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mos10279273
Known Participant
December 27, 2018
Answered

Another newbie question: is After Effects the right program for what I want to do?

  • December 27, 2018
  • 3 replies
  • 606 views

I'm teaching myself After Effects. All of the tutorials I've seen so far focus on combining video and graphics, like opening credits for a movie.

What I am interested in doing is creating some vector graphics in Illustrator and then using keyframing in AE to blend them together. i.e. I will draw scenes "A" and "E", and expect AE to supply scenes "B" "C" and "D".

Is this the right program for that?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Mo Moolla

    Hi

    From the pic I see it seems only the colour, opacity and blur amounts will change

    Easily done in AE :

    1. Keyframe 1: Set coler property ,blur amount and opacity

    2. End keyframe : Set end color, opacity and blur amount

    This might be oversimplifying things but its the basis of your animation from what I see in the pic

    NB: You might need to do a few hold keyframes on opacity should the value not be going from 100 to zero and there are varying values in between

    3 replies

    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    December 28, 2018

    Yes, After Effects is the right application for animating Illustrator artwork.

    You’ll want to learn about keyfames and Keyframe Interpolation options so that you can control the change from A to E.

    You’ll want to explord the Effects that come with AE as well as 3rd party effects available for AE to be aware of how A might change into E.

    You’ll want to explore how to copy and paste AI object to AE Layer Masks.

    You’ll want to explore how to promote AI objects to layers at the root level of the document and then how to convert AI Layers that have been imported to AE into AE Shape Layers and then drill down into all of the Shape Layer options.  (Maybe put this one at the top of your list.)

    As you get better in AE and want to move more quickly between AI and AI, definitely check out Overlord (http://www.battleaxe.co/overlord/ ).

    It’s also worth spending some time use on the After Effects side learning what’s possible with Masks and Shape Layers.

    With all that said, you might also want to spend some time in Adobe Animate CC (formerly Adobe Flash CC).  You might really enjoy the “tweening“ options for vector based artwork.

    -Warren

    P.S. Definatly read up on the Continuously Rasterize Layer Switch.

      imeilfx
      imeilfx
      Inspiring
      December 28, 2018

      Yes you can do exactly that in AE. Mo already gave you simple example how to do that. I think that most important for you now - if you wish to use AE properly and for longer than one project - learn some basics. That should give you idea of what is possible in AE and how to do that.
      I recommend you to start here: After Effects tutorials | Learn how to use After Effects CC

        Mo Moolla
        Mo Moolla
        Legend
        December 27, 2018

        Hi

        I am trying ti understand what you mean when you say :

        1. You want to "blend the scenes"

        2. Expect AE to "supply" B, C and D

        Do you have an example vid you could share so we can fully understand what you need assistance with?

        Mo

        M
        mos10279273Author
        Known Participant
        December 27, 2018

        Does this help?

        Mo Moolla
        Mo MoollaCorrect answer
        Legend
        December 27, 2018

        Hi

        From the pic I see it seems only the colour, opacity and blur amounts will change

        Easily done in AE :

        1. Keyframe 1: Set coler property ,blur amount and opacity

        2. End keyframe : Set end color, opacity and blur amount

        This might be oversimplifying things but its the basis of your animation from what I see in the pic

        NB: You might need to do a few hold keyframes on opacity should the value not be going from 100 to zero and there are varying values in between

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