Keyframing
• setting global (non-animating) values for geometric transform, properties using tools (i.e. black arrow, rotate, pan-behind) and by adjusting timeline property values
• keyboard shortcuts for soloing geometric properties (add in solor shortcuts for animation as they apply -- i.e. Alt/Option+P to animate Position, U to solo all keyframed properties, and space bar for playing
• keyframing, including adding, deleting, modifying, copying, cutting, pasting and dragging keyframes
• animation motion paths, including modifying an existing path and creating new paths, both from within AE and pasted from Illustrator
• auto-orient rotation
• easing using the speed and value graphs
• using keyframe assistants for easing, including the F9 keyboard short cut for easy ease
• the wiggler, motion sketch and the smoother
• introduce the idea of keyframing effect properties, with a simple effect like Fast Blur or Lens flare
• motion blur
• "Ken Burns" style motion photography via animating the anchor point

Typing and animating text
• using the text tool to type text, using the character and paragraph palettes to adjust and set type style
• animating type by adding animators, selectors and properties, and by adjusting selector and property keyframes
• animate text on a path
• using test-effect presets

Animating Time with time remapping

Compositing
• timeline manipulation, including zooming in the timeline, switching layer order, turning layers on and off, making layers shy, locking layers, etc.
• importing layered images from Photoshop & Illustrator as compositions
• making Photoshop text editable in After Effects

Compositing with masks
• mask creation with rectangle, oval and pen tools (including roto-bezier)
• pasting masks from Photoshop and Illustrator
• converting alpha channels into masks
• mask blend modes
• adjusting and animating mask properties
• smart mask interpolation

Previewing
• the time controls and the associated keyboard shortcuts
• ram previewing, including strategies for getting the biggest bang for your ram preview buck, such as setting the work area, viewing at a lower resolution and zooming out
Rendering
• bringing up the render cue via Composition > Make Movie or Window > Render Cue
• adjusting render cue settings
• creating rendering templates

Resources
• instructor shares his/her favorite AE books, videos, websites, etc.