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After Effects Classes in NYC or Live Online

Learn how to create incredible motion graphics & visual effects in our hands-on After Effects training

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Which After Effects Course is Right for You?

Adobe After Effects, the tool of choice for many professionals for animation and video post-production, allows users to design and deliver professional motion graphics and visual effects for film, TV, video, and web. Learn this powerful motion graphics application in hands-on classes, where you’ll work on several real-world animation projects, including GIFs, ads, title sequences, and logos.

  • Adobe After Effects Level 1

    Adobe After Effects is a powerful tool for animation and video post-production. It can be used to create stand-alone videos, animations, special effects, animated titles, and much more. Use it to create compelling video content for broadcast TV and web.

    Read more
    • $975
    • 18 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Prerequisites required
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Motion Graphics Certificate

    Learn motion graphics with animation and video editing (plus special effects) created in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. Then showcase what you've learned by creating a motion graphics demo reel.

    Read more
    • $2,995
    • 72 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Open to beginners
    • Financing available
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Adobe After Effects Level 2

    In this intermediate/advanced After Effects course, we’ll master text animations and create transitions between multiple layouts. Through several hands-on real-world projects integrating graphic elements with audio, video and photo elements, we’ll master motion graphics workflow: the process motion graphics animators take, to create projects from design to final delivery.

    Read more
    • $975
    • 18 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Prerequisites required
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • After Effects in a Day

    This After Effects training covers the basics of the user interface, the timeline, video, layer animation, easing in and out, fade-ins, and more. This one-day After Effects course will give you a strong working knowledge of After Effects’ capabilities for creating GIFs, animating logos, and importing layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop.

    Read more
    • $325
    • 6 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • 45,000+
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Related Courses

Master other video editing and animation applications, including Premiere Pro, Final Cut, and Cinema 4D.

  • Premiere Pro Bootcamp

    Learn how to use Premiere Pro in this comprehensive 18-hour class. You’ll learn how to import and organize footage, put those elements into a timeline (sequence), clean up audio, color correct video, add titles, and more. We’ll then move onto more advanced features including mult-icam editing, color correction, speeding up and slowing down footage, green screen removal, and much more. By the end of the course, you’ll have the skills to create compelling video content using Adobe Premiere Pro.

    Read more
    • $975
    • 18 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Premiere Pro in a Day

    This class will get you up and running quickly with the fundamentals of Adobe Premiere Pro: edit videos with audio, add B-roll, create lower third titles, and export a final video for use on social media or anywhere.

    Read more
    • $325
    • 6 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Motion Graphics Portfolio Development

    This hands-on, individualized course will take your current software and design skills to the next level. You'll learn the principles of motion graphics and the best practices to create unique motion graphics from concept to completion, resulting in portfolio-worthy projects to show potential clients.

    Read more
    • $975
    • 18 hours
    • Weekdays or weeknights
    • Prerequisites required
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Adobe Audition

    Adobe Audition is a powerful digital audio workstation where you can edit and improve the audio used in videos such as those created in Adobe Premiere Pro.

    Read more
    • $395
    • 6 hours
    • Weekdays only
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Cinema 4D in a Day

    Learn to use Cinema 4D to create 3D models, animations, and motion graphics.

    Read more
    • $395
    • 6 hours
    • Not currently scheduled
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
  • Final Cut Pro Bootcamp

    In this 2-day introductory Final Cut Pro class, you'll learn the core skills to import, edit, and encode your video projects using Final Cut Pro. Work with a top industry professional and receive our proprietary step-by-step training manual in both print and eBook formats, completely included in your course registration! 

    Read more
    • $695
    • 14 hours
    • Not currently scheduled
    • Open to beginners
    Course information See upcoming dates
See All Video Editing Courses

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Learn the concepts and skills covered in this program or your tuition is on us. See details and terms & conditions.

The teaching method at Noble Desktop is perfect and the classes provide you with infinite knowledge that makes you eager to take everything they offer. I love Noble!
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Hands-on After Effects Training

In our After Effects courses—beginner to advanced and a one-day workshop—you’ll cover all the essentials needed to bring your videos to life. Learn by completing real-world projects in our step-by-step training workbooks. 

