#Adobe after effects logo tutorials how to#
#Adobe after effects logo tutorials software#

In our case, a logo animation that is less than five seconds long needs very few comps. So you can think of comps as a single scene within that movie, and each comp will have their own separate timeline. A larger production, such as a movie, will contain multiple comps that are organized in the project panel. Under the dialogue box that follows, choose to import the media as Footage and Merged Layers.Ī composition (comp) is a container that allows you to layer, edit and apply animations to media files. To import your logo file, simply drag and drop it into the Project panel or navigate to File > Import > File.

If you are unsure about any tool or button, hovering over it with your mouse will provide you with a description.

Control panel: This is where you can access various support functions such as media information, paragraph and alignment options, and the ready-made animation and visual effects libraries built into After Effects.

It consists of both the literal timeline on the right (where you will set up animation events to trigger on a time-based graph) and the comp area on the left (where you will layer and edit the attributes of your media assets).

Timeline: This is where you will build your animation.

We’ll discuss compositions in more depth in the next section. Comps are essentially scenes that each have their own separate animation timelines.

Composition window: This is the video preview window in which you can view the animation for the current composition (often referred to as a comp) that you are working on.

Project panel: This is where you manage and organize media files for your overall project.

Tool panel: This is where you can access basic graphics building tools such as the pen tool, type tool, etc.

The interface may appear complicated at first glance, so let’s break down the essentials: Breakdown of the After Effects interface Step 2: Import the logo into After Effects Because After Effects file types are in the Adobe family of software, I am going to save the logo I made as an AI (Adobe Illustrator) file, but there are a number of different vector file types to choose from if you are using a different software. Once you are ready, export your logo as a fully layered vector file. If your Illustrator file is set to CMYK, you can change this by selecting your logo and navigating to Edit > Edit Colors > Convert to RGB. This allows you to create more complex animations easily by animating separate parts of the logo. You can create new layers using the Add New Layer button at the bottom of the Layers panel, then copy and paste your logo pieces into them.įinally, as animations are digital in nature, we are also working with RGB colors. The logo should also be layered rather than grouped into a single object.

Make sure your logo is separated into layers using the Layers Panel This allows them to be altered without sacrificing image quality (for example, scaling up a raster logo results in pixelation), and this will be useful later on when working with shape layers.

#Adobe after effects logo tutorials software#

Though animation software itself is raster based, logo source files should be in vector format. This is to make sure that our logo file is set up for animation. We’ll actually begin our logo animation tutorial in Adobe Illustrator (or the equivalent logo design software that you own).

#Adobe after effects logo tutorials how to#

How to animate a logo with After Effects in 7 steps While we’ll be using Adobe After Effects in this tutorial, most animation software contains similar functionality and the fundamentals of how the software works will apply to any program though the particular names and menu options may differ. As an example, I’ll be working with a logo I made for my personal blog: Story Mode.

To this end, I am going to walk you through the basics of logo animation from start to finish. So regardless of how technical and daunting logo animation may sound, even beginners now have the power to create simple but effective animations. Design by OrangeCrushĪt the same time, animation software has also become more ubiquitous, streamlined and intuitive in order to support this growing user base. These days it is possible for even beginners to create logo animations, and we’re going to show you how. So learning how to animate a logo can be a valuable skill to take your logo to the next level. Of course, the increasing popularity of logo animation means that more and more brands will need it to stay competitive. Between smartphones and the general advancement of internet technology, logos are now encountered much more often in digital spaces, and this opens the door to visual effects such as animation that are not possible with physical products. Logo animations are increasingly common these days.