Animation in Adobe After Effects

What is the course about?

This fast paced beginners course is designed to help you understand basic workflows in After Effects to produce your own easily shareable short animations or moving illustrations.
You will learn the process of making short animated GIFS using After Effects, from planning to final result. The course will cover generating ideas, organising your workflow and professional processes to execute your animations. You will also learn how to export your work as animated GIFs to share on different platforms.

This is a live online course. You will need:
- Internet connection. The classes work best with Chrome.
- A computer with microphone and camera.
- Earphones/headphones/speakers.
We will contact you with joining instructions before your course starts.

What will we cover?

-Planning your animations
-Preparing artwork for animating
-Importing Artwork into After Effects
-Creating artwork in After Effects
-Working with Keyframes and the graph editor
-Using built in effects creatively
-Exporting your work from After Effects and creating Animated GIFs.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

-Understand workflows for bringing your ideas to life in After Effects
-Import Artwork from other software, and create Artwork directly in After Effects
-Understand some key principles of animation
-Use the Graph Editor to control the pacing of your animation
-Export your work from After Effects as an Animated GIF.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This is a beginners course. Previous experience with computers is essential, and some experience with any digital graphics software is strongly recommended.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught using Zoom for the live sessions with your tutor. You will receive an email 2.5hrs before your session starts with details of the live session link. Please be aware you will need to check your email address associated with your account within this window.
We use Google Classroom E-learning platform which will store all tasks, notes and resources. You will be sent an email with the necessary information and will need to login into your Google classroom before each sessions starts.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

You will need an Adobe CC subscription and an up to date version After Effects installed and functioning on your computer.
You will need a computer or laptop. Ideally with a fully updated google Chrome browser. Chromebooks are not suitable for this course.
Using headphones with microphones will block out all room noise in sessions.
If you are using a tablet or mobile device for the online classes you will need a microphone, and optionally a camera.
You will require a good broadband connection as mobile data 3G/4G or a mobile dongle will not provide sufficient Bandwidth for live sessions.
Specific information on recommended equipment will be provided on the course.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

City Lit offer a range of courses in 2D and 3D Animation, Adobe Animate, Adobe After Effects, Character animation, editing, sound, illustration, cartooning, storyboarding and Adobe Photoshop to enhance your animation practice. Please check the Citylit Website using the search terms ‘Animation’ and ‘Adobe’.