7 Tips for After Effects Beginners (Mapmaking)

Learn 7 practical tips for animating maps in After Effects. For cartographers and mapmakers, and all graphic designers. This demo was originally presented at NACIS 2025 and offers a concise overview that I use as a professional cartographer. If you’d like a deeper dive into any specific method, leave a comment with the exact technique you’re curious about. Or if you'd like me to dive deeper into the broader general tips I share here. I enjoy sharing specific techniques, like motion tracking, easing, trimming paths, and other AE effects as they relate to mapmaking. Bellingham Bay Marathon Video: https://youtu.be/OZAUH7lB__c?si=QiEuqfK8RV1u_fXv ArcGIS Maps for Adobe Creative Cloud: https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/maps-for-adobecc/overview Scripting in AfterEffects for mapmakers: https://nellomaps.com/2021/07/02/masters-thesis-map-animation-videos-part-i/ My animated map playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHg5avw15Pg&list=PLbo1ru_roluDY50-7AgHOQ58kZv4JPsAV&index=2 Key Moments: 00:00 Intro 01:24 What is After Effects 02:26 My typical workflow 03:12 Tip 1 - Storyboard 03:20 Tip 2 - Keyframes & Layers 5:13 Tip 3 - Copy and Paste keyframes 06:14 Tip 4 - Set up GIS to align with animation objectives 08:01 Tip 5 - Organize Illustrator layers to fit animation objectives 11:27 Tip 6 - Precompose / Precomposition 12:12 Tip 7 - Create shapes from vector layers