Industry Expert Instructor
Our After Effects courses are taught by motion graphics professionals who have a wide array of industry experience in motion graphics and animation, along with years of teaching experience.
Learn how to create incredible motion graphics & visual effects in our hands-on After Effects training
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.
Learn to create compelling video content with Adobe After Effects. This course covers the basics of animation, text effects, and file integration needed to start creating impressive visual content from scratch. Get hands-on experience with real-world projects taught by an experienced instructor.
Learn motion graphics and visual effects with Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Cinema 4D Lite. Develop your skills in animation, video editing, and special effects, and create a motion graphics demo reel to showcase your work to potential clients or employers.
Become a skilled Video Editor and Motion Graphics Designer by learning Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Cinema 4D Lite, and Audition. Develop creative techniques and concepts for editing videos, and showcase your skills by creating a professional demo reel.
Dive into the dynamic world of Adobe After Effects with this advanced course, designed to elevate your animation and motion graphics skills. From mastering 3D layers and custom shapes to optimizing animations with expressions, you'll create captivating visuals that stand out in any project.
Learn the basics of the Adobe After Effects user interface, timeline, and layer animation in this accelerated training course. Gain the skills needed to create GIFs, animate logos, and import layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop.
This course unlocks the power of Adobe After Effects, teaching you to create stunning visual effects and professional-grade motion graphics. Master techniques like motion tracking, compositing, and time remapping to take your video projects to new heights of creativity and impact.
Boost your motion graphics skills and earn an Adobe After Effects Certification in this course.
Master other video editing and animation applications, including Premiere Pro, Final Cut, and Cinema 4D.
Learn how to use Adobe Premiere Pro to create professionally edited videos in this comprehensive class. From importing and organizing footage to advanced editing techniques like multi-cam editing and green screen removal, this course will equip you with the skills to create compelling video content.
Learn Adobe Premiere Pro fundamentals in this accelerated class. Gain skills to organize projects, create sequences, fix audio and color, add B-roll, animate images, edit clips, add lower third titles, and export final videos for social media. Perfect for a quick, essential Premiere Pro education.
Learn the basics of audio editing with Adobe Audition. Enhance audio in videos or audio projects with this powerful digital audio workstation. Fix damaged audio and create sound mixes for video editing or animation projects. Audition makes your work more engaging and impactful.
Learn Cinema 4D Lite and integrate it with After Effects to create 3D models and motion graphics. This course teaches techniques for creating and working with 3D models, assigning textures, creating animations, and using the Cineware effect for seamless integration.
Learn essential video editing skills and techniques in this comprehensive Final Cut Pro class. From importing and organizing footage to advanced features like multi-cam editing and green screen removal, you'll gain the expertise to create professional-quality videos using Apple Final Cut Pro.
Learn the concepts and skills covered in these courses or your tuition is on us. See details and terms & conditions.
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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.
Our After Effects courses are taught by motion graphics professionals who have a wide array of industry experience in motion graphics and animation, along with years of teaching experience.
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.
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.
From our hands-on training style to world-class instructors and proprietary curriculum, we deliver a learning experience our alumni can be proud of.
Our After Effects Classes are rated 4.8 stars by 1,020 students
in the past 24 months
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 Advanced 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 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 teacher who is very devoted 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 Bootcamp. 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
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 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 Hilario
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
Great instruction! Took the time to share notable shortcuts and workflow tips! Always a great thing when looking to refresh your skills!
Maui Uy
Freelance Designer
After Effects is overwhelming, but Dan R. explained it clearly, shared lots of tips and best practices from his own experience, and was friendly and approachable. A great way to spend a day!
Ilene Manacher
AE 2 is outrageous and my favorite class to date. Jerron is a fantastic instructor filled with knowledge, personality and attention towards the students learning needs. Jerron is an amazing instructor! This class has surpassed any expectations. To sum the class up in one word “WOW”.
Lisa Dowe
Dowe Design Studio
Jerron's clarity while teaching this After Effects class inspired me to take the Advanced After Effects class, where I trust he will continue to break down complex concepts!
Jeffery Carson
I have taken a lot of classes at Noble. All have been good. This was among the best.
Abigail Park
Very good starting class that gave me time and assistance in areas where I would struggle.
Jackson Dye
The instructor was fun and very informative. The class was challenging but when you get used to it, it's very advanced stuff that you can use for big projects.
Nelson C.
Great class. After Effects is an intimidating program but Dan Rodney made it easy to grasp the basic concepts. Highly recommended.
Damien Rodriguez
Great experience on Zoom thanks to Jerron, an excellent instructor. He is extremely passionate about the program and an excellent teacher and speaker. I found his tutorials very engaging.
