Top 10 After Effects Blogs in 2020

Motion graphics, video, and animation are all growing in popularity in 2020. It’s important to stay sharp on the latest tools, techniques, and resources at your disposal.

In this list we’ll be covering the top 10 After Effects blogs. Ranging from basic editing techniques to complex 3D rendering and composing, this guide features blogs at all skill levels.

If you’ve been looking to improve your skills in After Effects to start the new year, then this is the guide for you! Read about the best blogs for learning AE here. Special thanks to Volkan Olmez for the cover image photo.

Related: 10 Tips for Adobe After Effects Beginners

Best After Effects Blogs

1. Video Copilot

Arguably the best After Effects blog, and general editing/vfx blog in the world. And I don’t say that lightly! Andrew Kramer, the creator of Video Copilot, has been making tutorials and the most useful resources for well over a decade now.

If you are a beginner, I definitely think you may want to save Video Copilot for later on as they tend to focus on advanced tutorials, with many involving their incredible vfx products.

That being said, they do have some After Effects Basic Training available for free that I think is a great place for any editor to start!

Check out the Video Copilot blog →

2. Cinecom

Cinecom is a film making blog and popular Youtube channel with some of the most talented video editors around! They share informative content teaching you how to create cool effects, use complex tools in After Effects, and more.

In general Cinecom covers a wide range of topics from cinematography tips all the way to advanced techniques in post-production editing programs. However; they have a wealth of After Effects tutorials and break downs on their blog! We couldn’t forget them from this list because if you want to learn After Effects, Cinecom is a blog you should definitely start reading today.

Check out the Cinecom blog →

3. School of Motion

In their Global Design Survey of 2019, Dribbble shared that Motion Design is the #1 most sought after skill for designers to learn globally. In a survey of more than 17,000 design professionals from around the world, 33% want to improve their skills with motion graphical elements and design prototypes.

With that in mind, what better place is there to start other than the School of Motion!

School of Motion is a community and paid online school for learning advanced motion graphics in After Effects, Cinema 4D, and other animation programs. Outside of the paid courses, they have an immense catalog of high quality and free walkthroughs, quick tips, and guides. You can find hundreds of After Effects tutorials. Start with 30 days of After Effects!

Check out the School of Motion blog →

4. Adobe After Effects Blog

We can’t mention blogs about After Effects without mentioning the *official* blog for Adobe After Effects from the company themselves. This site is great for finding out first about the latest updates to the software. Adobe posts news and breakdowns of new releases.

You can also find a large collection of tutorials showing you how to work in After Effects, and between other Adobe programs like Photoshop and Illustrator when working with characters and animations.

Finally, if you’re just looking for a little inspiration, Adobe’s blog about After Effects is great because they are always showing off cool new things you can make with the software.

Check out the Adobe After Effects blog →

5. aescripts + aeplugins

The site aescripts + aeplugins is a fantastic resource from Lloyd Alvarez. This company and marketplace is dedicated to creating and sharing incredible scripts and plugins for popular video editing programs such as Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Maya, Mocha, Nuke, Houdini, and of course the majority for After Effects!

On the blog you’ll find hundreds of tutorials and free downloads for After Effects. This blog has been around for a long time, so if you’re looking for a place where you can read endless tutorials and techniques, AE Scripts is the site to go.

Check out the aescripts + aeplugins blog →

6. Creative Cow

Creative Cow is one of the largest and earliest creative communities in the world with forums, articles, and resources for nearly every creative program out there, including things like Legacy programs and older versions of Adobe CS!

Now, is Creative Cow good for After Effects tutorials? The answer is, a resounding yes. They have over 600 tutorials in their general After Effects category alone, and then they have 100+ more tutorials on the basics, expressions, and techniques.

If you’re looking for a Wikipedia style site applied to creative programs, Creative Cow is worth bookmarking.

Check out the Creative Cow After Effects blog →

7. Motion Island

Motion Island is a helpful resource for new users and motion graphics experts to learn about After Effects and animation in general. The blog has hundreds of helpful articles and free resources to get you started.

One article we recommend checking out right away is the roundup of the best After Effects Expressions. Expressions can save you a lot of time and are an important core fundamental to learn as an animator.

Check out the Motion Island blog →

8. Greyscalegorilla

Featured previously in our Great Sites to Learn Video Editing roundup, we had to mention Greyscalegorilla again for this list because their site is that good! Founded by Nick Campbell to share cool Cinema 4D and motion graphics tips, the site now attracts more than 20,000 unique visitors every day.

While the primary focus of products from Greyscalegorilla is for 3D lighting and materials, along with incredible plugins, the focus of the blog is a bit more general. There are hundreds upon hundreds of incredible tutorials on the site with many involving other cool programs like Cinema 4D and Nuke/Octane.

Check out the Greyscalegorilla blog →

9. mamoworld

Mamoworld shares incredible CGI tools and free vfx tutorials/training. This is another fantastic resource for motion designers and cgi professionals because of how many programs they cover. On mamoworld you can find professional tutorials for After Effects, Audition, Cinema 4D, Mocha, Nuke, and Premiere Pro.

When filtering by After Effects, you’ll find hundreds of amazing and detailed video walkthroughs for animation and expressions.

Check out the mamoworld blog →

10. Creative Dojo

A blog and resource hosted by VinhSon Nguyen. The Dojo has training and tutorials on primarily Cinema 4D and After Effects. You can also find some cool resources in their store!

Creative Dojo is particularly interesting because they share a lot of tutorials using After Effects plugins like Trapcode, Trapcode Tao, Trapcode Mir, Animation Composer, and others. If you’re looking for slightly more advanced tutorials and techniques, this is a great blog for you.

Check out the Creative Dojo blog →

Bonus

Just a few more great blogs/resources we think you should check out! :)

• Austin Saylor – Lettering Animation & Design

• After Effects Features (Sander van Dijk) – 10+ part series on the foundations of AE and the most used features. Extremely useful free tutorials, you should bookmark this.

• ActionVFX Tutorials – VFX and Special Effects tutorials for After Effects and other programs

• Behance – Lots of great motion graphics inspiration posted here

SEE ALSO – 8 Amazing Tutorials for Animating Text in After Effects

Read after: 13 Amazing Special Effects Tutorials for After Effects