Totally new, Totally Confused

[SinnShady]

Hi. I'm totally new to AE. I've been trying some

tutorials from you tube. Slowly I'm understand BUT what I do not understand is how to..(if anyone understands what I'm about to explain) make texts come one after the other (link attached) I know how to create one basic text into but I don't know how to, for example start with AFTER as it fades in then out, then let's say EFFECTS, then that goes away and then so on. I hope I'm explaining it well enough. Here is the link to a video I'm trying. Says Cinematic, then Intro etc. do I have to redo all the work for each word? Thank you. https://youtu.be/AvfEuCOpUbg

[Martin_Ritter]

You create each text an it's own layer and then you make the transitions. If you are just aiming for a fade, it's nothing more then having two layers and transparency animated on each of them.

*Martin

[Roland Kahlenberg]

AE's Help Menu has TWO options that sends you to APPROVED tutorials. These are the tutorials you should be learning from. Stop watching youtube videos until you're more comfortable with AE, ie gone through approved tutorials.

[Szalam]

Martin has told you the correct answer, but I want to expand on Roland's advice. AE is the most complicated piece of software in the Creative Cloud. It's very powerful, but that power does come at something of a cost - you need to learn how to use it.

Random YouTube videos are a generally bad idea. Until you're very familiar with AE, you won't know if you're getting a tutor who actually knows what they're doing. MANY YouTubers have absolutely no idea what they're doing. I can't tell you how many tutorials I've started only to turn them off after a minute because they're giving inaccurate information that will make your work harder.

Going through the curated learning resources Adobe has is one good way to get a solid foundation. Another is going through a course from a vetted instructor. Ian Robinson's course on Lynda/LinkedIn Learning is a good option. If you're in the US, it's possible that your local library has free access to the courses on Lynda/LinkedIn, but even if they don't, training like that is a worthwhile investment.

Actually, I just remembered, PluralSight is giving out free access for the month of April. They have several courses on AE: https://www.pluralsight.com/offer/2020/free-april-month

The more time you put in up front learning the foundational principles, the less frustration you will feel as you go.

[Rick Gerard]

You found a truly inefficient and il presented tutorial on YouTube. More of them you find there that are presented by enthusiasts are like that. In order for you to figure them out you really need a good solid foundation on the UI and standard workflows required when you use AE. Fortunately, his forum, the Search Help field in the top right corner of AE, the After Effects Product page, and the Home Screen all have links that point you directly to the User Guide. Try spending some time on at least the getting started section and you can avoid a lot of wasted time. After Effects is a lot more complex than any NLE you may have used before, it is NOT a video editing app. It is an app very well suited to creating shots and motion graphics that you cannot create in an NLE. Both take some training but AE requires a lot more homework and practice to use safely.

[SinnShady]

Thank you very much!

[SinnShady]

Thank you very much. I'll check it out!

[SinnShady]

Great!! Thank you very much. I would love to try it!!