Hanna L.
My Noble Desktop After Effects in a Day class was incredible. It helped me really grasp the way the program works and truly will help me build graphics for my company in the future. So glad I took the course, and it's very much worth it for anyone working in the Film and Media industry.
Sofia Zinger
HBO
There are many free software tutorials available online. What I appreciated with Noble's course was having a skilled and experienced instructor available to answer my many immediate questions as they arise. I also appreciated meeting and connecting with students from different industry backgrounds. We're all on our personal journeys and it's always nice when paths converge. I chose to take the course in-person specifically for these two reasons. I'm excited to practice what I've learned and improve my skills.
Andrew Tsao
After Effects Bootcamp was a very informative class! The topics covered are very practical and immediately applicable. It's not only useful for learning the software, but also for efficiency and organization.
Pat Garcia
I went from being too afraid to open the program to being able to comfortably navigate the workspace and create cool, fun (and useful) effects!
Rae Chartier
Everything was very thoroughly explained and I feel much more comfortable using After Effects after taking this course!
Jamie Kurtzer
My roommate recommended Noble Desktop as he had done the After Effects course. I took the three-day After Effects course and whether you're an experienced graphic designer or someone who's never opened Adobe software in your life, it's a no-brainer to take this! As a graphic designer myself who occasionally uses After Effects, I was looking to level up my self-taught skills and get more comfortable with the program so I could troubleshoot while working and so my finished products would be more polished. I finished the three-day intensive and I'm actually looking forward to returning to work and trying out some of what I learned on existing collateral. So happy I went with Noble Desktop!
Lauren Meregildo-Santos
The animations taught in this boot amp course addressed a wide variety of needs one may need to use After Effects for. I thought all of Jerron's examples were interesting and curated creatively. I especially appreciated the red blood cell animation & infographic animation as someone coming from a healthcare background.
Ashley Blanc
The After Effects Advanced Bootcamp class was incredible! It elevated my skills beyond my expectations.
Pat Garcia
Noble Desktop offers efficient, thorough classes for learning these programs. There's enough repetition to get you used to the workflow without slowing the pace. The three-day bootcamps are an excellent way to learn the basics, plus a little more to give you the confidence to tackle your own projects - with a handy workbook to use as a reference.
Susan Hunt
This course does a great job of setting up the foundation of the program and building your skills from there. I really enjoyed that the first project was creating an animated piece from start to finish. Jerron was an amazing teacher! He is very thorough, has a positive attitude, and he is so patient. If someone doesn't understand something, he will work with them until they get it. He has been teaching animation courses for many years and really knows his stuff. I learned a lot from him through this course and I would strongly recommend this class to anyone looking for a deeper dive into After Effects!
Alina B.
Jerron was a fantastic instructor who is extremely knowledgeable about After Effects. I especially enjoyed the little nuggets of history and facts behind the program and why certain tools behave the way they do. He was thorough, informative, and really helped my understanding of the program. Great experience overall! Thank you for the helpful class and the wonderful snacks.
Melissa L.
This one-day class gave a really good foundation of After Effects for beginners. The step-by-step is easy to follow and I love that we were given the book and files to practice at home. I only wish I had signed up for the full three-day intensive! Excellent experience, would absolutely recommend Noble Desktop and take future classes!
Naomi G.
This class was great. The instructor couldn't have been more knowledgeable about the program. I am walking out feeling more confident about After Effects.
Morgan Maloney
A perfect class for After Effects beginners that made learning complex topics simple! Jerron was an amazing teacher.
Brooke Hackinson
I learned so much through the After Effects Bootcamp. I've been using After Effects for about 3 years, but I learned some very simple things that I didn't know before, as well as super useful skills to use in the future.
Sadye Hazan
This class was so helpful in getting me to learn the language of After Effects.
Zachary Lapierre
I can't wait to use my new skills in upcoming projects. I definitely feel more confident and knowledgable about the workings of After Effects.
Emily Harding
Wonderful class! This class was both instructional and entertaining. It was structured and organized without feeling strict and stifling. The instructor, Jerron, is personable and has lots of industry experience. I really appreciated and enjoyed his explanations and anecdotes.
Tanisha Hogan
I learned so much in a relatively short amount of time, and can't wait to put my new After Effects skills to use!
Naomi Goldrich
I loved that the instructor really took the time to address any issue/question that any of us had throughout the course. He didn't just want to check and complete the exercises in the book, but instead, he really tried to make us understand as much as possible of a pretty complex program like After Effects in a very short amount of time.
