Overview

If you know your way around basic animations in Adobe After Effects and are ready to step up, this course is for you. Tim Wilson, senior trainer at Red Rocket Studio, will guide you through essential intermediate skills in masking, motion paths, and text animation—without overwhelming you. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to: * Confidently use masks and track mattes to isolate and combine visual elements * Create and animate motion paths for objects and text * Apply transformations like scale, rotation, and anchor point adjustments for dynamic compositions You’ll work on real-world projects, including billboard-style text animations and creative compositions with multiple moving elements. This is perfect for content creators, marketers, and aspiring motion designers who want to make professional, eye-catching video content for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn. To succeed, you should have a basic understanding of After Effects. This is the first step in building a portfolio-ready set of animation skills. Instructor bio: Tim Wilson is a design software coach, creative mentor, and Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor. With a background spanning photography, forensic imaging at Scotland Yard, and design education, Tim has trained learners from major brands like BBC, Sky, Disney, and Barclays, as well as solo creatives worldwide. At Red Rocket Studio, he focuses on making design tools approachable and practical, helping students gain confidence, simplify complex processes, and bring their creative ideas to life.

Syllabus

Getting Started with Compositions and Pre-Comp Techniques

This module introduces learners to the essential tools and workflows in After Effects. You’ll practice organizing projects, working with pre-compositions, and applying basic effects such as keying and colorization. By completing these lessons, learners will gain a strong foundation in composition management, preparing them for more advanced motion graphics tasks.

Masking and Track Mattes for Creative Effects

In this module, learners focus on isolating and combining visual elements using masks and track mattes. You’ll animate masks, implement green screen workflows, and explore creative ways to layer video for dynamic effects. This module ensures learners gain hands-on skills that form the backbone of many professional motion graphics projects.

Object and Text Animation Fundamentals

This module teaches learners how to animate objects and text for engaging motion graphics. You’ll explore scaling, anchor point adjustments, and animating along paths, as well as combining masks with moving objects. These lessons help learners build visually compelling sequences suitable for real-world video content.

Advanced Text Animation and Rendering

The final module focuses on animating text and integrating it with masks for polished, professional results. Learners will refine their skills in motion design, practice complex text animation techniques, and prepare completed projects for rendering and export. This module rounds out the course by giving learners portfolio-ready content.