Creating an Infographic Animation

Topics covered in this After Effects tutorial:

Working with Adobe Illustrator Files, Converting Illustrator Layers into Native Shape Layers, Trim Paths

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

In this exercise you’ll animate an infographic using a design created in Adobe Illustrator. The complete animation will have multiple scenes, and in this exercise you’ll animate the second scene.

Adobe Illustrator shares a special working relationship with After Effects. Layered files created in Illustrator can be imported into After Effects and automatically converted into a composition preserving its layers and layout.

Previewing the Final Video

1. Let’s see a preview of what you’ll be making. If you’re in After Effects, keep it open but switch to your Desktop.

2. On the Desktop, navigate to Class Files > After Effects Class > Infographic Animation > Preview Movie and double–click infographic screen 2.mp4.

3. Notice how each of the social media charts animate the same way:

   • The circle and logo each scale up and overshoot their final size to exaggerate the animation.
   • The colored area draws along a path.
   • The percentage text slides out from behind the logo (a position move).

4. Replay the video if you need to, and close it when done.

Setting Up the Workspace

1. Launch Adobe After Effects.

2. Go to Window > Workspace > Standard.

3. To make sure we’re all looking at the same interface, go to Window > Workspace > Reset “Standard” to Saved Layout.

4. If the After Effects window does not fill the screen, maximize it:

   Mac:	At the top left of the window, click the green button (the third button).
   Windows:	At to the top right of the window, click the Maximize button (the middle button).

Creating a Dummy Comp & Importing an Illustrator File

When importing Illustrator and Photoshop file as Compositions, the dimensions are taken from the AI or PSD file but most of the other comp settings (duration, framerate, etc.) must come from somewhere else. These other settings are based on the last After Effects composition you had open, so to set them we can create a dummy composition before importing the files.

1. Choose Composition > New Composition, press Cmd–N (Mac) or Ctrl–N (Windows), or click on the New Composition button in the Composition panel.

2. Do NOT click OK until we say so! Set the following:

   • From the Preset menu choose HD • 1920x1080 • 29.97 fps
   • Make sure Resolution is set to Full.
   • For Duration type in 1500 and hit Tab to set it 0;00;15;00 (15 seconds).
   • Click OK to create the composition.

3. In the Project panel, click on Comp 1 and hit Delete (Mac) or Backspace (Windows) to delete it.

   The main point of this comp was to set the framerate and duration for the Illustrator file we’re about to import.

4. Choose File > Import > File or hit Cmd–I (Mac) or Ctrl–I (Windows).

5. Navigate to Desktop > Class Files > After Effects Class > Infographic Animation > Media > images.

6. Click once on infographic screen 2.ai to select it and:

   • Set Import As to Composition - Retain Layer Sizes.
   • Uncheck the Illustrator/PDF/EPS Sequence switch.
   • Click Open (Mac) or Import (Windows).

   NOTE: Importing an Illustrator or Photoshop document as a composition converts the file into a native After Effects composition, preserving the layout, layer naming, and other features so all you have to focus on in After Effects is animating.

7. In the Project panel, double–click on the infographic screen 2 comp to open it.

8. Choose File > Save As > Save As and:

   • Navigate to Desktop > Class Files > After Effects Class > Infographic Animation.
   • Name the file Your Name - Infographic Animation.aep
   • Click Save.

Organizing the Timeline

1. In the Timeline click on the Facebook Logo layer.

   • Hold Shift and click on the Facebook Circle layer (this also selects all the layers between them).

   • To the left of any of the highlighted layers, click the color box in the Label column  and from the menu that appears choose Blue.

2. Select the Instagram Logo layer.

   • Hold Shift and click on the Instagram Circle layer to select all the Instagram layers.

   • To the left of any of the highlighted layers, click the color box in the Label column  and choose Red.

3. Select the Twitter Logo layer.

   • Hold Shift and click on the Twitter Circle layer to select all the Twitter layers.

   • To the left of any of the highlighted layers, change the label color to Purple.

4. Select the Headline layer and change its label color to Yellow.

5. Select the Twitter Logo layer.

   • Hold Shift and click on the background layer to select all the in between layers.
   • To the left of any of the selected layer’s names and to the right of the eye , locate the Solo switch column and click in the empty space to toggle it on for the selected layers.
6. Press Cmd–Shift–A (Mac) or Ctrl–Shift–A (Windows) to deselect all layers.

7. Turn OFF the Solo for both the 22% and Twitter Wedge layers.

   Now we can focus on only the layers we want to animate.