Andreea Petrean
This After Effects Bootcamp was perfect! As someone who has a basic understanding of keyframes and timelines, it was perfect for learning more sophisticated skills. Highly recommend!
Julia Duncan
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 by animators, artists, entertainment companies, ad agencies, and compositors. You’ve heard the name before, seen it online, and witnessed work made with it.
So...what is it exactly?
Adobe After Effects is a computer-aided design application for motion graphics, digital compositing, and animation projects. While the tool has a wide variety of functions, it is most frequently associated with special effects animation and digital effects projects undertaken in film and television. Almost all of the memorable special effects you associate with certain films and television shows were created using programs like After Effects, from massive set-piece animated models to subtle digital alterations to things like lighting and coloration in smaller productions. Developed in the early 90s, After Effects has become an industry-standard tool for digital animation and effects design and with advances in computer technology, the program has never been easier to learn.
Historically, the computing power necessary to build lifelike, vibrant 3D digital effects was so expensive that only major movie studios regularly undertook these projects. Now, as computing power is cheaper than ever, more and more independent and small-scale projects are starting to take advantage of this design technology. This means that, more than ever, these projects require the help of creatives trained in programs like After Effects. This makes learning Adobe After Effects an important part of finding work as a Special Effects Artist or Motion Graphics Designer. The program is utilized on diverse projects, so After Effects experts can find work anywhere between Hollywood and YouTube.
If you have ever watched a movie and wanted to be a part of the team that makes the magic of special effects possible, you will want to consider learning After Effects. The program is used in various creative industries, from film and television to online content creation to advertising and social media marketing. These fields are higher digital effects artists and animators to make their video projects, online content, video games, or advertising campaigns more evocative and memorable. In addition, since motion graphics and visual effects are such wide-ranging fields, aspiring artists will have a diverse collection of mediums in which they can find work. After Effects is used in everything from traditional animation to stop motion to greenscreen replacement and chromakey animation to digital and special effects.
An appealing aspect of working in digital animation and motion graphics is that it is one of the most central and visible elements of filmmaking. While writers, editors, cinematographers, and directors may fade into the background of public consciousness, it is hard to forget the work put in by special effects animators to make films possible. These effects are often the things we most vividly remember about a film, and these impressive effects often compel creatives to consider working in the film industry. Learning After Effects is one of the important steps to take if you want to find work on the kinds of film, television, video game, or other entertainment projects that spurred your interest in being a part of these industries.
Learning After Effects can also be useful for anyone hoping to learn more about filmmaking. Since film and television are such collaborative processes, learning how individual creative processes are done can be productive for anyone hoping to work in the industry. If you are a writer or a director, you’ll want to know what is possible given your budget and constraints in terms of special effects animation. As an editor, you’ll work alongside digital effects artists during the post-production process. Even actors will want to consider how assets will be added to the final shots to give more compelling performances. In the long term, almost every creative who wants to work on a video project will benefit from learning about the totality of the filmmaking process, including effects animation with tools like After Effects.
Learning the basics of After Effects can also be useful for anyone who aspires to make their own video content and wants to add digital effects or make significant digital alterations to their footage. After Effects is a fairly accessible tool for new users to experiment with. With the proper training, it won’t take long for amateur creatives to start adding digital effects to their projects. This can be especially useful for social media content creators, like those working on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, since the market for these videos is crowded, and anything to help a creator stand out is a worthwhile investment. Then, after you’ve learned the basics, you can continue to learn new animation skills at your own pace.
One of the major reasons to learn After Effects rather than other motion graphics animation applications is that it is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud and is, therefore, closely integrated with other Adobe filmmaking and animation applications. Notably, anyone licensing After Effects can access Adobe’s 3D model rendering application Cinema 4D. These two programs complement each other in their overall functionalities, and almost every After Effects training program doubles as a Cinema 4D training program, which lets students easily expand their creative toolkits. Creative Cloud subscribers can also access Adobe Premiere Pro, an industry-standard video editing application. Most uses of After Effects will require further work in Premiere Pro, since that is the program best equipped for adding animated special effects to a completed video project. Students looking to pair their After Effects training with Premiere Pro training should consider enrolling in Noble Desktop’s Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate program.
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 of 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. This is, for example, how digital particle effects are added to a video project.
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. VFX are also used to remove elements from a scene and replace them with something else. While this is most commonly imagined in contexts like motion capture or greenscreen projects, it is also used in mundane contexts, like removing brand-identifying logos from shots or digitally altering the display of a phone screen on the camera.
After Effects has a massive library of pre-created effects and the tools to create your own. You can combine your computer-generated effects with live-action footage to produce fantastical and otherworldly videos. After Effects users can also license access to Adobe Stock, Adobe’s archive of stock footage, effects, and other digital assets.