  • Motion graphics professional teaching students techniques

    Industry Expert Instructor

    Our After Effects courses are taught by Kalika Kharkar Sharma, a leading motion graphics professional who has produced animations for a wide range of clientele including CNBC, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. Kalika teaches motion graphics and traditional and digital character animation techniques at NYU and Noble Desktop, and freelances as an animator, editor and motion graphics artist.

  • After Effects course manual by Noble Desktop

    Custom Workbook Included

    All of our After Effects classes come with a custom step-by-step training manual sold to universities and schools around the world. Recreate the class projects and refresh the After Effects materials anytime after the class. 

  • Real-world motion graphics and animation training projects

    Learn Through Real-World Projects

    In our After Effects classes you’ll learn through projects. First by watching a short demo, then by actually practicing on animations and motion graphics including GIFs, ads, title sequences, and logos. Our instructor and course developer has created numerous projects specifically for these classes that draw on her many years of experience to teach you practical, professional skills.

Highly Reviewed by Our Alumni

From our hands-on training style to world-class instructors and proprietary curriculum, we deliver a learning experience our alumni can be proud of.

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63 Students Rated Our After Effects Classes 5 Stars

After Effects In a Day is a great beginner class to learn simple animation basics. Great variety of exercises in the training book. Kalika is a fun and entertaining instructor and she shared some of her own work which is amazing and inspiring!

Victoria Greiss

After Effects in a Day was awesome. We started by watching, then doing. I like that the approach was exercise-based, as opposed to going through every single tool and interface (like some other trainings I’ve been to). It’s my preferred way to learn, and I came away learning more than I anticipated!

Lisa Keller, Penguin Random House

After taking the After Effects class at Noble Desktop, I was able to create an animation immediately following completion of the course material - now I have the tools to continue using After Effects in my personal projects and beyond.

Blake Drummond, Diagonal Media

Kalika was an excellent instructor. Her enthusiasm and passion for After Effects was contagious. She was patient, smart, and funny. She brought a much needed lightness and humor to a difficult subject. When I began to feel overwhelmed, Kalika was hands-on with helping me. She was genuinely interested in teaching us what we wanted to know. We followed the instruction booklet but it was not forced upon us—we went at our own pace and was able to spend the last class practicing our own project ideas. I left my three-day Noble Desktop experience feeling inspired and excited to continue my After Effects learning journey. I intend on using my new knowledge to make personal art as well as enhance my day-job work as a graphic designer in higher education. I cannot speak highly enough of Kalika. She was truly a pleasure.

Lisa Festa, Princeton University

I had been trying to learn After Effects on my own for a while, but it wasn’t until I decided to take the course through Noble Desktop that things really started to make sense for me. Now I feel that I have a solid foundation and am more excited than before about learning After Effects.

Eric Vasquez

This is a great intensive course to get you started with After Effects. I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about learning this. I would definitely take more classes at Noble Desktop.

Rose Mattrey, AAA Western & Central NY

After Effects Level 2 is a near perfect course. The marketing for it is on point; you touch on everything from animation to green screen removal to rotoscoping. Can’t think of another class that covers this much in such a short amount of time. Bravo Noble Desktop!

Benjamin Nazario

Definitely recommend Noble Desktop over taking a semester-long Continuing Ed. class at an expensive art school. This class covers techniques in a practical manner and you can get started on your own after 3 days of intensive learning. The teacher is fantastic, friendly, and engaging.

Sara Kliti

Great class and workflow! I feel more confident in my ability with AfterEffects and the instructor was interactive and really wants you to learn the program!

Liberty Mayo

This class is perfect if you're looking for an easy, but in depth introduction to After Effects.

Danny Menendez, BuzzFeed

Great source for creativeness

Alice Ugarte, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

So experienced!! Every time I had a roadblock, Kalika immediately knew what step I missed or what I did wrong. A true wealth of knowledge. I learned way more than I thought I would in 3 days. I would highly recommend to other designers and my co workers!

