Introduction to Motion Graphics

Ever wonder how that cool title sequence from your favorite movie was created? Or how that company logo was seamlessly animated on the television screen? Maybe you're wondering how that awesome infographic you saw on Vimeo or YouTube came to life? Most likely, the designer developed the project using Adobe After Effects, one of the motion graphic industry's most widely used software programs. In this introductory course, you'll immerse yourself in the program by learning the general terminology associated with motion graphics, as well as the program's workflow, file organization and animation fundamentals, along with many other After Effects basics. Whether you're curious as to how those title sequences, logos or infographics were animated or simply want to learn the software, this hands-on, information-packed course will give you a strong understanding of After Effects. At the end of the course, you'll have created an animation from start to finish--and lived to tell your friends about it!

In this course you'll learn:

• All about After Effects software and program basics
• How to integrate animation into your work
• The process of bringing a logo to life

Required software

• Adobe After Effects CS4 or above
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 or above
• Adobe Illustrator CS4 or above

COURSE OUTLINE

Lesson 1: Intro to Motion Graphics

• Course Introduction
• Key Ingredients in an Animation

5 Key Ingredients to a Good Animation

Sample Animations

• Animation Process

5 Steps to Creating an Animation

• Project Introduction
• Week 1 Assignment

Lesson 2: Getting Started with After Effects

• Getting Acquainted With the Software

Workflow

Terminology

Accepted File Types

File Organization Outside of AE

• Getting Started with AE

Getting Acquainted with AE

A Look Into Our Final File

Setting Up a New File

AE Preferences and Workspaces

Importing and Organizing

• Creating Your Pacing Storyboard

Introduction to Rendering

Adding and Editing Audio

Assignment Introduction

• Week 2 Assignment

Create your pacing storyboard in After Effects

Set up your After Effect file and import all assets

Lesson 3: Animating

• Basic Animation Demonstrations

Transforming properties

Parenting

Creating Animation in a Composition

Creating a basic rotation animation

Adding a composition to the stage

Creating a Landscape in a Composition

Constructing a composition with project assets

Changing Colors Using Effects

Introduction to Effects

Using Levels and Tint

Week 3 Assignment

Create and animate all compositions

Work through the entire length of the animation

Render

Lesson 4: Finessing an Animation

Using Masking to Hide and Reveal

Animating a mask

Using the Effects Library

Finding and adding effects to your project

Using the Graph Editor

Easing

Using the Type Tool

Saving and Archiving Your Files

File collection

A deeper look at Rendering

Week 4 Assignment

Add your name to the animation in the secondary text

Complete your animation

Render

Conclusion

Projects & Deliverables

Lesson 1 Project

Choose your own color pallette for the assets provided (4 colors)

Create both a sketch and mockup storyboard

Create a photoshop file with storyboard frames as separate layers, in sequence

Lesson 2 Project

Create your pacing storyboard in After Effects

Set up your After Effects file and import all assets

Lesson 3 Project

Create and animate all compositions

Work through the entire length of the animation

Render

Lesson 4 Project

Add your name to the animation in the secondary text

Complete your animation

Render