lesson you will learn how to create the text reveal from a moving car and how to prepare the scene for the next transition to show the google maps interface.
Transition from the car to Google Maps interface9:43
This lesson covers how to create a reveal effect for the Google maps based on warping the composition mesh and editing the scale and the position as well.
Preparing the 3D Ipad inside Cinema 4D for the final transition2:29
In this lesson you will learn how to change the rotation for the 3D Ipad inside Cinema 4D so it will be prepared for the final animation.
Final transition for the ipad11:29
In this lesson I will be covering how to integrate the Ipad to create the last transition for the last scene while creating the illusion of being inside the ipad during the whole animation.
Final Logo Reveal6:35
This lesson covers the final transition when the company logo is revealed and the company details are shown to the viewer. You will learn the process of working with two animated elements using "follow through" animations applying easing to give a fluid and smooth movement to the final animation.
Review, Sound FX and Goodbye7:26
In this lesson we will be reviewing the completed animation, take a look on how to integrate the sound fx inside AE and the goodbye. Congratulations if you've made until here. You now have an arsenal of techniques, tips and tricks under your belt to create better and professional animations when creating promo videos for clients or for yourself.

Requirements

A 30 day free trial for 3 Adobe Programs (After Effects, Illustrator, Audition).
Basic or intermediate experience with Adobe After Effects is recommended
Cinema 4D Visualize or Studio Version (Trial or Demo)
Duduf V1.42 or above for basic rigging (free script for AE)
Pt Shitf Layer Script (free)
Snap! Script (free)
Motion V2 for speed up animation workflow (cheap premium script for AE)

Description

In this course I will take you step by step along the process of creating an animated promo for a project in a real world scenario for a client from scratch. If you are interested in learn how to create a professional, good looking and fluid animation for a promotional video for a client request or maybe your own portfolio, or even if you are planing to increase your animation skills based on a real life project then this course is for you!

This course will be detailed and it will cover lots of techniques to create the final piece.

I won't hide you nothing from the real work behind the whole process, you will see and understand the entire process to follow along!

We will begin from scratch to teach you how:

Analize the provided script to create transitions from it
Transform the script into sketches
Thinking in transitions for the animation
Set a color palette and how to use it inside AE
Create a Common media folder to organize assets (ninja tip)
Vectorize Assets using illustrator (not an illustrator course, but an overview)
Prepare your assets for animations
Importing and organizing assets into After Effects
Using cinema 4D to create cartoon sketch style
Integrating Cinema 4D with AE using Cineware to mix 3D and 2D
Animating in sync with the voice over and more!

Who this course is for:

This 3D and 2D mixed animation course is meant for intermediate and advanced users of After Effects looking for a complete path on how animate from scratch a professional project for a client in a real world case scenario using Cinema 4D as a tool for creating 2D sketch style based on a 3D model to speed up their creative process and improve their workflow.
This course is for anyone interested in 2D animation inside after effects looking for creating professional looking promo videos
Anyone interested in animating 3D models using Cinema 4D and import that animation into After Effects looking like a 2D sketch style animation.
Anyone interested in learn the whole process behind creating a complex motion graphics piece from start to finish.
Anyone interested in learning "pro tips" on organizing assets, workflows and creative ways to solve real problems while creating motion graphics.

How to Make a Professional 2D Animation for a Promo Video

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction, Overview and Preparation6 lectures • 13min

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Module 27 lectures • 42min

Module 314 lectures • 3hr

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: