Vectorial Animation Frame by Frame Style with After Effects

Start by getting to know Pablo Cuello and more about his professional background, from how he got into animation to where he currently works and the kinds of jobs he does. Then, take a look at some of his main influences including various animations, anime series, artists, and movies.

Discover what's involved in using After Effects to animate in a frame-by-frame style. Review the After Effects interface, looking at keyframes and different FPS, then explore the basic principles of animation: timing and spacing.

Now get moving on your animation project! Look for a simple yet challenging idea and transform it into a storyboard, defining the characteristics of your scenes and shots. Design an original character, create a sketch, define the style, and work with the shots in Adobe Photoshop to develop a range of poses.

Once you have everything set, arrange all the layouts you made in the After Effects timeline to create an animatic and get an initial idea of how long the animation is going to be.

Carve out the visual style of your project, including line, color, background, and shadows, then begin to develop the styleframes of the story's key scenes and prepare the designs for animation.

With Pablo's expert guidance, configure the After Effects project and begin to set the scene with your character and a background and add the first keyframes.

Animate the sequence of your character in action. Discover how to add motion and achieve perfect transitions between poses. Focus on facial details and see the huge range of different expressions you can create.

Learn about smear frames and how you can apply this technique to get a seamless animation that has lots of flexibility.

Lastly, make some final tweaks to shadows and texture to take away the vectorial look, then Pablo wraps up with some tips on exporting your animation for social media.