Skillshare – 80s Retro Text Animation in After Effects

Class Outline

• Inspiration, fonts and Colors: I will show you how to figure out certain characteristics for a style, and how to use fonts & colors according to that.
• Typography Layout: Using the fonts and colors you found, we will start creating a layout in Illustrator and making the text ready to import into After Effects.
• Text: Write On: By using the stroke effect, you will be animating the write on for each individual letter, and we will start looking at the value- and speed graph.
• Text: Position: You will learn about the 3 different axes when it comes to position, and we will be animating the x- and z-position.
• The Echo Effect: An adjustment layer will be used to add a streak effect to the entire animation, also known as “echo”.
• Blinking Text: Experimenting with hold keyframes, you will be animating a blinking neon type effect for the 80s text.
• Sequencing: Sequencing will be used on all elements to make it more interesting to look at and less bland overall.
• Making the Text Pop: You will be learning about all sorts of effects to make the text stand more out against the solid colored background.
• Background: Grid: Using the build in grid effect, you will create a grid that will be placed in 3D space and animated to fit the composition.
• Background: Twinkling Stars: Stars look great, but they look even better, when they are twinkling. That’s why you will be creating just that using different effects and a luma matte.
• 80s Look: You will be using all sorts of different effects to achieve the overall style of the 80s look. This includes, grain, vignette, VHS lines and so on.
• Camera Animation: Introducing camera animation into the workflow, the animation becomes more alive, and you will learn my best techniques for doing exactly this.