Express Animation for Social Media with After Effects
A course by Yimbo EscárregaAnimator and Motion Grapher
A course by Yimbo Escárrega, Animator and Motion Grapher
Learn a quick and easy way to create animations
With the right tools and knowledge, you don't have to sacrifice quality for speed. Graphic and motion designer Yimbo, who has more than a decade of experience in the industry, most notably as an animator at Pictoline, teaches you his secrets to be faster and more efficient when creating animations.
In this online course, learn to produce quality motion-graphics content in record time to keep up with the fast-paced rhythm of social media and other digital platforms.
Discover how to streamline your workflow to create animations in the blink of an eye with both video and 2D graphics.
What will you learn in this online course?
24 lessons & 16 downloads
Formats and Restrictions
5 minutes, 17 seconds
The Intro
9 minutes, 29 seconds
Transitions
9 minutes, 58 seconds
Fly
4 minutes, 43 seconds
Template
11 minutes, 37 seconds
Idea and storyboard
4 minutes, 47 seconds
What's included in this course?
Get to know your teacher, Yimbo, as he tells you a bit about himself, his career, and his most distinguished projects. He also shares his biggest influences before explaining what the course entails.
Start by working with motion graphics applied to video. Yimbo shows you how to make an intro, insert transitions between scenes, and add a DOG (digital on-screen graphic) with your logo. Then, learn to design a reusable template with these elements to create consistency across your projects.
Move on to your second project, focusing on 2D animation. Map out your idea in a storyboard and design the main characters. Once you've vectorized your illustrations, find out how to animate your characters' facial expressions.
Next, Yimbo teaches you how to make an animated UI, complete with common social media features such as the Like button and scrolling. He also shows you the secrets to rigging for more complex characters.
Finally, see how to put the finishing touches on your work in Photoshop, create a loop in After Effects, and export a quality render to share on social media.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Design two different projects on current topics—one using motion graphics and the other 2D animation—while applying the time-saving tricks and techniques learned through the course.
Create a template for a video project and then bring an infographic to life with animation.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Designers, illustrators, and animators who want to streamline their workflow to create animations quickly and efficiently.
Requirements and materials
To get the most out of this course, you need basic notions of Illustrator, Photoshop, and After Effects, as well as a computer with these programs installed (CC 2015 or later).
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Çok faydalı ve başarılı bir kurstu. Teşekkürlerimle.
- 4 months ago
Muy buen curso, corto pero directo al grano y aprendes mucho en poco tiempo. Consideren que es nivel intermedio, para que tomen un curso básico antes.
- 5 months ago
Consiglio questo corso solo se si hanno già delle basi in after effect. Ho una conoscenza base del programma e già con le prime lezioni ho trovato diversi spunti per migliorare le mie competenze. Ho trovato interessante l'utilizzo delle espressioni che secondo me andrebbero approfondite.
- 6 months ago
El curso es muy bueno, a pesar de ser corto se aprende mucho. Hay que tener en cuenta que para este curso es importante ya tener conocimientos en After Effects, ya que no hay muchas explicaciones sobre las cosas
- 7 months ago
El curso el ágil y rápido, sin duda es recomendable tener conocimientos por lo menos básicos de after ya que no se profundiza en las cosas esenciales. Se explica bien pero se asume que el alumno ya sabe usar el programa, pero sin duda es útil el conocimiento adquirido.
Yimbo currently works as a freelancer and regularly collaborates on different projects and with other designers like Eraboy and Charles Glaubitz.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- U2
Video summary
- Formats and Restrictions
- The Intro
- Transitions
- Fly
- Template
- U3
Storyboard
- Idea and storyboard
- Sketches
- U4
Animation of the Earth
- Illustrate planning the animation
- Importing to After Effects
- Creating the Rig of the Earth
- Animation of the Earth
- Counter Animation
- U5
UI animation
- Illustrating the UI
- Creating the scene
- Encouraging the UI
- U6
Character Animation
- Illustrating our character
- Preparing the Scene
- Rig of arms with the "Beam" effect
- Character animation
- U7
Last details
- Details in Photoshop
- Final details
- Final renders
- FP
Final project
- Animated Infographics and Template
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for students at an intermediate level who already understand the basics of After Effects and Illustrator and want to deepen their skills in animation techniques and optimization for social media.
You’ll need a computer with Adobe After Effects and Adobe Illustrator installed, basic prior knowledge of both programs, and internet access to download resources and materials.
You’ll learn how to create animations optimized for social media, manage colors and layers, use expressions, export in the right formats (GIF, MP4), and organize complex projects in After Effects and Illustrator.
The course guides you through the entire digital animation workflow: from illustration and layer separation to importing into After Effects, final animation, optimization, and exporting for social media.
You’ll learn compression techniques, how to limit colors in GIFs, choose formats, and adjust resolution to reduce file size without sacrificing visual quality in your animations.
The course explains how H264 video offers better quality and smaller file sizes than GIFs, making it easier to share longer or more complex animations on social media without losing smoothness.
You’ll learn to set recommended dimensions and resolutions (like 476x476 px for Facebook web) to make sure your animations look great on each social platform.