Tips for Learning After Effects

Now that you have a few amazing resources for learning After Effects. Here are some tips for becoming an After Effects master.

Design Before Your Animate: While you may be tempted to just hop in and start keyframing, the best motion designers create styleframes (artboards) before they open After Effects. This will allow you to think about the story your are trying to tell.
Don’t Try to ‘Hack’ After Effects: There are a million tutorials out there about ‘hacking’ After Effects through 3rd party plugins, confusing workflows, and effects-heavy tricks. Don’t fall for this.
Master the 12 Principles of Animation: Learn the 12 principles of animation that form the foundation of motion design work. Memorize them. You’re going to use them every single day on your motion design projects.
Learn Photoshop & Illustrator First: Focus on your design skills by learning Photoshop and Illustrator first. In an ideal world you’ll learn After Effects AFTER you learn these essential design applications.
Practice! Practice! Practice! Watch as many tutorials and pick up as many techniques as you can. Look for tutorials from industry professionals who have impressive portfolios or design.
Originality is Not the Goal: There is a false perception out there that every motion design project should be original. This is simply not the case. Use other people’s work as inspiration for your projects and you’ll see your work quickly improve. Good projects don’t happen in a vacuum so always be on the lookout for new ideas to inspire you. There’s no shame in trying to recreate something you find awesome, just be sure to credit your original source. If you want to learn more about this artistic approach check out ‘Steal Like an Artist‘. It will change your life.
Keep With It! Don’t give up after a few days. Your work is going to be terrible for a long time. After Effects is a beast of a program and will take time to learn. Don’t compare yourself to Beeple, it took him 11 years to get where he’s at today.
Do More than VFX Tutorials: VFX tutorials are fascinating, but chances are you will probably create a heck of a lot more explainer videos than VFX shots early in your career. Instead of VFX, focus on learning the core concepts surrounding good motion design. If you ever need an explosion in your project there are plenty of tutorials out there to get you up to speed.
Learn the Skills Clients Are Looking For: Look and listen for what clients need. Focus on creating Explainer Videos, Commercials, Lower Thirds, Graphs, Graphics, Intros, Outros, Logo Animation, etc. These are far more likely to pay your bills.
Share Your Work: Sometimes sharing your work can be just as challenging as the work itself. It takes a special kind of vulnerability to share work online, but one of the best ways to get feedback is to get your work out there. You never know what projects may arise from a simple instagram share.

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