Animating Scale & Position

1. Select the Twitter Circle layer.
2. Press S to reveal the layer’s Scale property.

3. Move the playhead to 0;15 and:

   • Click the stopwatch next to Scale to enable animation.

4. Move the playhead to the beginning of the timeline and:

   • Click on the either Scale value and change it to 0.

5. Move the playhead to 0;09 and:

   • Change Scale to 125

6. There should be a Preview panel on the right side of the window.

   If needed, expand the height of the Preview panel by dragging down the panel’s bottom divider to see all of its options.

7. In the middle of the Preview panel, set Play From to Start of Range.

8. Return the Preview panel to its original size by dragging the bottom divider back up.

9. Press Spacebar to preview the Timeline. Observe the circle’s animation. The overshoot is a bit rough.

   Press Spacebar again to end the preview.

10. Ctrl–click (Mac) or Right–click (Windows) on the middle keyframe and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease (You can also hit the F9 key or fn–F9, depending on your computer’s setup).

11. Use the Spacebar to preview the Timeline again. The overshoot bounce is a bit smoother now.
12. Click on the Twitter Circle layer’s Scale property name. You want to click on the actual name of the property to highlight all the keyframes (they’ll all become blue diamonds).

13. Choose Edit > Copy or press Cmd–C (Mac) or Ctrl–C (Windows) to copy the currently highlighted keyframes.

14. Move the playhead to 0;09 (where the middle Scale keyframe is).

    NOTE: You can use the J and K keys on the keyboard to navigate between keyframes. J jumps the playhead to the preceding keyframe and K jumps it to the next keyframe.

15. Select the Twitter Logo layer.

16. Choose Edit > Paste or press Cmd–V (Mac) or Ctrl–V (Windows) to paste the copied keyframes onto the currently selected layer.

    NOTE: The pasted keyframes will start at your playhead position.

17. Press U on the keyboard to reveal the keyframes on the selected Twitter Logo layer.

18. Use the Spacebar to preview the Timeline.

    Because the logo animation starts before the circle has finished, we created a slight stagger that adds appeal to the animation as a whole.

Animating with Effects: Radial Wipe

Effects are a powerful feature in After Effects that can completely change the look of your animation. Some effects alter existing layer content, some create completely new content and some can be used to animate a layer appearing on screen.

1. Click on the Twitter Wedge layer to select it.

2. Click on the Twitter Wedge layer’s solo switch to make the layer visible again.

3. Move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline 00;00

4. In the Effects & Presets panel type radial wipe into the search field.

   NOTE: You are looking for the effect the one listed under Transition. You do not want to use any presets that have a similar name.

5. Double–click on the Radial Wipe effect (Transition > Radial Wipe) to apply it to the selected layer.

   NOTE: Applying an effect should open the Effect Controls panel. If for some reason it doesn’t you can choose Window > Effect Controls.

6. In the Effect Controls panel, locate the Wipe Center property:

   • Click on the Point Selector to activate it.
   • In the Composition panel click at the base of the wedge.
     

     

7. In the Effect Controls panel change Transition Completion to 100% and click on its stopwatch .

8. Press U on your keyboard to reveal the Transition Completion property in the Timeline.

   NOTE: Pressing the U key reveals all properties with keyframes on your selected layer.

9. Change Transition Completion to 0 (zero).

   NOTE: When you preview the animation if you notice that the wedge doesn’t appear at the wipe on in a single direction you may have to adjust the Wipe Center property.

10. Move the playhead to 00;15 (15 frames).

11. With the Twitter Wedge layer still selected press the ‘[’ (left bracket) key on your keyboard to slide the layer’s In Point to the playhead.

12. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows).

Animating Transform Properties: Position

In this section of the lesson you will animate the 22% layer so it flies out from behind the logo.

1. Move the playhead to 0;25
2. Turn on the solo switch for the 22% layer so you can see that layer too.
3. Select the 22% layer.
4. Press P to reveal Position.

5. Click on the Position stopwatch to create a keyframe for the 22% layer.

   This will be the ending keyframe of the animation.

6. Move the playhead to 0;20

7. Hover your cursor over the first Position value and drag to the right until the number slides behind the Twitter logo.

   We used a value of 430, but as long as the number is behind the logo it’s fine.

8. With the 22% layer selected, press Option–[ (Mac) or Alt–[ (Windows) to trim the beginning of this layer to the playhead.

   This prevents the number from being visible before the logo appears.

9. Use the Spacebar to preview the animation.

   The entire Twitter animation is now complete.

10. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows).