Christina, Stash Invest

If you're thinking that there's nothing you could possibly learn from this class, think again. Kalika does such a wonderful job of teaching, cheering you on and engaging the class that I looked forward to the next class before the current one had already ended.

Amanda

I came in with some ideas of what I could do with After-Effects but left the class totally blown away by all the things I can do now.

Mackenzie Robinson

The class was very informative and helped me take After Effects to the next level.

Michael Piersanti

This is a class devoted to real projects, run by a teacher who generously shares her knowledge, experience and passion for animation.

Traian Stanescu

This class allows you to create the exact type of clips you see when scrolling through Instagram or diving through YouTube. The instructor, Kalika, has endless knowledge of the industry and the program. You’ll walk away from the last class with a bunch of material worthy of posting.

Kathleen

"Super helpful! For an intro class I learned everything I needed to fool around and explore the program for myself without being frustrated looking up "how to's on Google."

michael cracco

After Effects In A Day is a fantastic introduction to After Effects and some of the basic animation possibilities. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to get their feet wet with After Effects.

Alanna Kellogg, EYP Architecture & Engineering

Noble Desktop has always been my go to place. Their attention to detail, cooperation in working with scheduling and providing top notch instructors makes it a pleasure to work with them. I'll be back!

Lori Zalbowitz Roux, Whole Story Productions

A wonderful introduction! I feel more comfortable playing around with After Effects on my own.

Catherine Gonzalez, Colorlines

As a broad spectrum type of class, it hit on so many key points and features of After Effects. I feel much more capable and confident now. GREAT class!

Kelly Vail, Alpha1 Marketing

Great school!! Offers a lot of courses, in different fields like Design, Coding and Business. Amazing teachers, currently I'm taking the After Effects class and it's so exciting, it's a bit complex but a really cool program. My teacher Kalika is really nice and has a lot of experience and knowledge. She is great!! I highly recommend the school.

Meruyert

In Kalika's After Effects class you'll learn a lot more than this Adobe app. With sensitivity and attention to detail, Kalika charmingly drops her own hard learned lessons of working as a professional graphic animator into every lesson at every opportunity. You can see the effort Kalika puts in to the lessons and during the class so students gain the most out of this course.

Dov Alpert

Amazing class, instructed by a very devoted teacher to her craft

Traian Stanescu

After Effects in a Day was a great primer on a very powerful piece of software. I loved the instructor, and am excited to explore more about what AE can do!

Nicholas Moy, Nikon

Fabulous class, taught with personality and real-world situations as examples. Would highly recommend for the graphic designer wanting to put motion into their work.

Sonia, TripleLift

After Effects in a day pretty much gets you up to speed fast. It is like a bullion cube of condensed knowledge that expands into a tasty, filling broth.

Jeff Faerber, Spotco

The instructor gave extremely clear instructions and was one of the best teachers I've come across.

Arianne Hirsch

Kalika was so engaging. You can tell that she's not only extremely knowledgable, but extremely passionate about what she does. I was completely immersed into a program I had never launched before, and am no longer intimidated to pursue Ae.

Kaylan Whitaker, Givaudan

Not only did I learn so much more than I've ever imagined, but I had fun learning it too!

Chase Middleton

Very helpful for starting out in After Effects.

Gwyneth Olsom, Mathematica

Learned a lot in a short amount of time!

Djamika Smith, 92Y

"If you're looking to get started with After Effects, by gawd this is the place to do it!"

Matt, 92Y

A great foundation for someone who can't tell up from down in After Effects!

stephen lorusso

Noble's After Effects course is a very thorough and efficient way to get your feet wet with this robust program. I was exposed to more concepts and hands-on work in 3 weeks than I was at a full-time semester program elsewhere. Highly recommended.

Kylene Yen

Learning After Effects with Kalika Sharma is the best thing I did for myself this year. Her teaching style is incredible - she really wants you to learn! Noble Desktop is a gem, I highly recommend students to take advantage of their offer to retake the courses. I just did. Repetition is key.

