How do Beginners Learn After Effects?

Beginners learning After Effects start by mastering the foundational skills: understanding the interface, creating and managing compositions, and working with layers. Initially, students will focus on basic animation techniques, such as keyframing and using the timeline, before moving on to more complex features like masks and effects. While free tutorials and on-demand classes can be helpful, live online and in-person After Effects classes offer invaluable benefits for beginners. Experienced live instructors provide essential guidance and lead students through structured curricula while answering any questions that arise in real-time. By starting with a solid foundation in a live class setting, learners can acquire the essential skills of After Effects quickly and effectively, paving the way for learning advanced animation techniques and professional success.

Getting Started with After Effects

Before diving into After Effects, you’ll need a few essentials to ensure a smooth start. First, you’ll want to ensure you have a computer that meets the system requirements for After Effects, which include, at minimum, a quad-core processor, 16 GB of RAM, 2 GB of GPU VRAM, 15 GB of free hard disk space, and a monitor resolution of 1920 x 1080. Next, you’ll need a license for After Effects, which is available through Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription service. This subscription grants access to After Effects and other valuable tools often used in partnership with After Effects, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. Some live After Effects classes, such as those offered by Noble Desktop, will provide students with free trials or temporary licenses for After Effects, so learners may wish to select a class and see if it provides this before investing in a Creative Cloud subscription. 

While a computer with access to After Effects is all you need to get started in many beginner-friendly After Effects classes, some basic knowledge of related tools, techniques, and topics can be helpful for any learner or an essential prerequisite to enroll in some courses. Familiarity with other Adobe Creative Cloud applications can give After Effects students a head start, especially Premiere Pro, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Understanding graphic design principles like color theory, balance, and typography can also be beneficial. For those without experience with these tools or skill sets, Adobe’s website and professional training schools like Noble Desktop provide free tutorials and seminars that can help you build some familiarity with the basics of various Adobe applications, design, and related topics.

The First Steps when Learning After Effects

While every After Effects class will provide its own curriculum and structure, most will introduce students to a similar sequence of basics that all beginners need to understand before moving on to more advanced features in the application. Below are some foundational skills learners will first encounter in their learning journey.

Understanding the Interface

After Effects learners usually start by exploring the workspace's layout and mastering the essential Project, Composition, and Timeline panels. They learn how to import and organize assets in the Project panel, create and arrange compositions using the Composition panel, and utilize the Timeline to control the timing and sequencing of their animations. Understanding these panels is necessary for learning additional After Effects skills, as they form the backbone of any project workflow.

Basic Animation Techniques

After mastering the interface and its panels, After Effects learners often move on to basic animation techniques like keyframing. Keyframes are essential for creating animations, as they define the starting and ending points of any movement or transformation. By setting keyframes for properties such as position, scale, rotation, and opacity, After Effects users can create smooth, dynamic animations. Understanding the timeline and how to manipulate keyframes allows users to control the pace and flow of your animations, making them appear professional and polished.

Working with Layers

Another first step for After Effects learners is understanding how to work with layers in the application. Knowing how to manage layers by adjusting their order, setting blend modes, applying masks, and utilizing other tools and techniques is vital for creating complex motion graphics and visual effects. Mastering these skills enables students to composite multiple elements seamlessly into highly detailed, sophisticated projects.

Free After Effects Tools for Beginners

Resourceful After Effects beginners will find several free online tools useful in creating a solid foundation for future expertise through additional training. Noble Desktop’s free online seminars and tutorials in After Effects, motion graphics, and adjacent topics can give students the confidence they need to enroll in a live online or in-person class to launch their After Effects training. Noble Desktop also provides free After Effects articles in their Learn Hub, ideal for beginners looking for up-to-date information to help them plan their educational path. YouTube videos and community forums are other resources some may find helpful in gaining an understanding of the basics of After Effects. Often covering fundamental concepts, interface navigation, and simple project creation, these free learning resources allow newcomers to After Effects to experiment with the software’s features prior to making any financial commitments.

While these free tools can be an excellent starting point for After Effects beginners, they cannot provide the comprehensive, structured learning experience an individual needs to build a professional level of expertise in the application. Live online or in-person After Effects classes offer distinct advantages over self-guided study, including curricula covering the latest software updates and current industry best practices and a learning community featuring opportunities for productive conversations, study groups, and networking. Additionally, these classes feature arguably the most valuable resource in a beginner’s After Effects learning journey: live expert instructors whose guidance through hands-on projects and real-time feedback are the greatest guarantors available for an After Effects student’s success.

