Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Congratulations! You've made it through the first Unit of the After Effects User Guide. We covered a lot of ground from installing the software, getting to know the Home Screen & touring the interface, learning about workspaces, and understanding the menus and preferences of After Effects

Exercise Files:
https://dub.sh/aeugfiles

Practice Exercises:

1. Application Management
1. Locate After Effects & Creative Cloud Desktop App on computer
2. Mac Users:
1. Drag Applications to the Dock
2. Look in the Menu Bar and click to open Creative Cloud Application
2. Adobe Creative Cloud
1. Explore the Adobe Creative Cloud Application
2. Uninstall & Reinstall Application(s)
3. Toggle on Auto-Updates
4. Open After Effects
5. Review & Close Home Screen
3. After Effects Interface:
1. Explore Interface
2. Familiarize yourself with the Toolbar, Project Panel, Composition Panel, and Timeline Panel.
4. Workspaces:
1. Cycle through Workspaces
2. Try rearranging panels, adding new ones, and saving your custom workspace.
3. Reset the workspace to default and then switch back to your custom workspace.
5. Menus and Preferences:
1. We delved into the various menus and contextual menus in After Effects.
2. You learned how to access and adjust preferences for optimal performance.
3. Open the Preferences menu and review the settings.
1. Make any necessary adjustments based on your workflow.
2. Set Media Cache
3. Set Audio Hardware Preferences
6. Close & Restart After Effects
1. Using the Menu Bar To Open (Macs)
2. Keyboard shortcut (Command/Control + Q)
3. Click After Effects Application to Restart/Open