Top 10 After Effects Expressions for Amazing Motion Design

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In this quick and simple tutorial, I'll be sharing my top 10 countdown for the most used expressions in After Effect, they will save you so much time. You'll learn that expressions are nothing to fear, you'll be able to automate all the animations you have and you can even write your own. This tutorial is suitable for beginner-intermediate users. Please leave a comment if you'd like me to explain anything I skimmed over. Don't forget to tell me what you'd like to see next in my video!
►view all expressions in the Google doc here:
docs.google.com/document/d/1x...
I'm uploading new motion design tutorials every Thursday! (Sometimes Monday too)
►Please tag me on Instagram @ben_marriott_ if you've used any of the techniques from this video so I can see what awesome things you create
►Link to my Instagram: / ben_marriott_
►Find me elsewhere!
I'm available for hire: www.benmarriott.com/
Vimeo: vimeo.com/benmarriott
Facebook: / benmarriotti. .
►Music:
Massive thanks to madmomentsgo for providing that amazing music for my intro!
check out his other brilliant work here: bit.ly/2ER0bJF
"Magic Scout - Farm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
~ God bless Kevin ~

[@BenMarriott]

Correction:
Math.floor()
Is a more appropriate expression for #10
Math.round()
would round up 1.6 to 2, so if you need an accurate count, this wouldn't be the best option.
Both will remove the decimal places though :)
Deepest apologies.

[@Raghavillusion]

please make tutorial for begineers 2d animation character

[@K966623]

You can have a decimal from Math.round() by adding /10, /100, /1000

[@siteamedits8300]

Your video isnt relevant anymore in terms of posterizetime , in ae2020 you need to do posterizeTime(???);value
If you dont put the ;value , it will say that unexpected value used in expression

[@Magixmix]

I can't download the doc 😞 Link is no more available

[@zohaibco]

@@Magixmix Was able to find it in my google docs history docs.google.com/document/d/1xvq2Zd2ktOnHjXPiwbaa3zTthrXI4MTcTNV3PHMZZXs/edit

[@bradleachphoto]

0:24 #1 Maintain stroke width while transforming
1:18 #2 Maintain scale while parented
2:13 #3 Animate using time
3:14 #4 Allow custom animations while using an expression
4:00 #5 Switch positive value to negative fast
5:51 #6 Posterize time for only one part of the animation (i.e. rotation but not position)
6:50 #7 Infinitely loop animations without any additional keyframes
8:08 #8 Referencing other comps using a single control
9:45 #9 Wiggle animation
10:36 #10 Eliminate counter decimals by using a rounding expression
11:22 Bonus tips to save time adding expressions

[@BenMarriott]

Thank you so much :D

[@bradleachphoto]

@@BenMarriott No problem! Thanks for the tips :)

[@samanthatrejo649]

thank you

[@beMOTIONdESIGN]

A perfect example of never being too arrogant to think that you know everything...I know and use all these expressions except for the very last bonus tip that you mentioned! Mind officially blown! Can't believe I've never used that one! Great tip! Thanks!

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, my pleasure. Thank you so much for watching :)

[@Coastfog]

That's why I keep watching beginner tutorials in my field of expertise. Sometimes it's just a little thing you've overlooked or worked around or just didn't know it was possible to begin with. A humbling & sobering but also empowering & inspiring experience.

[@melimsah]

My reaction every single expression:
*tableflips* WHAT?!

[@Krsfr]

I always get so excited whenever Ben uploads 🤩

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, daww, thank you so much for the support :)

[@ericburnett8163]

This is beautiful! I've used a bunch of these many many many times and love the ones that are new to me! Thank you!

[@SuhaibSyedS]

Was just trying to scale a path using a parent while keeping stroke width, so this was very helpful!

[@hubertwooow]

Thank you Ben for your phenomenal work in developing the animation skills of others.

[@Oldelaff]

I recently found an expression helping me doing loop animation with any wiggle properties! I was soo happy! Great channel, I will check your others video more in details!

[@ottessirbob]

I think what impresses me here is your choices. I consider myself a character animator (versus a mograph artist or any sort of AE wizard) and I've probably looked up half of these expressions for various projects along the way. And the new ones I didn't know I'm like, "heck I WOULD use that often!" That is to say, great choices Ben. Thanks much!

[@effortmax]

Thank you Ben for all the wonderful videos you produce!! I couldn't imagine how simple things in AE can be :D

[@carlherner9458]

learned crazy amounts in this one, cant believe i didnt knew about + value, thanks!

