- Animating Illustrations Using Wave Warp In After Effects
- Animate Illustrator Files In After Effects
- Animating Illustrator Text In After Effects
- Animate Illustrator Stroke In After Effects
- Animate Illustrator Paths In After Effects
Cover image via
- we talk about how to take files from illustrator to after effects. We cover some of the neuances, pitfa. Join illustrator and animator Sylvia Yang in this snack-loving and multi-platform animation class all about discovering the power of combining your favorite Adobe Creative Suite programs to create wildly sharable animations. With over 7.5 BILLION views, Sylvia has developed a style and process that makes her 'foodie' animations insanely sharable.
Use your Adobe Illustrator files to create stunning motion graphics for your next project in After Effects.
- Most web and graphic designers are not familiar with the animation tools of After Effects which makes it difficult for them to import Illustrator paths to After Effects. Now, the copy and paste procedure of Adobe Illustrator paths and files to After Effects has become quite easier. You can import a single path or a group of paths.
- Select your text and copy (Command + C), switch over to After Effects, use the text tool (Command + T) and click in your comp, then Paste (Command + V) the text. All the color and sizing, leading an kerning should stay the same as long as your comp in AE is the same size as the Artboard in Illustrator.
- Among other things, After Effects can be used for keying, tracking, compositing and animation. For this workshop series, we work with Motion graphics. Illustrator to After Effects is a 3 session workshop series that introduces attendees to simple illustrate-animate workflow: from Illustrator – vector graphic – to After Effects – motion.
Cover image via Shutterstock.
Adobesoftware applications work quite well together; you just need to know the ins and out of each program. In this tutorial, we're going to take a look at how to work with Illustratorfiles in Adobe After Effects. Specifically, we'll look at how to bring AI layers into AE and prepare them for animation. I'm going to show you how to prepyour file in Illustrator, and I'll also teach you all of the ways to importyour file in After Effects. Finally, I will go over a few methods of manipulatingthe AI file further once it's in After Effects.
Let's get started!
The Project
I'm working on a motion graphics project that consists of animatinga map of the United States. My client has provided me with a layered EPSvector graphic file of the United States that they want me to use in the animation. They've asked me to take this map and create a variety of animations, including an animation for each individual state. Let's take a look at the file and see how I can work with this file in Adobe After Effects.
Prep the Illustrator File
First, I will save my EPS file as an .ai or Adobe Illustrator file since After Effects provides more support for this file format. To ensure that Illustrator files appear correctly in After Effects, I'll select Create PDF Compatible File in the Illustrator Optionsdialog box. Another issue I have with this file is the fact that everything is located in one layer. Since AE only displays AI layers, I need to put all of the individual states in their own layer. To do this, I'll select all of the states in layer 1 and select Release to Layers. Now my AI file is prepped for import.
Import into After Effects
I have several options when bringing an AI file into After Effects. When I importan Illustrator file, I get the import dialogue box, which provides me with two options: Footage and Composition. If I import my file as Footage, I can choose to mergeall of the layers into one, or I can import a specific layer on its own. I can further specify if I want the layers to retain their size or scale up to be the size of the document. If I choose Composition, a new composition will appear in my AE project that will include all of the imported layers from the file.
Create Shapes from Layers
Once I have my Illustrator files in After Effects, I can make further adjustments. To provide myself with more versatility when animating, I can turn all of my Illustrator layers intoshapes. To do this, I'll select my layers in the comp I imported and go to Layer > Create Shapes From Layers. Using shape layers opens up a number possibilities, including quickly changing the fill and stroke options, adding a gradient, changing the path, adding a wiggle effect, and a handful of other features.
Looking for more tips and tricks? Check out these resources.
Animating graphics is an essential skill to keep in your filmmaking wheelhouse. Whether you're refining some beautiful bumpers or creating compelling lower thirds, you will undoubtedly cross paths with After Effects during your animating journey.
Animating Illustrations Using Wave Warp In After Effects
In order to properly execute in After Effects, you'll want complete control over the elements within your graphic. The best way to achieve this is to design your graphic in Adobe Illustrator first, and then import it into After Effects as separated layers. We'll walk you through the process below.
Why Illustrator over After Effects?
It's not really one over the other. It's more: Illustrator first, After Effects second. While you could use After Effects for some of your design needs, the truth is that Illustrator is just easier, more intuitive, and more functional.
Animate Illustrator Files In After Effects
For simple shapes and text animations, designing in After Effects might be the quicker route, but for more complex graphics, Illustrator will save you time and sanity.
Creating your graphic
To begin, create an artboard in Illustrator that's the same size as your video. In our example, we use 1920×1080. The final version will be a vector image that you can scale infinitely, but it's nice to design in the same frame size as your video for perspective.
Animating Illustrator Text In After Effects
After creating your graphic, consider which pieces of it will need to be controlled in After Effects. You may find that you want control of every single element, or it might make more sense to keep certain elements together. Once you've decided what you want to control, you'll need to separate them out into their own layers.
Layers on layers on layers
To create these separate elements, you'll have to create new layers (click on the box with a folded corner). Each will function as its own separate layer in After Effects, so create as many as you need and then begin dragging the elements you want to control into each new layer.
Be sure to keep your layers in the order you designed them, so the correct elements are on top. As you drag your elements into their own separate layers, give them a name. This will help you stay organized and keep track of them all. Bonus: these names will carry over when you move your work to After Effects.
Transferring to After Effects
Animate Illustrator Stroke In After Effects
When you're finished in Illustrator, save your .ai file.
Next, open After Effects and drag your .ai file into the Project panel. When the menu pops up, make sure to choose Composition for Import Kind and Layer Size for Footage Dimensions. When you click OK, a new composition will appear in your Project panel.
Open the composition and boom your layers will appear, nicely separated, organized, and ready to be animated.
To begin, create an artboard in Illustrator that's the same size as your video. In our example, we use 1920×1080. The final version will be a vector image that you can scale infinitely, but it's nice to design in the same frame size as your video for perspective.
Animating Illustrator Text In After Effects
After creating your graphic, consider which pieces of it will need to be controlled in After Effects. You may find that you want control of every single element, or it might make more sense to keep certain elements together. Once you've decided what you want to control, you'll need to separate them out into their own layers.
Layers on layers on layers
To create these separate elements, you'll have to create new layers (click on the box with a folded corner). Each will function as its own separate layer in After Effects, so create as many as you need and then begin dragging the elements you want to control into each new layer.
Be sure to keep your layers in the order you designed them, so the correct elements are on top. As you drag your elements into their own separate layers, give them a name. This will help you stay organized and keep track of them all. Bonus: these names will carry over when you move your work to After Effects.
Transferring to After Effects
Animate Illustrator Stroke In After Effects
When you're finished in Illustrator, save your .ai file.
Next, open After Effects and drag your .ai file into the Project panel. When the menu pops up, make sure to choose Composition for Import Kind and Layer Size for Footage Dimensions. When you click OK, a new composition will appear in your Project panel.
Open the composition and boom your layers will appear, nicely separated, organized, and ready to be animated.
Before you begin animating, make sure to check your Anchor Points. This is good practice since Anchor Points can get messed up, creating problems with scaling animation, in addition to other types of animation. You can move your Anchor Points around using the Pan Behind tool (Y).
If you want the ability to scale your layers infinitely, turn on Continuously Rasterize for each layer. You can also right click on a layer and choose Create Shapes from the Vector Layer Ableton live 11 big sur and ishowu audio capture. to give yourself even more control over your layer(s).
Animate Illustrator Paths In After Effects
Happy animating!
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