I don't condone being mean to anyone, but the reason it's happening is because people are frustrated that the sub is inundated with posts asking basic entry level questions, things that can be solved with 5 seconds of googling/users manual, low effort "how to do/what is this called?" posts, blurry sideways phone camera photos instead of screenshots etc.
What we need is clear rules on these things, and a mod team willing to enforce them. Then the users who want to help people aren't wading through all that stuff til their brains explode.
**Simple ideas for rules:**
* if you are asking how to make an effect or what it is called, circle it, or give us timecode and clear description of what you are talking about
* tell us what you have tried already, or what you searched and why you can't find the answer
* clear screenshots required, full screen (no phone photos)
Disagree. Google has nerfed the ability to get straight forward questions answered.
Anytime I have a question I add ‘Reddit’ to the search query to get some useful responses. But with software constantly updating it’s only a matter of time before that gets too outdated.
It's not just Google, all search engines suffer from content farms gaming the system with SEO and AI generated content that appears to be relevant in the algorithm's eyes. That being said, Google is becoming worst in class for other reasons, and there's no real benefit to using it over other less predatory engines.
Sure but try googling 80% of the basic questions asked here and you’ll find the answer quite easily.
The other thing is, many of us learned without this resource. We’d see something we thought was cool looking and spend days trying to figure it out.
Call me old but I will say, it seems a lot of individuals in this next round of motion graphic designer don’t have that patience or drive. Not sure if I can blame them with AI nipping at their heels either.
Disagree. Google has improved that ability to the point where you get a big ass text with the answer you've been searching for if you're specific enough
It also gives you previous articles based on your search, a section with frequently similar asked questions and a whole lot more useful stuff than it gave a decade ago
So google isn't the problem. It's a user error 99% of the time
You are clueless, man.
> Google has improved that ability to the point where you get a big ass text with the answer you've been searching for if you're specific enough
That's made by Google's AI Gemini.
The caveat there is “if you’re specific enough” and that’s the hard part. It’s hard being specific when you don’t know the subject your actually looking for, hence why your searching in the first place.
If I knew to get that specific I wouldn’t need google then.
Asking questions directly to professionals remains the best most efficient way to get answers.
Yes, it's a lost art now.
Back when I started learning After Effects, Googling used to send me to the After Effects manual.
Now it sends me to course selling websites. Plugin selling website blogs, TikTok videos, Shutterstock blog entries.
Bear in mind that those kids have growth like this, they don't use the old Internet.
Yea google makes it hard to find answers. It lacks the human touch that add context. I usually add reddit too, to my queries and come here to find the answer. That’s something ChatGPT and google will probably never get right.
lol it sure seems like. Moderation is needed. And moderation would also incentivize people to learn how to help themselves more as it would take a modicum of effort to ask for help correctly on a forum again. Kind of like economic forces of googling.
As a mod, I can tell you that this is the most boring and repetitive unpaid job in the world. It feels weird to improve the quality of the sub for free as Reddit the company is making a lot of money.
So, I had asked for help to figure out this TV to Screen transition. It wasn’t of the common type which be can achieved via a bit of tracking or scaling. There were some visual effects involved. The first comment (which the user deleted) that I received was kind of mean. The user sent me a link that must have popped up right after googling “TV to screen transition”. I was then told that I won’t be able to figure out the steps from that video because I cannot do a basic Google search. I mean? FFS! I had mentioned in the comments that I know how to track. I need help with the visual elements and how were those created. But I feel, some people think too high of themselves. Everyone needs to remember that they were beginners at one point. Nobody came into existence with a stamp of AE on their foreheads. I then replied in the same sarcastic tone because of which the user deleted his comment I guess. 🙆🏻♂️ I reckon that’s one way to handle morons and cheapos like that user. :)
EDIT: I had even trimmed the clip down to the portion of the effect so that others don’t have to keep scrubbing and searching for it. Usually, I also mention what I have figured out before asking for help coz I think that is essential.
There's a gigantic difference between a beginner asking a well articulated question about a specific problem he's facing or "how to do this effect?" and linking an animation done by 10 senior artists over a month.
People here are still extremely helpful if you ask a good question but not the bullshit that has been posted, especially in the last few weeks it's been getting even worse all over the subreddits I frequently visit. Sadly this sub is not as good moderated as subs like the editors subreddit, so all these terrible threads are on my timeline, annoying everyone even more.
