Best products from r/AfterEffects

dual monitors are a real big one.

just as important as a good mouse (i have two of these, sadly they are discontinued now but they're the best mice i've ever owned: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BYQDLU%3Fie%3D ) is a good mousepad. accurate tracking, comfort, makes a big difference. obviously if you go the tablet route (which is also great) this gets less critical, but personally i do about 90% of my work with a mouse, the tablet only gets broken out for specialty work like roto or painting.

maybe a good keyboard? i mean with a keyboard once you're at the minimum spec everything beyond that is just your own personal comfort and joy. i've got a das ultimate. love it. makes typing a joy.

also, a good, comfortable pair of headphones goes a long way just for getting through the work day, videoconferencing and doing accurate sound work. i love my current set: http://www.amazon.com/Marshall-04090225-Major-Headphones-Black/dp/B004BSFSTA

if you're primary machine is a laptop, a good cooling pad goes a long way. they are all about the same, pick one with a quiet but big fan and the right form factor. i have two, one for the desk (hard plastic, big fan) and one which is an actively cooled lap cushion (soft material).

the problem is that you need to move onto story building. the story will dictate the effect you will need. even if you just start out with some basic stories, this can really help unlock you from the mental barrier you are having; especially, if you do not use AE everyday 8 hours a day.
i recommend a copy of the screenwriter's bible

Also, check out Finalcut King's youtube channel, if you haven't already;

Patrick Boivin's youtube channel for stop motion stories/animations;

F.C.Rabbath Creations youtube channel for some of the best low budget storytelling you can find;

VinhSon Nguyen's Vimeo channel;

Nick Campbell's Vimeo channel - he has some really awesome tuts, but you need to search back a few years through his vids -really great stuff here;

Patrick Clair's Vimeo Channel - the standard for kinetic typography - amazing, amazing stuff here;

DanStevers.com Vimeo Channel - regardless of the nature of these videos (religious), this dude has mad, mad skills and does some great AE tutorials showing how he made the effects on a low budget;

That's a start. On vimeo, I recommend checking out the videos and people that these people like - it will lead you to more really cool videos. Also, keep a good library hierchy either on your desktop or in your favorites to help you quickly find the vids when you do need them.

Hey, is there anything in particular you'd like to recreate, i presume you don't want to just copy the entire thing :)

I animated the whole thing over a few days. Probably 1½ days worth of solid work.

The Logo and type was designed over a couple of days, here's some variants that led to the final version - http://dribbble.com/shots/1313667-New-logo-ideas?list=users&offset=7

As a couple of the people here have already said, it's a mix of Cell animation and keyframed layers in AE and 3D from C4D at the end.

For the cell animation this book is a great start - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0240811631/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you're new to AE, start with the very basics first, start small. Not wanting to blow my own trumpet - but this might be a bit much for someone who's just started using AE.

Good luck! I'd love to see what you come up with.

A really good traditional photography course. Study the old masters (like Rembrandt, Vermeer, etc). Maybe look into a solid drawing class at your local community college. Make sure they have a good fine art program. I recommend working in charcoal.
You can find good tutorials on YouTube. Look for ones emphasizing shading and lighting. Also check out cinematography books on Amazon. There may even be some at your library if you've got a good one.


For CG specifically, this is a classic:


https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Lighting-Rendering-Voices-Matter/dp/0321928989


And more general:
https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Cinematography-Practical-Moving-CineTech/dp/1628926929/


Try some of these for the basics:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ5hpcn6tIM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ5hpcn6tIM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXYfcnqorxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_ThOH0IOQ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_zYlc5C_FQ&t=59s


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This is the best (free) learning resource I've suggested for a few years: Getting Started with After Effects

There's also a great new series of tutorials over at CreativeCOW.net that I would recommend: After Effects basics with Andrew Devis

After Effects is not a very simple program. To be a good artist (instead of an Andrew Kramer copycat) you must learn the foundational basics of how the program works (here's a great resource as well, but it's not free) as well as motion graphic design principles (Angie Taylor's book is great for this). Too many people jump into the "cool" tutorials too soon and are crippled by only being able to follow tutorials and unable to design anything good on their own.

