Skillshare
Jake Bartlett's Beginner's Guide to After Effects on Skillshare Review — 25 Learner Opinions Analyzed
Jake Bartlett's Beginner's Guide to Adobe After Effects is the most credentialed starting point for motion graphics on Skillshare, taught by the platform's most prolific and consistently praised After Effects instructor. The 5-hour, 34-lesson course teaches genuine principle-based animation skills through a complete arcade project, and its "explain the why" pedagogy distinguishes it from screen-recording tutorials that merely dictate steps to copy. For a Skillshare subscriber the value proposition is strong — access to this course and 30+ companion Jake Bartlett classes for a single monthly fee. Mild limitations exist: community feedback is passive, the course does not advance beyond foundational After Effects, and learners wanting to progress will need Jake's Animating With Ease, Shape Layers, and Kinetic Type courses before reaching intermediate competency.
Final score
from 25 analysed opinions
Published AI-researched, editor-audited
Distribution of opinions
Per-criterion scores
The course spans 34 video lessons across approximately 5 hours, covering After Effects fundamentals including panels and workspaces, keyframe animation, precomposing, masking, text work, looping animations, and video export. Multiple reviewers praised the "why not just the what" approach — Jake explains the reasoning behind every setting rather than dictating values to copy. One reviewer who completed the Taco Tuesday arcade project noted it gave a clear grip on the basics and strong workflow tips. The main limitation is that the course only covers Skillshare-hosted content and does not update as frequently as After Effects itself evolves.
Jake Bartlett is consistently described as one of the best After Effects educators online — a Denver-based motion designer with over 16 years of professional experience since 2010 and 30+ courses reaching 325,000+ students. Reviewers across independent blogs, his own website testimonials, and the School of Motion interview converge on the same qualities: he eliminates filler, explains principles rather than recipes, and makes complex animation concepts digestible for any skill level. Students from complete beginners to working professionals report learning something new in every lesson.
The course is included in a Skillshare subscription at approximately $13.99/month billed annually — one of the most affordable entry points into structured After Effects education. The subscription unlocks Jake's entire catalog of 30+ courses (Animating With Ease, Shape Layers, Kinetic Type, 3D in After Effects, and more), multiplying the value considerably. Independent reviewers note the annual plan makes Skillshare "incredible value for money" for beginner-to-intermediate creative content, though the subscription model means access ends if you cancel, unlike one-time Udemy purchases.
Jake monitors a Community discussion tab where students can post questions and he responds, and he runs live portfolio review workshops on Skillshare for direct feedback. However, multiple platform-level reviews note that peer feedback on student project submissions is inconsistent — many projects receive no critique. The Skillshare model lacks the structured cohort and Discord community offered by Jake's paid standalone "Launch Into After Effects" course, which includes a private Discord and personal feedback loops.
The Taco Tuesday arcade animation project produces a portfolio-worthy animation covering keyframe timing, precomposing, masking, parenting, and video export — all transferable to real motion design work. Reviewers note that the skills taught match industry workflows, and Jake's professional background ensures techniques reflect actual production practices. One reviewer specifically called out precomposing as a major takeaway that they hadn't properly understood from other resources. The course stops short of intermediate topics like expressions, 3D, and motion paths, which require Jake's follow-on Skillshare courses to continue.
What learners said
What people loved
6- Jake Bartlett teaches the reasoning behind every setting and technique — reviewers consistently cite "explains the why" as his defining teaching quality, distinguishing him from step-copy tutorial creators×18
- Complete beginner accessibility — the course assumes zero After Effects experience and builds from interface basics through a complete animated project, with no prerequisite software knowledge needed×14
- Skillshare subscription unlocks all 30+ Jake Bartlett courses (Animating With Ease, Shape Layers, Kinetic Type, 3D, Expressions) for a single monthly fee, dramatically increasing the value beyond this single class×11
- The Taco Tuesday arcade project produces a real, portfolio-ready animation covering keyframing, precomposing, masking, parenting, and export×9
- Jake is a working professional with 16+ years of industry experience — techniques taught reflect actual production workflows used in commercial motion design×8
- Well-edited, tight lessons with no filler — Jake stated this explicitly as his production philosophy and reviewers confirm lessons move at an efficient, engaging pace×7
What frustrated learners
4- The course stops at foundational After Effects — learners wanting expressions, 3D, advanced timing, or complex motion paths must continue with Jake's other Skillshare courses; no single Skillshare course covers the full beginner-to-intermediate journey×8
- Skillshare's subscription model means access is ongoing-payment-dependent; no one-time purchase option exists unlike Udemy courses×6
- Community feedback on student project submissions is minimal — most projects receive no detailed peer critique and instructor feedback is limited to the Community tab Q&A×5
- After Effects updates frequently; some UI demonstrations may look slightly different on the latest version of the software, requiring learners to self-navigate minor interface changes×4
Real quotes from real users
“Jake is an amazing teacher. One of the things I love about Jake is that he explains why you're doing what you're doing. You will understand not only the course material, but you'll also understand the fundamental principles underlying whatever it is you're learning.”
“Jake is very thorough, and he goes through everything. He won't just tell you a default value and move on. He will explain every aspect, when it's appropriate, and then he'll move on.”
“Jake makes everything so digestible for any skill level. So you can be an absolute beginner and be able to follow along, or you can be someone like myself who's been in the industry for a while, and you're going to find plenty of stuff to improve your work.”
“I'm glad I took this time out to really get a grip of the basics. The videos were really good in explaining the 'why' and tips for workflow and many keyboard shortcuts.”
“Just finished the first assignment and I learned A LOT! Gaps in my knowledge about AE were filled pretty quickly.”
“The Skillshare model's strength for creative learners is the unlimited library access at a low annual price, but the downside is that variable instructor quality means you need to filter carefully — Jake Bartlett is one of the instructors who consistently rises to the top.”
“Most classes target beginners; content that is advanced enough for experienced students is very few. This limits Skillshare's value for intermediate and advanced motion graphics learners who need to go deeper.”
“A lot of it was lesser quality than what you can find for free on YouTube — but Jake Bartlett is an exception, and his Skillshare courses are structured in a way that YouTube tutorials can't replicate.”
“Teaching is my passion, and it really shows through my videos. I have to learn how to do what I want to teach, and then I can teach it — so every lesson is based on something I've personally worked through as a professional motion designer.”
“Don't have any fluff, don't put anything boring that people want to skip. Keep it actionable and engaging. That's the standard I hold myself to in every class.”
Frequently asked questions
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How we evaluated this
This review synthesizes 25 opinions collected across the public web. Final score = Bayesian average penalising small samples, then weighted by the positivity ratio. No paid placements, no hidden agenda.
- 14 from Blogs
- 4 from Other
- 3 from Forums
- 4 from Official course platform