If you're looking to add some life to your designs, After Effects CS6 is a powerful tool for creating animations and motion graphics. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to animate an object in After Effects CS6.
1. Import Your Object: Start by importing your object into After Effects CS6. You can do this by going to File > Import and selecting your file.
2. Create a New Composition: Once your object is imported, create a new composition by clicking on Composition > New Composition. Set your desired settings for the composition, including the frame rate and duration.
3. Add Keyframes: With your object in the composition, you can start animating it by adding keyframes. Select your object layer, and then press the stopwatch icon next to the property you want to animate, such as position, scale, or rotation. This will create a keyframe at the current time.
4. Adjust Keyframes: Move the playhead to a different point in the timeline, and then adjust the property you want to animate. After Effects CS6 will automatically create a new keyframe at that point, and your object will animate between the two keyframes.
5. Ease In and Out: To make your animation smoother, you can add easing to your keyframes. Right-click on a keyframe and select Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease to add a gradual acceleration and deceleration to your animation.
6. Use Motion Graphics: After Effects CS6 also offers a range of motion graphics tools to enhance your animations. You can use presets and templates to create dynamic text, shapes, and transitions that can be applied to your object.
7. Preview Your Animation: Once you've animated your object, you can preview your animation by pressing the spacebar to play through the timeline. You can also adjust the timing and duration of your animation to get it just right.
8. Export Your Animation: Finally, when you're happy with your animation, you can export it by going to File > Export > Add to Render Queue. Choose your desired settings for the output file, such as format, resolution, and quality, and then click Render to export your animation.
With these steps, you can bring your designs to life by animating objects in After Effects CS6. Whether you're creating motion graphics for a video project or adding animation to a website, After Effects CS6 provides the tools you need to create dynamic and engaging animations.