Yeah, looks like AE has added that Rolling Shutter repair. Hope it goes well.

It makes me wonder if there would be some benefit in a rig with some padding. Maybe it would help cut down on the vibrations from the drone itself?

http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Vibration-Anti-Jello-Isolator-Profile/dp/B00BS4FDWW It looks like products do exist for this purpose, and it looks like it might be required for better footage.

If you want to become a good motion graphics animator the most important thing, as with learning all skills, is time. How much time you invest will determine how skilled you become.

If you really want to become good I would build a solid foundation first.

I would spend 1 month and buy a subscription to lynda.com which is like 25USD. Or another product that is not a subscription: http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-After-Effects-CS6-Learn/dp/0321840380/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427581113&sr=8-1&keywords=video2brain+after+effects which has like 10 hours of basic tutorials and is like 30USD.

It's not as fun as doing tutorials on videocopilot or somewhere else, so if you can focus and complete the whole training you can move onto more creative projects.

Totally. I love your piece and am not knocking it at all. If you're into animation, I can't recommend this course enough: https://henriquebarone.com/animation-course

So many folks just try to learn every After Effects plug-in and trick in the book, but so much time can be saved if you learn the theory/basics of why and how motion in animation works. Anyways, the Wave principal is a good one to learn that can be applied to so many different things. Also this book is amazing, too. (RIP Richard Williams)

Agreed. Easing is everything. In fact, there are books and books and books on it. Think about the world when you're out and about. Watch stuff, pay attention to it. You'll quickly start to see how the world moves and integrate it into your animation. My favorite example is think about a bird flying. It's wings don't just go up and down up and down. They bend, they speed up and slow down, they flap in a figure eight kind of movement. The details are what make great animation. That being said... Here's a few links to some stuff that will help you starting thinking like an animator.

Principles of Animation:

• 12 Principles of Animation
  
• from The illusion of Life
  considered the bible of animation
  
  Some easing tools i use:
  
  
• Ease and Wizz
  
• Motion v2
  
• DUIK Tools

As having built almost exactly this machine, for this exact use. I would go with a larger SSD, you'll be surprised at how fast it can fill up.


I would actually add an additional SSD just for AE and system Cache.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/ocz-internal-hard-drive-agt325sat360g

This will accomplish 2 things, it will move the pagefile off of your OS drive ensuring more stability and longevity of the drive (remember your OS is going to want to make a page file that is equal to, and up to double what you have as physical ram, think 64GB). It will also give you a super fast drive for your AE cache.

I used this case, and it is amazingly quiet. I can barely hear it when it's on.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005X3E5BO/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You may want to think about this monitor...
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/dell-monitor-s2240m
It's an IPS monitor so it should produce better color.

What are you doing for data storage?

If you are looking fro free tutorials, Video Copilot is a good place to start. Also check out AE Tuts. If you are willing to pay for some lessons, the most comprehensive tutorials are on Lynda.com. They offer a free trial. As for books, I would recommend After Effects Apprentice.

i start small and try this for a xmas gift for myself:

http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Motion-Graphics-After-Effects/dp/0240814150/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324180919&sr=1-2-spell

seems beginner friendly.

edit: oh. o_O or

this: http://www.amazon.com/After-Effects-Photoshop-Animation-Production/dp/0782144551/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324180919&sr=1-1


looks very much like one of those wow books. it says cs2 though.

arrgh. too much books.

My favorite tutorial channels:
Mt Mograph - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvj2JHlsUsaR-um5Nsz7CtP8hj2_oIpAR

EC Abrams - https://www.youtube.com/user/ECAbrams

Mikey - https://www.youtube.com/user/LongLiveMikey

and then a list of my favorite or most used tutorials - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0PeIDbJU3QQA3R0RsdpJF13R9uoG6lK4

as for books this is one i'm interested in getting - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1138812099/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2EUVWPZGTHHQ7&coliid=IE264UAOIGDX9

hope this helps!

Most artists dont actually draw directly on laptops.

they use tablets like a wacom or huion, that wirelessly connect to pcs.

They work with macs too.

