Explaining Complex Topics with Motion Graphics in After Effects
In this series of tutorials, we will go through the steps from start to finish for creating a video that explains a hard-to-understand topic. Software required: After Effects CC 12.2.0.52, Illustrator 17.0.0.
What you'll learn
In this series of tutorials, we will go through the steps from start to finish for creating a video that explains a hard-to-understand topic. People often turn to motion graphics to explain difficult topics, and it can be a challenge for motion designers to know how to get started and how to create videos like this. We will go through the process of analyzing the script to choose what assets to create and how they should work. We then bring those assets into After Effects and approach creating the video step by step, ensuring that we explain the topic as easily as possible using a contrast of motion and pauses. We also learn how to speed up your workflow by creating animation presets and some keyboard shortcuts that make working in After Effects much more efficient. We learn lots of tricks for smoothing your animations out and we find some unconventional uses for effects that you may have used before. This training is for you if you want to make beautiful motion graphics pieces that require a lot of design consideration for the flow of an explanation. Software required: After Effects CC 12.2.0.52, Illustrator 17.0.0.
Table of contents
- Discussing the Script and Creating an Asset List 9m
- Splitting Your Vector Assets for Easy Import to After Effects 7m
- Choosing Your Project Settings and Importing into After Effects 5m
- Animating the Banner Using CC Page Turn 8m
- Troubleshooting Motion Blur for the CC Page Turn Effect 5m
- Creating an Animation Preset for the Letters 10m
- Adding the Sub-header 5m
- Precomposing the Title and Creating the Transition 9m
- Creating the Energy Path and Adding Looping 8m
- Duplicating the Energy 5m
- Creating a Pulsing Loop for the Star 8m
- Finishing the Pointer Animation 9m
- Creating a Mask Reveal for the Dashed Circle 5m
- Adding the Text 8m
- Placing and Animating More Text 7m
- Introducing the Gravity Ring 5m
- Exiting the Pointer and Transitioning to the Star Death Phase 7m
- Creating the Star Death Phase 9m
- Adding Large Blocks of Text 9m
- Perfecting the Speed of the Text Reveal 7m
- Creating a Particle Explosion 9m
- Prerendering a Composition 8m
- Shrinking the Particles with a Mask 7m
- Introducing the Supernova 8m
- Using Wiggle Paths 4m
- Adding the Supernova Label 7m
- Making Room and Adding Story Text 8m
- Creating and Reusing Animations 10m
- Adding the Black Hole Graphic 8m
- Working the Black Hole Text into the Transition 7m
- Using Liquify to Make a Transition 8m
- Adding the Black Hole Label 3m
- Reusing Pointers for Continuity 7m
- Using Masking for Text Reveals 9m
- Changing the View of the Black Hole 8m
- Finishing the Path Adjustments 9m
- Rigging a Simple 2D Character Using Parenting 7m
- Animating the Path of the Hose 3m
- Introducing the Astronaut 7m
- Finishing the Astronaut's Path 9m
- Explaining the Astronaut's Fate Using Our Script 7m
- Practicing the Path Animation Technique 9m
- Perfecting the Paths and Timing of the Secondary Assets 7m
- Animating the Limbs of the Astronaut 9m
- Animating the Parts of the Secondary Assets 9m
- Taking the Black Hole Back to a Top View 4m
- Transitioning to the End 5m
- Finishing Touches and Edits 10m
- Rendering to a Sequence and Compressing to Playback Format 8m
About the author
Laura is a passionate visual effects and motion graphics author at Pluralsight. Ever since her first exposure to After Effects in college, Laura has had an eternal drive to learn more about motion graphics, and teach others what she has discovered. Laura began working at Digital-Tutors (now a Pluralsight company) as a motion graphics artist, creating visually-appealing advertisements and informative art for the site. Throughout her time at Digital-Tutors, Laura contributed greatly to both the ... more