Introduction to 2D Animation in After Effects

Want to bring your illustrations to life but need a little help getting started? In this online course, graphic designer and digital artist Laura Kroschewski teaches you to transform your drawings into short 2D animations. The aim of her ironic and charming pieces is to put a smile on the face of anyone who sees them. With Laura as your guide, learn to build characters and give them unique personalities that make them simply unforgettable.

Get ready to animate your art! Laura starts with an introduction to digital illustration and shows you her own process for developing compelling little shorts. Following her expert advice, create a template for your sketches before exploring Adobe After Effects to help you tell your story how it deserves to be told, using keyframes and stop motion. By the end of the course, you’ll have all the tools to add movement to your designs and release their full storytelling potential!

Begin the course by getting to know Laura Kroschewski, who talks about her career so far as a freelance illustrator and digital artist, and why she decided to go down this professional path. Discover how she learned to create attractive animated video clips with limited resources and communicate without words.

Get straight into your project by deciding on your two characters! Do some rough sketches and use this process to start building their personalities and compose a fun little story that’s charming and exciting to watch. After reflecting on the different elements that can be included in your drawing, define the plot in a storyboard.

Next, draw the initial poses and each movement frame by frame, from the outlines to the color and shading. Laura also teaches you to prepare movement sequences for later on and tells you which file types are best for exporting your illustrations.

Now it’s time to get animating! Explore two different animation techniques, one using keyframes and the other stop motion. With your teacher’s expert guidance, see how to use effects and tools in After Effects and configure your file, import images, and create an output clip.