Julia Lilkendey, Humantel, Saratoga Springs NY

I came in as a complete beginner, and now I feel like I have enough knowledge to teach myself what I need to know about After Effects. David was super clear and flexible. He helped everyone individually, but explained things very clearly in lecture style as well. Great class!

Natasha Bunzl

Always enjoy my time at Noble. Great classes, great schedules, and instructors!

Kristie Finn, Victoria's Secret

This was a very informative class. Jordon was a great instructor who answered questions well and made the experience fun ! :)

Michael Conroy, SkinCeuticals

Overall, a very good intro class if you've never touched After Effects before. You get to learn simple animation that's useful, especially in the world of social media that we live in.

Lisa Llanes

After taking the Motion Graphics Certificate course, I am able to edit and create animations. I recommend this course for anyone who wants to bring their design skills into the digital age.

Lynn Bartolotta, Design House

Noble Desktop definitely exceeded my expectations for the Adobe After Effects Level 1 Class. Having no experience at the beginning of the class, I now feel more comfortable creating simple animations on my own and exploring new tutorials outside of class. Dan is also an excellent instructor for After Effect newbies. High fives for everything!

Claudia Modlin

Kalika was super helpful and engaging throughout the entire course! Looking forward to taking more classes.

Emily Visich, Hearst

My course instructor was fantastic! Made my learning experience fun and stress free. Look forward to taking more classes in the near future.

Bathsheba Parker, Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc

Noble Desktop is the premier source to expand a designer's skill set.

Claire Werner, Claire Werner Graphics

Take this class if you want to thoroughly know Adobe After Effects

Elizabeth Heldrich

Noble Desktop's After Effects II class is a great way to advance you skills in this program. It is challenging, but their method of teaching allows you to advance at your own pace. You also get a step by step book so you can practice the lessons as many times as you need to on your own. This was the second class I have taken with Noble Desktop, and I hope to take many more. It is a really great way to learn.

Rose Mattrey, AAA Western and Central New York

It's interesting, normally when it comes to personalized attention and "extras" you only expect that kind of care from institutions that are more permanent school. You certainly don't expect it from a place that gives what essentially amounts to short/fast continuing education classes like Noble. Somehow though, they manage! Noble cares! It's quite a phenomena. It was as if I was in a 4 year school with professors who really cared about my success. Even outside of class. That's Commendable. I will continue to recommended Noble to others.

Erica Edwards

Good way to kick start learning a new program. Lots of behind the scenes advice that you don't get from reading a book.

Teresa Lane, Self

As someone who had used AfterEffects before but never REALLY knew the ins and outs of the program, this was a fantastic course to finally learn the basics.

ANDREW GELMAN, Global Association of Risk Professionals

This is my third class with Noble Desktop—and the first online via Zoom. The online instructor and class was just as good as my in-person class experience. The exercises taught skills applicable to enhance our Social Media projects. Noble Desktop is top notch!

Julie Grant, Valley Bank

It's pretty amazing how much I learned in just 3 days. Definitely the right kind of class with the right kind of instructor. I highly recommend Noble Desktop. You won't be disappointed!

Darnel DiGerlando, Valley Bank

The After Effects Bootcamp Level 1 was very informative and I learned so much! The notes that are provided are very thorough, which makes me feel better about creating animations on my own time. The instructor was so approachable and gave us plenty of time to work through the exercises. Overall, I'm so happy I took this course and I can't wait to create my own animations : )

Alyssa Gauci

Really knowledgable instructors that walk you through the software step by step.

William Masso

I thoroughly enjoyed my After Effects Level 2 course. The instructor was very detailed and patient when working with students. I learned a lot from this class and it gave me new skills to put to work at my job as a Motion Designer. I plan on taking more classes from Noble Desktop!

Jon Wood, Flashtalking Inc.

I highly recommend taking advantage of the knowledgeable staff at Noble Desktop.

Robert F Phillips, Cohen & Steers

As someone who had zero experience in video or specifically After Effects, I can honestly say I feel more comfortable with it after only a 3 week course.

