Vector Animation – Animate in After Effects

Download .ai Tutorial File

If needed, download this Adobe Illustrator tutorial file again. This is the same file you downloaded before during the layer prep tutorial.

OPTIONAL: Follow along with my videos and use the tutorial file to do the same work yourself. Or, just watch and then jump right in and create your own video using what you need from my tutorials.

restore-video-final-assets.ai.zip Download

Import your layered Illustrator file into After Effects

In After Effects
File > Import > File…

Choose your .ai file and use these settings:
Import As: Composition – Retain Layer Sizes

You can also drag your file into the After Effects project window

This window will pop up. Select Composition and Layer Size

Your project window will look like this:

Save your new After Effects file.

Add layers to the timeline

Since you already created a new composition when you imported your .ai file, simply double-click the composition file icon (not the folder) in your project window. This will add layers to the animation timeline. Like this:

Notice how the layer names and order are maintained. All the time you spent prepping your layers and names was worth it.

Adding new Illustrator layers
(once you’ve imported your layered .ai file)

Sometimes I need to add a layer or adjust my layers in my original Illustrator file and import those new layers. Here is the best way I’ve found to do this.

File > Import Recent Footage > (select your current Illustrator file)
Import Kind: Footage
Layer Options – Choose Layer: (choose the layer you want to add)
Footage Dimensions: Layer Size
Okay

This will add a separate file to your Project panel. Drag it into the list of layers in your timeline. That’s it. Now you can animate the new layer.

Set composition settings

Video Tutorials to give you some new After Effects skills

These tutorials will walk you through part of my workflow for the ReStore vector animated video. The Restore video introduces you to vector animation, where you begin with a drawing in Illustrator and then animate it in After Effects.

These videos will also build on your knowledge gained from the orchard video, where you learned the basics of fading in-and-out transitions, object motion, scaling motion, drawing objects, and adding type.

Play these videos over as many times as you need to understand each effect.

Parent & Link Tool (9:00)

This video shows how to use the parent link tool to have separate layers and objects move together in your After Effects animations.

Puppet Pin Tool (7:55)

This video shows how to use the puppet pin tool in After Effects to add bendiness and flexibility to your objects.

Rotate & Bounce an Object (5:44)

This video shows how I rotated and bounced an object in After Effects.

Slide and Compress/Bounce an Object (5:27)

This video shows how I slide and compress/bounce an object in After Effects.

Vector Drawing Basics (11:31)

Draw an Animated Line (10:30)

This video shows how I drew an animated line in After Effects.

Vector drawing from Illustrator into After Effects (4:58)

Animate Handwriting (5:19)

This tutorial shows how to animate handwriting in After Effects. I first drew the vector handwriting in Illustrator with a WACOM tablet and then imported that into After Effects to animate it.