After Effects Introduction

Notes from the session:

We shall be using After Effects primarily to move stationary images.

The arrangement of windows is referred to as the workspace.

To reset the selection of windows select the 'standard' option in the window menu.

Assets are imported using File -> Import

Directory of basic workspace arrangement:

The upper left area labelled 'Project' is the library of all assets.
The bottom left portion is similar to the layers palette in Photoshop.
The bottom right is the project timeline.
The central panel presents the actual animation.

Similarly to illustrator, the software requires user specifications before starting a project.

Composition - > New Composition

The preset highlighted is the one that we shall be using for the duration of the project.

Layer -> New -> Solid

The red bar may be adjusted manually using the mouse to change the temporal positioning of the object.

Using the preview for complicated compositions may not play in realtime.

Instead, make use of the RAM preview. The completion of the RAM preview is indicated by the progression of the green bar on the timeline.

The resolution of the rendering may be altered to improve the RAM performance.


Transformation properties may be revealed when selecting the arrow on each layer.

Place a keyframe by clicking the stopwatch. Keyframes indicate the definite spacial and temporal location of an object.