Akwele Vassall

The instructor was very smart, knowledgeable, easy going, and patient. Did a great job.

Nicholas Labisi

In After Effects 2 I have learned how to create more dynamic videos and have retained a number of helpful shortcuts that shorten my work time.

Akwele Vassall

Now that I have worked on my own portfolio projects, I'm so much more confident with the software.

Akwele Vassall

Jerron Smith is a great instructor and I’ve learned a lot about the After Effects program and gained insights to the career of a motion graphic designer. This experience was time well-spent!

Leobianny

I got the basics down and enough to get me up and running! Dan R. was very thorough and knowledgeable. I liked that he showed how the book does something then he would show other variations of doing the same tasks for options. I would recommend!

Andrew Wong

Learn More About After Effects

After Effects is a powerful program with a wide variety of uses, and although it might seem daunting to newcomers, it’s actually quite intuitive and easy to get started. All you need is a quick lesson in After Effects vocabulary and an idea.

After Effects is popular software used alike by animators, artists, entertainment companies, ad agencies, and compositors. You’ve heard the name before, seen it online, and of course, witnessed work made with it.

So...what is it exactly?

In a nutshell, After Effects is a motion graphics, digital compositing, and visual effects software. What that means is that the program has three uses, all which can overlap. 

Applications for After Effects

The first application is for motion graphics. Motion graphics is a branch of animation that primarily deals with text, flat shapes, and objects as major components. The difference between motion graphics and animation is that the latter relies on sequential images to tell its story, whereas motion graphics can be viewed mainly as moving graphic design.

The second use of After Effects, digital compositing, is the method for combining different pieces of footage to create a seamless product. Think of it perhaps like the Photoshop of video, where the goal is to take multiple unrelated pieces and combine them in such a way they create a single, holistic piece.

Lastly, visual effects, or VFX, is both the creation and integration of effects that can only be produced digitally. Magic sparkles, a dragon, or someone breathing fire are all examples of VFX. After Effects has a massive library of pre-created effects as well as the tools to create your own. You can then combine your computer-generated effects with live-action footage to produce fantastical videos and otherworldly footage.

A point of note here is that as powerful as After Effects is, its strength lies within the above applications. It’s not a video editing tool as Adobe’s Premiere Pro is (Noble Desktop offers courses and articles in that program as well).

The difference between the two lies in how they handle footage.
A video editing software is most useful for lining up video clips, splicing them, adding transitions, and audio. It’s optimized to playback footage without stuttering and can handle large amounts of raw footage.

After Effects works in layer stacks, allowing different objects that may not even be footage to interact with one another. It’s best used to create video effects rather than transitional footage.

However, when it comes to motion graphics, what After Effects is made for, it’s hard to beat.

Who Uses After Effects?

Now, who uses After Effects? You’ll see it utilized mainly by animators, motion graphic artists, compositors, ad and entertainment companies, and designers. You probably see loads and loads of After Effects pieces every day without noticing it, it’s that ubiquitous. Think of advertisements you see on YouTube or maybe your favorite fantasy show. Even popular movies use the program extensively, as it’s the industry standard for nearly any kind of effect.

For instance, Nickelodeon, the studio behind Spongebob Squarepants, uses After Effects to layer on lighting and textures in their animated works. Pixar, the studio who made Toy Story and The Incredibles? They use After Effects to put together their animatics (an animated storyboard). Star Wars? That’s right. In recent movies, After Effects was used as well to produce some of those signature special effects.

It’s not just limited to entertainment uses, either. After Effects is a staple of advertising as well. Nathan Love, who created iconic ads for Sweet N Low, Come From Away, and Bank of America, rely on After Effects for their edgy, poppy motion graphics. Walk into a TD Bank and watch the video reel playing behind the teller’s heads; that’s After Effects, in your everyday life.

The best thing about this software though is not just the endless incredible effects it offers or its intuitive digital compositing capabilities. It’s not even its ability to track motion within footage so you can add animation that moves with the figures in the video.

