After Effects: Animate Your Character's First Steps
A course by Moncho MasséIllustrator and Animator
A course by Moncho Massé, Illustrator and Animator
Design and animate your own character in After Effects, make them walk, and create a custom background
Want to bring 2D characters to life? Learn the process for animating your characters in After Effects alongside professional illustrator and animator Moncho Massé. This is Moncho's third Domestika course, so, if you haven't already, you might also be interested in taking Animation and Design of Characters in After Effects and Animation Techniques with 3D Effects in After Effects.
This time round, Moncho teaches you to use After Effects to make your character take their first steps. After familiarizing yourself with the software's interface, get straight to work designing and animating your protagonist! Moncho shows you how to create walk cycles, and even how to make your character run. To finish up, learn to animate more complex characters and how to export your work correctly. Now you're ready to animate anything!
What will you learn in this online course?
20 lessons & 15 downloads
After Effects and its interface
12 minutes, 23 seconds
Playing with shape layers 1
13 minutes, 27 seconds
Playing with shape layers 2
16 minutes, 49 seconds
Creation and design of a character 1
18 minutes, 41 seconds
Creation and design of a character 2
18 minutes, 12 seconds
Creation and design of a character 3
11 minutes, 55 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start the course by getting to know your teacher, illustrator and animator Moncho Massé, who talks a little bit about himself, his career so far, and some of his biggest influences.
Dive right in as Moncho takes you on a tour of the program's interface and main tools, such as Shape Layers for composing simple designs.
Design your character and learn character rigging to connect each part of their body before creating a walk cycle to get them moving. First, animate the torso and head before moving on to the arms and legs and watch your character spring to life right before your eyes!
Next, it's time to help your character speed things up with a run cycle, following the same process as with the walk cycle. Now add as much energy and personality as possible to your character's movement.
Moncho shows you how to customize the background of your animation to really set it apart from the crowd. Finish up by exporting your project and hearing a few final tips for working with more complex shapes.
Recommended software & tools for this course
What is this course's project?
Create your favorite famous character in 2D and then make them walk and run.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is aimed at anyone who wants to get started in character animation with After Effects or wants to build on their animation skills.
Requirements and materials
No previous knowledge is necessary as your teacher explains everything from scratch, but basic notions of After Effects would make things a little easier. For materials, all you need is a computer with After Effects (you can use the free trial version).
Reviews
- 6 months ago
Love the course, can we got english audio?
- 1 year ago
good
- 1 year ago
Excelente curso
- 1 year ago
Explica muy bien, tiene 3 cursos Moncho y todos están muy bien explicados!
- 1 year ago
Very excellent instructor Hats off 🫡star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
After studying audiovisual communication and journalism at the University of Valencia, Spain, he worked as a video editor for a small agency in Amsterdam. It was there that he discovered his true passion for animation, which has led him to create motion graphics pieces for a wide range of clients and projects.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Presentation
- Influences
- U2
Introduction to After Effects
- After Effects and its interface
- Playing with shape layers 1
- Playing with shape layers 2
- U3
Theory and animation of a walk cycle
- Creation and design of a character 1
- Creation and design of a character 2
- Creation and design of a character 3
- Character rig
- Walk cycle: torso and head
- Walk cycle: move those arms
- Walk cycle: feet are the key
- Walk cycle: the finishing touch
- U4
Animating a run cycle
- Run cycle: torso and head
- Run cycle: limbs 1
- Run cycle: limbs 2
- Run cycle: the finishing touch
- U5
Adding value to our project
- Background creation and animation
- Export
- Complex shapes
- FP
Final project
- After Effects: Animate Your Character's First Steps
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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FAQs
You’ll learn how to create vector illustrations, animate characters and backgrounds, apply motion design and post-production techniques, and export your animations for social media, contests, or TV using After Effects.
This is an intermediate-level course; basic knowledge of After Effects and graphic design is recommended to get the most out of it.
You’ll need a computer with After Effects installed—preferably the latest version—and optionally a graphics tablet for drawing. An internet connection is required to access materials and resources.
Yes, the course teaches industry-standard techniques and workflows, perfect for freelance projects, remote collaborations, and building a professional portfolio.
You’ll learn how to design characters, apply color palettes, use Shape Layers, and animate organic, expressive movements—ideal for children’s and promotional animations.
Yes, we cover classic principles like squash and stretch, shadow creation, advanced keyframe handling, and animation curves to achieve realistic and expressive motion.
You’ll create animated shorts, walk and run cycles, original characters, animated backgrounds, and promotional animations in flat and hip hop styles, applying professional techniques.