Adobe After Effects is one of the most popular digital animation applications available to commercial audiences. The program allows users to create vibrant 3D models and animated assets for film and video projects, and it is an important part of professional special effects animation. Professional effects artists and other animators regularly utilize the program, and it is frequently used in projects ranging from film and television productions to software and game development to advertising. Many jobs, including Special Effects Artists, 3D Animators, and Motion Graphics Artists, use the program to create evocative designs and effects, making this an ideal career path for pursuing students with a creative passion. If you want to pursue a career in a field that uses Adobe After Effects, you’ll want to consider becoming certified in the application.
Noble Desktop: After Effects Bootcamp
Key Information: This 18-hour After Effects Bootcamp is available in-person or online. Students can attend three-day full-time lessons or weekly part-time evening lessons. Students will receive live, expert instruction and a certificate of completion when they graduate. Students can retake the course, for free, within one year.
Noble Desktop offers a certificate-granting accelerated Adobe After Effects Bootcamp for students looking to learn how to use the program or who are hoping to prepare to pass a certification exam. This course offers an introduction to the basic and advanced features of the application, allowing students to hone their skills with the tool and get hands-on experience animating digital assets and creating special effects. This program is a career-focused bootcamp that aims to provide students with the After Effects skills needed to find work as animators and special effects artists, though aspiring professionals will need additional training.
Students will start by learning how to create simple animated assets using photos, graphics and text, including on-screen text and animated title cards. Then, students will learn how to integrate video footage, audio files and motion into their animation as they learn to make the animated effects more complex and mutli-facted. Once students are comfortable rendering animated assets, they will start working with more technical animation techniques, like green screen removal and motion tracking. These skills will be important for animators working on live-action film and television sets. Finally, students will learn important animation techniques and theories that can help them make their work more dynamic and compelling.
This program is available onsite at Noble’s Manhattan campus or online in a live digital classroom. In either case, students will learn from Noble’s expert instructors in real-time, allowing them to receive personalized feedback and assistance on their work. Students will be able to collaborate with their colleagues, and all of the lessons they learn are geared towards making students comfortable with the professional uses of After Effects. Students enrolled in the program will receive a signed certificate of completion, and they will be able to retake the course, for free, within a year, giving them even more time to hone their After Effects skills.
Noble Desktop: Motion Graphics Certificate Program
Key Information: This career-focused certificate program is designed to help prepare students for a career in motion graphics design. The course is in-person at Noble Desktop’s Manhattan campus or online in a live digital instruction format. The course runs in two-month full-time sessions and four-month part-time sessions. Students enrolled in the program will get one-on-one career mentorship coaching sessions and be able to take the class again, within one year, for free.
Students seeking a more robust, detailed career training program should consider enrolling in Noble Desktop’s Motion Graphics Certificate Program. This program aims to teach students the fundamental principles and techniques of computer-aided animation. In this course, students will learn how to use all of Adobe's major video production applications: After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Cinema 4D. The course covers the practical skills and theoretical background students will need to create their own digitally animated assets and develop a unique artistic style. By the end of the program, students will have received the expert instruction and hands-on experience they need to start looking for a job in the field of motion graphics.
The course begins with lessons in using Premiere Pro to edit video footage and manipulate digital effects. Students won’t be able to create completed video projects without a basic understanding of film editing, and they will learn how to insert their animated assets into video footage. After this, students will learn beginner and advanced Adobe After Effects skills, including basic animation principles using text, graphics, and photos, all while working on real-world projects like animated logos, title animations and infographics. Then, students will learn how to integrate Cinema 4D with After Effects to create elaborate 3D animated effects that can be later edited into a video project. Students will get practical experience rendering 3D assets and preparing video footage for completion using After Effects to remove elements of the shot digitally.
This is a career-focused training course, and all the lessons are designed to help students prepare to find work in motion graphics. The program is offered in-person at Noble’s Manhattan campus or in live online classrooms, and full- and part-time scheduling options are available. The course is taught in real-time by Noble’s expert animation instructors. Students can get immediate feedback on their work and assistance with their lessons, which can be invaluable for students new to animation. Students enrolled in this course will receive one-on-one career mentoring sessions, and all of the lessons let students build practical animated assets and projects to add to their demo reels. Finally, students who enroll in this course can retake it within one year, giving them even more opportunities to get hands-on, guided instruction in professional motion graphics skills.
Adobe: Adobe After Effects Certified ProfessionalÂ
Key Information: This professional certification exam aims to test students’ practical knowledge of the motion graphics industry and their technical proficiency with Adobe After Effects. The exam lasts fifty-minutes and students who pass the exam will receive a professional certification that is good for three years. There is no formal training associated with the exam, but study options are available.
