Motion Graphics Tutorials For Video Editors
Being able to design and create motion graphics that work in your edit is a great skill to have, these resources will help you get there.
As an editor, producers and directors will often ask you if you ‘know After Effects’, by which they mean can you add in some simple animations here or some fancy graphic overlays there. If you can deliver the goods they’ll love you for it.
Personally I find the design process much harder than the technical process of making things move but this round up of resources should help you on both fronts. Although most of the resources in this post focus on Adobe After Effects or Apple Motion you can still apply the concepts and techniques in many other applications.
In the tutorial above Angie Taylor from Video2Brain talks you through some of the essential basics for working with text in your video project in three packed minutes.
Post highlights include (click to jump to each section):
| 1. Simple Motion Graphics Techniques for Editors
2. How to Create a Zoom Out from Space Effect 3. TV Glitch and Particle Effects |
Simple Motion Graphics Techniques For Editors
In this excellent short tutorial, Joe Fellows – a UK based graphics artist, demonstrates how to create a 2.5D parallax effect on your still images. A simple way to spruce up your edit. In the tutorial Joe references a stunning sequence he created for WWF using this technique which was racked up over 500,000 views after becoming a Vimeo Staff Pick:
How to Create a Zoom Out from Space Effect
Another popular effect is that of the ”huge zoom out” or the ‘Cosmic Zoom Out‘ as the chaps from MacBreak Studio describe it in this Motion tutorial. To create the same effect in After Effects check out this tutorial from Andrew Kramer that has been viewed over 2.7 million times!
TV Glitch & Particle Effects
Simon Ubsdell demonstrates how to create a TV glitch/interference effect in Motion 5 from scratch. A common effect but nice to be able to fully customise it yourself. In the next tutorial Simon demonstrates how to create a particle collision, which also involves a custom lens flare. Understanding these techniques would come in handy for many a title sequence.
In the following tutorial After Effects guru Andrew Kramer from Video CoPilot demonstrates a simple but useful effect for adding a selective glow to a particular color. A useful way to highlight key areas of an image, or just explosions!
Motion Graphics Inspiration – Apple Intro Animation
If you watched the Apple Developer’s Conference Keynote earlier this year you will have seen this amazing piece of animation design work. In this short tutorial from the Macbreak Studio guys you can learn some vital things about mimicking this look in Apple’s Motion 5. The next tutorial demonstrates how to use Newton, the physics simulation plugin that design studio Buck used to create parts of the spot.
Making The Most of After Effects Latest Features
In this tutorial motion graphics artist and trainer John Dickinson demonstrates what’s new in After Effects 12.1 and in the tutorial below some of the useful new features in Adobe CC. If you’re new to After Effects after subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud then these should give you a taster of what you’ve got at your fingertips.
Discover the Latest Features in After Effects
If you’re after even more resources fellow PremiumBeat writer, Clay Asbury has put together some excellent posts that will furnish you with even more places to learn more about motion graphics:
