How long did it take you to get comfortable?

Sithxace

Sithxace

Well-known member
How long did it take you to get comfortable with aftereffects? I started using it yesterday and while some of the stuff looks real familiar like the time line from using video editors, but understanding the layers and how they all impact each other and things in a layer looks confusing so far.

I must say, the video tutorials are very useful.
 
It didn't take me long to get comfortable with AE, but I came into it with a hell of a lot of Photoshop experience. What you need to do first is learn the basics of Additive Color, Digital Color Theory, Blending Modes, Mattes, Adjustment Layers, and such.

I learned more about After Effects when it was part of the Video Production course I taught than I did using it. So many student, each with a slightly different approach really opened my eyes to all the different ways of analyzing, problem solving, and getting the results I wanted. There are 10 ways of doing anything in AE, and you can really streamline your workflow looking at your project from different angles.

There are also now crap tons of tutorials online to explain the workings.

A couple words of advice:

Take the time to understand why AE is doing what it is doing. Don't rely or get snagged on plugins. Don't waste your time initially on tutorials that simply tell you to "do this and then do this" without explaining what is taking place inside the program and why you are getting the end result.

Ask questions when you have them.

Acquaint yourself with Photoshop at the very least, and Photoshop and Illustrator if you can. Both are very important when doing motion graphics and effects work. Understanding the integration of those programs with AE will really help.
 
I was comfortable with After Effects after about 2 weeks of use. Those first two weeks are pretty rough though. I was learning Photoshop at the same time so I wasn't familiar with the things Matt listed.

I think you should just watch a bunch of good tutorials and then experiment yourself.
 
Fortunately I am good with photoshop. Im actually thinking about buying those writer tablets, one for 50 bucks I found allowing me to edit photos better, using the mouse for very precise things suck lol.
 
Oh yeah, What is the difference between illustrator and photoshop? Ive never touched illustrator before.
 
It took me about 2-3 days until I could fly around knowing what I was doing. I have used Photoshop for about 12 years, though.
 
How comfortable are we talking? I'd say a week to not feel constantly intimidated, and 6 months of off and on use to really get efficient and make some comps that look really nice ( I do alot of flying boxes and animating of logos etc. )
 
Uh, it took me way longer. I dunno. A few months? More? Maybe it's because I had never used any kind of effects application. I hadn't even used Photoshop. I took a photoshop course which helped a bit. Now I'm pretty damn comfortable and I love After Effects, but it was a real baffling mystery to me for weeks on end.
 
I knew photoshop very well before I got After Effects, and it took me about two months of on and off use to get comfortable. There's three stages of After Effects user advancement that I can discern.

Stage 1: What the hell are all of these buttons and menus for?

Stage 2: I have gone through a lot of tutorials. Ok, I do this series of buttons to get this result. I do that series of buttons to get that result. I can make certain things over and over with slight variations fairly well

Stage 3: I understand the functions of the program as tools, not an end in themselves. I am more dynamic using the application, and combine skills from various tutorials to create entirely unique compositions.

I'm in Stage 3, and I'm sure there are more, haha. Have fun! Once you get a handle on the program, you really feel creatively enabled.
 
SeanEmer said:
I'm in Stage 3, and I'm sure there are more, haha.
Click to expand...

Stage 4:

I can communicate with my computer telepathically, without a need for a keyboard, mouse, or tablet, bypassing those input devices and working at the speed of nerve impulses through the brain. Oh, and I also think in binary.
 
Matt Grunau said:
Stage 4:

I can communicate with my computer telepathically, without a need for a keyboard, mouse, or tablet, bypassing those input devices and working at the speed of nerve impulses through the brain. Oh, and I also think in binary.
Click to expand...

haha man i cant wait to reach stage 4... thats all the motivation i need
 
Matt Grunau said:
Stage 4:

I can communicate with my computer telepathically, without a need for a keyboard, mouse, or tablet, bypassing those input devices and working at the speed of nerve impulses through the brain. Oh, and I also think in binary.
Click to expand...

That's where I'm at... it's real nice when you have to do something. For example, I'll have an effects shot that takes me about 2 minutes when it should take about 10 hours at stage 3. I work about 8 minutes a week... :)
 
Who says we're comfortable??

We all drive AE in the lane we need. I'm comfortable driving my Mustang on I-5 at 80mph with traffic, but I'd never feel comfortable driving 200mph bumper to bumper around an oval track!! (Bad analogy as my Mustang at its current condition wouldn't do much more than 100 for any length of time).

CaptM
 
Stage 5, AE is just another tool and picking up new tricks here and there are pleasant surprise's. Oh, and mastering that damn graph editor after being too comfortable with C4D's...I wish adobe would change that.
 
CaptainMench said:
Who says we're comfortable??

We all drive AE in the lane we need. I'm comfortable driving my Mustang on I-5 at 80mph with traffic, but I'd never feel comfortable driving 200mph bumper to bumper around an oval track!! (Bad analogy as my Mustang at its current condition wouldn't do much more than 100 for any length of time).

CaptM
Click to expand...

What kind of Mustang? I'm a Mustang fanatic. :)
 
After the past 3 days of messing around and watching tutorials off and on, im getting comfortable. Ill keep dojg tbis for few more days or so, the hard thing i can just see is turning what u know into your own creativity.
 
Tom Marshall said:
What kind of Mustang? I'm a Mustang fanatic. :)
Click to expand...

CaptainMench said:
Who says we're comfortable??

We all drive AE in the lane we need. I'm comfortable driving my Mustang on I-5 at 80mph with traffic, but I'd never feel comfortable driving 200mph bumper to bumper around an oval track!! (Bad analogy as my Mustang at its current condition wouldn't do much more than 100 for any length of time).

CaptM
Click to expand...


Thankfully, After Effects can take corners better than a Mustang. And the brakes aren't as soft.


:cheesy:
 
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