What makes After Effects really great is how accessible it is. All that graphics power is easily at your fingertips. We’ll teach you how to harness it.

Key Terms and Tools for After Effects

After Effects can work with nearly any file type, allowing the user to animate them using keyframes and effects. In this section, we’ll go over different tools and terms within the program to give you a feel for the software. This is by no means a comprehensive list as After Effects is an extensive, powerful program with literally hundreds of options for the creator to pick from. However, this group of terms is enough to start your projects off with and with usage and time, you’ll be picking up more and more.

  • Composition: Essentially the “canvas” where all your images, effects, and text are presented. This is what creates your video when rendered. 
  • Layers: Elements of a composition, whether a vector file, soundtrack, or bitmap image. They can either lay on top of each other within a stack or be modified to interact with each other visually. They can even be gathered up and organized into smaller compositions themselves.
  • Timeline: The Timeline panel shows the length of the video. It allows the user to manipulate the keyframes and layers on a piece.
  • Playhead: A marker showing where the video is currently paused at.
  • Keyframes: A marker on the Timeline showing a change in an attribute of an object; usually the position, opacity, or size with a few other options.
  • Opacity: The transparency of an object.
  • Position: Where the object is in the Composition’s frame.
  • Scale: How big the object is.
  • Layer Modes: Special settings that allow the colors of an object to interact with the layers below it in different ways.
  • File Panel: Usually found on the top left of the interface, it shows all the files the user is working with in the Project.
  • Anchor Point: The point of reference on an object that After Effects uses to determine position and/or orientation.
  • Selection Tool: Allows the user to choose which element they want to currently work within the Composition or Layer stack.
  • Hand Tool: Allows the user to slide around the Composition window if they’re too zoomed in to see the entirety of the Composition.
  • Zoom Tool: Allows the user to magnify the Composition so they can work in detail, or to make it smaller to see the whole piece.
  • Rotation Tool: Allows the user to revolve an object around an Anchor Point.
  • Pan Behind (Anchor Point) Tool: Allows the user to change the location of the Anchor Point of an object.
  • Shape Tool/Rectangle Tool: Allows the user to create a shape in the Composition. When used in conjunction with a selected object, will create a mask in that shape. The default is the Rectangle Tool but other options are available within the same tool.
  • Mask Tool: Allows the user to hide parts of an object within the Composition window.
  • Pen Tool: Allows the user to draw out a shape or mask manually.
  • Text Tool: Creates text within the Composition and is controlled by the Text Options panel. 
  • Effects and Presets Panel:  This panel provides the myriad premade visual effects that come with After Effects, such as lighting effects, particle simulations like rain or smoke, and countless others. Presets are a premade combination of effects together that can be stored within the program, and both effects and presets are available from this panel. It can help to think of them as If effects are sandwich ingredients, presets are premade sandwiches, and this panel is the to-go sandwich counter.
  • Keylight: An incredibly powerful digital compositing tool within AE. Keylight provides the user with the ability to separate figures out from a background within a piece of footage, provided the background is a simple solid color. You may have heard of the term “greenscreen” in this context. The user can then replace the background with anything else they desire or place the figure into a completely different composition. It’s one of the cornerstones of digital compositing, made easily available through After Effects.

Conclusion

So there you have it! A basic rundown of what After Effects is for, who uses it, and a couple of terms to get you started. After Effects is a powerful program with a wide variety of uses, and although it might seem daunting to newcomers, it’s actually quite intuitive and easy to get started. All you need is a quick lesson in After Effects vocabulary and an idea.

Happy animating!

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Attend Training Live Online

You can attend training live online at the scheduled time the course is offered (New York, Eastern Time) through screen-sharing software Zoom (free for you).

  • Classes are activity-based and taught by a live instructor.
  • You can hear the instruction, ask questions, and share your screen—all in real-time.

Learn more about how our live online training works

Live Online Training Demo video

Online Training Demo

1-Minute Overview

After Effects Resources

  • Intro to Motion Graphics: Free Online Course

    Get a Free Introduction to Animation, Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, & More What is motion graphics? What’s the difference between Premiere Pro and After Effects? Do you need to be a good graphic designer to become a goo...