Live After Effects Training for Beginners

Enrolling in live After Effects classes offers significant advantages for beginners, providing a structured learning environment that free resources lack. With live classes, learners benefit from real-time interaction with experienced instructors who can offer immediate feedback and personalized guidance. This direct support helps students quickly overcome obstacles, clarify doubts, and understand complex concepts more thoroughly. In addition, a structured curriculum ensures that learners cover all the essential After Effects tools and techniques that students need to know and in a logical sequence that allows learners to build a strong foundation in the interface, panels, and basic animation techniques before moving on to more advanced skills.

Another significant benefit of live After Effects training is the sense of community it fosters. Students can engage in conversation with peers, participate in group projects, and network with experienced professionals and fellow students in the same stage of their After Effects learning journey. This networking can lead to valuable professional connections, helping beginners break into the motion graphics or video editing industries. Live classes also often include hands-on projects, such as creating dynamic text animations, compositing video footage, and performing advanced motion tracking. These practical exercises simulate real-world scenarios, ensuring that learners gain practical experience and confidence in using After Effects at a professional level.

The Next Step

After mastering the essentials of After Effects, advanced training will help ambitious students reach their goals of comprehensive, professional-level expertise. Some may wish to enroll in specialized classes focusing on sophisticated animation techniques, intricate compositing, and high-level visual effects. Noble Desktop’s After Effects Advanced and similar courses typically require a solid understanding of After Effects basics as a prerequisite, as instructors assume students have this foundational knowledge to build on as they explore complex motion graphics concepts and techniques. Students can expect to tackle real-world projects that challenge their creative and technical abilities, preparing them for professional-level work in motion graphics and visual effects.

Beginners who are confident their goals include reaching an expert level of After Effects will want to consider enrolling in an all-in-one comprehensive bootcamp or certification prep program. These courses are typically beginner-friendly, expecting students to have little to no experience with the application, as they feature a curriculum that walks students from the basics of understanding After Effects’ interface to its most advanced features. Bootcamps are typically characterized by their intensity, immersiveness, and speed with which they teach students through extensive hands-on projects and exercises. An After Effects certification-prep program will feature a similar training experience, plus additional resources to ensure that students are prepared to pass the Adobe Certified Professional in After Effects exam. One final option After Effects learners may wish to consider is a career-focused certificate program like Noble Desktop’s Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate, which includes a complete After Effects education in addition to training in other tools and skills necessary to launch a career in those industries.

Learn After Effects with Noble Desktop

Professional training school Noble Desktop offers a range of After Effects classes tailored to meet diverse professional and personal goals. These courses are available both in-person in Midtown Manhattan and live online, ensuring that students worldwide can access top-notch, instructor-led After Effects training. Below are a few choices for learning the industry-standard motion graphics application with Noble Desktop.

Noble Desktop offers an 18-hour After Effects Bootcamp suitable for beginners as well as long-time users of the application who would like to fill some gaps in their knowledge. Experienced instructors will lead you through a proven curriculum featuring lectures, discussions, and hands-on exercises that will ensure you master and retain the skills you learn in the program. Tuition covers several perks, including Noble’s proprietary workbook, a free retake option, one bonus one-on-one mentorship session, and a verified digital certificate of completion. The After Effects bootcamp covers all of the essentials of the application, from the basics to more advanced animation techniques like greenscreen removal and motion tracking. By the time you complete the bootcamp, you’ll be an adept After Effects user, able to transform images and text into animations, join clips with transitions, integrate video footage in your projects, and confidently create motion graphics and animation projects using the application’s many features.

If your professional goals include earning an Adobe Certified Professional in After Effects certification, Noble Desktop’s After Effects Certification Program will provide all the training and support you need to successfully pass the exam and help you move forward in your animation, motion graphics, video production, or design career. The program bundles Noble’s After Effects Bootcamp with their After Effects Advanced course, along with other resources to ensure you master the motion graphics application and are ready to earn the certification. These include six hours of one-on-one tutoring and the option to retake the entire program for free, as well as full coverage of the exam fee and a free exam retake. You’ll also receive a verified digital certificate of completion you can include on your resume and LinkedIn profile with your well-earned After Effects certification.

For those learning After Effects to prepare for a career in animation, video editing, or motion graphics, Noble Desktop offers a Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate that will help you achieve job-readiness in 126 hours of classroom training. Available on either a part-time or full-time schedule, this certificate program features comprehensive training in the foundational principles of video editing and motion graphics and all the essential tools of the trade. These include After Effects, Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, Cinema 4D in After Effects, and Photoshop. By the end of the program, you will have a professional portfolio filled with projects you’ve completed through the class and polished with the help of your experienced instructors. In addition to all this training, your tuition covers eight one-on-one mentorship sessions, the option to retake the program for free within a year of the course start date, and a verified digital certificate of completion.