Learning Adobe After Effects CC Tutorial Videos

Start a new after effects project, import and organize assets as linked references. Create compositions that match asset characteristics, animate with keyframes, apply effects, preview, render, and export.

Walk through a mini After Effects project to see how assets, layers, and keyframes come together, link Illustrator assets, animate bubbles and fish, and preview with ram preview.

Tour the After Effects workspace, exploring panels, panel groups, frames, and the timeline; customize, save, and reset layouts via the window menu and composition dropdown.

Learn to customize and save After Effects workspaces, reset to standard, and switch between setups. Adjust, float, or dock panels for efficient workflows.

Explore the After Effects timeline panel, including AV features, visibility controls, blending modes, track mats, and 3-D per-character animation, with practical tips on layers, labels, shading, and keyframes.

start a new project in after effects by saving early and naming the file, then import assets and create compositions—the project acts as a container for assets and work.

Learn how to import video, audio, still images, graphics with transparency, and image sequences into After Effects CC, and preview and adjust alpha channels.

Learn how to import layered photoshop and illustrator files into after effects, retain layer structure, and animate individual parts with clear layer naming, proper composition options, and anchor points.

Organize assets in the after effects project panel by creating folders, sorting by type, and using color labels; customize labels in preferences and drag items into folders.

Track down missing footage, fonts, and effects in After Effects, relink assets, and install or replace the missing fonts and effects to restore projects.

Create new compositions in After Effects by matching settings to your video assets, using manual or automatic methods, and importing assets for quick setup.

Create a new comp from selection, add assets including video, music, and images, and arrange layers with proper scaling and transparency.

Create layers from scratch in After Effects CC by adding solid, text, shape, and adjustment layers in a new composition; explore context menus, color decisions, and hue to saturation effect.

Master the composition panel in After Effects by learning to zoom, pan, fit, and navigate with keyboard shortcuts like spacebar, V, Z, and shift+/ to control magnification and view quality.

Learn two preview methods in After Effects CC: standard spacebar previews and RAM previews, and optimize RAM and disk cache for smoother playback.

Select, move, and trim layers in the timeline, pre-trim clips in the footage panel before adding them, then create a composition from selected assets using sequencing and snapping shortcuts.

Convert a set of 11 images into a looping image sequence asset by importing a TIFF sequence, setting the frame rate to NTSC 29.97, and adjusting looping via interpret footage.

Learn to work with After Effects’ five transform properties—anchor point, position, scale, rotation, and opacity—across layers, including using the pan behind tool and understanding center vs. upper-left anchor behavior.

Animate transform properties with keyframes to control opacity, position, scale, and rotation, then copy and paste keyframes and apply hue saturation on an adjustment layer to warm the scene.

Learn how to create and customize motion paths in After Effects CC by animating position with keyframes, adjusting bezier curve handles, and manipulating transform properties like scale and anchor point.

Learn to use hold keyframes and easy ease to craft realistic motion in After Effects, adjusting temporal interpolation and easing for looping text and object animations.

Learn to create whip pans in After Effects by using the anchor point for pan and motion blur to smooth fast transitions, while mastering layer panel workflows and hold keyframes.

Explore how bicubic and bilinear sampling affect scaling in After Effects. Bicubic sharpens images and video, while bilinear suits graphics; vector art remains crisp with continuous rasterization.

Learn to create and edit text in After Effects using the type tool, adjust font, size, color, stroke, tracking, kerning, leading, and paragraph alignment within a text layer.

Explore how text layer styles in After Effects mirror Photoshop, applying drop shadow, inner shadow, bevel, satin, gradient overlay, color overlay, and stroke with lighting, blending, and keyframing.

Explore how Photoshop and After Effects integrate by importing Photoshop files as compositions with editable text and retained layer styles, while understanding limitations like pattern overlays and contours.

Learn to put text on a path and animate it along that path in After Effects CC. Build and animate paths using the pen tool, masks, path options, and keyframes.

Explore how the source text property changes text characteristics instantly over time, including words, font, fill color, and stroke color, using keyframes in After Effects CC.

Learn text animation in After Effects by applying per character or per word motion with range selectors, animating color, opacity, and other properties.

Apply text animation presets in After Effects to animate text with keyframes, position, opacity, and color, using Adobe Bridge to tailor animate in and animate out sequences.

Learn to create a customized text animation in After Effects by using a text animator to animate range, start and end points, color, and transform properties for multi-line text.

Explore the five basic methods to create shapes in After Effects: shape tools (polygon/polystar), freehand drawing, vector imports from Illustrator, shapes from paths, and presets for animation and keyframes.

Learn to use shape tools in After Effects CC, including rectangle, ellipse, and poly star, with fill, stroke, gradients, and transform properties.

Learn to draw freehand shapes in After Effects using the pen tool, creating shape layers or masks, and morph bezier paths over time with keyframes.

Convert Photoshop and Illustrator paths into After Effects shape layers to morph vector paths between characters, using first vertex alignment, keyframes, and mask interpolation for smooth transitions.

Learn to convert vector assets from Illustrator into shape layers in After Effects, turn text into shapes, and morph letters using path keyframes and groups.

Apply shape presets from scratch in After Effects, explore still and animated presets, and customize colors, sizes, strokes, and path operations like merge, intersect, and subtract using expression controls.

Learn to apply and animate shape effects in After Effects CC using the contents menu on shape layers, adding twists, zigzags, trim paths, wiggles, and the repeater with transform controls.

Discover how the brainstorm feature applies keyframe properties to shape layers, transforming colors, fill and stroke, and inner and outer roundness with a repeater.

Explore the four paint tools—brush, clone stamp, eraser, and roto brush—and learn how they act as paint effects in the layer panel, including vector strokes and path animation.

Learn to use the brush and eraser tools in Adobe After Effects CC to paint on layers, manage RGB and alpha channels, adjust blending modes, and animate strokes.

Learn to use the clone stamp tool in After Effects CC to copy pixels from a source to a target on still images and video, with overlay previews.

Select moving objects from the background with the rotor brush tool to build a base frame, then refine the matte with refine edge to replace or adjust the background.

Learn to refine edge mattes in Adobe After Effects using the refined edge tool alongside the rotor brush, adjusting contrast, shift edge, and feather to isolate hair and wispy edges.

Discover how to create masks with shape tools to reveal or hide parts of a layer, and adjust mask properties like path, feather, expansion, and invert.

Learn to use the pen tool to create masks in After Effects, control vertices and curves, apply feathering, and isolate subjects with key light for clean composites.

Explore creating vignettes in Adobe After Effects using masks, ellipses, and inverted masks; feather edges, adjust opacity, and use an adjustment layer to blur the background and focus on subjects.

Learn to animate and morph masks in After Effects, revealing text with left-to-right masks, following motion with an adjustment layer, and integrating mosaic effects for identity concealment.