How To Animate Visablilty In After Effects

Learn some avant-garde tricks and approaches to difficult shape animations with Later Effects wizard Sander van Dijk.

Sander van Dijk has worked with some of the tiptop studios and brands in the world. His unique and supremely clever approaches to using Later on Effects has earned him a reputation as an incredible animator and trouble solver. He has also helped create some incredible tools for move designers, similar Ray Dynamic Color. In brusk, he's pretty good at this stuff.

In this tutorial Sander, who besides teaches Avant-garde Motion Methods, will accept you through the process and workflow he used to animate a very tricky slice of geometry, the Penrose Triangle. Animating "incommunicable" shapes similar this one can leave you wondering... where do I starting time?

After this tutorial, you'll know.

Advanced Animation Approaches in Subsequently Effects

Want to larn even more? Check out Part ii of this tutorial where Sander shows you how he completed the animation of this element from the Blend Manifesto video.

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​​What are you going to larn in this tutorial?

This lesson is a peek into the way Sander's brain works. Yous'll pick upwardly a dozen or more workflow tips, and hopefully gain a deeper understanding of the way he approaches complex animation tasks in After Effects. Put on your best learning pants.

HOW TO APPROACH BUILDING ANIMATABLE SHAPES

One aspect of an animator's job that doesn't go talked about much is the asset training stage. Sander talks about how to create (or modify) assets then that you can apply them to animate.

ILLUSTRATOR TO AFTER Furnishings WORKFLOWS

Now that you've got your artwork, how practice y'all transfer information technology into After Effects with the right position, ballast bespeak, and other properties?

A DOZEN OR MORE TIPS FOR WORKING FASTER

Ane of Sander'south superpowers is working extremely efficiently in After Effects. By sitting over his shoulder and watching him work, you'll pick up many fourth dimension-saving tricks.

ANIMATION RETIMING TECHNIQUES

In that location are many means to animate a shape, but in the end you even so want lots of control over things like timing and spacing. Sander shows you how to maintain command over complex animation setups.

Learn Advanced Afterwards Effects Techniques from Sander

If y'all're prepare to become to the side by side level with your Afterward Effects and blitheness skills, check out Sander's grade Advanced Motion Methods. Information technology will transform the way you lot work and give you lot a set of motion design superpowers that you'll utilise for the remainder of your career.

Our team is standing by to answer whatsoever questions you lot take about this grade or whatsoever other class in our curriculum. Please let u.s.a. know if we can help you in any mode!

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Tutorial Full Transcript Below 👇:

Sander van Dijk (00:00): Hello, my name is Sander van Dijk. And in this video, I'yard going to teach you how you lot tin can make this. It's actually one of the elements that was used in a alloy manifesto blitheness. I'll exist sharing how I approach this blitheness and prove you some handy techniques that you can use in other projects besides After effects is a very deep tool and it can take years to primary. But if you're looking for a manner to become to the next level as an animator and check out advanced motility methods, where I teach you exactly how I've used after furnishings on projects, for some of the biggest brands in the globe, likewise, you can download the project files I'thousand using in this video to follow along or practice. After you lot're done, watching details are in the description. Now let'southward get started.

Sander van Dijk (00:48): So kickoff of all, how do we get a shape similar that? It's actually actually difficult to draw. And then luckily I've actually included the file where it's already done. So you could just grab that if you don't want to draw this affair on your ain, I would like to challenge you to try, because it's actually actually hard if yous desire to, uh, hint, uh, what we, what I can exercise is I could but show you how to do this with a square, because it'due south a lot easier to do that with a shape like that. And so just depict a square, hit command C command after paste it in the same place. And and then let'southward just create lines for at present.

Sander van Dijk (01:22): So you lot have lions hither and then the exterior shape, uh, allow'south make some around corners for those. And and then what you tin can do is yous can merely, y'all know, motion these shapes similar this, and you can get-go to see the effect already occurring, right? Duplicate that once more like this. And now yous could see this shape starts to grade, you lot know, you lot have two options. You could either go completely to the border or yous could do like halfway. So there'southward lots of different ways to get about it or to recreate the shape. So if you cease upwards doing this tutorial, try to practise it with a unlike shape, uh, just to see, uh, what new challenges that brings. And maybe yous tin somewhen share that with the customs as well, and then that everyone tin learn from each other's creation.