[@ThietTranUIT]

#5 is the killer!! I've been looking for it my entire life! Thanks for the wonderful tips!

[@klichmichael1442]

Best Expression Collection Ever. Thank You Man.

[@RusAdrian]

Thank you Ben, this is very useful.

[@ShredMentor]

These were great! Thank you!

[@jtcattelan]

Thank you so much. I have been looking so long for something like the expression at 1:24. I am now able to animate the kerning of letters that have made shapes without having to leave as a type layer which opens up a world of possibility.

[@Coastfog]

My favorite source to learn about motion design & AE. No contest.

[@kusacubari1867]

If Bens channel is the first AE channel for tutorials you found, then you literally found gold on your first panning of the river. Well done.

[@selametalkan]

obviously, this is the best useful tutorial video that I have seen. thanks a lot Marriott

[@jeorc]

Thanks for giving a real inside of the expressions and not just copying and pasting. I don't know if that happens to everyone but I think it's easy to assimilate when you actually understand what the expression is doing.

[@sarahlegigan5238]

Johan Orrego yes indeed, at school we had a paper with ALL AE’s expressions, but soo discouraging to read 😅

[@benlaorg5807]

SeedRandom(1);
Is one I would add. The random seed of certain expressions is controlled by the number of layers in the comp. So it changes depending on the amount of layers. Cause of that animations can easily be messed up. So this expression locks the random seed to a number you choose. Thank you for your tutorials, really inspiring! :)

[@the_videomatic]

You're telling all those people the secrets of after effects!

[@BrendenEngelbrecht]

This helped me a ton, thanks Ben!

as a near professional in after effects, this was actually useful.
Thank you !

[@trippy_blob]

5 mins into the video and i got 3 problems solved over which i was searching frantically over past 1 month. :D
Love you, Ben.

[@natangrobler7752]

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

[@rosiemurrell7483]

Thanks for sharing Ben! Your videos have been the best for learning AE, they're always short and sweet and easy to follow!

[@BenMarriott]

My pleasure, Rosie. Thank you so much for such a lovely comment :)

[@gon.digital]

Thank you so much for the tips!

[@tobiasbellman]

That last one is gonna save me a lot of time!

[@chirag2669]

Thanks for loopout tip! I used to manually animate loops. 🙂

[@ibeenjammin]

Man, your videos are gold. Thanks for all the tips and tutorials!

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, thanks so much Ben! :)

[@wildobson]

Such great timing for the +value tip! Just yesterday I added an expression to something I'd originally keyframed then found later I couldn't make KF adjustments. I'd reworked it to take values from a keyframed slider to resolve this, but the +value would haved saved me all that rework!

[@utagagua5536]

One of best (if not best) tutorial of AE expressions

[@b2utyandexotic]

this is very useful. thank you so much. you’re a lifesaver. 🙏🏼

[@roeikoren]

BEN YOU ARE THE BEST! ♥

[@nathangoddard7757]

Thank you, Ben!

[@CDAFX]

Thanks yet again for the amazing tutorial Ben! The amount of channel growth you've been getting is extremely well deserved and I can't wait to see how far you take this channel in 2020!! Cheers and keep on creating :D

[@BenMarriott]

You too, thank you sooo much for the lovely support, I really appreciate it! :)

[@wealthkunley]

Awesome... Learn a lot here. Thanks Ben

[@TheHarold154]

You are awesome! Thank you very much for your videos and help!

[@arthurfigueredo7171]

thank you so much for this tutorial i will come back each time I try to decifer Ae, all this looks very useful

[@alexdib3915]

Thank you Ben!!

[@GeeVoo]

this chanel is great thanks Ben for tips

[@md47bot]

Thanks Ben!

[@squareinsquare2078]

I was thinking today I haven't watched a Ben video in a while, and then there's a new one waiting for me! Thanks Ben, you are the best! Much love from Ireland.

[@BenMarriott]

Daww, thank you so much for such a sweet comment, I really appreciate the support and love!! :)

[@jobyjob]

I love these tutorials and I love you.

[@BenMarriott]

Thanks so much for the love, I really appreciate it :)

[@vibhalad7657]

Really helpful. Thank you soo much..

[@GuiJorgePorto]

This is GOLD!

[@CsabiKremser]

Very useful video thank you!

[@celo2043]

Dope! Thank you bro!

