Key details

After Effects training course for beginners, teaching key techniques for creating motion graphics and visual effects to show on websites and use in apps.

Adobe After Effects is the leading professional software for motion graphics, video compositing and visual effects. Used across all forms of video and screen based media, After Effects offers a powerful set of tools to deliver stunning visual results.

Introduction to After Effects training covers key tools and features, including tracking, keying, 3D space and shape layers. To see samples of some of the effects you’ll learn to create, see Sam Sturley’s blog What will I learn if I attend After Effects training?

This course is ideal for newcomers to After Effects, and those with limited After Effects experience.

Upcoming course dates

Accredited After Effects training

Armada is an Adobe Authorised Training Centre (AATC), accredited by Adobe to provide After Effects training.

Courses are hosted by Adobe Certified Instructors (ACIs). For details, see Expert trainers.

In-class or online

Our centres are open for in-class training, with full safety measures and comprehensive sanitisation implemented.

We continue to offer all courses in our popular live online format.

How will I learn?

After Effects training is hands-on and practical.

Our trainers teach the necessary theory then demonstrate techniques step-by-step. You then practice the techniques taught on a computer running After Effects. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Windows or Mac

After Effects works almost identically on the Windows and Mac platforms.

Our centres offer both Windows and Mac computers for delegates to use, so you can choose to carry out exercises on the platform you’re familiar with.

After Effects training guide and certificate

Course delegates receive:

• A practical After Effects training guide, to refer to during the course and use as a refresher after. Choose from a printed, bound guide or a PDF – whatever suits you best. If you’re participating online and you choose a printed guide, we’ll post this to you.

• An e-certificate confirming successful completion of an Adobe‑accredited After Effects training course. Click here to see an example of the certificate you receive.

After course support

Following After Effects training, delegates are entitled to 30 days’ email support from their After Effects trainer to help with any post-course issues. For further details, see Support.

Prerequisites

No prior After Effects knowledge is necessary.

After Effects version

Training is based primarily on After Effects 2021. The techniques taught are relevant to all recent releases of After Effects.

All After Effects training is suitable for both Windows and Mac users.

Our guarantees to you

We offer:

• A price guarantee that you’re getting the best value for money.
• A training guarantee that you’ll learn the concepts and skills you need.

On-request After Effects training available

Introduction to After Effects training is also available on-request, i.e. one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group, hosted at one of our centres, your venue or online.

On-request After Effects training can be tailored to take into account any existing knowledge you have, and the work you’re going to be doing. Please contact us for a quote.

General information

Course times

9.30am–4.30pm.

Payment

Payment for After Effects training can be made by:

• Bank transfer. Please call 01527 834783 for our bank details.
• Card. All major credit and debit cards accepted. Payment can be made securely online or over the phone. Card payments are processed by Stripe. Armada doesn’t record or store your card details.

If you’re self-funding your training, you can pay in staged payments, interest-free, over 12 months. For further details, see Staged payments.

Purchase orders

We accept purchase orders from UK-registered companies or public sector organisations.

Cancellations and transfers

You can cancel a booking on a scheduled training course, or transfer to a later course, without penalty providing you give us 10 working days’ notice. Any fees already paid will be refunded.

If you cancel a booking on a scheduled Introduction to After Effects course giving less than 10 working days’ notice, or request a transfer to a later course, a cancellation/transfer fee is payable. The fee charged depends on the notice period given. For details, see cancellation terms.

Different terms apply for the cancellation or postponement of an on-request course (one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group). For details, see course cancellations.

Terms and conditions

Training course bookings are subject to our terms and conditions.

Expert trainers

Introduction to After Effects training courses are hosted by:

• Marek Mularczyk
• Mark Gatter
• Alistair Dabbs

Marek Mularczyk

Marek is a long-established Adobe Certified Instructor.

Adobe applications which Marek has expert knowledge of include InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Animate and Acrobat. He is an Adobe Certified Expert in all of these applications, and he uses them regularly in his professional work.

Marek is the author of a range of published books and video training DVDs including The Complete Photoshop CC, The Complete Lightroom CC and Unleash the power of Photoshop.

Based on delegate feedback collected by Adobe in 2015, Marek was ranked in the top 10 Adobe Certified Instructors in the world!

Prior to focusing on training, Marek worked as a professional photographer for over 12 years. Photography remains his passion, and in his spare time he travels Europe in search of that perfect picture.

Mark Gatter

Mark is an Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI) with expert knowledge of Adobe’s key creative applications – InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Acrobat. He also has expert knowledge of Maxon Cinema 4D.

Mark has specialised in all aspects of the digital pre-press process for over three decades, including 18 years in California, where he worked as the production manager for the biggest print shop in the north part of the state.

He began training in 1998, and he holds a teaching qualification.

He has published five books, which you’ll find on Amazon, covering topics relating to graphic design and polytunnel gardening, one of Mark’s interests when not delivering training.