Sander van Dijk (02:10): Alright, now let's get this into after effects. So in that location'south a couple ways you tin bring things into after effects. One of the easiest ways is to simply grab a shape like this, re-create it, go to afterward effects, become to your pen tool, click anywhere in the field and simply hit paste. And then that will, that way it volition come up in. Now, there are some challenges with like, as far as where the anchor point is. So if I only copied this shape and I paste information technology into after furnishings similar this, we showed a title, aforementioned affair correct at present, it's in the centre over here. But then when I paste, uh, another object like this i, that'due south obviously not going to line up. So, uh, you know, information technology kind of does whatever with the anchor points. And then that's why I actually take this shape that you run into here around it, considering if you use that shape likewise, so y'all click here and y'all click on that.

Sander van Dijk (02:59): And then now you have two objects selected. Yous copy that, go to later on effects, go to pencil, hit paste. At present you lot could encounter that luckily actually the path that we don't desire actually came in equally a mask this time and the path that we do want ended upwardly being the path. So in this case, I could just delete the mask, but this shape will actually be at the correct position in my aftereffects at-home. So I could exercise the same with another shape, merely make sure I constantly select this larger shape. That's on the outside of that shape students again, paste. And now yous can see it actually lines upwardly, uh, really well. And the reason for that is considering if you always select a shape, that's like outside of your drawings, um, after facts will e'er make the center based on the largest object in your scene.

Sander van Dijk (03:51): So this is kind of like a hack to figure out how you tin go around it. Then yeah, at present that'southward kind of the poor man's way because information technology'southward a lot of piece of work and information technology's like crappy, doesn't work half at a time. So you take to re-create and paste a lot of stuff. So if y'all're, if y'all're smart, you really picked up overlord a game, Adam Pluff. And then this way, what I can do is I could select whatsoever shape and just push button information technology to later effects like this. And I believe it actually pushes it in the right identify as well. So you, then you don't have to do that whole like selecting of another shape, uh, on the exterior, that way y'all could just send stuff to after furnishings.

Sander van Dijk (04:34): And then let's select all of this and so push those staff effects at are a couple of different options here, because right now all those shapes came in to the aforementioned shape layer. Now you can plain utilize Zach Lovett script, explode, shape layers, which has incredible explode and smash, you lot have all your elements separately now. Uh, I believe, uh, overlord, might've this as well. If you click this little explosion button that does the same play tricks. Then yeah, either way, I'm but, over again, I'm just showing you all the different options that you can go most bringing this into after effects. Non our option you take is actually taken the illustrator file throwing in subsequently effects, footage, throwing it in hither, right? Click create an uncreate, create shapes from cistron layer. When you practice that, your illustrator layer disappears. Then you have this shape layer here that has all these different groups.

Sander van Dijk (05:34): Then yous can go from there too. It really depends on the, on the state of affairs you're in what technique is is best for you. So, okay. Let'south actually copy everything over with overlord. Allow'southward push this over. Let'due south telephone call original one. And then first of all, it's a chip small-scale. And then let'south create a noesis layer here, call that zoom, link, everything to it, and then merely scale this up 400 pixels. Yeah, that seems about correct. So in order to create this consequence, what I'grand going to do is I demand a duplicate of this shape. So let's merely duplicate this and then colored dark-brown. And so now shape is dark-brown. So think well-nigh this shape over hither, which is slightly unlike colored dark-brown. Let's actually correct that. Let'due south retrieve virtually this shape here, passing on its color studies shape. And so that would mean that the path of this ane, um, shoot, like reduce like this.