Students looking for a way to demonstrate their After Effects skills and receive official accreditation to show prospective employers will want to complete the Adobe After Effects Certified Professionalexam. This first party certification program is part of Adobe’s broader collection of professional certification exams and gives students the opportunity to receive accreditation in motion graphics software applications. The exam tests practical motion graphics and video editing skills (like how to work with clients and colleagues and important legal knowledge) and the techniques that an After Effects professional would be expected to know, including how to utilize the After Effects interface, how to organize video files, how to create and integrate digital special effects and how to prepare finished video files for publication. The exam aims to test practical career skills that Motion Graphics Artists would regularly encounter when working on professional projects
The exam itself is available in-person at a dedicated training center or online, giving students the chance to test their skills using their own copy of After Effects. The exams last fifty minutes each and are composed of multi-choice and practical skills questions. Adobe anticipates that students will need about 150 hours of After Effects experience, either through formal training or on-the-job experience to pass the exam. Adobe certifications last three years, at which point professionals will need to take the most recent version of the exam again. There is no formal training offered by Adobe but they do provide students with study materials and sample exams to help them prepare for the test.Â
Adobe: Adobe Professional Video Design SpecialityÂ
Key Information: The Adobe Certified Professional Program also offers specialization paths for students who complete multiple, complementary certification exams. The video design specialty track will see students completing the Premiere Pro exam and either (or both) the Photoshop and After Effects exams. These exams are unchanged and students will still have 50-minutes to complete each exam. These certifications also expire after three years.
The Adobe Certified Professional program also offers students the chance to combine different related certification exams together to earn specialized certification credit, including the Adobe Professional Video Design Speciality, which covers certification in Adobe After Effects, PremiereÂ
Pro and Photoshop. Students will have the opportunity to complete these exams at their own pace, but they will be able to use this certification to demonstrate their robust knowledge of video design and editing projects. Nothing about the individual exams change, since students will enroll to take those exams separately, but the added level of professional accreditation can be vital for students looking to find work in a specific field or industry. To complete these exams, students will need to have practical understandings of video editing techniques with Premiere Pro and motion graphics skills that utilize After Effects.
To earn this specialization, students must pass the Adobe Premiere Pro Certified Professional exam, which gauges a student’s ability to work with the industry-standard video editing application. Then, students can complement their Premiere Pro certification by passing either the Photoshop or After Effects exams (with the option to pass both). Since this program simply serves to signal specialized skills, all of these exams remain the same in content and delivery methods, and they will require students to become recertified in three years. The reason to opt for this professional certification path is that it signals to employers that you have a robust knowledge of complementary skills, and many students who are proficient in After Effects also have the training or on-the-job experience necessary to pass the other exams.
Training Connection: After Effects Fundamentals
Key Information: This three-day training program introduces students to basic and advanced After Effects animation skills. Students will learn in live online classrooms and receive instruction from experienced animators. Students who complete the program will earn a certificate of completion and the option to retake the course within six months.
Training Connection offers a robust, live online motion graphics training program in After Effects Fundamentals. This course, designed with animation beginners in mind, provides students with accelerated training in the principles of animation and the tools associated with the craft. Students will start learning the interface basics, the process of working with masks and the art of 2D animation. Then, they will move on to practical, real-world case studies and workflow techniques that they can use to improve their output efficiency and the quality of their animations. The course will provide students with instruction dedicated to social media and broadcast projects, giving them practical experience that is productive regardless of their career goals. The course concludes with lessons in 3D animation, including lessons in applying light to an asset and giving it the appearance of weight and depth.
This program is a fully online, live training program that takes place over the course of three days. The course is aimed at aspiring professionals who need important background training in After Effects to begin building their demo reel and other job materials, but the course is still designed with novice animators in mind, so you won’t need any experience to enroll. In addition to live online instruction from expert animators, students who complete this course will receive a certificate of completion, and they can take the course again anytime within six months. This can help students prepare for a certification exam if they need to brush up on their After Effects training.
Lumenbrite: After Effects Training: Bootcamp
Key Information: This five-day training program covers introductory and advanced Adobe After Effects skills and is designed to help students get practical, hands-on experience working with the application. The course is built with the Adobe Certified Professionals exam in mind, and students who complete the course will receive a certificate of completion.
Lumenbrite, a certified Adobe Training Center, offers a comprehensive After Effects Training Bootcamp in which students can learn introductory and advanced After Effects skills. This program combines Lumenbrite’s After Effects Essential Skills Levels 1 and 2 courses into a robust skills bootcamp to teach students how to be comfortable using After Effects professionally. Students will learn to navigate the interface, work with various animation tools offered within the program and integrate other Adobe applications with their After Effects animations. More advanced lessons include learning how to track surfaces and replace assets using this tracking data, building 3D animated assets that can be integrated into live-action footage and the basics of particle and energy effects.
This course is available to students in-person at one of Lumenbrite’s national campuses or online in a live, instructor-led classroom. The program runs full-time during weekdays, and the full bootcamp lasts one week. Students enrolled in this course will receive a certificate of completion and a set of completed animation projects to add to their professional design portfolio. Since Lumenbrite is a certified Adobe training facility, the courses are all designed to help students prepare for the Adobe Certified Professional exams, though the exam is not included as part of the cost of this program.Â
FMC Training: Adobe After Effects Master Class
Key Information: This non-concurrent seven-day program brings together FMC Training’s introductory, intermediate and advanced Adobe After Effects training courses. The course aims to give students the training that they need to work with After Effects professionally and pass the Adobe Certified Professional exam. The program does not include the exam, but it does include preparatory materials and its own certificate of completion.