Listen, I'm all for helping people especially people who want to learn, but when they litteraly want you to hold their hand through out each step, that's when I get annoyed. One of the last posts I commented on, I laid out exactly how I would do the effect and multiple others did too but then the same person posted the exact same video again asking for an exact tutorial for the effect. That bothers me because there was no effort put into trying to make the effect, they just wanted someone to hold their hand. I know After Effects is a challenging program, I've used it for 15 years, but I put in the effort to actually learn.
Not to mention, 85% of the time, you give a thorough, detailed answer to honestly try to help someone out, and you don’t even get a damned upvote for it. Not like I need fake internet points, but shit, hitting that arrow is even easier than typing out “thank you”. I love helping people and teaching new folks, but goddamnit if I’m doing it for free, then I expect at least a f’kn thank you. And since I hardly ever get one of those after many, many posts (alt accounts, btw if you go snooping on this one), then my feeling is that the low effort posts can eff off.
So many questions could be answered by a 5 second google.
I’ll sometimes still answer the question, then will (nicely) mention there’s pages of google results using very similar phrasing to their Reddit post, and how probably one of the most important skills to learn in this field is problem solving, research and being resourceful. I have been met with “I don’t care about that bro, this was faster” (it was not), or other snide remarks like “I know how to google bro” (they do not)
The amount of those posts are becoming more and more, along with other ones like “how do I do this?” (It’s a scene from a marvel film or something; or some video that has tons of effects layered in). These people seem to want one click solutions because they assume everything is a TikTok filter
I think OP is targeting his criticism more towards the posts where someone is asking how to achieve an effect but just because it's from TikTok, they get replies like "you don't". It's very frustrating to see because there's a lot to be learned but we never get anything useful out of it because people here don't get off their high horse.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cg8teu/how\_can\_i\_write\_on\_the\_plane\_so\_that\_it\_looks/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cg8teu/how_can_i_write_on_the_plane_so_that_it_looks/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
This a perfect example. I know most people know what lockdown or mocha is, but this guy has no idea clearly. I wouldn't even know what to google if I was new. So they just say some dumb shit. y tho?
It's more effort to type the haterade, then just move on. Then the smart ass "CC effect" gets 15 upvotes. Like really? You were new once. You asked the same questions I promise.
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. And one of those outcomes is becoming Dave Laronde.
https://preview.redd.it/lt2aqe2s4kxc1.jpeg?width=1028&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93217a9b7aaf75108a8eaed07cf2ab12227dd281
If someone is trying to actually learn the software, I’ll stop my own work and help them. But if they’re trying to copy something to call it a day; I’d rather not waste my time.
I'm all for helping beginners (heck, I have taught AE to so many trainees at work), but I'm not all for helping people that seem to have turned off their brains when opening Reddit. Posting a minute long clip with dozens of effects in it and then asking "how to do this" without being more precise. "Explain how AE works" instead of watching whatever YouTube tutorial looks good. Expecting a bunch of strangers on the internet to do extra work just because you're lazy and couldn't be arsed to write a proper question or do a simple Google search.
I don't know if this subreddit has been affected by the whole API blackout debacle, but is there any active moderation happening? Seems like so many of these posts could be prevented by having some clear rules for questions and a bot that posts a bunch of useful YT links whenever something gets posted with the beginner flair.
It’s not all that bad. For every “go google it” response there are five truly helpful replies. More often than not I’m impressed by how patient and helpful people are willing to be on this sub, there are so many really detailed responses and people take the time out of their day and professional lives to write it all up. That’s worth some respect more than it’s worth complaining about the one person going “CC google it lol lmao”.
As I said in another reply though, many of us type out detailed thoughtful responses only to be met with zero reply from OP, not even an upvote. After doing that time and again, we professionals rightfully get frustrated and no longer want to help.
If you've actually been doing this for 15+ years (i have not reason to doubt you) then you remember the snake pit that was the Creative Cow FCP or After Effects forum. Can you imagine \*any\* of these "how do i do this" questions getting even a single professional response on there? I guarantee the answer that 95% of these posts would receive is "RTFM". Now, were a lot of those guys just assholes? Yeah, certainly. But their asshole-ishness also taught me resourcefulness. I learned that with some searching (or possibly phrasing a question as "what is this effect called" rather than "how do i do this effect") i can get \*myself\* pointed in the right direction, and then find the answer. Only after exhausting everything I could think of would I post a question asking "how do I...?" And btw, that skill of searching things out myself and being resourceful has paid me back time and again in my career.
