Working with After Effects Templates

Name: Working with After Effects Templates
Author: Tim Jones

Achieve professional results quickly and inexpensively

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 7 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Hello, and welcome back to KnowledgeCity's After Effects intermediate course. I'm your instructor, Tim Jones. And I've got a very exciting chapter planned for you. This one is all about templates. A template, as you may know, is something that establishes or serves as a pattern. If you've worked in other software programs, you're probably familiar with the concept but you may not have worked with them in AE yet. After Effects templates are AE project files that are pre-animated for specific purposes. Let's say for instance, you want to create a logo animation; you can simply download a template, drop in your logo and set some fonts and colors and get a professional looking logo animation in a matter of minutes. But wait, isn't that cheating? Isn't the whole point of taking this After Effects intermediate course to learn to create these effects for yourself? What's to be learned if all you're doing is dropping assets into a template someone else has made? Well, let me take those points in order. Is this cheating? Well, if you think a carpenter is cheating by using a hammer instead of driving nails with his bare hands, then yeah, this is cheating. But I would argue that, like a carpenter uses tape measures, saws and hammers, an AE artist uses the tools available to realize his or her vision. Templates are just tools, highly specialized tools to help you achieve your goals. Next let's address the learning question. As a long time student of AE, I know how daunting the program can be. So as you go from beginner to intermediate users, templates are actually great teachers. They allow you to work backwards, starting with the desired effect and allowing you to see how someone else achieved it. Chances are it took the original AE artists, many, many hours to design and animate the effect. And now you get to deconstruct and see how it works. And as we discussed, there's usually not one way to do something in AE, so using many different templates will allow you to see many different techniques and approaches. Additionally, in this course, we are using multiple templates together, which presents unique learning opportunities. These templates will never fit together perfectly right out of the box, which forces you to blend them together in new and unique ways. So where do you get these templates? Do a quick internet search, and you'll find dozens of sites, each of which may have hundreds or even thousands of templates available. As with images, music, or fonts, you may be able to find some free AE templates out there to use and learn with, or you may decide to subscribe to a service. The service I subscribe to offers AE templates as well as music, images, video and more. Typically when you preview a template, it will have a music track as well as images and videos. But when you download that template, those elements are not included. In other words, you'll usually need to supply your own music and images. So it may be worthwhile to find a service you like that gives you access not only to the AE templates, but also to the other elements you'll need to fill them up with. In the rest of this course, I'll walk you step-by-step through the process I took to create our sizzle reel. I begin by choosing a master template, which will house all of the other templates, fonts, images, videos and elements we'll use in our sizzle reel. Then, one by one, I'll use the templates to discuss how we satisfy each of the requirements for this assignment. Remember, the requirements for our video are: it must have animated text effects, must have a 3D camera, must have some 2D animation, some 3D animation, and it must end with the KnowledgeCity logo and URL. Along the way, we'll also examine some of the interesting techniques that these templates have to offer. So let's get to it.

Advanced Provider : Tim Jones 7 Lessons · 50m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Systems. It’s used in post-production for filmmaking, video games and television production. It can be used to make animated logos, illustrations, infographics or simple video presentations. After Effects templates are project files that are pre-animated for specific purposes. Using many templates will allow you to use many different techniques and approaches in your work. After Effects uses nondestructive editing. It allows you to make changes without overwriting the original data.

This course provides an overview of the many After Effects templates that are available for users. You’ll also learn how to combine elements from multiple templates to achieve optimal results with a low price point. You’ll also understand how to use a master template with your own content. We’ll also cover animating text and using callouts in your designs.

What You'll Learn

Demonstrate the use of After Effects templates in your projects
Combine elements from multiple templates to achieve optimal results at a low price point
Set up and create designs using a master template with your own content
Animate text across your designs
Use callouts in your designs

Key Takeaways

Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application used in post-production for filmmaking, video games, and television production.
After Effects templates are project files that are pre-animated for specific purposes, and using many templates lets you apply different techniques and approaches in your work.
After Effects uses nondestructive editing, allowing you to make changes without overwriting the original data.
Combining elements from multiple templates can help you achieve optimal results with a low price point.
A master template can be used with your own content to produce designs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this course cover?

The course provides an overview of the many After Effects templates available to users, how to combine elements from multiple templates, how to use a master template with your own content, and how to animate text and use callouts in your designs.

What is Adobe After Effects used for?

Adobe After Effects is used in post-production for filmmaking, video games, and television production, and can create animated logos, illustrations, infographics, or simple video presentations.

What are After Effects templates?

After Effects templates are project files that are pre-animated for specific purposes, and using many templates allows you to apply different techniques and approaches in your work.

What lessons are included in this course?

Lessons cover Using Templates, Master Template Setup (Parts 1 and 2), Animating Text (Parts 1, 2, and 3), and Callouts.

What skills does this course help build?

It supports skills in Adobe After Effects, template engines, template toolkits, templates, text template transformation toolkits, and Adobe After Effects certification.