Optional Bonus Exercises

The remaining lessons in this section cover how to copy and paste the effects and animation to the other two sets of graphics. These sections are intended as an optional bonus and can be completed if you finish the preceding exercise early or just want additional practice navigating the After Effects workspace.

Optional Bonus: Copying Animations to Other Layers

The Facebook and Instagram animations will work the same way. We can reuse the same animation by copying and pasting the keyframes we already made.

1. Turn off the solo switches for all of the Twitter layers. This will make all layers in the composition visible.

2. Select the Twitter layers (all the purple labeled ones) and:

   • Press Cmd ~ (Mac) or Ctrl ~ (Windows) to hide the properties of the all the layers.
   • Press U to reveal the keyframes for the selected layers.

3. Click off the solo switch for the Headline and background so all layers are visible.

4. On the Twitter Circle layer, click on the Scale property name to select all those keyframes.

5. Cmd–C (Mac) or Ctrl–C (Windows) or choose Edit > Copy.
6. Select the Instagram Circle layer.
7. Hold Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and click on the Facebook Circle layer to select it too.
8. Move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline.

9. Press Cmd–V (Mac) or Ctrl–V (Windows) to paste the keyframes onto the 2 selected circle layers.

   NOTE: Pasted keyframes start at the current playhead position.

10. Move the playhead to 0;09
11. Select the Instagram Logo layer.
12. Hold Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and click on the Facebook Logo layer to select it too.
13. Press Cmd–V (Mac) or Ctrl–V (Windows) to paste the keyframes onto the 2 selected logo layers.

14. Use the Spacebar to preview the animation.

    The circles and logos should all be animating in sync with each other. All that’s left to finish is the colored wedge line and percentage text.

Optional Bonus: Animating the Remaining Colored Wedges

1. In the Timeline click on the Twitter Wedge layer to select it.

2. Press E on your keyboard to reveal all Effects on the layer.

3. Click on the Radial Wipe effect and choose Edit > Copy.

   NOTE: The keyboard shortcut for the copy command is Cmd–C (Mac) or Ctrl–C (Windows).

4. If necessary, move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline 00;00

5. Click on the Facebook Wedge layer to select it:

   • Press and hold the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) key on your keyboard.
   • Click on the Instagram Wedge layer to select it as well.

6. Choose Edit > Paste to paste the effect and its keyframes to the selected layers.

   NOTE: The keyboard shortcut for the paste command is Cmd–V (Mac) or Ctrl–V (Windows).

   If you want to double–check that the copy/paste commmand was successful you can press U on your keyboard to reveal the Radial Wipe effects and its keyframes.

7. Move the playhead to 00;15 (15 frames).

8. Press the ‘[’ (left bracket) key on your keyboard to slide the two wedge layers to the playhead.

9. Press Cmd–Shift–A (Mac) or Ctrl–Shift–A (Windows) to deselect all layers.

10. Click on the Facebook Wedge layer to select it:

    • In the Effects Controls panel change the Wipe Center to the inside corner of the wedge.

11. Click on the Instagram Wedge layer to select it:

    • In the Effects Controls panel change the Wipe Center to the corner of the wedge.

12. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows).

Optional Bonus: Animating the Remaining Text Layers

Each percentage text animates slightly differently (coming in from a different direction), so we can’t copy and paste this animation.

1. Move the playhead to 0;25

2. Select the 37% layer and:

   • Press P reveal the Position property.
   • Click the Position stopwatch .
3. Move the playhead to 0;20

4. Drag the second Position value to the left until the number is hidden behind the Instagram logo (we used 780).

5. Press Option–[ (Mac) or Alt–[ (Windows) to trim the layer’s In point to the playhead.

6. Select the 69% layer and:

   • Move the playhead to 0;25
   • Press P to reveal Position.
   • Click the Position stopwatch .
7. Move the playhead to 0;20

8. Drag the first Position value to the left until the number is hidden behind the Facebook logo (we used 1270).

9. Press Option–[ (Mac) or Alt–[ (Windows) to trim the layer’s In point to the playhead.

10. Use the Spacebar to preview the animation. Each infographic should now have the same animation.

Optional Bonus: Cleaning Up the Timeline

1. Press Cmd–A (Mac) or Ctrl–A (Windows) to select all the layers in the Timeline.

2. Press Cmd ~ (Mac) or Ctrl ~ (Windows) once or twice to hide all the visible properties on all the selected layers.

3. Press Cmd–Shift–A (Mac) or Ctrl–Shift–A (Windows) to deselect everything.

4. Choose File > Save or hit Cmd–S (Mac) or Ctrl–S (Windows).