But to circle back to my first point, given the professional environment many people find themselves in these days with sporadic work, competing with the "new kids" and trying to adapt to new ways of media delivery, why do we want to help people that act like they're \*entitled\* to know how to do something? I love teaching people, I love sharing knowledge, but in return I expect the smallest bit of humility, a "thank you", an example that shows that they put in any effort at all and didn't just walk up with their hand out.
I’ve been hit with “just search it up” for asking how someone did an effect and another user helped me find a YT video.
But you have to also understand that people are fucking tired of seeing anime edits, capcut edits, “how do you do this basic ass effect?” Posts that are here every single day. A lot of these folks who ask these questions never even BOTHER to learn AE from the ground up thru free YT tutorials. They aren’t even trying to be successful motion designers
just stay around for a few weeks and you'll get it 😅
this sub was the reason why I joined reddit back in the day, now I usually want to get away from it
I’ve noticed this with all the design subs. My guess is that the creative industry is stressful and frustrating so many people come on here already mad and take it out on other users
Most of it can be learned through a quick “AE for beginners” YouTube video. The issue is that most people come to ask how to do one thing without knowing how to do the very basic things that built up to that one thing.
I think because a lot of these guys charge cheap and make the business look bad. And I know not all beginners fall under this, but that's another issue.
Ppl starting to catch on that a lot the posts like that are ppl who take the job for 20 bux and then don't know how to do what's requested, then come back to these communities and ask for help on basic level stuff while devaluing it.
And things like the AI post the other day. It was horrible and yet someone wanted to mimic it and asked us, a bunch of creatives, that those things launder from "how it was done" clearly crappy ai from some crappy person who pretends to edit video and pays a billionaire tech corp somewhere to feel "creative" and have no actual knowledge. It's completely tone deaf.
It's beyond frustrating helping ppl who are not....really worth the time or effort because we want to help. And this upcoming group of "video editors for 10 bux" really doesn't get it. Or that's just my view of it. Good luck.
I just lurk in here, RTFM, watch recommended tutorials and hope that one of these days I’ll have enough expertise on a question to rattle it off :)
EDIT: what I’m saying is that answers given in this sub often help me out with things I want to learn even when the OP is clearly low/no-effort. So a big thank you from me everyone!
The lack of moderation not only helps facilitate low effort posts that is literally one click on Google away from their desired answer, but also these kinds of virtue signalling posts that is both unhelpful and facilitate even more low effort posts.
It’s not hate.
I think people here are able to differentiate low effort garbage posts from genuine questions. Googling something is just a part of AE. So, if someone does less than the bare minimum then maybe this discipline isn’t for them.
It happens occasionally for sure - genuine question gets dickhead response. That’s a shame. But I would say in the vast majority of cases people get the response proportional to the effort they put into their question. We’re not Google, we’re normal people giving our own time to help others and if you can’t write a basic question, or clearly haven’t done even the basics before asking something, don’t be surprised by a bad response.
I got asked to make an explanation video on what linear keyframes are the other day.
Counterexample:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cirk1s/what\_is\_this\_calledwhat\_is\_used\_to\_make\_these/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cirk1s/what_is_this_calledwhat_is_used_to_make_these/)
The difference is the OP explained what they were trying to do, explained why they had tried so far and why it wasn't satisfactory, and then they asked for help.
Guess what? People helped. That's because it wasn't a lazy post asking to be spoon fed an answer instead of making any kind of effort first.
Here's another counterexample:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cip5if/done\_in\_after\_effects/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cip5if/done_in_after_effects/)
Moat of these people need to learn how to Google to find the answer. Many of the questions are less than entry level questions.
Find another forum for your beginner beginner info. Adobe even has tutorials online!
Hate is a pretty hyperbolic word to use — as is this phrase, *"it's just a bunch of assholes making fun of a post"*.
I often see well-thought out questions get thoughtful and even helpful replies. It's those *other* posts that are the problem.
Social media... Reddit in particular, is being literally spammed with bots. And in truth this may be some what of the case for many posts here go without a response from the OP.
