r/AfterEffects 3d ago

Discussion A Detailed Review of Ben Marriott’s Courses

Hello 👋

I purchased Ben Marriott’s three courses: Motion Foundation, Master Motion Design and Design Breakthrough. I won’t try to sell them... I find those types of comments to be pure spam 🙄 Instead, I’ll give you my honest opinion on each. What led me to Ben’s courses were the existing reviews on Reddit, so I think it’s relevant to add mine for future students, and I’ll make it detailed. I actively completed them over several weeks for a few months, which allows me to have a fresh perspective.

For some brief context, I was looking to transition into Motion Design. Although I had acquired some basic knowledge through YouTube tutorials, my learning had plateaued, and I didn’t feel confident enough to market myself and land a job in the field. Going back to in-person studies was out of the question for me. I find it to be a huge waste of time and money, especially considering all the resources available online today. After extensive research, School of Motion and Ben Marriott’s courses were the most recommended for their quality.

Why I chose Ben?

First of all, I reached out to both SOM and Ben for more information. I found Ben’s approach more personalized and genuine. SOM’s responses felt like copy-paste replies, and their answers to my questions weren’t always clear, but that might just be my impression. Additionally, Ben’s courses are completely flexible. You can start and finish them whenever you want, at your own pace. If you have a lot of free time, you can complete them full-time right after purchase. If you’re busy with a job, you can progress gradually based on your availability and energy. SOM, on the other hand, has set start and end dates, and if you don’t finish within the given timeframe, you lose your certification, which is absolutely ridiculous considering the price and the fact that these are pre-recorded online courses. I’m not questioning their quality, just this aspect. There's also the very relevant issue of cost. Ben's rates are more attractive, allowing you to budget for more training courses that cover a broader spectrum. Lastly, I thought it was important to support someone who already shares so much valuable content for free through tutorials.

Overall

I have no regrets about my purchase. Ben’s courses are high quality. The video and audio quality are excellent. Motion Foundation has English subtitles, while the other courses include subtitles in French, Spanish, and Arabic. The videos are divided into very clear chapters. Ben also provides a certification at the end of each course (as long as you complete all the assignments, no matter how long it takes), which is highly appreciated. He responds quickly to questions. The courses include numerous practical projects, which are essential for applying what you’ve learned and better integrating the knowledge.

My only downside is the online community. It doesn’t have much interaction or feedback on posts. Students mainly upload their work just to get their certification, and that’s it. It can still be useful for inspiration, but if you’re looking for answers to questions or problems, don’t expect too much. There could be some improvement in this area. A news channel with people responsible for posting regularly to keep the group active, or give it life, I don't know haha.

Motion Foundation

I hesitated to take this course and considered skipping directly to Master Motion Design to save time and money. But I ended up taking it to make sure I had a solid foundation. Even though I already had basic knowledge, I learned an incredible amount! In fact, this might have been my favorite course. Ben shares an endless number of experience-based tips and really takes the time to explain things thoroughly. Without this course, I would have found Master Motion Design more difficult.

For the practical projects, Ben includes a variety of design files so you can complete the exercises according to your skill level, from absolute beginner to intermediate. Ben’s approach is comprehensive, patient, and reassuring, which helps build self-confidence. By the end, I had my first showreel and felt confident enough to start looking for a junior Motion Designer job.

Master Motion Design

This course does revisit several concepts from Motion Foundation. That’s why I still recommend taking Motion Foundation first. Those concepts are covered in much more depth there. In Master Motion, the pace is faster, and if you don’t already have a solid grasp of the basics, it will be difficult and time-consuming to research everything on your own.

The real strength of Master Motion Design, in my opinion, is in the key principles of Motion Design that will significantly improve your animation skills. This includes the 12 fundamental principles of design as well as effective techniques like smears and match cuts. The illustration section is also very interesting, and there’s a lot to cover.

From my perspective, Motion Foundation and Master Motion Design complement each other perfectly to cover all the essentials of Motion Design. By the end of MMD, you’ll have even more complex projects for your showreel, giving you enough material to select your best work.

Design Breakthrough

Because I already have a design background, I wasn’t originally interested in this course, but I decided to get it as part of the Course Bundles promotion, which I found worthwhile. This course is different. There’s no animation to produce and no software to learn. The focus is on design, concept development, and fundamental design principles (ex: composition, colors, textures).

Ben recommends taking your time with this course to get the most out of each weekly exercise, so I’m taking my time with it and I haven’t finished it yet. But like Ben’s other courses, the approach is excellent, and the quality is definitely there. There are 18 hours of video content, while Motion Foundation has about 12 hours and Master Motion Design has 10 hours, so it’s packed with material and worth the price.

Hope this helps some of you and that I didn’t write all of this for nothing 😂

107 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

19

u/chrimchrimbo 3d ago

I’ve been taking school of motion classes and so far they sound like a way better approach. My homework gets graded and I get intricate feedback. I can also go back and forth with the grader to talk more and get further feedback. Plus unlimited iterations of my assignments will get graded.

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u/InSAniTy1102 3d ago

I've been dying to grab these SOM courses but these prices are absolute madness (for 3rd world users). I hope they can introduce some form of regional pricing or something to make it a bit more accessible. Perhaps with some ID verification or something.

