After Effects is Adobe’s motion graphics and visual effects software used to create animated titles, transitions, lower thirds, and complex compositing for video projects. It’s the industry standard for motion designers, with powerful animation tools, extensive plugin support, and tight integration with Premiere Pro and other Adobe apps. After Effects is not a video editor (that’s Premiere Pro), it’s where you animate, composite, and add effects to individual clips or sequences.
Key Specs
| Price | $22.99/month (individual); $59.99/month (Creative Cloud All Apps) |
| Platform | Mac, Windows |
| Best for | Motion graphics, title animation, visual effects, compositing |
| Learning curve | Steep; weeks for basics, months for mastery |
How Designers Use After Effects
After Effects serves different roles depending on what you’re creating. Here’s how motion designers and video editors apply it.
For Animated Titles and Lower Thirds
Motion designers create title sequences, lower thirds (name tags), and animated text overlays in After Effects. Start with text layers, add keyframes for position and opacity, then use animation presets or text animators for more complex effects like typewriter reveals or kinetic typography. Export as video files to drop into Premiere Pro or Final Cut.
For Explainer Videos and Icon Animation
Product designers and marketers use After Effects to animate icons, logos, and UI elements for explainer videos. Import Illustrator vector files as layers, then animate each element separately using position, scale, and rotation keyframes. Shape layers and masks let you create custom illustrations directly in After Effects without switching to Illustrator.
For Compositing and Visual Effects
VFX artists use After Effects to composite multiple layers (footage, graphics, 3D renders) into a single shot. Remove unwanted objects with the Content-Aware Fill tool, track motion with the built-in tracker, and add particle effects or simulations. The Roto Brush tool helps you cut out subjects from backgrounds, though it’s slower and less precise than dedicated tools like Mocha Pro.
For Social Media Content
Social media managers and content creators use After Effects to make eye-catching Instagram Stories, YouTube intros, and TikTok transitions. Templates from Envato Elements or Motion Array speed up production. Export in vertical (9:16) or square (1:1) formats for platform-specific content.
After Effects vs. Alternatives
| Feature | After Effects | Apple Motion | DaVinci Resolve Fusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $22.99/month | $49.99 one-time | Free (included) |
| Platform | Mac, Windows | Mac only | Mac, Windows, Linux |
| Learning curve | Steep | Moderate | Steep |
| Plugin ecosystem | ✅ Massive | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Growing |
| Integration | Adobe Suite | Final Cut Pro | DaVinci Resolve |
| 3D capabilities | ⚠️ Basic (Cinema 4D Lite) | ⚠️ Basic | ✅ Strong |
Choose After Effects if: You’re already in the Adobe ecosystem, need access to thousands of plugins and templates, or want the industry-standard tool that most studios use.
Choose Apple Motion if: You’re a Mac user editing in Final Cut Pro and want a cheaper one-time purchase for motion graphics.
Choose DaVinci Resolve Fusion if: You’re already using Resolve for color grading and editing, and want integrated motion graphics and VFX without an extra subscription.
Getting Started with After Effects
Here’s a quick start to create your first animation:
Step 1: Create a composition and add text
Open After Effects and create a new composition (Cmd/Ctrl + N). Set it to 1920x1080, 30fps, 10 seconds long. Click the Type tool (Cmd/Ctrl + T) and add text to the canvas. In the right panel, adjust font, size, and color.
Step 2: Animate with keyframes
Press P to reveal the Position property for your text layer. Click the stopwatch icon to set a keyframe at the beginning. Move the playhead forward a few seconds, then drag your text to a new position. After Effects automatically creates a second keyframe, and your text now animates between the two positions.
Step 3: Add easing and effects
Select your keyframes, right-click, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease. This creates smoother, more natural motion. Go to the Effects panel and search for “glow” or “drop shadow” to add polish. Press spacebar to preview your animation.
After Effects in Your Design Workflow
After Effects connects to other tools in video production and design pipelines.
- Before After Effects: Plan storyboards in Milanote or on paper, gather assets in Illustrator or Photoshop, edit main video sequence in Premiere Pro
- During design: After Effects for motion graphics and effects, with Dynamic Link to Premiere Pro for real-time updates
- After After Effects: Export rendered comps to Premiere Pro timeline, or export final video for web delivery
Common tool pairings:
- After Effects + Premiere Pro for integrated video editing and motion graphics (use Dynamic Link to avoid rendering)
- After Effects + Illustrator for vector-based icon and graphic animation (import AI files as compositions)
- After Effects + Cinema 4D for 3D elements and models rendered into 2D compositions
- After Effects + Lottie for exporting animations as lightweight JSON files for web and mobile apps
Common Problems (and How to Fix Them)
These issues come up frequently in After Effects communities.
“After Effects is super slow and laggy”
After Effects calculates every frame, which is CPU and GPU intensive. To speed up previews, lower the resolution to Half or Quarter (dropdown at bottom of Composition panel), set preview quality to Draft instead of Full, and reduce the frame rate by setting Skip to 1 or 2 in RAM Preview settings. Close other Adobe apps and allocate more RAM to After Effects in Preferences > Memory.
“My RAM preview keeps running out of memory”
After Effects stores previews in RAM, which fills up quickly with long or high-resolution comps. Allocate more RAM to After Effects in Preferences (leave 2-4GB for your OS), reduce preview resolution, or trim your work area to only preview the section you’re editing. Clear your cache regularly via Edit > Purge > All Memory & Disk Cache.
“I can’t get smooth motion blur or realistic timing”
Beginner animations often feel robotic because they use linear keyframes. Select your keyframes, right-click, and choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease. For even better results, open the Graph Editor (Shift + F3) and adjust the curves manually. Add motion blur by enabling the Motion Blur switch for your layer (and the composition).
“Render times are taking forever”
After Effects renders are slow, especially with complex effects, high resolution, or 3D layers. Speed it up by: reducing composition resolution (you don’t always need 4K), pre-rendering complex layers (Composition > Pre-compose), using proxy files for large footage, and enabling GPU acceleration in Preferences. For very long renders, consider Adobe Media Encoder or a render farm.
“I can’t figure out how to do [specific effect]”
After Effects is so complex that most users rely on tutorials for specific techniques. Search YouTube for “[effect name] After Effects tutorial” or check Motion Array, Video Copilot, and School of Motion for step-by-step guides. The built-in Learn panel (Window > Learn) has official Adobe tutorials organized by skill level.