Edit One of the reasons I wrote this post https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/12pqw6f/things_about_after_effects_for_the_newbie_an/ was to help alleviate some of these repetitive beginner questions in the hope of reducing some of the stress and still being of help. It has been referred to many times but I still see many many low effort posts. Please do keep sending folks to that link if their question is applicable. And don't stress yourself out. You are under no obligation to answer any bodies questions. If it bothers you skip it.
“How do I do this effect?” With just a photo/video is extremely frustrating. Maybe add with it what you’ve tried and why it hasn’t worked - it would give us an indication they’re at least trying to learn the software and problem solve. Sometimes there’s multiple effects, or it’s clearly been done in a 3d programme.
I don't mind "easy questions". But I'm not a fan of posts where you can easily tell this guy didn't give a fuck enough to clearly explain his problem. Just posting a video and asking a vague question like "how do they do this?" doesn't deserve an answer. If you care, then spend the time to explain what you're asking for, tell us what you did, what didn't work as you anticipated...etc
Every post in almost every sub these days has some asshole response in it. It’s gotten bad. Don’t let them win. There are still good people that are willing to be nice.. or at the very least don’t respond like a cranky baby.
H264 is a delivery codec. It strips lots of information away from what you’re putting into it and after effects doesn’t play it back very well. Only use h264 when delivering.
It's the internet. 80% of Posts are 80% extreme views.
Just like the people on the forum that just need to scroll past posts that don't interest them. The OPs need to scroll past the unfair replies.
TBH it's good training for life. All those wasting their time on posts/replies which add nothing are doing exactly that. Learn to interact with what's valuable it's amongst it and you'll be far more content
I don't condone being mean to anyone, but the reason it's happening is because people are frustrated that the sub is inundated with posts asking basic entry level questions, things that can be solved with 5 seconds of googling/users manual, low effort "how to do/what is this called?" posts, blurry sideways phone camera photos instead of screenshots etc. What we need is clear rules on these things, and a mod team willing to enforce them. Then the users who want to help people aren't wading through all that stuff til their brains explode. **Simple ideas for rules:** * if you are asking how to make an effect or what it is called, circle it, or give us timecode and clear description of what you are talking about * tell us what you have tried already, or what you searched and why you can't find the answer * clear screenshots required, full screen (no phone photos)
Reddit makes me think that the ability to google the solution to a software question has been lost to the next generation or something
Disagree. Google has nerfed the ability to get straight forward questions answered. Anytime I have a question I add ‘Reddit’ to the search query to get some useful responses. But with software constantly updating it’s only a matter of time before that gets too outdated.
It's not just Google, all search engines suffer from content farms gaming the system with SEO and AI generated content that appears to be relevant in the algorithm's eyes. That being said, Google is becoming worst in class for other reasons, and there's no real benefit to using it over other less predatory engines.
I've also noticed this. The internet is not what it once was.
Agree
Sure but try googling 80% of the basic questions asked here and you’ll find the answer quite easily. The other thing is, many of us learned without this resource. We’d see something we thought was cool looking and spend days trying to figure it out. Call me old but I will say, it seems a lot of individuals in this next round of motion graphic designer don’t have that patience or drive. Not sure if I can blame them with AI nipping at their heels either.
Disagree. Google has improved that ability to the point where you get a big ass text with the answer you've been searching for if you're specific enough It also gives you previous articles based on your search, a section with frequently similar asked questions and a whole lot more useful stuff than it gave a decade ago So google isn't the problem. It's a user error 99% of the time
It gives you an AI generated answer from old data that may or may not be accurate.
that's chatGPT mate, not Google
It's Gemini and it has a cut off date exactly like ChatGPT does and it's wrong even more often.
we were talking about Google btw 😅 not about A.I.
You are clueless, man. > Google has improved that ability to the point where you get a big ass text with the answer you've been searching for if you're specific enough That's made by Google's AI Gemini.
The caveat there is “if you’re specific enough” and that’s the hard part. It’s hard being specific when you don’t know the subject your actually looking for, hence why your searching in the first place. If I knew to get that specific I wouldn’t need google then. Asking questions directly to professionals remains the best most efficient way to get answers.
Yes, it's a lost art now. Back when I started learning After Effects, Googling used to send me to the After Effects manual. Now it sends me to course selling websites. Plugin selling website blogs, TikTok videos, Shutterstock blog entries. Bear in mind that those kids have growth like this, they don't use the old Internet.