I would recommend you get a desktop mac if thats the brand you want instead of windows, and then just get a drawing tablet. Desktops are more powerful than laptops of the same price and youll get a smoother and faster experience in after effects using a desktop.

32 GB of RAM for after effects would be good to shoot for. You can actually build a really good windows PC for after effects with the 1850$ you have after the below tablet recommendation.

heres a recommendation on drawing tablet

Good question. I don't quite know how to start. So this may be a bit random.


SOUND/MUSIC - Back when I used to edit a lot, if there was music, I always would edit to the beat. It just made sense to me. If there isn't music, a sound effect can bring a transition to life. Like a whoosh or something. Even a straight cut from one scene to the other, it's common practice to allow sound from the second scene to start before the cut.



RHYTHM - It needs to go along with the rhythm of the visuals and the rhythm of the audio, even if the audio is just voice over. If the transition is some kind of wipe with multiple elements, all those elements have a visual rhythm.



CONSISTENCY - A simple transition carried out consistently is better than many complex transitions that are not related. It you are going to do many complex transitions, they should have an underlying concept in common. Also, they should be consistent with the project as a whole.



MOVEMENT - If doing a cut, pay attention to the movement from the first scene as compared to the second scene. If doing a wipe transition, look how the movement of the wipe interact with the movement of the two scenes.



FRAMING - Keep in mind the focus of the scenes and how the transition moves the viewer's eye.



Well, those are some ideas I had. I hope they get your own ideas going. There is a lot of resources out there about visual theory. Like The Visual Story

Just keep in mind that color grading isn't going to be ideal on that monitor.

Might recommend saving up for something like this: ASUS PA329Q 32" 4K/UHD 3840x2160 IPS HDMI Eye Care ProArt Monitor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F6D1ITM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_JRnfAbK9NPVPC

throwthespoon had excellent advice. if you want to read about the philosophy of animation definitely check out this book by the original Disney animators.

Although you will probably have a different style than them in this day and age, the principles it teaches will still apply.

I've heard good things about Trish and Cris Meyer's book

A quick google also found me this, which looks promising

Hope this helps!

Mark Christiansen has a great book full of very useful techniques for common vfx/mograph/ae stuff http://www.amazon.co.uk/Effects-Visual-Compositing-Studio-Techniques/dp/0321834593

In terms of a good understanding of vfx theory you could do a lot worse than pick up http://www.amazon.com/Science-Digital-Compositing-Second-Edition/dp/0123706386

I agree with the comments here, some effects are more intensive and useful than others. Some books have comprehensive lists like what you are looking for. Check out something like Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects: Essential and Advanced Techniques, 5th Edition, Version CS5 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240814150/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_jVpWCbS8WJ5Y5. This is an older one, but has a list with examples and breakdowns.

I purchased this book when I started using After Effects. It helped me get out of the "frustrated" phase of learning AE pretty quickly.

http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Motion-Graphics-After-Effects/dp/0240814150/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Thanks for posting this! Best book you could ever own.

http://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457472539&sr=1-1&keywords=animator%27s+survival+kit+richard+williams

yeah, np! not sure where you are as far as learning about traditional animation, but another book every animator needs is this:
https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K42MK6VFM5KHMKMQKVTV

Here are some photoshop brushes similar to the ones in the video you posted: https://www.kylebrush.com/

Try the Design course at School Of Motion.
It’s a beast, expensive but worth it! If you serious about title design it’ll test your limits.

Also Book Rec. Design for Motion by Austin Shaw.

Design for Motion: Fundamentals and Techniques of Motion Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138812099/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Uq4RBb8EZKTDP

There is a book called Elemental Magic that really changed the way I draw 2D fluid. I would say its the Animators Survival Guide of dynamics.

http://www.amazon.com/Elemental-Magic-Volume-Special-Animation/dp/0240811631

Adobe After Effects CS6 Visual Effects and Compositing Studio Techniques if you're looking more at VFX and compositing.

The Illusion of Life

The Animator's Survival Kit

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Essentials-Motion-Media-Artist/dp/024081181X

Here is a link!

http://www.amazon.com/Effects-Visual-Compositing-Studio-Techniques/dp/0321934695

http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Motion-Graphics-After-Effects/dp/0240814150/