Sander van Dijk (06:35): It should like disappear. And then this path over here, the new one shoot appear. And so information technology should come up from here and starting time filling upward like this. So you could see how those paths are moving. So essentially I want to reveal this shape. Let'southward focus on the line zone. I desire to reveal the shape from this edge over here. Then the style I practice that is let's undo all that stuff. And let'due south focus on this by Oregon. Uh, what I practise is first of all, this is a shape I desire to terminate up with. So I'thousand merely going to search for path hither, set a key frame and and then utilise option shift, right? Pointer key to push that key frame 10 frames into the hereafter. And so let'south then, uh, focus on what the shape should expect like at this time. Then at this time, what I want to do is take all these points and really move them.

Sander van Dijk (07:thirty): Sometimes it'due south multiple points and just actually move them all the way to this. And, and what really helps here is that you could encounter that these points match, like if there were more points along this line than there are on this line, it could potentially exist a problem because then yous go some weird shapes, only in full general, I'grand trying to like go on everything pretty parallel or symmetric then that it's not doing any, uh, weird things. Then hither around this corner, I might take to travel to this dot because yous could see that the arc starts here earlier it was straight. And so hither, it's directly and so the arc starts here. So I don't desire to go here because that'due south going to give me some weird artifacts. What I want to do is I want to respect that curve and just get here. And then for this point, I might have to stop upwards somewhere over here.

Sander van Dijk (08:25): So you're trying to find similar the equivalent point on the opposite side of the line so that when it all starts to move, it moves in i straight shot for versus like, if, if this was over here, which you lot could see as that, you know, it starts to form this bend here, but it doesn't really, it doesn't really work properly. And so that's how yous do that. And then for situations like this here, when points come really close together and they had some curvature to it, brand certain those tangents are gone. And so I'1000 just going to click on them once or does that work? No, it doesn't. That's an illustrator. And subsequently furnishings, yous just have to like drag them to the point. And so that style yous could see that it makes a way better connection, error. It looks really like the shape is scaling down into that other indicate.

Sander van Dijk (09:13): So that's what you, that's how you approach corners similar that. And and then for things like this, you can either grab the line and similar push button information technology halfway there and then sort of use these tangents, try and match this shape. And you'll never get a hundred per centum. Right. But I mean, unless you could read the values of the other tangents and really like, brand everything perfect, simply I don't think we tin access that data. So yeah, roughly eyeballing, it works really well. So another thing I like to do sometimes when I'm doing this, that's actually pretty proficient. Don't seem much line left. Merely another matter I like to exercise sometimes is that you encounter the zoom layer here, right? So this is scaled up like 400%. Sometimes I just do times two on the composition settings. Then this will be an eight Grand clip. Then I also do times westward times two on the zoom layer.

Sander van Dijk (10:eleven): So then everything becomes like twice the size and you'll have a lot more detail to work with. So make sure yous're on full settings here considering now you can see a lot more details and really, you know, fine tune this. And then in one case you lot're, yous know, once y'all're happy with that, and so yous tin scale this affair back. And then yous'll probably end upwardly with a much better motion picture because it'due south kind of like how yous sometimes film in 4k and so you scale it downward to x 80 and it looks a lot better considering you had a lot more resolution to begin with. So that'southward a fob that I always use there. But get as much resolution as you can. And and so you can always calibration information technology down because if you build this whole thing and then you lot realize I got to scale it up and when you scale it up easy, all these like piddling details that you didn't see when it was so, and then, so small, and so, you know, you take to redo it potentially. Then, and I don't know, looking at it, I think actually animated the incorrect way. So information technology should take really gone from, you know, this ad should have actually gone to the inside versus the within edge of go into the outside. So, yous know, I guess that's ii ways to get about it. You can also brand it rotate the other manner, if you want to. And that's, I guess what you, what you tin can do, uh, as well,

Sander van Dijk (11:26): Really, this allows me to show y'all another way to actually practise this, because sometimes it can exist very tedious to go in and like change the paths here in after facts. I hateful, you don't really have a lot of command. And then sometimes illustrator tin be more comfortable to, to work with on some of these details. These points actually snapped together. Then that makes like a perfect connection, right? So now you could come across that this line is a lot cleaner here in the middle, then we could ever get in and after effects because later on effects, those points merely don't snap together. Information technology'due south still a little difficult effectually the curves, but y'all know, in illustrator you have a lot more zooming chapters than in after-effects in order to get those tangents to show up in the right place. And so some other thing y'all could do is fifty-fifty though these are 2 separate primal frames, yous could design these two cardinal frames in illustrator.