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  • Intro to After Effects: Free Online Course & Tutorials

    Learn to start using Adobe After Effects to create motion graphics/animation video in this free tutorial. LEARN MORE: After Effects Classes (attend in New York City...

  • Video Tutorial: Web Animation Techniques

    How do we animate in this day and age of HTML5? Should you use animated GIFs, CSS, or JavaScript? Animation is coming back to the web in a big way, and the trend is to make things move. You can even add animations to emails. Learn about creatin...

  • After Effects: Audio Spectrum

    This tutorial will take you through the step by step process of using a particular effect called Audio Spectrum. This one effect alone can produce super cool visual accompaniment to all your audio tracks.

    Thumbnail image for After Effects: Audio Spectrum
  • After Effects: Liquid Animation

    In this tutorial, we’ll be focusing on creating a graphic, “cartoon” style liquid animation with just a few effects.

    Thumbnail image for After Effects: Liquid Animation
  • After Effects: Stroke Animations

    A stroke is pretty simple: It’s just the outline around your letters and can be modified to have a different appearance or even motion! Learn how to customize stroke in this tutorial.

    Thumbnail image for After Effects: Stroke Animations
  • After Effects: Puppet Pin Tool

    Puppet Pin is one of After Effects’ most powerful tools. With just a few clicks and keyframes, you can transform a static image into a lively animation! Learn how in this tutorial.

    Thumbnail image for After Effects: Puppet Pin Tool
  • After Effects: Track Matte and Transparency

    Track mattes are a fun and powerful tool in After Effects that allows you to use a clip, still image, or text to dictate the transparency of the layer beneath.

    Thumbnail image for After Effects: Track Matte and Transparency
  • Motion Graphics 101: A Beginner's Guide

    While you may have heard the term "motion graphics" before, if you’re like the majority of people, you’re probably still trying to define what it really means. In the most basic terms, motion graphics relate to animate...

  • Top 3 Reasons Why Learning Video Editing is Your Next Move

    We know what you’re thinking: "Why would I ever learn video editing when I can just hire someone off Fiverr to do it for me?" A few other refuting thoughts may cross your mind, like the fact that it would take too much time, tha...

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Learn After Effects for Motion Graphics, Visual Effects, and Animation

Adobe After Effects
  • Use After Effects, the industry-standard program for motion graphics and animations, to create sophisticated animations and graphics, beyond the scope of a basic editing program.
  • Create title sequences for films.
  • Create sophisticated animated GIFs for emails.
  • Create Motion Graphics or Animations based on any or all of the following: layered Illustrator or Photoshop files, photos, JPG and PNG files, video clips, and/or audio.
  • For social media marketing–motion graphics in a Facebook feed, an animated Snapchat.
Motion Graphics & Animation
  • Motion graphics is the combination of graphic design and movement. It takes cues from character animation, typography, layout, video editing, illustration and sound design. After Effects is the industry-standard software for motion graphics.
  • Animation means to “give life to.” Ordinary still images such as photos, text and illustrations, can be “brought to life” through animation. You can use Premiere for basic animation or After Effects for more complex animations.
Keyframes
  • In digital animation and video editing, a keyframe refers to a marker on a timeline that indicates the beginning or end of a transition.
  • Each keyframe has a value which has to do with specific attributes or properties.
  • You can have keyframes for Position, Scale, Opacity, Rotation, and Effects.
  • To create animation, there needs to be a minimum of 2 keyframes of unequal value on one property or attribute.
Color Correction (After Effects)
  • Color Correction or Color Grading is the art of adjusting the colors of elements in your video projects, to create a particular feeling or mood, using settings (called Filters or Effects) in a video or graphics editing program.
  • These adjustments can also be used to “fix” things that were not filmed to one's liking. Exposure problems, white or color balance issues, removing or adjusting the amount of noise or grain in an image, changing the contrast, are all things that fall under the umbrella of Color Correction or Color Grading.
  • If graphics are to be web-only, After Effects is fine for color correction. However for broadcast TV work, Premiere's Lumetri or DaVinci Resolve are more accurate (because TV supports fewer colors than web).
Audio (After Effects)
  • Can be separated into 4 basic categories: Ambient sounds or Ambience (background noise), Music, Voiceover or Dialogue, and Sound Effects.
  • The best practice when working with audio is to do a rough edit and adjustment of sound excerpts and audio volume in a video editing program such as Premiere, and then export OMF files for a professional sound designer.
  • For web-only graphics, it’s acceptable to edit and adjust audio in a graphics program like After Effects.