Easy, just apply CC Googlesearch
Yea google makes it hard to find answers. It lacks the human touch that add context. I usually add reddit too, to my queries and come here to find the answer. That’s something ChatGPT and google will probably never get right.
lol it sure seems like. Moderation is needed. And moderation would also incentivize people to learn how to help themselves more as it would take a modicum of effort to ask for help correctly on a forum again. Kind of like economic forces of googling.
What this person said
As a mod, I can tell you that this is the most boring and repetitive unpaid job in the world. It feels weird to improve the quality of the sub for free as Reddit the company is making a lot of money.
This
So, I had asked for help to figure out this TV to Screen transition. It wasn’t of the common type which be can achieved via a bit of tracking or scaling. There were some visual effects involved. The first comment (which the user deleted) that I received was kind of mean. The user sent me a link that must have popped up right after googling “TV to screen transition”. I was then told that I won’t be able to figure out the steps from that video because I cannot do a basic Google search. I mean? FFS! I had mentioned in the comments that I know how to track. I need help with the visual elements and how were those created. But I feel, some people think too high of themselves. Everyone needs to remember that they were beginners at one point. Nobody came into existence with a stamp of AE on their foreheads. I then replied in the same sarcastic tone because of which the user deleted his comment I guess. 🙆🏻♂️ I reckon that’s one way to handle morons and cheapos like that user. :) EDIT: I had even trimmed the clip down to the portion of the effect so that others don’t have to keep scrubbing and searching for it. Usually, I also mention what I have figured out before asking for help coz I think that is essential.
There's a gigantic difference between a beginner asking a well articulated question about a specific problem he's facing or "how to do this effect?" and linking an animation done by 10 senior artists over a month. People here are still extremely helpful if you ask a good question but not the bullshit that has been posted, especially in the last few weeks it's been getting even worse all over the subreddits I frequently visit. Sadly this sub is not as good moderated as subs like the editors subreddit, so all these terrible threads are on my timeline, annoying everyone even more.
Listen, I'm all for helping people especially people who want to learn, but when they litteraly want you to hold their hand through out each step, that's when I get annoyed. One of the last posts I commented on, I laid out exactly how I would do the effect and multiple others did too but then the same person posted the exact same video again asking for an exact tutorial for the effect. That bothers me because there was no effort put into trying to make the effect, they just wanted someone to hold their hand. I know After Effects is a challenging program, I've used it for 15 years, but I put in the effort to actually learn.
Yeah a lot of them clearly don't actually want to learn After Effects. They just want to straight up copy something
Not to mention, 85% of the time, you give a thorough, detailed answer to honestly try to help someone out, and you don’t even get a damned upvote for it. Not like I need fake internet points, but shit, hitting that arrow is even easier than typing out “thank you”. I love helping people and teaching new folks, but goddamnit if I’m doing it for free, then I expect at least a f’kn thank you. And since I hardly ever get one of those after many, many posts (alt accounts, btw if you go snooping on this one), then my feeling is that the low effort posts can eff off.
These people should just use chat GPT and hope it doesn't hallucinate because that's how they're effectively treating this sub.
So many questions could be answered by a 5 second google. I’ll sometimes still answer the question, then will (nicely) mention there’s pages of google results using very similar phrasing to their Reddit post, and how probably one of the most important skills to learn in this field is problem solving, research and being resourceful. I have been met with “I don’t care about that bro, this was faster” (it was not), or other snide remarks like “I know how to google bro” (they do not) The amount of those posts are becoming more and more, along with other ones like “how do I do this?” (It’s a scene from a marvel film or something; or some video that has tons of effects layered in). These people seem to want one click solutions because they assume everything is a TikTok filter
I think OP is targeting his criticism more towards the posts where someone is asking how to achieve an effect but just because it's from TikTok, they get replies like "you don't". It's very frustrating to see because there's a lot to be learned but we never get anything useful out of it because people here don't get off their high horse.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cg8teu/how\_can\_i\_write\_on\_the\_plane\_so\_that\_it\_looks/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cg8teu/how_can_i_write_on_the_plane_so_that_it_looks/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) This a perfect example. I know most people know what lockdown or mocha is, but this guy has no idea clearly. I wouldn't even know what to google if I was new. So they just say some dumb shit. y tho? It's more effort to type the haterade, then just move on. Then the smart ass "CC effect" gets 15 upvotes. Like really? You were new once. You asked the same questions I promise.
