Someone once told me that the tools with the steepest learning curves are the ones worth learning because not everyone will take the time to master them. Fair point.

But in a world where tools are popping up daily and expectations around what we should be able to create are growing just as fast, I’ve found myself asking “is it really worth learning After Effects right now?”

For me, the answer (still) feels like no.

Of course, anyone can jump into a tool like Jitter and make something decent thanks to the built in presets. That’s the beauty of it! But the real opportunity, the part that excites me, is when you take these tools and push their boundaries. That’s the space I like to play in.

Even still, I occasionally get tempted. I’ll see a beautifully built animation and think “maybe it’s time to stop being stubborn and learn AE”. So recently, I watched a YouTube tutorial. The designer was walking through how to create a stop-motion style animation of a hand and the AE logo, and at first glance, it looked incredibly complex. I assumed it has to be made in AE.

But as he broke it down, I realized most of the work wasn’t even happening inside After Effects. The motion wasn’t tool dependent.

So I recreated it in Jitter.

I never would have thought to build this specific animation on my own. I only did it because I was watching someone use AE and thought, “Wait… what if I tried this in Jitter instead?”

There aren’t a ton of tutorials out there showing what tools like Jitter or Lottie Labs are truly capable of. And that, to me, is a missed opportunity! AE will always have its place, but not every motion idea is restricted to one type of tool. There’s space for a new kind of motion workflow that’s lighter, faster, and more design-forward.

So maybe I’m being stubborn! Maybe I’ll eventually learn After Effects. But for now? I’m staying curious inside the tools that make me want to create more often, not less.

Are you interested in learning the process behind the stop-motion peace sign animation? Keep reading, or scroll down to watch the tutorial. But don’t forget to finish the newsletter because there’s more! Alright, let’s dive in!👏🏼

THE PROCESS

That was a lot, and there are pieces of valuable information that wasn’t included so I recorded my process for you to follow along!

Now it’s your turn to recreate your own version of the stop-motion hand animation!

It could be a peace sign, a thumbs up, or a wave. Anything you like! All you need is your phone camera, some basic photo editing (Figma works great), and a lightweight animation tool like Jitter or Lottie Lab.

You don’t need fancy gear or AE skills. Just experiment, have fun, and see what comes out of it.

If you try it, I’d love to see what you make!