This workshop from author and animator Angie Taylor teaches how to use Illustrator's tools and features to prepare 2D files for animation in Adobe After Effects. Discover how to make the most of Illustrator's drawing tools and Autotrace feature, and to how use Live Paint and Kuler to recolor artwork. Plus, get a ton of tips and tricks for giving artwork a hand-drawn look and find out how to set up layers, aspect ratios, and transparency options for importing into After Effects. The lessons are focused and solution-oriented, and all the project files are included.

Topics include:

Setting up the work area

Bringing artwork into Illustrator

Tracing artwork manually

Creating complex shapes

Working with paths

Using Live Trace

Coloring artwork

Applying 3D effects

Exporting artboards

Options for saving files