A new way for After Effects to guide you: Coach Marks

[TimKurkoski]

Greetings!

After Effects is a BIG application. Here on the After Effects development team, we know that when we introduce a new feature it can sometimes become lost, like trying to find a newly sprouted tree in the forest. We do our best to announce new features via Adobe.com and our social media accounts, but the best way would be for After Effects itself to tell you what's new and changed.

Starting today in After Effects Beta, version 22.3 build 72, you will see new notifications when you click on certain parts of the UI. We call these coach marks, as they can help point you towards new features, introduce you to changed functionality, or even help you improve your workflow.

Right now in After Effects Beta, you'll see just a few coach marks sprinkled around After Effects that point you towards some of the newer changes to rendering performance and 3D workflows.

What we'd like to know from you is:

• Do you like having these little pop-ups tell you about what's new?
• Is there anything about them you'd like to see changed or improved?

We're considering a few different ways these coach marks could be useful, so please think about the general use of this type of notification. Don't focus too much on what the current coach marks are doing. (But do tell us if the new coach marks are problematic in any way!)

As an example of something we're thinking of: instead of having a coach mark show up when you click on an individual feature, you might instead see a series of coach marks the first time you launch a new version of After Effects to get a tour of the new and changed functionality.

What do you think? How would you use these notifications to help introduce features in After Effects? Are there specific features that you would point other users at towards so that they can improve their workflows?

Coach marks are common UI elements across all sorts of apps and web sites. We understand that not everyone likes them, so we made it easy to disable them in After Effects. Simply go to Preferences > General and check the Disable Coach Marks box, and they'll never bother you again. Here you can also click the Reset Coach Marks button, in case there was a coach mark that you want to read again.

Please let us know what you think about coach marks. Thanks!

[Roland Kahlenberg]

This will be useful but can also be a pain if it pops up too frequently or when unwanted.

I think it'll be good have this feature on a per panel basis - Project Panel, Preview Panel etc. This will allow users to learn at their own pace and in context since contextual learning helps much more with memory retention. So, a user may decide to hone it on the Project Panel and spend some time there while also working on a project. Then, as and when desired, the user can enable/disable such popups; depending on their desire for a learning-while-working session or for just-get-some-work-done session. 

This modular approach will not only help with learning but also with its development.

So, take it out of the Prefs Dialog and use icons at the base of each panel. 

[Scott Simmons]

Great idea, but I'd prefer them to pop at right after launch.  I'm glad there's a way to turn the feature off if desired.  I like the idea in general, but really don't want to be interuppted when my brain is focused on comping.

Scott

[zsaaro]

Thanks for taking the time to implement new things like this. I will try this out later.

I am a bit worried about how abtrusive this can get. It's good that you can turn it off completely, but I wonder if there's an in-between way. Almost like how phones display the red bubble next to your app to let you know that notifications exists for it. What if a little blue bubble could appear next to places where there's more to learn about? That way you could choose whether you want to interact with it or not. 

if I'm gonna have to press a button twice because this pops up it might get a little annoying, however this doesn't mean I would not want a way to learn about these features. 

I'll try this out and post any feedback if I have any.

[howiemnet]

Every time I install AE it takes me a week to get round to turning off the Home screen, because I'm usually in a hurry and don't want to lose focus by digging around in the Prefs.

I'm imagining the same thing with Coach marks.

Could I suggest you do the same thing Houdini (and others) do: put the "Don't show this thing again" checkbox on the actual thing itself? So a "Don't show this Home screen again" button _on_ the Home screen, and a "Turn off Coach marks" button _on_ the coach marks?

If you're stuck for UI space, you could always put a ticked checkbox called "Show Hints" or something similar on the Coach marks, and then all we'd have to do is untick it.

It's not like the options are that hard to find in Prefs, but it's several mouse-clicks away from the thing you're trying to control.

[tristansummers]

I would like it to be in the panel menu. so I can choose to find out about things if I want. Otherwise it is expanded tooltips and will be annoying. I like the C4D / Shake info in bottom right corner

[SplineTimeLine]

I like it. Maybe have a pop-up or panel that would list all these in "list" form, like an index, containing all of the features history.

Rock on my Coders!, Rock On1

[Rene Andritsch]

Thank you for making users aware of new and enhanced features this way. I would think of it like having some sort of overlay / free floating panel (as already mentioned) the first time the new AE version is launched – like after installing a new app on a phone. It could also be a workspace like “Whats’s New” which shows the users bit by bit what has been added/changed and where to find it. It is good to be able and turn this feature on and off in the Preferecnes.