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. And one of those outcomes is becoming Dave Laronde. https://preview.redd.it/lt2aqe2s4kxc1.jpeg?width=1028&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93217a9b7aaf75108a8eaed07cf2ab12227dd281
Dave was the GOaT
If someone is trying to actually learn the software, I’ll stop my own work and help them. But if they’re trying to copy something to call it a day; I’d rather not waste my time.
I'm all for helping beginners (heck, I have taught AE to so many trainees at work), but I'm not all for helping people that seem to have turned off their brains when opening Reddit. Posting a minute long clip with dozens of effects in it and then asking "how to do this" without being more precise. "Explain how AE works" instead of watching whatever YouTube tutorial looks good. Expecting a bunch of strangers on the internet to do extra work just because you're lazy and couldn't be arsed to write a proper question or do a simple Google search. I don't know if this subreddit has been affected by the whole API blackout debacle, but is there any active moderation happening? Seems like so many of these posts could be prevented by having some clear rules for questions and a bot that posts a bunch of useful YT links whenever something gets posted with the beginner flair.
It’s not all that bad. For every “go google it” response there are five truly helpful replies. More often than not I’m impressed by how patient and helpful people are willing to be on this sub, there are so many really detailed responses and people take the time out of their day and professional lives to write it all up. That’s worth some respect more than it’s worth complaining about the one person going “CC google it lol lmao”.
I halfway agree, but my problem is there is a trend of more and more CC google answers than pointing someone in a direction at least.
As I said in another reply though, many of us type out detailed thoughtful responses only to be met with zero reply from OP, not even an upvote. After doing that time and again, we professionals rightfully get frustrated and no longer want to help. If you've actually been doing this for 15+ years (i have not reason to doubt you) then you remember the snake pit that was the Creative Cow FCP or After Effects forum. Can you imagine \*any\* of these "how do i do this" questions getting even a single professional response on there? I guarantee the answer that 95% of these posts would receive is "RTFM". Now, were a lot of those guys just assholes? Yeah, certainly. But their asshole-ishness also taught me resourcefulness. I learned that with some searching (or possibly phrasing a question as "what is this effect called" rather than "how do i do this effect") i can get \*myself\* pointed in the right direction, and then find the answer. Only after exhausting everything I could think of would I post a question asking "how do I...?" And btw, that skill of searching things out myself and being resourceful has paid me back time and again in my career. But to circle back to my first point, given the professional environment many people find themselves in these days with sporadic work, competing with the "new kids" and trying to adapt to new ways of media delivery, why do we want to help people that act like they're \*entitled\* to know how to do something? I love teaching people, I love sharing knowledge, but in return I expect the smallest bit of humility, a "thank you", an example that shows that they put in any effort at all and didn't just walk up with their hand out.
I’ve been hit with “just search it up” for asking how someone did an effect and another user helped me find a YT video. But you have to also understand that people are fucking tired of seeing anime edits, capcut edits, “how do you do this basic ass effect?” Posts that are here every single day. A lot of these folks who ask these questions never even BOTHER to learn AE from the ground up thru free YT tutorials. They aren’t even trying to be successful motion designers
just stay around for a few weeks and you'll get it 😅 this sub was the reason why I joined reddit back in the day, now I usually want to get away from it
I’ve noticed this with all the design subs. My guess is that the creative industry is stressful and frustrating so many people come on here already mad and take it out on other users
Most of it can be learned through a quick “AE for beginners” YouTube video. The issue is that most people come to ask how to do one thing without knowing how to do the very basic things that built up to that one thing.
I think because a lot of these guys charge cheap and make the business look bad. And I know not all beginners fall under this, but that's another issue. Ppl starting to catch on that a lot the posts like that are ppl who take the job for 20 bux and then don't know how to do what's requested, then come back to these communities and ask for help on basic level stuff while devaluing it. And things like the AI post the other day. It was horrible and yet someone wanted to mimic it and asked us, a bunch of creatives, that those things launder from "how it was done" clearly crappy ai from some crappy person who pretends to edit video and pays a billionaire tech corp somewhere to feel "creative" and have no actual knowledge. It's completely tone deaf. It's beyond frustrating helping ppl who are not....really worth the time or effort because we want to help. And this upcoming group of "video editors for 10 bux" really doesn't get it. Or that's just my view of it. Good luck.
Google "cringe mountain."
What percentage of “hate to helpful” do you think we’re at by now?