Upcoming After Effects Classes in NYC or Live Online

All times are listed in Eastern Time unless otherwise specified.

March 2021
Motion Graphics Portfolio Development
March 5–26
Fridays 10–3:30pm
Registration closing soon
$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online

This hands-on, individualized course will take your current software and design skills to the next level. You'll learn the principles of motion graphics and the best practices to create unique motion graphics from concept to completion, resulting in portfolio-worthy projects to show potential clients.

Add to cart
Adobe After Effects Level 1
March 22–24
Monday to Wednesday 10–5pm
$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online

Adobe After Effects is a powerful tool for animation and video post-production. It can be used to create stand-alone videos, animations, special effects, animated titles, and much more. Use it to create compelling video content for broadcast TV and web.

Add to cart
After Effects in a Day
March 22
Monday 10–5pm
$325
6 Hours
NYC or Live Online

This After Effects training covers the basics of the user interface, the timeline, video, layer animation, easing in and out, fade-ins, and more. This one-day After Effects course will give you a strong working knowledge of After Effects’ capabilities for creating GIFs, animating logos, and importing layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop.

Add to cart
Motion Graphics Certificate
March 22–June 16
Weeknights 6–9pm
$2,995
72 Hours
NYC or Live Online

Learn motion graphics with animation and video editing (plus special effects) created in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. Then showcase what you've learned by creating a motion graphics demo reel.

Add to cart
April 2021
After Effects in a Day
April 2
Friday 10–5pm
$325
6 Hours
NYC or Live Online

This After Effects training covers the basics of the user interface, the timeline, video, layer animation, easing in and out, fade-ins, and more. This one-day After Effects course will give you a strong working knowledge of After Effects’ capabilities for creating GIFs, animating logos, and importing layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop.

Add to cart
Adobe After Effects Level 1
April 12–28
Mondays & Wednesdays 6–9pm
$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online

Adobe After Effects is a powerful tool for animation and video post-production. It can be used to create stand-alone videos, animations, special effects, animated titles, and much more. Use it to create compelling video content for broadcast TV and web.

Add to cart
After Effects in a Day
April 12–14
Monday & Wednesday 6–9pm
$325
6 Hours
NYC or Live Online

This After Effects training covers the basics of the user interface, the timeline, video, layer animation, easing in and out, fade-ins, and more. This one-day After Effects course will give you a strong working knowledge of After Effects’ capabilities for creating GIFs, animating logos, and importing layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop.

Add to cart
May 2021
Adobe After Effects Level 2
May 3–19
Mondays & Wednesdays 6–9pm
$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online

In this intermediate/advanced After Effects course, we’ll master text animations and create transitions between multiple layouts. Through several hands-on real-world projects integrating graphic elements with audio, video and photo elements, we’ll master motion graphics workflow: the process motion graphics animators take, to create projects from design to final delivery.

Add to cart
Motion Graphics Certificate
May 10–June 25
Weekdays 10–5pm
$2,995
72 Hours
NYC or Live Online

Learn motion graphics with animation and video editing (plus special effects) created in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro. Then showcase what you've learned by creating a motion graphics demo reel.

Add to cart
Adobe After Effects Level 1
May 17–19
Monday to Wednesday 10–5pm
$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online

Adobe After Effects is a powerful tool for animation and video post-production. It can be used to create stand-alone videos, animations, special effects, animated titles, and much more. Use it to create compelling video content for broadcast TV and web.

Add to cart
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