Learning Adobe After Effects CS6 - Tutorial Video

Master the basic After Effects workflow: start a project, import and organize linked assets, create comps, add layers, animate with keyframes, preview, render, and export.

Walk through an After Effects project, linking Adobe Illustrator assets, building a fish and bubbles comp, animating with keyframes, easing, Wave Warp, and text animators, and previewing with RAM previews.

Navigate the After Effects workspace to explore panels, panel groups, and frames, use the Window menu to open the controls, and work with the timeline, composition, footage, and layer viewers.

Customize and save a personal Adobe After Effects CS6 workspace, arrange and resize panels, switch between saved workspaces such as Jeff's workspace, and update or delete them as needed.

Explore the After Effects CS6 timeline panel, learn to manage layers, visibility, track mattes, blending modes, 3-D per-character animation, and keyframes for precise motion in a 27-second project.

Start a new project in after effects to establish a saved container for your compositions, import assets, create a new composition by dragging, and save early with save as.

Import video, audio, still images, graphics with transparency, and image sequences into After Effects using file imports and project panel shortcuts, then preview and adjust alpha channels for clean composites.

Learn to import layered Photoshop and Illustrator files into After Effects, preserving per-layer names and releasing Illustrator groups into layers, then import as composition with layer sizes preserved for rotation.

Organize your After Effects project by cleaning up the project panel with folders, color labels, and type sorting; create comps, solids, and adjustment layers to keep assets orderly.

Create and customize new compositions in After Effects CS6, select HDTV presets, adjust duration, frame rate, background color, and render options, and import assets to build comps.

Learn to add assets to a composition by using a tennis background, layer music, images, and transparent text, and adjust scale and stacking order.

Learn to create layers from scratch in After Effects by using text, solid, shape, and adjustment layers, and apply effects on an adjustment layer to affect underlying layers.

Explore the comp panel basics in After Effects, mastering magnification, fit vs 100 percent view, anchor point zoom, spacebar hand tool, key shortcuts, and preview resolution.

Learn two basic ways to preview compositions in after effects cs6—standard spacebar previews and ram previews—and how ram and persistent disk cache optimize playback.

Learn to select, move, and trim layers in the timeline and footage panels. Create compositions from selections and sequence layers for precise edits in After Effects CS6.

Create a single asset from an image sequence by importing a TIFF sequence and looping the footage, then slow playback by adjusting the sequence frame rate.

Explore After Effects transformed properties—anchor point, position, scale, rotation, and opacity—and how to manipulate them across layers, using pan behind, anchor point basics, and per-layer keyframe concepts.

Create and customize motion paths in After Effects CS6 by animating shape layer positions with keyframes, refining bezier curves with handles, and controlling speed through frame timing.

Learn to use hold keyframes and easy ease in After Effects CS6 to create realistic motion, precise timing, and seamless loops for text, tires, and bee flight paths.

Learn to create and edit text in Adobe After Effects CS6 using the type tool, adjust font, size, tracking, kerning, leading, and stroke, and manage text layers.

Explore applying and animating layer styles on text in after effects cs6, including drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, bevel and emboss, satin, gradient overlay, color overlay, and stroke.

Learn to import Photoshop files into After Effects as editable layers with layer styles, then convert text to editable text to enable per-character animation, noting contour and pattern overlay losses.

Discover how to put text on a path in After Effects CS6 and animate it along that path with a mask, path options, and keyframes.

Discover how to use the source text property in After Effects CS6 to instantly change text contents, font, fill color, stroke color, and other characteristics over time with keyframes.

Explore text animation in after effects, moving from full-layer transforms to per character, per word, or percentage animations with range selectors, animators, and offset, including fill, stroke, and opacity.

Apply and customize text animation presets in After Effects CS6, using text animators, range start properties, and keyframes to craft in and out motions.

Learn to create customized text animations in After Effects CS6 using text animators, range controls, and keyframes to animate per character, word, or line with color and opacity effects.

Explore five basic methods to create shapes in After Effects CS6, including shape and polygon tools, vector from Illustrator, and paths from Photoshop, plus presets.

Explore After Effects shape tools, including rectangle, ellipse, polygon, and star, and master fill, stroke, gradient options, and the basic transform properties to shape animations.

Learn to draw freehand shapes in After Effects CS6 using the pen tool, create shape layers, and morph them with keyframes, while understanding masks, bezier handles, and convert vertex tool.

Learn to import vector paths from Photoshop and Illustrator into After Effects as shape layers, convert selections to paths, and morph shapes using keyframes.

Convert illustrator vector assets and text to After Effects shape layers, then morph shapes and text, adjust fills, strokes, and groups for controlled animation.

Explore how to use shape presets in after effects cs6, from still presets to animated presets, including creating complex shapes with merge paths, subtract operations, and expression-driven controls.

Learn to apply and animate shape effects in Adobe After Effects CS6, using offset, zig-zag, twist, pucker, wiggle pads, and the repeater to craft dynamic, multi-shape animations.

Explore Brainstorm in After Effects CS6 to experiment with keyframe properties on shape layers, preview changes, and apply color, fill, stroke, and shape effects variations to a composition.

Learn the paint tools in After Effects — brush, clone stamp, eraser, and roto brush — as vector-based paint effects you can morph, color, and animate in the layer panel.

Master brush and eraser tools in Adobe After Effects CS6 to paint on layers, adjust size and hardness, and explore RGB RGBA alpha channels, blending modes, and drop shadows.

Use the clone stamp tool to replace parts of a scene by sourcing pixels from a chosen area to the target, adjusting brush size and hardness for stills and video.

Learn to use the roto brush tool in After Effects CS6 to automatically select a moving subject, separate it from the background, and refine edges for compositing.

Use shape tools to create masks on layers, revealing lower content while keeping areas transparent. Explore mask properties such as path, feather, opacity, expansion, and invert to adjust visibility.

Use the pen tool to create masks that isolate a subject, refine edges with roto bezier, add vertices, and feather for smooth composites; then apply key light to reveal background.

Learn to create vignettes with masks in After Effects CS6 by using elliptical masks on solid layers, inverting masks, feathering edges, adjusting opacity, and applying blur with an adjustment layer.

Learn to animate and morph masks in After Effects CS6, revealing text with masks, feathering edges, tracking motion, and morphing between masks using Photoshop paths.