[@darko.v]

Great tutorial as always. I'm happy I knew most of these but even happier for the ones i didn't haha :D. After effects and scripting is always fun

[@HappyWolf_]

Excited for an expressions video then I heard your intro music and became even more excited because it’s a video from you!

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, thank you so much for the lovely comment and excitement, glad you liked it :)

[@AmrToukhy]

Stunning knowledge ... WOW.

[@iamYork_]

You are the man!!!

[@wildobson]

Your bonus tip made me think there's other great tips for making reusable templates. Love to see more like that (I'm a longtime software dev who thinks everything should be modular and reusable).

[@fabriciomachado1394]

OMG! Very coooool, man!

[@tompelleg]

You sir, are a bloody genius.

[@user-iq8hg5yc1p]

Best ever! Thank you so much

[@MikelKiriakos]

Great tips dude cheers!!

[@agfirs_o2579]

Thanks ben marriott

[@victormultanen1981]

wow!!! thank you!

[@sunnydaytodayy]

The likes to dislike ratio talks alot about the quality and content of this video. Thank you Ben 🤗

[@kyusefiyusefi791]

Really Perfect and useful.thanks

[@dayrates9725]

You bloody ripper! Great video once again sir. We salute you!

[@BenMarriott]

Thank you sooo much! :)

[@daniell.morales9379]

Thank you very much. Master!

[@mauroubel]

Thanks for sharing!

[@user-ti1hy9zx4b]

Amazing content we are love it!!!

[@piecectrlvoid7989]

dude your the best

[@GriffinbirchStudio]

Awesome video. I’ve been doing Ae for over 10 years and had no idea about the stroke expression. Totally thought this would be one of those “useful” videos where they just point out how cool wiggle and time can be.

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, thank you so much for clicking it and keep watching :)

[@juanalejandromeyer3192]

6:58 Love it, great tutoriasl.

[@prakharshrivastava2751]

Man these are so helpful

[@davidbyourplanb]

Useful, thanks!

[@kushalsv]

Absolute legend you are Ben

[@BenMarriott]

Thanks man :)

[@veltins74]

No.4 is suitable expression for rotating car wheels. Thank you for this trick. I will surely use it.

[@rwonder616]

OMG, HUGE THANKS

[@prashantchoudhary7297]

Super awesome 😍 expressions

[@EugeneTrifonov]

thanks man

[@TheDutchHD]

really usefull thx! :)

[@psychod74]

thanks brooo !

[@ThePauloASilva]

Great!!! TKS!

[@Andriuha49378]

Thanks Ben! I thought I already know most of the basic ones but nope.. the scale while parented, properties posterize time and *-1 completely blew my mind xD

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, thank you so much! :)

[@alithomaga]

looks great. Thanks you! :-)

[@lesconteursdosson2332]

Superbe, merci pour ton travail !!!

[@BenMarriott]

Pas de problème, merci d'avoir regardé cette vidéo :)

[@ultravioletidea]

Ben, great pacing

[@kawsarmahmud7881]

Thank you so very much :)

[@radekleber]

This is probably the best xmas gift ever

[@BenMarriott]

Haha, thank you so much, I'm really happy that you liked it! Merry Xmas :)

[@nijatIbrahimli]

*thanks for great tutorial Ben! = )*

[@BenMarriott]

My pleasure, thanks for watching :)

[@AsiertxoLoL]

Thank you for all this info! A quick question: ¿Is it possible to add more the one expression to the same layer?

[@DannyTumia]

i just so happened to be looking up expressions and looky what we have here

[@alideep9656]

Thank you

[@workflop4117]

Come on guys i passed 10 or more years watching After Effects tutorial, but this Channle here is the best one, thanks for sharing Ben

[@ybaucarre8369]

Trop bien comme d'habitude 🤗

[@BenMarriott]

Merci bien!! :)

[@WeekendMotion]

Ben have always good things....

[@BenMarriott]

Thank you so much! :)

[@user-wb3fz5rv1z]

Hi Ben! Amazing tutorial as always. The link to the expressions Google Doc appears to be broken (it takes me to someone else's Medium page). Could you please share the correct link? Thank you

[@miles.hellyer]

I realise how inefficiently I've been doing everything! Great tut!

[@BenMarriott]

Thanks Chalk! :D glad you enjoyed the video

[@honerzawita8024]

thanks

[@acidiearts]

Soo helpful

[@samonnchan]

Thanks

[@MrYaraslav]

шикарно, спасибо

[@artsinaction8055]

@ben marriott URL is not working