Alistair Dabbs

Alistair is a highly-experienced trainer with expert knowledge of various Adobe creative applications including InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects and Premiere Pro. He has held Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI) status for almost 20 years, delivering courses in both English and French.

Alistair has worked in a wide range of publishing roles including prepress production, graphic design and editorial production. He has delivered workshops and chaired debates at IT industry conferences.

When not training, Alistair works as a journalist and technical writer, writing on topics including digital imaging, computer arts, fintech, data security, AI and VR. He is a regular contributor to various computer and graphic arts magazines including The Register and Ars Technica, and is the author/co-author of several published books, including the best-selling Digital Designer’s Bible.

Course content

Welcome to After Effects

• What is Adobe After Effects…?
• Tour of the interface
• Setting preferences

Getting started

• Creating a new project/composition
• Creating a new composition from footage

Animation techniques

• Keyframing
• Temporal and spatial keyframes
• Motion paths
• Orientation
• Anchor point essentials
• Rove across time
• Toggle hold
• Exponential scale
• The Graph Editor
• Motion sketch
• Roving and hold

Layer control

• Arrange, organise and navigate layers
• Fun with shape layers

Effects

• Examples of effects
• Applying effects
• Masks and mask animations

Tracking

• The different types of tracking
• Track camera
• Track motion
• Perspective corner pin

Working with transparency

• Track mattes and stencils
• Green screens

Type and type animation

• Working with type
• Text on a path
• Basic text animation
• Text animation presets
• Layer styles

Tutorials

• Track mattes
• Layer styles, expressions and presets
• Basic sky replacement
• 2D tracking
• Creative steps
• Masking
• 3D tracking
• Colour grading and looks
• “Fake” 3D text

Live online training

Live online training lets you participate in a real After Effects course from your place of work or home.

We do everything possible to make your online training experience as close as possible to actually being in the classroom. You can:

• See and hear our trainer, and see the other delegates participating in the After Effects training…
  

• Interact by speaking, using chat, or raising your ‘virtual hand’ if you need assistance.
• Share your screen with our trainer, and allow them to control it to demonstrate something.

We endeavour to provide you with the best online training experience…

• Online Introduction to After Effects courses are presented by Adobe Certified Instructors, following the same syllabus as our classroom-based courses.
• You receive comprehensive training materials.
• Your training is hands-on. You carry out assisted exercises using After Effects.
• If you don’t have access to After Effects software, we’ll send you a link to fully-functional trial software that you can download and install.
• You’re entitled to 30 days’ email support from your trainer.

When you attend live online training, you’re participating in a real course, hosted by a real trainer, in real time.

All you need is an internet-connected computer and a webcam – see Hardware recommendations for live online training. The setup is simple, but if there’s anything you’re not sure about we’re here to help.

For a limited time, we’re offering discounts for bookings on live online courses.

Discounts and bundles

To make your After Effects training as affordable as possible, we offer:

• A discounted After Effects training bundle.
• A range of training discounts on our scheduled (public) After Effects training courses.
• A price guarantee that you won’t get After Effects training for less.

After Effects training bundle

Book classroom-based courses in:

• Introduction to After Effects (2 days), and
• Advanced After Effects (1 day)

for £545 + VAT (classroom-based) or £415 + VAT (live online training), saving £75 + VAT in both cases.

The bundle price will be applied automatically when you add these two courses to your basket.

Training discounts

Multiple places

If you book multiple places on any courses, we can offer you:

• 10% discount if you book two places.
• 15% discount if you book three or four places.
• 20% discount if you book five or more places.

This can be for several people attending one course, one person attending several courses, or a combination.

These discounts are available for both classroom-based courses and live online training.

Concessions

We offer a 10% discount on scheduled After Effects course places to:

• Students, teachers and lecturers.
• People who work for a registered charity.
• ISTC members.

These discounts are available for both classroom-based courses and remote training.

Please call us if you qualify for a discount. Evidence of your status that entitles you to a discount may be requested.

Terms and exclusions

Only one of the above discounts can be applied to any booking.

The above discounts are not available for on-request course bookings (one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group).

Price guarantee

When you book training with Armada, we want you to be certain that you’re not paying over-the-odds. So, if you book a place on any scheduled (public) course and then find the same course at a lower price elsewhere, we will match that price.

To qualify for the price match:

• The course you find must be comparable. By this we mean it must:
  • Cover the same subject.
  • Be the same duration or longer.
  • Hold the same accreditations as our course, i.e. it must be provided by an Adobe Authorised Training Centre (AATC).
  • For classroom-based courses, be in the same region, i.e. within 50 miles of our centre.
  • For online training, be a live course, i.e. not pre-prepared e-learning content.
• The lower price must be advertised on the other company’s website.

To claim a price match, just call any time before attending your course and tell us where you saw the price.