This workshop will introduce participants to After Effects, Adobe’s powerful program for video compositing and motion graphics creation. Students will be shown how to manipulate, morph, rotoscope, collage, and augment their own images and smartphone footage to create playful digital self-portraits, short films and animated loops. We will explore just some of the large range of features and plug-ins available to enhance your videos, including visual f/x (like colorizing, keying, masking and warping), generative imagery (like fractals and particle systems), character/puppet tools, dynamic text, and object/facial tracking. We will also cover the basic terminology and workflows of the animation process, from storyboards to keyframes to final rendering and output. Students can work individually or in collaborative teams on a single project. The goal is to produce a short video, animated GIF, or augmented digital selfie guaranteed to make each participant an instant viral sensation!
Classes will be supplemented with inspirational examples of the medium that place animation and image manipulation in an artistic context. This class is for those who want to learn to use motion graphics and digital animation for their art and video projects. Some prior experience or understanding of After Effects, digital paint software like Photoshop, or digital editing programs like Premiere will be helpful. The class is also open to more experienced users who want to level up their After Effects game.
Students are required to bring a laptop with After Effects loaded on it as well as a smartphone or simple digital camera to capture footage. Some computer work stations, cameras, green screen and studio lighting will be provided by VSW but it is always best to learn on the equipment you will have to use after the workshop.
Click here to register online or call 585-442-8676 to register by phone.
Sean Capone is a Brooklyn-based, Rochester-born visual artist and moving-image director, working primarily in digital animation, motion-capture performance, and public art installation. Since receiving his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Sean has worked across many aspects of the production field, including video game design, visual f/x for music videos and feature film, and event & stage scenography. He has been working with After Effects since it was introduced in the ’90s, and is still learning new things about it every day.