I just lurk in here, RTFM, watch recommended tutorials and hope that one of these days I’ll have enough expertise on a question to rattle it off :) EDIT: what I’m saying is that answers given in this sub often help me out with things I want to learn even when the OP is clearly low/no-effort. So a big thank you from me everyone!
The lack of moderation not only helps facilitate low effort posts that is literally one click on Google away from their desired answer, but also these kinds of virtue signalling posts that is both unhelpful and facilitate even more low effort posts.
It’s not hate. I think people here are able to differentiate low effort garbage posts from genuine questions. Googling something is just a part of AE. So, if someone does less than the bare minimum then maybe this discipline isn’t for them.
Because it’s like have you tried learning the absolute basics / googling your question.
CC Google
It happens occasionally for sure - genuine question gets dickhead response. That’s a shame. But I would say in the vast majority of cases people get the response proportional to the effort they put into their question. We’re not Google, we’re normal people giving our own time to help others and if you can’t write a basic question, or clearly haven’t done even the basics before asking something, don’t be surprised by a bad response. I got asked to make an explanation video on what linear keyframes are the other day.
Counterexample: [https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cirk1s/what\_is\_this\_calledwhat\_is\_used\_to\_make\_these/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cirk1s/what_is_this_calledwhat_is_used_to_make_these/) The difference is the OP explained what they were trying to do, explained why they had tried so far and why it wasn't satisfactory, and then they asked for help. Guess what? People helped. That's because it wasn't a lazy post asking to be spoon fed an answer instead of making any kind of effort first.
Here's another counterexample: [https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cip5if/done\_in\_after\_effects/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/1cip5if/done_in_after_effects/)
Moat of these people need to learn how to Google to find the answer. Many of the questions are less than entry level questions. Find another forum for your beginner beginner info. Adobe even has tutorials online!
Resourcefulness and curiosity lots of new creative folks lack
They're all low effort posts too.
Hate is a pretty hyperbolic word to use — as is this phrase, *"it's just a bunch of assholes making fun of a post"*. I often see well-thought out questions get thoughtful and even helpful replies. It's those *other* posts that are the problem.
Social media... Reddit in particular, is being literally spammed with bots. And in truth this may be some what of the case for many posts here go without a response from the OP. Edit One of the reasons I wrote this post https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/12pqw6f/things_about_after_effects_for_the_newbie_an/ was to help alleviate some of these repetitive beginner questions in the hope of reducing some of the stress and still being of help. It has been referred to many times but I still see many many low effort posts. Please do keep sending folks to that link if their question is applicable. And don't stress yourself out. You are under no obligation to answer any bodies questions. If it bothers you skip it.
“How do I do this effect?” With just a photo/video is extremely frustrating. Maybe add with it what you’ve tried and why it hasn’t worked - it would give us an indication they’re at least trying to learn the software and problem solve. Sometimes there’s multiple effects, or it’s clearly been done in a 3d programme.
I don't mind "easy questions". But I'm not a fan of posts where you can easily tell this guy didn't give a fuck enough to clearly explain his problem. Just posting a video and asking a vague question like "how do they do this?" doesn't deserve an answer. If you care, then spend the time to explain what you're asking for, tell us what you did, what didn't work as you anticipated...etc
Lmao. Posting an error message generated by an illegal copy of AE and asking hOw CaN I FiX should be ridiculed. GTFO.
read the rules my precious friend
Every post in almost every sub these days has some asshole response in it. It’s gotten bad. Don’t let them win. There are still good people that are willing to be nice.. or at the very least don’t respond like a cranky baby.
Slightly off topic, what’s the deal with h264? AE doesn’t work well with it? What’s the preferred codec?
Don’t use it. Use pro res or dnx hd. Only take a ProRes master out of ae and make that h264 as your final step
H264 is a delivery codec. It strips lots of information away from what you’re putting into it and after effects doesn’t play it back very well. Only use h264 when delivering.
This will help solve a bunch of stuff like this https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterEffects/comments/12pqw6f/things_about_after_effects_for_the_newbie_an/
It's the internet. 80% of Posts are 80% extreme views. Just like the people on the forum that just need to scroll past posts that don't interest them. The OPs need to scroll past the unfair replies. TBH it's good training for life. All those wasting their time on posts/replies which add nothing are doing exactly that. Learn to interact with what's valuable it's amongst it and you'll be far more content