StretchLearn Course

Bring a flat logo to life in After Effects

Path reveals, morphs, particle builds, real easing, and clean web and broadcast exports

Beginner10 hr 5 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This hands-on course teaches the craft of logo animation in Adobe After Effects, taking a static brand mark and turning it into a clean three-to-five second animated sting. You will import layered Illustrator artwork the right way, build the four core reveal techniques (trim-path strokes, shape morphs, particle and dust builds, and masked wipes), shape every move with real easing and the graph editor instead of robotic linear keyframes, and finish by exporting a transparent WebM and an optimised GIF for the web plus a ProRes file for broadcast hand-off. You will leave able to deliver a finished animated logo package a client or a broadcaster can actually use.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Prepare layered vector logo artwork in Illustrator and import it into After Effects with editable, scalable paths

Build a stroke-on path reveal using trim paths and convert fills and strokes into animatable shape layers

Animate a clean shape-to-shape morph between two logo states using matched path point counts

Create a particle or dust build-on effect that assembles the logo from scattered elements

Shape natural motion with easy ease, the graph editor, and motion blur instead of linear keyframes

Export the finished animation correctly as transparent WebM, an optimised GIF, and a broadcast ProRes file

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Setting Up the Logo for Motion

The preparation that decides whether an animation is even possible: clean vector artwork from Illustrator, a correct After Effects project, and a comp built to real delivery specs.

3 lessons

Why Logo Animation Is a Production, Not a FilterContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Preparing Vector Artwork in IllustratorContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Importing and Building the CompositionContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: The Core Reveal Techniques

The four reveal families in practice: drawing the logo on with trim paths, morphing one shape into another, assembling it from particles, and revealing it through masks and wipes.

3 lessons

Path Reveals with Trim PathsContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Shape Morphs and Particle BuildsContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Masked Wipes, Scale Reveals, and Combining TechniquesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Timing, Easing, and Polish

What separates amateur from professional motion: real easing and the graph editor, motion blur and overshoot, and the secondary detail that makes a logo feel alive.

3 lessons

Easing and the Graph EditorContent · 55 min

LMS Access

Motion Blur, Overshoot, and AnticipationContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Color, Sound, and the Final SettleContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Exporting and Delivering the Animation

Turning the finished comp into the exact files each destination needs: optimised GIF and transparent WebM for the web, ProRes for broadcast, and a clean delivery package.

3 lessons

Render Settings and the Render PipelineContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Web Delivery: GIF and Transparent WebMContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Broadcast Delivery with ProRes and the Final PackageContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

logo animationAfter Effectsmotion graphicstrim pathsshape morpheasingProRes exportWebM GIF