Get Into After Effects

Introduction

Want to bring your video projects to life with motion graphics, animation and visual effects? Get Into After Effects is a practical, hands-on introduction to Adobe After Effects, designed to give you the skills and confidence to start creating professional-looking motion graphics and visual effects for film, TV and digital content.

You'll learn how to navigate After Effects, work with compositions and layers, create animation, add text and graphics, and explore key visual effects techniques. Through practical exercises, you'll gain experience using industry-standard software and develop an understanding of how After Effects fits into the wider post-production workflow.

Whether you're an aspiring editor, filmmaker, motion designer, content creator or someone looking to develop your post-production skills, this course will give you a strong foundation in Adobe After Effects and an insight into how motion graphics and visual effects are created for professional screen content.

Course Outline

During the course, you'll explore:

• Introduction to After Effects – understanding what After Effects is used for and its role within film, TV and digital post-production.

• The After Effects interface – becoming familiar with the workspace, project panel, timeline, tools and key features.

• Compositions and project setup – learning how to create compositions and set up projects for different types of screen content.

• Layers and assets – understanding how layers work and how to import, organise and manage different types of media.

• Keyframe animation – learning the fundamentals of animation using keyframes and understanding how to control movement and timing.

• Text and typography – creating and animating titles, captions and other text-based graphics.

• Shape layers and graphics – exploring how to create animated graphic elements and simple motion graphics.

• Transitions and visual effects – applying basic effects and transitions to enhance video content.

• Green screen and keying – gaining an introduction to removing backgrounds and compositing visual elements.

• Masking and rotoscoping – exploring basic techniques for isolating and manipulating areas of an image.

• Motion tracking – learning the fundamentals of tracking movement and attaching graphics or effects to footage.

• Compositing – understanding how different visual elements can be combined to create a finished shot.

• Working with video and audio – integrating After Effects projects with editing workflows and understanding how assets move between applications.

• Professional workflows – exploring project organisation, file management and best practice when working on motion graphics and visual effects.

• Rendering and delivery – learning how to render and export After Effects projects for different platforms and post-production workflows.

• Working in the industry – understanding how After Effects skills are used across editing, motion graphics, VFX, film, TV and digital content.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand the role of Adobe After Effects within film, TV and digital post-production.

• Navigate the After Effects interface and use its key tools.

• Create and organise projects and compositions.

• Import, organise and manage different types of media and assets.

• Understand layers and how they are used within compositions.

• Create basic animations using keyframes.

• Create and animate text and graphic elements.

• Apply basic visual effects and transitions.

• Understand the fundamentals of green screen and keying.

• Apply basic masking and rotoscoping techniques.

• Understand and apply basic motion tracking.

• Combine multiple visual elements using basic compositing techniques.

• Prepare After Effects projects for integration with a wider editing workflow.

• Apply professional project organisation and file management practices.

• Render and export finished work for different delivery requirements.

• Identify potential entry-level roles and next steps towards a career in motion graphics, visual effects, editing and film and TV post-production.

No previous After Effects experience is required, although basic computer skills and an interest in film, TV, animation or digital content would be beneficial.