Animating Multiple Layers

Adobe After Effects projects typically use a variety of imported footage, arranged in a composition, which is edited and animating using the Timeline Panel. This week, you'll become more familiar with animation fundamentals as you build a multimedia presentation.

We are also going to take a closer look at how transparency channels are interpreted in After Effects. Using track mattes and alpha channels effectively will open up a lot of creative possibilities in our animations and designs. Mastering alpha channels is an important skill, so we will be spending a lot of time exploring this critical system in After Effects.

Project Due: Week 06

For this project, you will animate an illustration of the artist driving a car on a city street. The animation ends with an easel that displays a slide show of samples of the artists work. This is a complex animation and will challenge both your animation skills and ability to work with multiple layers. Please follow the directions in Chapter 5 of the Adobe After Effects Classroom in a Book for specific instructions on completing this project. Please ensure your project includes the following required elements before you complete this assignment:

After you have saved the project file on your personal external storage device (like a thumb drive), please upload your After Effects Project File (.aep) and your rendered Quicktime Movie (.mov) to the Multimedia Presentation dropbox on D2L.

Before you upload your files to D2L, please ensure your files meet the following naming conventions:

Project Due: Week 06

Working with transparencies, in After Effects, is one of the most important skills we need to master. Track Mattes, Masks and Alpha Channel need to be constructed in order to create complex, dynamic and engaging motion graphics.

In this exercise, you will create a series of shapes that will be used as track mattes for a video layer. Check out the sample video file for details on how this animation should look. When you are finished animating the elements that construct the track mattes, render out the composition using the H.264 codec.

After you have saved the project file on your personal external storage device (like a thumb drive), please upload your After Effects Project File (.aep) and your rendered Quicktime Movie (.mov) to the Night Vision Pt.1 dropbox on D2L.

Before you upload your files to D2L, please ensure your files meet the following naming conventions:

Check out these awesome learning resources! I've collected a number of assets that I think will help you conquer this week's homework and laboratory assignment. Please download the following materials to your local hard disk or flash storage device (AKA thumb drive).