welcome
plan is to learn more about animation & motion graphics. We'll work with:
- After Effects
- Touch Designer
- and maybe some Blender or Unreal Engine
- plus, web animation, as always
- Figma for ideation and sharing
- Capyskills for improving our academic and personal skills
Start by going through this Adobe site from the UK.
Be ready to share some ideas of what you would like to learn.
motion graphics Github repository
proposed projects ( 50% of final mark )
- week 1: motion graphics web page i.e. [...].582futura.com/mg1/ ( /10 )
- week 2: Capyskills plan / SMART goals, mentor group
- weeks 1-4: motion graphics inspo ( 3/week for 4 weeks = 12 examples with comments ) ( /25 )
- week 2: titles & credits for a past premiere project. ( or lower thirds ) ( /25 )
- week 3: logo animation ( /25 )
- week 5: "Disney" animation story / sequence ( /50 )
- ?? particles?
- ?? 3d & 3d camera animation
- weeks 6-9: Touch Designer project ( /50 )
- weeks 9-12: personal motion graphics project ( /100 LIA )
- week 15: Capyskills summary ( /10 )
- week 15: demo reel publication ( /10 )
proposed exercises
- 1.1 /mg1/ homepage
- 1.2 Figma setup
- 1.3 keyframe exercise
- 1.4 masking exercise
- 1.5 track matte
- 1.6 tracking
- 1.7 animate effects (text)
- 1.8 expressions
Figma setup 1.2
set up a Figma team with the following:
- your name i.e. Motion Graphics: Mickey
- organized to easily locate your exercises & projects
- organized to easily locate your Capyskills stuff
- link to your Figma from your homepage
due: week 2 (September 2-4)
1.3 keyframe animation
Create keyframe animations exploring Disney principles of animation including:
- timing & easing ( in & out )
- weight and physics
- anticipation
- follow through / overlapping action
- squash & stretch
- exaggeration and secondary effects
- story and staging
submission
- export as a movie, upload to YouTube or Vimeo or possibly Vidyard, link to your "mg1/" web page.
- upload your .aep file to your motion-graphics repository
- add to your Figma, with a well-labelled, easy to find title / page name / frame name etc.
due: week 2 / August 31st
changes for github
mg1 github delete
create / update your GitHub repositories
you should use GitHub for version control and backup of your 582futura.com websites and your motion-graphics working files.
- login to GitHub and create a new repository (unless you are still connected to your old one )
- in VSC, login to github / copilot and clone your repository (repositories)
1.3 masking exercise
Create a mask animation.
Your animation should:
- animate the content
- animate the mask
- apply some of Disney's animation principles
- have your name in the composition
- add descriptions / labels, helpful information
Submit your project:
- as a video on Vimeo or YouTube
- linked or embedded from your website
- link to .aep in your repository
- add link / info in your Figma
due: week 2 / September 3rd
mg1 github delete
1.4 track matte
create a track matte animation
Your animation should:
- show off your track matte skills
- animate the mask
- apply some of Disney's animation principles
- name, title, info etc... as usual
Submit your project as usual
due: week 4 during class
1.5 tracking
This one will require ideation & planning
Using Figma, Premiere, After Effects and possibly Audition:
- find inspo
- come up with a creative idea
- add a description & info
- sketch out your idea / storyboard
- film & edit your video in Premiere
- add tracking vfx in After Effects
- name, title, info etc... as usual
Submit your project as usual
due: week 4?
Bruce's inspo
see 2025 MG1 repository for AE file with principles of animation
Capyskills summary
summarize your work on Capyskills including the following:
- Capyskills you have worked on.
- code & title i.e. VA.1.1 Generate ideas for a design project
- your initial levels & present levels
- link to your evidence, plan & validation
- link to your badge profile
due: week 15
2025 demo reels
motion graphics examples from a2024
some inspo^
Disney Principles
While Disney outlined 12 principles of animation here are the main 4 that apply to After Effects
- timing & easing ( in & out )
- weight and physics
- anticipation
- follow through / overlapping action
- squash & stretch
- exaggeration and secondary effects
- story and staging
After Effects ideas
- Basic Motion Graphics:
- Creating simple text animations (e.g., text appearing, fading, or bouncing).
- Experimenting with shape layers to create basic animated graphics.
Intro to Keyframes:
- Understanding keyframes and the timeline.
- Animating position, scale, rotation, and opacity of objects.
Logo Animation:
- Importing a logo and creating a short animation for it (e.g., rotating, scaling, or revealing effects).
- Adding motion blur for a more polished look.
Basic Effects and Presets:
- Applying built-in effects and presets to layers.
- Experimenting with color correction, blur, and glow effects.
- text effects: https://blog.motionisland.com/after-effects-presets-text-animation/
Title and Lower Thirds:
- Designing and animating a simple title or lower third for videos.
- Using shape layers and text tools to create dynamic and professional-looking titles.
Masking and Rotoscoping:
- Learning to use masks for revealing or hiding parts of layers.
- Basic rotoscoping techniques to isolate subjects in a video.
Simple Transitions:
- Creating smooth transitions between clips using effects like wipes, fades, and zooms.
- Experimenting with custom transitions using shape layers and keyframes.
2D Character Animation:
- Importing character illustrations and animating them using puppet tools.
- Basic lip-sync animation for character dialogues.
Motion Tracking:
- Using the motion tracking feature to track an object in a video.
- Applying effects or text that follows the tracked object.
Visual Effects Compositing:
- Combining multiple video layers to create a simple visual effect (e.g., adding fire or rain to a scene).
- Basic green screen keying to composite subjects onto different backgrounds.
- Stylizing with effects like glitch, noise, motion blur
- time remapping / ramping?
Intro to Expressions:
- Using simple expressions to automate animations (e.g., looping animations, linking properties).
- Understanding basic scripting to enhance motion graphics.
Creating Animated Infographics:
- Designing and animating charts, graphs, and data visualizations.
- Using shape layers and text to present data in an engaging way.
Intro to 3D Layers:
- Exploring 3D layers and the camera tool.
- Creating a simple 3D scene with animated camera movement.
Kinetic Typography:
- Creating dynamic text animations synced with audio.
- Experimenting with different text effects and animations.
Simple Particle Effects:
- Using particle systems to create effects like snow, rain, or sparks.
- Adjusting particle properties for different visual outcomes.
change just for github.