Key details

After Effects training course for beginners, teaching key techniques for creating stunning motion graphics and visual effects.

Sessions include:

• Creating your first After Effects project
• Animation techniques
• Layer control
• Working with shapes
• Effects
• Type and type animation
• Exporting your compositions.

Our blog post What will I learn if I attend Introduction to After Effects training? demonstrates some of the effects you’ll learn to create.

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

Upcoming course dates

In-class or online

This course is available in-class at eight centres or live online.

Expert trainers

After Effects courses are hosted by Adobe Certified Professionals with vast experience of using the application professionally. See Expert trainers.

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 course completion. 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 2025. The techniques taught are relevant to all recent releases of After Effects.

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

Follow-on courses

• Intermediate/Advanced After Effects.

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.

Purchase orders

We accept purchase orders from UK-registered companies and 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:

• Phil Talbot
• Marek Mularczyk
• Wolf Winter
• Alistair Dabbs

Phil Talbot

Phil works as a professional graphic designer and illustrator.

He’s a long-standing Adobe Design Specialist with expert knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Creative Cloud Express and Acrobat. He has used all of these applications extensively for over 25 years.

Phil’s professional qualifications and extensive experience provide an ideal base to train delegates using blended learning techniques to improve the individuals’ and organisations’ capabilities. He has worked with and trained many blue-chip organisations.

Marek Mularczyk

Marek is an Adobe Design, Video and Motion Specialist, and an Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI).

Voted as one of top 10 Adobe Certified Instructors in the world, Marek has over 15 years’ experience as an animator and photo/video editor, and has published numerous books on these topics.

As an instructor, Marek has trained a wide range of blue-chip clients including Lloyds, Barclays, HS2, Lululemon, Asos, Boohoo, Sony, Samsung, and many more.

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.

Wolf Winter

For over 30 years, Wolf has worked as a professional Visual Effects Artist, specialising in Motion Graphics, 2D and 3D animations and compositing, mainly in the film and broadcast television industries.

Wolf has worked as a professional trainer and university lecturer for over 15 years, equipping hundreds of people with skills to bring their ideas to life.

He trains people to a professional level in a range of industry-standard applications, including Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya, Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro and Audition, and Maxon Cinema 4D.

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

Getting Started with After Effects

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

Getting started

• Creating a new project/composition
• Creating a new composition from footage
• Importing assets
• Organising assets
• Working with layers

Animation techniques

• Keyframing
• Temporal and spatial keyframes
• Motion paths
• Modifying motion paths
• Orientation
• Anchor point essentials
• Roving across time
• Easing keyframes
• Exponential scale
• The Graph Editor
• Motion sketch

Layer control

• Arrange, organise and navigate layers
• Lock, hide and solo layers
• Understand Switches and Modes view

Working with Shapes

• Understanding how shape layers work in After Effects
• Creating shape layers
• Multiple shapes on the same layer?
• Shapes and their anchor points
• Moving anchor points
• Animating shapes

Effects

• Examples of effects
• Applying effects
• Customising effects properties

Track Mattes and Masks

• Creating Masks
• Creating Track Mattes
• Differences between masks and track mattes
• Animating masks and track mattes

Type and type animation

• Working with type
• Basic text animation
• Text animation presets
• Layer styles

Exporting your Compositions

• Export options in After Effects
• Exporting directly from After Effects
• Exporting through Media Encoder

Live online training

Online training lets you participate in a live 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 the other delegates participating in the course…
  
• Watch our trainer demonstrate techniques in After Effects.
• Interact by speaking, or using chat.
• Share your screen with our trainer, and allow them to take control to explain something.

Like our in-class courses, online Introduction to After Effects courses…

• Are presented by Adobe Certified Instructors.
• Give you plenty of opportunity to carry out assisted, practical exercises using After Effects.
• Offer 30 days’ email support from your trainer.

All you need is an Internet-connected computer with…

• After Effects installed. If you don’t have access to After Effects, we can usually send you a link to fully-functional trial software to download and install.
• A webcam and audio capability. If your computer running After Effects doesn’t have these, you can use a second device, such as another computer or tablet. See Hardware recommendations for live online training for further details.

If there’s anything you’re not sure about we’ll do our best to help you. We won’t, however, be able to assist with your After Effects installation.

We provide everything else…

• Links to download the files, resources, etc. you’ll use in your course.
• A training guide. For most courses, you can choose from a printed copy that we post to you, or a PDF.

In the week before your course, we’ll send you an email containing everything you need to prepare for and participate in the training. Then, a couple of days before your course, we’ll give you a courtesy call to make sure you have everything in place and answer any questions you may have.

Please note that we are not able to record scheduled online courses for privacy reasons.

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

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 bundles

Book places on:

• Introduction to After Effects (2 days), and
• Intermediate/Advanced After Effects training (2 days)

for £695 + VAT (classroom-based) or £595 + VAT (live online training), saving £95 + 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:

• 5% discount if you book two places.
• 10% discount if you book three places.
• 15% discount if you book 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.
  • 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.