Tutorial Links

Free videos and official Adobe guides for every skill. Adobe Help links are the most stable — bookmark them first.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Setup

• The 10 BEST Shortcuts for Beginners — YouTube
• TOP 17 Shortcuts (Must Know) — YouTube
• 30 Essential Shortcuts + cheat sheets — School of Motion

Keyframes

Skill 1 · Week 1

• After Effects Beginners Tutorial 2025 — Jake In Motion
• How To Use the Graph Editor — Jake Bartlett
• Animation Basics (official) — Adobe Help

Text Animation

Skill 2 · Week 2

• Fun Kinetic Typography Animation — YouTube
• Kinetic Typography #5 (no plugins) — YouTube

Masking

Skill 3 · Week 4

• Complete Beginner's Guide to Masking — Cinecom
• How to Mask in After Effects — YouTube
• Beginner's Guide to Masking — Dansky

Color Correction

Skill 4 · Week 5

• How To Color Correct in After Effects — YouTube
• Cinematic Color Grade — YouTube
• Color Correction Effects (official) — Adobe Help

Compositing / Keying

Skill 5 · Week 7

• Green Screen Keying with Keylight — YouTube
• Pull a Green Key Like a Boss — YouTube
• Keying (official) — Adobe Help

Track Mattes

Skill 6 · Week 8

• Beginner's Guide to Alpha & Luma Mattes — ActionVFX
• Alpha & Luma Mattes (David Bode) — Envato Tuts+
• Alpha & Luma Track Mattes — Motion Array

3D Layers

Skill 7 · Week 10

• 3D Camera: Complete Guide — YouTube
• Working with Cameras — School of Motion
• Free Tutorial Library (Basic Training) — Video Copilot

Motion Tracking

Skill 8 · Week 11

• Motion Tracking Basics (+ files) — Surfaced Studio
• Mocha AE for Absolute Beginners — Surfaced Studio
• 6 Ways to Motion Track — School of Motion

Rotoscoping

Skill 9 · Week 13

• Roto Brush: Easy Background Removal — YouTube
• Remove Your Background with Rotobrush — YouTube
• Roto Brush & Refine Matte (official) — Adobe Help

Expressions

Skill 10 · Week 15

• LoopOut + Wiggle Expression — YouTube
• Getting Started with Wiggle — School of Motion
• Expression Examples (official) — Adobe Help

Reel & Brand Spot Inspiration

Final · Week 16

• 2025 Motion Graphics Showreel — YouTube example
• Best Motion Graphics Brand Ads — Yum Yum Videos
• 8 Steps to an Epic Demo Reel — School of Motion

Mocha AE (planar tracking) and the Roto Brush are included free inside After Effects — no extra purchase needed.