Sander van Dijk (12:18): So that's what actress would've done right here. You lot could see it on and off layer on layer has the original shape and the off layer has a shape that I've actually reduced down the aforementioned technique as I just showed you. Uh, it still has a little bit of artifacts here and there to use, but I call up information technology'due south a much cleaner, thinner line than I could ever become an after fact. So for the, in that example, what I can practise get rid of these key frames and so just go to illustrator, let's grab the Onshape hither. This 1, I'm just going to push that to after facts, but make certain that you have this path selected considering now you saw that overlord really pushed it on this path versus creating a new layer. So, and so none of that came in, let's create a key frame here and button that primal frame, 10 frames into the hereafter with options shift, correct, pointer key.

Sander van Dijk (xiii:xi): And at present here's the absurd thing. I can really still select this path and and then select a whole different shape hither in illustrator and button that over to that same layer. Information technology creates a new key frame here. And if your paths are roughly the aforementioned point, it really knows how to interpret betwixt those two, which is really cool. That way y'all could actually design your key frames and illustrator, which is much more capable program than subsequently furnishings. Sometimes as far equally drawing goes and you can merely copy and paste them to after furnishings. Cool. So that's groovy. So now nosotros have our blitheness here and so what we tin can do now is, uh, let's simply become rid of the older shapes considering dish is the main shape that has the, uh, animation on it. I'm simply going to call it side one and it's going to duplicate it rotate 120 degrees like it just did and colored blood-red, then duplicate it, rotate it to forty degrees this time and colour it regal.

Sander van Dijk (xiv:10): And and then here you go the blitheness. Now you could meet that there'south something wrong hither. And then what nosotros need is we demand a backdrop with different colors. So I'm just going to duplicate all these. And then I take side four, five, and six, and then, uh, reveal the fundamental frames for this and just push these primal frames all the way to the start like this. Now nothing's happening because they are the same color. Then information technology's simply revealing the same color. So let's so yep, you lot can either shift the colors or rotate the shapes 120 degrees. And then right now I could just add 120 to this at a xx to that and add together 120 days. And then that way nosotros become our effect. Great. So there's a couple ways yous can animate this. Of course you can apply easing hither, or you can accept this composition, uh, moving into a new comp and so apply key frames there. So say we wanted to do this, you know, it's fine to utilise easing here, like this F nine, uh, so that it looks smoother. Just if you were to stack some of these, uh, facts, so if I create more objects similar this, let'southward move them over. Uh, allow's rotate them once more, plus 120 plus 120 plus 120. And so now you actually have a double, um, blitheness.

Sander van Dijk (fifteen:44): Now, if you go out all these keys, linear, what you could do is you noted this goes to frame twenty. So you could have this limerick, throw it in a different one, uh, apply Tyra map, go to frame twenty over here, set a key frame. And and so instead of, uh, applying easing to these cardinal frames inside, what you could do is, you know, practice it here. Then permit'due south apply some easing and now it creates a double emotion. You come across it goes through a ii cycles. So that's cool. All correct. So that's how you create this Petros triangle, infinite shape and animated. There are many shapes that you can use this trick with. So I'thou curious what version yous'll come up upwardly with. If you happen to mail service this on Instagram and please hashtag it with advanced motion methods. And so I tin can check information technology out. The download link with the project files are in the description of this video. So check that out to become started. And if you lot didn't get enough, and yous're curious how to keep to sanitation into the Mobius strip, then bank check out this video office two and hit the subscribe push button on this channel. If yous want more tips from other instructors as well. And if you're ready to deep dive into aftereffects workflows, that some of the all-time artists in the industry are using, then bank check out advanced motion methods from schoolhouse of motion. Thanks for watching.

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Source: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/animate-advanced-impossible-shapes-after-effects

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