# Animating with Purpose: Movement and Expression - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/animating-with-purpose-movement-and-expression/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Video & Animation · Solid intro · Rated 7 /10 # Animating with Purpose: Movement and Expression By Gareth B. Davies · Updated August 2026 Claudio Salas · Animator & Designer Intermediate · 74 min A tight 74-minute deep dive on animating emotion in After Effects, not a beginner walk-cycle tutorial, and it assumes you already know the software. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fanimating-with-purpose-movement-and-expression%2F918173648) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. Claudio Salas's "Animating with Purpose" is a focused, single-project class built around one goal: taking a happy character named Noah from a flat Illustrator sketch to a looping, emotionally readable GIF animation. It is not a walk-cycle primer and does not pretend to be. The opening lessons spend real time on perception and reference before anyone opens After Effects, which sets the class apart from tutorials that jump straight to keyframes. ## Structure and teaching approach The first three lessons are the strongest conceptual material in the course. Salas uses a psychologists' point-light study to explain why the brain fills in motion from minimal cues, then contrasts a traditional Disney-style walk against a snappy, cartoon-timed phone-ring reaction to show how spacing and easing change the emotional read of identical timing. The reference-breakdown segment, where animation clips from other artists are studied frame by frame for their poses and holds, is a genuinely useful habit to model, even if the specific clips referenced won't be available to every viewer. From lesson five onward, the class becomes a screen-recorded build. Salas imports Noah's five illustrator frames into After Effects using the Overlord plugin, recolors and organizes layers with Labels, and constructs a rig with a Motion2-generated null controller and expression-driven drop-down menus for eye and mouth states. This is dense, tool-specific material. The expressions used to switch face states are explained only briefly ("if number one is selected, give me 100 percent opacity, else zero"), so viewers unfamiliar with basic if/else expressions in After Effects will need to pause and absorb rather than follow along in real time. ## What actually gets taught The animation lessons that follow are where the class earns its keep. The torso, neck, and head are animated first with a "dip" technique, a small downward pose shift paired with a blink to sell a change in expression, then the same keyframes are copied across body parts and deliberately offset so the head lags slightly behind the torso. This offset principle, that more lag reads as more relaxed and less lag reads as more focused, is demonstrated concretely and repeated across the books, arms, and legs sections, which gives the class a coherent throughline rather than a list of disconnected tricks. The books animation section, covering a falling, bouncing stack with secondary cover-opening motion, is a solid example of layering primary and secondary motion on a prop, and the arc-checking advice in the limbs lesson (watching that a foot's path stays a clean curve rather than a jagged line) is a useful, transferable diagnostic. ## Where it falls short The course leans heavily on three paid plugins, Overlord, Motion2, and Labels, and a private ease-shortcut tool shared only through the class resources. Viewers without them can still learn the underlying ideas but cannot follow the exact workflow shown. The pacing in the middle lessons is also uneven, with long stretches of trial-and-error keyframe nudging narrated as "let's see how that feels" rather than explained with a clear rule. Beginners to After Effects will struggle with the expressions and rigging steps, and the class explicitly assumes some existing comfort with the software. For an intermediate animator who wants a specific, opinionated method for adding snap and emotional nuance to character work, it delivers real, usable technique in a tight 74 minutes. The standout The offset-keyframe technique applied across torso, neck, and head to create a natural, staggered bounce is the single most reusable idea in the class. ## What you will learn - · How to import an Illustrator character rig into After Effects using the Overlord plugin and organize layers with Labels - · How to build a drop-down menu control with expressions to switch between eye and mouth states - · How to rig mirrored arm movement using negative multipliers on position and rotation - · How to create a looping run cycle with offset keyframes between the torso, neck, and head for a natural bounce - · How to use the graph editor and easing presets to shift an animation from smooth to snappy timing - · How to export a finished loop as an animation-codec file and convert it into a shareable GIF Best for: An intermediate After Effects animator who already knows the interface and wants a focused method for adding snap, timing, and emotional read to character motion. Skip it if: Anyone without prior After Effects experience or a copy of the Overlord, Motion2, and Labels plugins, since the import and rigging workflow leans on them constantly. Engaging Teacher Helpful Examples Organization of Lessons Audio & Video Quality [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fanimating-with-purpose-movement-and-expression%2F918173648)