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After Effects with Sara (Workshop 1)

First Video - After Effects from Amy Winson on Vimeo.

For my first after effects workshop I used my holiday photos to make a mini movie, I took about 30-40 and edited them in Photoshop using the settings 1080 x 1920 (as this is the standard UK TV size).
I then opened Adobe After Effects and imported my newly edited images using import. I then needed to create a composition, I did this by using the following settings:
Size - 1080 x 1920, Length 00:00:10:00 and I used the frame rate as 25.
I began to drag each of my images into the composition one by one and placed my images 5 frames away from one another. To finish my movie off I added copyright at the end and also added some audio to complement my imagery. I used the site free music archive for my audio. I made sure to use audio that was for anyone to use.
At the start of this workshop I felt scared as I have never used this software before and I was worried about it being very complicated. As the workshop went on, I started to get more familiar with the tools and felt more confident as we was also dealing with Photoshop which is something that I am very advanced with.
Finally I have took some more images after completing my first mini movie as I want to have another go at this workshop however with darker and completely different style imagery to see the effect of this.

 Conclusion
When I initially came into the workshop I was really worried and was really unsure as I had no interest in animation mainly because I knew this was something I couldn't do. I felt like I could design but I couldn't animate and I straight away put myself in to this type of thinking. After the workshop I found that the other Adobe programmes aren't as scary as I thought and I only felt like this because it was out of my comfort zone. I feel like now I am at University I need to expect that I am going to constantly be faced with new challenges and I think this first workshop was a really good way to make me open up to new things. I feel satisfied with my first piece of work and I am excited to get to know the programme.

After the Workshop

Edit 1

I decided after my workshop that I would have another go in After Effects at a mini movie to see how much I remembered and to also see the different effect that completely different imagery could have.

After Effects Workshop - Trial 2 from Amy Winson on Vimeo.

I am overwhelmed with how much I did remember as when I first initially was working with After Effects, I was really worried as I had never used this software before however I am beginning to realise it is very similar to Final Cut Pro X which Is an Apple piece of software and something that I am very familiar with which gave me more confidence.
The video shows my second trial and this allowed me to get use to exporting, importing and getting use to frames. I now have found a love for motion graphics and working with After Effects that I never felt before as when I was first told what we was doing I wasn't looking forward to this as it was something completely out of my comfort zone. I am very glad I gave this a go as I really enjoy this.

Edit 2

I also worked with another go of this idea a week after the workshop. I wanted to refresh my memory of After Effects and make sure I was prepared fort he second workshop. I repeated the same process and I came back to my notes to check the settings. However when it came to the importing side, I found this really easy to remember and was able to remember the settings for exporting. I feel really happy with how I was able to remember most of the settings and this process of trying the workshop a few times again has really helped me and get my head around the exporting and importing process. Below shows the final outcome of my third trial.



Conclusion
After feeling really worried about not being able to produce good work and not being confident with using the programme, I went back and tried two more pieces of what I learnt in this workshop. The first piece I did after the workshop I spent trying to remembering the settings, I did need to look back at my notes but I carried on and exported and managed to compose my project with no problems. The second time I did this I had no problems and felt I understood the programme a lot better without having to use my notes. This has give me some confidence and I am excited for what the next workshop brings.

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