--- title: After Effects description: Adobe After Effects is an industry-standard software used for creating motion graphics, visual effects, and digital compositing. You will understand how to animate text and shapes, work with keyframes, apply visual effects, and integrate motion elements into video projects. category: arts-design subcategory: video-production difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/after-effects --- # After Effects Adobe After Effects is an industry-standard software used for creating motion graphics, visual effects, and digital compositing. You will understand how to animate text and shapes, work with keyframes, apply visual effects, and integrate motion elements into video projects. ## Available Resources 3 Books • 2 Courses • 2 Websites ## Courses ### 1. Basic Training Video Copilot's free tutorial series walks through After Effects from the interface outward, covering layers, keyframes, masks, 3D cameras, and compositing. Finishing it leaves you able to build and render your own motion graphics shots. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.videocopilot.net/basic/ **Tags:** after-effects, motion-graphics, visual-effects, compositing, tutorial-series ### 2. After Effects Kickstart An eight-week structured beginner course covering the After Effects interface, keyframes, timing, shape layers, and importing Photoshop and Illustrator artwork. Assignments are critiqued by a teaching assistant, so you finish with reviewed animation work. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.schoolofmotion.com/courses/after-effects-kickstart **Tags:** after-effects, motion-graphics, animation, keyframing, beginner-course ## Books ### 1. Adobe After Effects CC Classroom in a Book **Author:** Adobe Creative Team Adobe's official lesson-based workbook, with downloadable project footage, building from compositing and keyframing to text animation, 3D layers, effects, and rendering. Working through the lessons gives you methodical coverage of the standard After Effects toolset. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321929608?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, video-production ### 2. After Effects Apprentice **Author:** Chris Meyer, Trish Meyer The Meyers' guided introduction to After Effects, pairing short chapters with hands-on project files that cover keyframing, masks, effects, 3D space, and output. Suited to someone who wants a taught path rather than a reference manual. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240809386?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, video-production ### 3. Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects **Author:** Chris Meyer, Trish Meyer A comprehensive reference on After Effects for professional motion graphics work, covering compositing, expressions, 3D space, color management, and integration with other applications. Best used after basic training, when you need depth on specific features. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240814150?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, video-production ## Websites ### 1. schoolofmotion.com School of Motion is an online education platform for motion design. It offers project-based courses, workshops, and tutorials in After Effects and Cinema 4D, plus critiques and masterclasses to help you create professional animation work. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://schoolofmotion.com **Tags:** websites, arts-design, video-production ### 2. videocopilot.net Video Copilot is a premier source for Visual Effects training and tools for After Effects, featuring project-based tutorials on compositing, tracking, 3D, and particle effects, plus free tutorials, downloadable project files, and plugins (notably Element 3D) to practice VFX fundamentals. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://videocopilot.net **Tags:** websites, arts-design, 3d--animation --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/after-effects