How Long Does it Take to Learn Adobe Animate?

Like many aspiringAnimators, you might want to learn Adobe Animate or another animation app but worry that it will take too much time. Learning a new app can take anywhere from days to months. Of course, this depends on several factors. Keep reading to learn how you can learn Adobe Animate and some resources to help speed the process along.

What is Adobe Animate?

Adobe Animate is an Adobe application used to create 2D animation. With it, Animators can produce animation and interactive vector graphics for a variety of media, including television, games, apps, and online video. They can export their work to multiple platforms, including Flash/Adobe AIR, WebGL, and HTML5 Canvas. Animate has been used to create a number of popular cartoons, including My Little Pony and The Amazing World of Gumball. It was previously known as Adobe Flash Professional, a top-rated program in the late 1990s and 2000s.

Animate has numerous tools that allow Animators to create complex and detailed animations. For instance, its virtual camera feature can pan, zoom, and rotate animations. Audio synching lets Animators sync the audio in their animations. Vector brushes make it possible to resize, move, color, and animate brush strokes. Animation apps like Animate give Animators the tools to create things that would be difficult to draw by hand.

Read more about what Adobe Animate is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Adobe Animate?

People have been using animation for more than one hundred and fifty years to entertain and communicate a wide variety of content. Animation can grab an audience’s attention, tell stories, simplify complex content, and communicate ideas quickly. As a result of its versatility and universal appeal, animated content is used in many professions. Early animation featured hand-drawn content. However, today’s Animators use computers and animation applications such as Adobe Animate.

When people think about animation, many think of cartoons, which are indeed one thing many Animators create. Animation is in countless forms of media, and much of it develops from applications like Adobe Animate. Adobe Animate, in particular, is frequently used to generate cartoons and 2D animated television shows. The application can be used to create characters and add effects and audio, and it has developed many well-known shows and movies, including My Little Pony and The Amazing World of Gumball. However, cartoons are only one of the things that Animators create with animation apps. Apps also help to create video games for computers and mobile devices, educational content, and a wide variety of advertising and animated content for the internet.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics explains that Animators typically choose a specific medium to work in, such as television or video gaming. In addition, they often specialize within that medium. For example, some video game designers specialize in creating characters, while others focus on scenery. Animators who specialize in this way are typically part of a larger team, with each team member working on one part of a project. 

Average Time it Takes to Learn Adobe Animate

There is no single answer to the question of how long it takes to learn animation. However, on average, experts say that a student could probably learn the basics of Animate or another animation app in a few days or weeks. For example, Noble Desktop teaches an After Effects Bootcamp and a Cinema 4D in After Effects Bootcamp, which are both apps used by Animators. Each of these bootcamps takes three days. A class like this is enough to leave a student with a good understanding of how to use the app.

However, animation apps also have lots of advanced content, and learning it all takes time and practice. Mastering a program like After Effects or Animate can take months. Using it to create professional animation is likely to take even longer.

Other Factors

There are a number of other factors that influence the learning process for animation students. 

Level of Experience

Certain individuals find Animate or similar apps easier to learn than others. Those who already know something about animation or design are more likely to have an easier time, as are users who already have some experience with computer animation. For students trying to learn an Adobe app like Animate, knowledge of other Adobe apps often speeds up the learning process too. 

Basic Animation Concepts

Some people find that it is easier to learn an animation program when they understand some basic animation principles. For instance, it can be helpful to understand physics and how it affects the way that animated objects and characters move and interact in an animated world. Many Animators also utilize an understanding of contrast, lighting, and perspective to create animated scenes. Animators who understand such principles can easily create animation with any computer application.

Practice

Practice is an important part of learning any animation application. While many Animators say they have taken animation classes, they also stress the importance of practice. In fact, many explain that taking a class is only the beginning of learning animation and that aspiring Animators also need to put hours of practice into becoming good at what they do.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

How quickly a student learns Adobe Animate or another animation application depends on many factors. According to most experts, learning the basics in a few days or weeks is possible, but mastering an app could take months, and creating professional animations might take years. Apps like Animate have lots of advanced features, and learning how to use all of those features takes time and practice. Students who already have some knowledge of animation or design will likely have an easier time, and so will users who have some experience with computer animation. 

Users who want to learn an animation application may need experience using specific design programs. For example, Noble Desktop offers a number of classes for the popular animation app After Effects. Still, some of them require that students know how to use design programs like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Students who don’t meet these prerequisites can get them relatively quickly. For instance, it only takes a few days to complete an Illustrator bootcamp.

Adobe Animate is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. The subscription price is $20.99 for Adobe Animate only or $54.99 per month for access to all Creative Cloud apps. Adobe offers a free seven-day trial for all of its apps. After that, users need to pay a monthly subscription fee. For businesses, Adobe Animate is only $35.99 per month per license or $84.99 per month for all Creative Cloud apps.

Read about how difficult it is to learn Adobe Animate.

Watch a Free Adobe Animate Online Course

Students who want to learn more about animation applications like Adobe Animate, but aren’t ready to commit to a paid class, can start by reviewing free introductory online courses and seminars instead. Most free resources don’t teach users everything they need to know about animation apps, but they can be an excellent way to learn some basics. YouTube is a great place to find free animation resources. The site has lots of free tutorials about using Adobe Animate to create various types of animation.

Noble Desktop is another excellent free resource. This website has numerous free seminars on a variety of topics related to animation. For instance, Get Started in Motion Graphics provides an overview of motion graphics and video editing and includes an introduction to animating with Adobe After Effects. Intro to Cinema 4D Lite is another free Noble seminar. It gives students an overview of Cinema 4D Lite, which creates animation through Adobe After Effects.

For students who need help with specific features of Animate, the Adobe website can be helpful. Adobe offers many short, free tutorials that answer common questions about Animate. These include Using Layer Effects in Animate, Design Social Media Content, and Create an Animated Infographic. Adobe’s Animate Support Community, also on the Adobe website, is another place to answer questions about the app. The Support Community is a place for users to share questions and answers about various topics related to Animate.

Read about more free Adobe Animate videos and online tutorials.

Learn Animation & Motion Graphics with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

At Noble Desktop, students can learn animation and motion graphics with hands-on classes that fit many schedules and learning styles. Every class is small and interactive and led by expert instructors. In addition, Noble always provides a free retake option. The free retake allows students to retake the same class once within a year without paying for it again. Students can gain additional animation or motion graphics skills using the free retake without investing in another class.

The After Effects Bootcamp is a popular option among students who decide to study animation at Noble Desktop. Students in this bootcamp learn After Effects, a program that professional Animators commonly use, in just 18 hours. Bootcamps like this are popular because they provide quick, intensive training that gives students a good understanding of the subject matter over only a few days. Many pick a bootcamp when they want to add one skill like After Effects to their resume.

However, bootcamps are not the best option for everyone. Some students prefer more in-depth training and opt for a certificate program instead. Certificate programs take longer to complete, but they cover more subject matter. For instance, Nobel’s Motion Graphics Certificate takes two months full-time or four months part-time to finish. During that time, the curriculum covers animation programs, including After Effects, Cinema 4D Lite, and Premiere Pro, and how to use these programs to work on multiple animation projects.

Key Insights

• Animation apps like Adobe Animate can be used to create a variety of animated content. These apps can take you anywhere from days to months to learn.
• If you already know something about animation or design, you’ll likely learn an animation app more quickly.
• Knowledge of basic animation concepts can also speed up the learning process.
• No matter what level you start at, you should plan to spend lots of time practicing your new skills.
• One way to learn animation is by taking an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.