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). While the two programs are frequently used and taught alongside one another, they serve very different functions in filmmaking. The difference between the two lies in how they handle footage.
A video editing software application is useful for lining up video clips, splicing them, and adding transitions and audio. It’s optimized to playback footage without stuttering and can handle large amounts of raw footage. Video editing, as a process, creates new meaning out of existing footage and material, so professional Video Editors will have all of the creative assets on hand when they are compiling a finished project.
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. After Effects is used to create new assets for a video production, designing and rendering these assets from scratch. This makes After Effects a more traditional graphic design application than Premiere Pro.
Most professionals will use a combination of these two programs, but when you are considering what kind of work you’ll specialize in it is useful to consider how the programs are distinct. Students interested in the creative process of animation will want to emphasize After Effects training and learn a bit of Premiere Pro, while students interested in cinematic editing will want to learn Premiere Pro and dabble in 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 and make your creative dreams into realities using this powerful animation application.
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.
After Effects is a commonly used application in the film and television industry and the fields of online content creation, video games, and advertising. Most professional After Effects jobs will fall under the broad category of Motion Graphics Designer. However, the responsibilities of these designers will vary greatly depending on the kinds of projects they are working on and the aspects of those projects they are assigned to work on. Motion graphics covers everything from Special Effects Artists and VFX artists to Character Designers, Visual Effects Artists, Background Artists, and Concept Artists. If an element of a project is digitally animated or impacted by digital animation, a Motion Graphic Designer is likely to have had their hand in building that asset. The wide variety of different job titles and responsibilities means that salaries for Motion Graphics Designers will vary greatly, but in the US, the average salary for these effects artists sits at around $70,000 annually.
After Effects is also utilized by 2D Animator and 3D Animators who specialize in animating digital effects for various video productions. Animators are tasked with creating digital assets that have the illusion of motion and weight to those assets. While animation is traditionally associated with cartoons and children’s entertainment, animators can find work on a diverse range of projects, particularly when working alongside Motion Graphics Designers on specialized projects. Their work involves building everything from simple animated logos for web interfaces to designing models for video game characters to working on major Hollywood films (traditionally animated or not). With the improvements in the power and price of computing technology, 3D animation is beginning to replace 2D animation in almost all contexts (though stylized 2D animation is unlikely to vanish completely), so more 3D animation careers are opening across industries than 2D animation careers. In the US, a 2D Animator earns approximately $60,000 annually, while a 3D Animator can expect to earn about $71,000 annually.
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. With only a few hours of training in a course like Noble Desktop’s After Effects in a Day, you can start building and designing your own 2D and 3D animated assets. Students looking for more advanced training, such as those hoping to create assets for their own professional video projects for a social media account, can consider a course like Noble’s After Effects Bootcamp. Finally, Noble offers a robust career-focused Motion Graphics Certificate program for students looking to prepare for a career using After Effects. No matter what kind of After Effects training you are looking for, Noble Desktop has a course built to fit your needs. All you need is a quick lesson in After Effects vocabulary and an idea.
Happy animating!
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All times are listed in Eastern Time unless otherwise specified.
December 2024 | |||
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December 5–January 2
Thursdays & Tuesdays
6–9pm
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$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online
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Learn to create compelling video content with Adobe After Effects. This course covers the basics of animation, text effects, and file integration needed to start creating impressive visual content from scratch. Get hands-on experience with real-world projects taught by an experienced instructor. |
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December 5 & 10
Thursday & Tuesday
6–9pm
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$425
6 Hours
NYC or Live Online
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Learn the basics of the Adobe After Effects user interface, timeline, and layer animation in this accelerated training course. Gain the skills needed to create GIFs, animate logos, and import layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop. |
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December 5–February 20
Evenings
6–9pm
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$2,995
42 Hours
NYC or Live Online
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Boost your motion graphics skills and earn an Adobe After Effects Certification in this course. |
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December 17–19
Tuesday to Thursday
10–5pm
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$975
18 Hours
NYC or Live Online
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Learn to create compelling video content with Adobe After Effects. This course covers the basics of animation, text effects, and file integration needed to start creating impressive visual content from scratch. Get hands-on experience with real-world projects taught by an experienced instructor. |
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December 17
Tuesday
10–5pm
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$425
6 Hours
NYC or Live Online
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Learn the basics of the Adobe After Effects user interface, timeline, and layer animation in this accelerated training course. Gain the skills needed to create GIFs, animate logos, and import layered files from Illustrator and Photoshop. |
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