# After Effects in a Day Course (Self-Paced)

Canonical URL: <https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/after-effects-1day-self-paced>

## Overview

After Effects opens up an entire new world of creative possibilities, and this course gets you animating immediately. You'll discover how to animate photos, text, and video, add music and sound, and even import layered files from Illustrator or Photoshop to bring logos and other elements to life.

This course provides an excellent entry point into motion graphics, and if you're prepared to go further, our After Effects Course Online explores the program in much greater detail. Some familiarity with Photoshop and Illustrator is helpful but not required. If you'd like to develop those skills first, our [Photoshop in a Day](https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/photoshop-1day), [Photoshop Bootcamp](https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/photoshop-beginner), [Illustrator in a Day](https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/illustrator-1day), and [Illustrator Bootcamp](https://www.graduateschool.edu/courses/illustrator) courses are all excellent options to consider beforehand.

## What you'll learn

- Animate graphics like logos and photos from the ground up
- Get comfortable with the After Effects interface, timeline, and layers
- Import an Adobe Illustrator logo and bring it to life with animation
- Create smooth, natural movement using easing techniques
- Add polished transitions like fade-ins and fade-outs
- Export your completed animation as a video

## Curriculum

### Section 1

#### Intro to After Effects

- The Project, Composition, & Timeline panels
- Importing a Layered File with all its Layers Intact
- Using Title Safety to ensure TV viewers can see the text

#### Working with Keyframes

- Animating in the Class Names
- Previewing in real time
- Adding Easing
- Sliding Over the Entire Class List
- Animating the Icons
- Animating the “In a Day” Title
- Adding Motion Blur
- Trimming Off Extra Time

#### Outputting to GIF

- Exporting from After Effects
- Making the Animated GIF in Photoshop
- Reducing the Number of Frames

### Section 2

#### Noble Logo Animation: Anchor Points & Animating with Overshoot

- Converting an Illustrator file from CMYK to RGB
- Animating the black square to overshoot its final size
- Changing where the rectangles scale from by moving layer anchor points
- Setting layer in points using the In column
- Keeping vector layers sharp as they scale up

#### Noble Logo: Masking Layers & Parenting

- Pre-composing layers
- Hiding the letters before they animate using masks
- Moving the entire logo away from the rising letters using parenting

#### Noble Logo: Rotation, Fade-Outs, & Rendering

- Adding anticipation keyframes before a major animation
- Animating the Rotation property
- Adding a fade to white using a solid color layer
- How to find missing project files

#### Optional Bonus: Preparing an Illustrator File for Animation

- Resizing artboards & vector graphics
- Setting up layers to individually animate elements in After Effects

### Bonus: HBO Intro Sequence

#### Importing Flattened Files & Adding Easing

- Importing a layered PSD as a merged file
- Isolating HBO logo, Feature & Presentation text using masks
- Creating fade-ins & fade-outs
- Adding automatic easing to slow down portions of the animation

#### Working with Numerous Layers

- Familiarizing ourselves with the Photoshop layout: layers extending outside canvas bounds, guides
- Scaling up each tile using a single null object and Parenting
- Randomizing the order in which the photos animate in
- Orchestrating the exit animation so the tiles fall down in diagonal groups

#### Vector Layouts

- Animating vector shapes using the Trim Paths feature
- Continuous rasterization
- More null objects: animating the three pay television content descriptors

#### Putting It All Together & Adding Audio

- Sequencing multiple compositions
- Animating like an editor: overlapping shots & using blending modes
- Adding audio to a composition

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $425