Create then Animate Beginner’s Workflow in Illustrator & After Effects

Explore a complete workflow from illustration to animation in Adobe Illustrator and After Effects.

If you’ve been wanting to get into animation, but haven’t known where to start, this class is for you.

Have you been hesitant to get into animation because you didn’t think you were good enough at drawing, or felt that the software was too intimidating?

What if I told you that you don’t even really have to draw to illustrate? And that adding motion to your illustration is achievable, even if you’ve never opened After Effects before.

Using this winter cabin scene as an example, I’ll show you my complete workflow starting from inspiration and planning through illustrating and animating. Here’s what’s covered:

illustrating and animating You’ll learn how to:

find inspiration yet still create a unique piece of work

organize your ideas into a moodboard

get ideas out of your head by sketching

use your sketch as a starting point for illustration

utilize basic shapes to create an outlined illustration

use the pen tool to create organic shapes

color your illustration and add details

prepare your illustration for animation

import your illustration into After Effects

animate an object’s position and adjust its motion path

create masks

animate colors changing

animate scale and opacity

use the wave warp effect to animate smoke

animate snow (and make it loop!)

render (export) your animation as a .mov, .mp4, or gif file