ANIMATION PRINCIPLES - AFTER EFFECTS INTRODUCTION

This session, we were introduced to the program After Effects and started learning how to use it.

After Effects is a program released by Adobe, and is used in video editing and creation. It comes with a preset selection of visual effects and tools that can be applied to clips and assets.

(After Effects' user interface - credit: Adobe)

This session was essentially just messing about with the program, learning a few key skills and then combining some of them.

We also had a brief look into the world / industry of motion graphics, which typically use After Effects.

"Motion graphics are pieces of digital footage or animation which create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects." - Wikipedia's definition of Motion Graphics

Motion graphics can be applied in many areas, such as in advertising, video essays, and within film & television.

The website Motionographer is a hub for many different motion graphics projects from many different artists. They'll have interviews with the creator(s), explain what the video was for, and give all the necessary details about the video itself to anyone who desires it.

We also looked at Art of the Title, a somewhat similar website, but dedicated to the opening / closing titles of films and TV shows. The site does breakdowns with people involved on the projects, be it directors, producers, etc. Influences and analysis are included within the page for each film, citing anywhere that the team making the titles may have been influenced.

(Jessica Jones gets a page dedicated to it's opening titles, featuring interviews with the creative director, illustrator and lead designer - credit: Art of the Title)

Once we had a brief look at the websites, we went on to learn some basic After Effects tools. We added shape layers, text, strokes, and techniques I was aware of beforehand, but not experienced with in After Effects.

At this point I was starting think that this wouldn't be like the other Adobe programs I'd used before. Everything was there, just like the other programs. But they worked differently, it felt weird expecting a tool to do one thing, then have it do something completely different.

We next looked at something I was more comfortable in; making what we'd put onscreen actually move. AE uses the same system to have elements moving onscreen as Adobe Premiere Pro, a program I feel more versed in. For each element, it has it's own timeline. By placing markers on that timeline and moving the element, it creates it's own movements in between the two markers. This can also be used to alter an element's scale and rotation, which we also messed around with.

We also looked at motion paths. A motion path can be used to lead an element along a certain route, and combining it with each element's timeline can lead to speed changes along the motion path, kind of like how rollercoaster carts slow down and speed up as it travels along the track.

Finally was morphing two shapes from one into the other. I followed this tutorial, which helped out learning the basics of morphing in AE.

(A tutorial on morphing shapes in After Effects - credit: Mobox)

It essentially involves creating the two shapes seperate of each other, creating two keyframes for each shape (1 start, 1 end), making their paths bezier paths, and moving one shape's end keyframe into the timeline of the other. All those steps combined leads to one basic morphing shape!

I combined elements from everything we did to create a rather silly looking, but ultimately functional animation. I had the two shapes morphing into each other, spinning around as it did, and the text followed a twisting and turning motion path.

Overall thoughts? Honestly, I didn't really like this session. Motion graphics usually don't interest me, but I thought I'd give it a fair shot with this introductory session like I had done for things I previously didn't like in the last unit. But ultimately... I don't think it's for me. The combination of the subject matter itself and After Effects wasn't my cup of tea, and I can't see myself utilising motion graphics outside my university work.