Yo! Hope you're having an excellent week. And if not, there's nothing like some After Effects tips to fix up your week and make make it allllll better!

I've really enjoyed putting these together - it always takes more work than I plan on, but it's awesome reading your replies. Glad it's helping out.

btw, read all the way to the bottom if you want to know my first ever paid After Effects gig :)

~Chris

AE Pro Tips of the Week

1. Keep your animation curves smooth

Here's how to keep your tangent handles locked to the same angle in the graph editor.

• Select your keyframe, Right Click → Keyframe Velocity

• Check Continuous (Lock Outgoing to Incoming)

Done! Now your curves can be smooth as a baby's bottom.

Want to break the angle? Hold down alt/option + click and drag.

BONUS 🕺🏻

I set my Keyframe Velocity to a custom shortcut:

Shift + V



It saves me a ton of time and a ton of clicks.

BONUS BONUS 🕺🏻🕺🏻

PPS: if you like video format, I recently made a Youtube quick tip covering this technique - go peep it if you want.

🎥 How to get smooth animation curves in After Effects

2. Create Rough + Tapered Stroke Lines

Drew Jackson shared this awesome breakdown of a rough tapered line look using shape layers and some simple effects.

Take a look 👇

by Drew Jackson

I really like the idea of using a layer style like Inner Glow as a luma matte to control the texture of a layer.

You could experiment with this and use it with different layer styles and shape layers.

Really smart!

3. Set a Default Folder Structure for New Projects

Tired of making the same folders each time you start a new project?

You can save a template that will automatically do that for you. Here's how:

• Create a new project file with your preferred folder structure

Don't want to make your own template? You can have mine

• Save this blank project somewhere.
• Open Preferences → New Project
• Check "New Project Loads Template" and load your saved template file!

Now every time you create a new project, it will load up this template!

You could even use this to load a specific set of brand assets into a new project if you're working on something that requires many different project files.

But this begs the question...

Why should you keep your project organized?

It's crucial in working with a team or passing off projects to others.

Even if you work alone, have you ever opened up an old project from a couple years ago? Yikes.

Keep your projects organized: make future you happy.

Other stuff this week

📹Message Kit - messaging animation template for AE

I'm working on an After Effects template to make animating text messages really easy.

If that's something you're interested in, hit reply and let me know! I have some questions for you and I'm also looking for a couple beta testers!

📦Inspiration heaven! - Wine After Coffee

If you've been around, you probably already know about Wine After Coffee, but if you're relatively new to the motion space, this is for you

Fill your eyeballs with this curated vimeo channel full of amazing motion design inspiration

sharing is caring! 👫

If you know someone who needs some more AE tips in their life, share this email with them!

You'll become their new favorite friend.

If you're new here, you can subscribe here so you don't miss out on this amazing deliciousness. Or don't. You're an adult, you can do what you want.

The end.

This week's question.

What was your first paid motion design gig?

My answer: Around ninth grade, I made a PSA about food safety for my neighbor who was a professor at Kansas State University. My computer could barely run After Effects. I think it was about 3-5 minutes long, mostly text animation, and I charged minimum wage per hour ($7.25) 😬

What was yours?

Chris