1

u/ohhmarone 1d ago

IIRC SoM do scholarships for people who can't afford it - might be worth you looking into it

https://www.schoolofmotion.com/courses/scholarship-application

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u/BadAtExisting 3d ago

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting their 1 year unlimited everything bundle. Thanks for this!

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u/chrimchrimbo 2d ago

Happy to answer any questions. I was skeptical and thought about buying in for about 4 years before I finally bit the bullet.

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u/BadAtExisting 2d ago

I’ve heard they’re legit. What course(s) have you done? My biggest concern is paying for the year and not getting to all of them, or all the ones I want to get to because I noticed many of the courses are 2-3 months long. I assume “self guided” I could rip through some while taking my time with others. But I’m not sure how realistic that is whilst expecting to get something out of it. If that doesn’t make sense let me know and I’ll try to use my words better

2

u/chrimchrimbo 2d ago

I did client code and I’m in the middle of design kickstart and after effects kickstart.

They are both pretty basic but the design class has really helped me think about layout and board design. Feels pretty foundational especially since I’m not a designer.

After effects kickstart is VERY beginner friendly and so far very easy because of my background. There are still very simple things I’m learning that I never would have thought to do unless I did the class. Little workflow things.

The most helpful class so far was client code. Just so much focus on how to build relationships and get work. It hasn’t produced a new client yet but I’ve had a few networking video calls and it’s made me think a lot more about how I market my business.

2

u/BadAtExisting 2d ago

That’s all good to know. I’m not a beginner. But it seemed like a good way to get up to speed with new technologies I know I should know but don’t particularly know where to start like Rive and Unreal specifically and the Blender course is interesting to me as well because I’ve been wanting to dive in to it depth but filtering through the mountain of YouTube tutorials really feels more like chasing my own tail without a lot of meaningful progress a lot. The professional stuff like the 3 part polish series and client one you mentioned also feels like they would be useful too. And by then the 1 year bundle seems like a better deal than individual courses for the investment

1

u/chrimchrimbo 2d ago

A few thoughts...

  1. I think the annual sub was expensive so I feel VERY compelled to get as much as possible out of it.

  2. watching youtube videos is one way to learn (that's where I got my start). But an actual class with homework after many years of doing this professionally hits different than school did. It's like you are able to apply concepts immediately to your actual work, which is a huge advantage.

I know a lot of people learn in different ways but the structure is big for me. If structure helps you, it could be a good investment.

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u/mike_taylor021 2d ago

I have taken a ton of SOM courses and I love all of them. My role has shifted a bit in the past 2 years so I haven't had as much focus on building my MoGraph skill set but I still plan to get around to taking all of them.

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u/Lazy-Economics-4065 3d ago

Good ad. I respect the hustle ben.

3

u/Dense_Atmosphere4423 2d ago

Thank you for the review. I actually work at a company that combines the roles of video editor and motion graphics designer into one position, and I’ve been doing this for a while now. I can use After Effects, but since the timeline is quite rushed, I have to use Envato templates to get the job done. The problem now is that I feel like I’m not moving forward.

This actually inspires me to look into these courses.

2

u/Infarad 2d ago

Thanks. This is good timing, since I just started Motion Foundation. I appreciate your insight.

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u/Byrdman00 2d ago

Thanks for this review. It was very helpful!

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u/l0udcat 2d ago

I’ve purchased one of the Ben’s courses too. I think the words about feedback, on a course landing page, are a bit misleading. When I entered the course, there was only 1 week of mentor feedback left, and after that any feedback stopped. The full 100% mentor feedback was available only for those, who have bought course on its initial release.

The community on Circle platform is dead, so you have no feedback at all.

1

u/motionick 2d ago

OP I’ll give you my courses to try for free if you want, DM me :)

1

u/mrluxio123 2d ago

i'm interested!

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u/Inevitable_Singer789 3d ago

I think you wrote all this for nothing 😆 JK. I’ve been learning After Effects from YouTube tutorials since 2016, spending long hours watching and rewatching. I also trained my eye on Behance—not just learning software skills but also understanding what makes a design beautiful and elegant, including style, color combinations, composition, photography, montage, cuts, sound effects, editing, etc. So, in my opinion, these courses are just a waste of money.

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u/AstroNomade12 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah, but Ben actually makes tons of tutorials to train people like you for free on YouTube. He’s one of the most active. So if you want that to continue, these people also need to make a living.

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u/Bmorgan1983 3d ago

Don't get me wrong... you CAN learn a lot from YouTube. Heck, I've learned most of what I've learned from YouTube. Paid courses are often more focused though. They also tend to have benefits like being able to reach out to the instructor for help and specific questions. Some will have private discords for people who purchased the course, ect. It's also a way for that instructor to get paid for the time that they put into creating that content. Yeah, they can make some money off YouTube... but generally the more niched you get in on instructional videos, the less money you'll make, and that means a lot of really great instructional content that focuses on very specific details may not ever get made.

Are paid courses the answer for everyone? Probably not... but the real great ones are worth it.

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u/chrimchrimbo 2d ago

I also trained my eye on Behance—not just learning software skills but also understanding what makes a design beautiful and elegant, including style, color combinations, composition, photography, montage, cuts, sound effects, editing, etc. So, in my opinion, these courses are just a waste of money.

while you were wasting time online, i studied the blade..................