Build a custom animated infographic in After Effects by combining shape layers, text, and visual effects. Learn how to construct a bar graph using manual alignment, animation techniques, and design references for a polished, professional result.
Key Insights
- Students create a multi-layered animated bar graph using shape layers, text elements, and background effects, including features like the typewriter text preset, track mattes, and grid effects generated within After Effects.
- Guidelines and rulers are essential for aligning visual elements precisely, such as ensuring consistent bar heights and left alignment across multiple layers representing different data points.
- Noble Desktop’s lesson emphasizes manual design and animation techniques, encouraging learners to draw individual shapes, apply customized animations, and utilize reference images to build visually consistent compositions.
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Okay, so 6a is basically a lesson working with shapes and text layers and it's about making a little kind of simple like like graph, okay So they close this project. It's gonna go a little bar graph, basically Okay, and it's gonna take us into like using like again shape layers and some more text We're gonna reuse that track matte thing for visibility. We'll do some animation that sort of stuff with it So the first half of this 6a is making the graphics and then 6b is animating the graphics Okay, and at the end of this there's a thing that's like an optional part where it's like well This is what the instructions did But if you want to go you can also animate these things and these things and these things so a little like Independent practice.
Yes, if they go so this is the working with shape layers folder we're gonna make like Something like this Okay, so I'm black like that Okay So the text animates the sorts of I'm black the background appears Up here background the text animates in with that like typewriter effect the box draws itself on there's a grid that comes in and then the text lines come in so like like that And the Boxes drawing on the text that's a track matte behavior There's an effect being used to make that grid appear. The grid itself is actually made using an effect in after effects So there's a mate like grids check boards. There's like certain basis that I can make actually I guess anything I mean don't math I can make okay The numbers just kind of pop up But again, that could be animated different way if you wanted to the text is created and animated using a preset Okay, so it's critical the rest we have to make What you'll find is that there are presets for text animation.
There are presets for backgrounds. There's even some presets for like Animating and scaling things but most of the time you're gonna need to manually make something You're gonna need to like customize it because certain things like I said like position animations Do not translate very well from one Layer to another or one document to another. Okay, I've tried To that so the image in the back is just an image So again, that's a background But everything else is created in here.
The black box on top is a text is a shape is a shape layer The boxes for the countries are shape layers and that sort of thing Now I have a reference image and this is the thing where? It's literally a JPEG I have a reference image so Here, can you make something that looks like this? It's kind of the concept here. I said, yeah Okay, so there's a reference image. It's in media and This is not a start a false or an awesome scratch insta post mock-up JPEG And it's basically that okay.
The only image asset we have is the post back That is the only image asset we have everything else we're gonna make in app effects, okay So we're gonna see how you can do things like okay Guidelines to line things up how a line would work and also how a line will fail. Okay Also, how can we make three different shapes the same layer? So our third shape some different like so the same height for example So the France bar France text one layer the 85 number one layer the box behind it one layer and that's the all of them So all the color boxes are individual layers all text individual layers all the numbers individual layers Okay, the outline black box outline that is its own layer It's shaped a rectangle and for the record that little line is on the same shape layer But effectively everything is independent. Okay, which is okay now So one other note on this it's gonna have us take make the boxes Manually by clicking and dragging the draw with the rectangle Because the idea for the animation is it's gonna animate back scale.
So the base animate from 0 to 100% to make the bars grow and Yeah, sort of thing we're gonna have it's gonna have us do it three times Because if we copy one layer, which would give us the same size But it's it's kind of annoying to move shapes on a shape layer. Basically. It's kind of a point so And this instruction has draw individually, which is fine That's it.
Yeah, but everything else we got to make okay So 6a it's pretty final video setting up the workspace. We got that getting started. It's just gonna have you save a file So I'm in the standard workspace.
I'm just gonna reset that in case I mess with anything basically happens I'm gonna save the file and I'm gonna save it into that folder Okay You can of course call it whatever you want the instructions say use your name and creativity But whatever you want is fine Okay, it has you make a new composition inside of that new product of yours and It wants you to use Yeah, the social media square size so And as you give it a name And it has used the precepts also me to swear Okay, and then it has you make the link 30 seconds. I don't think we need that So that's that I'm excited Okay If you wanted to use one of the presets and just change the size With a night no problem at all If you want to use one of the presets and if you want to use the preset we saved before Assuming you haven't assuming you haven't like reset your preferences No problem at all Okay So kind of fun. The background color is I mean, it's mostly irrelevant Cuz we're gonna cover it.
But if you wanted a and whatever color you put in background does not affect What it exports as Background is simply transparent area. So what it exports it's gonna export as black. That's just how the program assigns it Okay, this is really more for design purposes Okay, if you wanted to make a non black background, why do you do that? When I reset this I got none none none none mine none I'm gonna delete the other nuns.
These are just extra time empty timelines that were open Let's close it. Okay So if you wanted to actually put a color background, I'm gonna pink background for some reason Layer new with the timeline. I would layer new solid Make comp size pick pink or whatever color you want So if you want an actual background color, you need to that exports you need to make a layer there.
Okay I'm gonna go import For our Mathis class working with shape layers I'm gonna import the images folder, which by the way this time I named 0-1 images because I don't have to rename that I'm just gonna import the entire folder. There's only two things in it Background image in the reference. I'm gonna use the mock-up as actual reference.
So I'm just gonna drag it into my comp I'm gonna lower its opacity to something I can more easily see against the background Whatever you think is appropriate go right ahead And then I'm gonna lock it so it doesn't move And then I'm basically build everything on top of it. Okay, so Notice that all of the color bars for the country's start at the same point. They're the same left alignment, okay They have certain heights That sort of thing.
Hey, they have certain widths that sort of thing. So this I think is a good Reason to use guidelines Okay, so guidelines are made from your rulers. This is the setting up a template with guides on page 141 So I'm gonna go to view and show my rulers if you like Photoshop.
It's command R control ours the keyboard shortcut Okay And I'm gonna go grab a ruler from the left And I'm gonna drag it in so it lines up with my base of my shape layers I'm gonna zoom in and make sure it lines up I'm gonna drag one from the left again and line it up with the end of each of the layers like so Cuz when they won't snap they can't snap as an image But if you zoom in really close, you're gonna make them line up as much you want. Okay, just fine. I Could also go and get some guys from the top drag down the top ruler if I want like again to mark off areas for size They're gonna mark one for the center of the letters up to you guidelines are there to help you Create things and line them up Maybe you want one for the bottom how all the numbers line up on the bottom.
It's up to you Or maybe you don't want any of those trying to Guidelines are helpful tools. Okay Which is nice okay, so I really just wanted them for the left of the bars and the right because effectively when I'm Using the tools to draw out the rectangles here. They'll snap to the guidelines So to make it a little easier to line them up on the left side without having to go back to a line So there's a picture there on page 142.
It tells you that