FMC Training Center is an Adobe-certified training center that provides robust instruction in various Adobe applications, including their Adobe After Effects Master Class, which combines their introductory, intermediate and advanced After Effects training programs. In these classes, students will learn the basics of navigating the After Effects interface, foundational principles of motion graphics, and basic animation techniques like animating text and logos. As students complete the courses, they will learn more advanced skills, particularly those related to 3D animation. Students will learn how to design and render 3D models and how to work with After Effects to give those models the feeling of weight and motion. Students will learn how lighting and audio contribute to 3D animated assets, and they will learn how to integrate those assets into live-action film footage. These lessons will prepare students for the kinds of projects that professional Motion Graphics Artists regularly work on.
The Master Class program combines beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons over seven days. Since it comprises three different classes, these seven days won’t need to be concurrent, though FMC recommends students take the classes within about two weeks of one another for maximum effectiveness. The courses run full-time and provide students with live online instruction from certified Adobe instructors. Students who complete each program will receive a certificate of completion. Since FMC is an Adobe-certified training provider, all lessons are geared toward helping students pass a certification exam. The exam is not included in the program's cost, but students can take the exam through FMC for an additional fee. They also offer asynchronous study materials.
Ledet Training: After Effects Bootcamp
Key Information: This six-course combines Ledet Training’s After Effects 101 and 201 courses, and students can schedule the two classes to fit their training needs. The program is available in-person at one of several campuses across the country or online in a live instruction classroom. The program aims to prepare students for work in fields that utilize After Effects, and students who complete the program will receive a formal skills proficiency certificate.
Ledet Training combines its introductory and advanced After Effects courses into its comprehensive After Effects Bootcamp. In this training program, students will learn all of the major aspects of using After Effects, starting with lessons on how to begin a complex project and ending with lessons aimed at producing complex 3D animated assets. Students will receive training in basic 2D animation, and learn skills like keyframing, roto brushing and digital color correction. Once students complete the introductory course and are comfortable with their 2D animation skills, they will move on to advanced lessons covering 3D animation techniques. Students will learn how to render 3D models, integrate other Adobe applications into the animation process and optimize their workflow on complex designs. The course aims to prepare students for professional After Effects work.
This program is held on six non-consecutive days and is offered online or in various major cities (including DC, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta). Students will be able to enroll in both classes at a significant discount and have the opportunity to fit the two three-day courses into their schedule. The program offers students a certificate of completion that signals their professional training. Students who complete this course will be prepared for additional After Effects training courses and equipped to attempt to pass the After Effects certification exam. The course requires students to have a firm grasp of Photoshop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need to Become Certified to Find a Job?
For the most part, you won’t need to become After Effects certified to find a motion graphics or animation job. However, becoming certified is a great way to set your application apart from other applicants. Passing a certification exam will demonstrate your skill proficiency, and completing a certificate-granting course will demonstrate your readiness to work. In addition, completing a certificate program will likely give you more time and opportunities to improve your demo reel of sample animations, which is one of the most vital parts of the job application process.
What is the Difference Between a Certificate and a Certification?
Students should be aware that while they are both means of becoming certified, certificates and certifications are different. Certifications are given by first-party publishers (in this case, Adobe) to students who complete an exam that tests them on their skills in the program. Certificates are akin to diplomas and are awarded to students who complete industry-recognized training programs. The major difference is how they gauge a student’s skill in After Effects. Certification exams are intended to test the skills that students have already acquired through training or experience, while certificates are acknowledgments that students have completed a training course imparting those skills.
What Kind of Program is Right for Me?
The path that best suits your needs will likely depend on your level of training and your long-term goals. Students with prior experience working with After Effects or who have undergone After Effects training will likely benefit from taking an exam and becoming certified through Adobe. Students without this prior training are more likely to benefit from learning the program in a professional training environment.
Students will also want to consider their long-term goals. Anyone aiming to find a job in motion graphics is likely to want to become certified to demonstrate their skills to prospective employers. Students who are looking to make their own animated projects are less likely to need professional accreditation but will still need the training to use the programs at an advanced level, so they may benefit from enrolling in a certificate-granting program.
Students looking to start a new career path are likely to need significantly more training than is offered in exam preparation courses. While these skills are vital and students should consider enrolling in them, students will need more than six days of After Effects training to find a job in a film studio or software development house. Those students should consider longer, career-focused certificate programs like Noble Desktop’s Motion Graphics Certificate Program. These professional development courses teach advanced career skills, and they aim to provide students with the technical training they need to find professional animation work.Â
How Do I Prepare for a Certification Exam?
Enrolling in a professional training course can be a great way to hone your skills and prepare for a certification exam. Most online training programs that focus on tools like After Effects are brief, immersive courses that aim to give students the technical skills they need to start using the tool professionally and part of this is being skilled enough to pass a certification exam. Many training programs are built with exam preparation in mind and are structured to give students the tools they need to be confident in their ability to pass the exam. These courses, like the ones offered through Noble Desktop, are good opportunities for students to get hands-on training that they can use when they are taking a professional certification exam.Â