Tutorial: Bouncing Ball Exercise in Adobe After Effects #

Objective: In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a simple animation of a bouncing ball in Adobe After Effects. This exercise will help you practice keyframe animation, timing, and easing techniques.

Instructions:

1. Set Up Your Composition:
   • Open Adobe After Effects and create a new composition. (Ctrl + N)
   • Set the dimensions, frame rate, and duration according to your preference.
2. Import Assets:
   • Import a simple shape or image of a ball into your project. You can use the Ellipse Tool (Q) to create a circle shape layer.
3. Add Background and Floor (Optional):
   • Create a new layer with a solid gradient to serve as the background. (Ctrl + Y)
   • Create a white shape or solid layer to represent the floor where the ball will bounce.
4. Create the Bouncing Animation:
   • Position the ball at the top of the composition.
   • Add a keyframe for the ball's position property. (P)
   • Move the playhead to a later point in time and adjust the ball's position downward to simulate the first bounce.
   • Add another keyframe for the new position. (Ctrl + Shift + K)
   • Repeat this process to create additional bounces until the ball comes to rest.
5. Adjust Timing and Easing:
   • Experiment with the timing between keyframes to achieve a natural-looking bounce.
   • Use easing options such as Easy Ease (F9) or Easy Ease Out (Shift + F9) to add smoothness to the animation.
   • Adjust the speed graph in the Graph Editor (Ctrl + 8) to fine-tune the velocity of the ball's movement.
6. Add Secondary Motion (Optional):
   • To enhance realism, consider adding secondary motion effects such as squash and stretch as the ball bounces.
   • Create keyframes for the scale property of the ball layer at keyframes where it hits the ground. Decrease the scale slightly on impact and increase it as the ball rebounds.
7. Add X-Axis Movement (Optional):
   • Create keyframes for the position property of the ball layer to add horizontal movement. (Alt + Shift + P)
   • Shift the position of the ball to the left or right to simulate movement along the x-axis.
8. Add Matte and Rotation (Optional):
   • Create a matte layer to mask the ball's movement, giving the illusion of it rolling on a surface.
   • Apply rotation keyframes to the ball layer to make it rotate as it moves and bounces.
9. Preview and Refine:
   • Preview your animation frequently to assess the movement and make adjustments as needed. (Spacebar to play/pause)
   • Pay attention to the spacing and timing of the bounces to ensure a convincing result.

Video tutorials #

If you prefer video tutorials, check out the following resources:

• Animation Basics - Bouncing Ball (After Effects Tutorial)
• Animated Bouncing Ball Breaks | After Effects Tutorial
• Master the Art of Ball Bounce Animation in After Effects | Step By Step