Chapter one: exploring motion graphics in After Effects
On my first day, I am introduced to my first rotation being motion graphics. Upon the introduction, we were also introduced to the program, Adobe After Effects.
However, before turning on the computers, we were asked to close our eyes, and think of ourselves as a shape. How do we look? How do we move, what does the shape sound like?
I was slightly struggling at first, but then I realised that it didn’t necessarily have to be a regular shape like a triangle, it could technically be any form of a shape, regular or irregular.
We were then asked to sketch a couple rough ideas of our shape (image below), and I would say I’m quite content with how I drew it.
We were also asked to draw the shape of someone we like or are friends with, so I picked my partner; steady and swift in pace, constantly fluctuating with bursts of different particles.
And lastly to someone we don’t like, so I described the shape as bulky and stubborn, constantly trying to draw attention by moving in heavy drawn out steps. And it actually made a lot of sense.
After the shapes were drawn, we were then tasked to learn and follow through the program after effects, and create a 5 second animation outcome out of it with our shape. A somewhat representation of our personality or who we are.
Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc.
It is used in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among other things, After Effects can be used for keying, tracking, compositing, and animation
Am I familiar/do I have any experience with After Effects?: Yes, actually I do have some prior experience to the program, though not in the aspect of animation.
I used to edit a lot of my favourite film and tv series in a variety of ways through transitions, music etc. So my previous experience, specifically knowledge in graphing and understanding of keyframes has made this rotation significantly easier for me through the learning process.
Despite the fact I have had experience with after effects, I have still learned a lot of new areas of the program I’ve not yet explored.
THE SHAPE LAYER
I was aware of the shape layer, though I had never explored it that much. This was one of the first things we learned about on the program. This can be created by going to layer>shape layer. A purple layer will then be displayed in the composition, and any particular shape can be created via the shape button.
Animation on after effects can be quite handy and particularly efficient in the time it takes to create it.
For instance, when it comes to the process of digital hand drawn animation, you must draw each frame carefully, however, After effects does all the work on the in between’s for the start and end keyframe.
The only thing you need to tell after effects is to type in whatever it is you want the shape to do (whether it’s position, rotation, scale etc), and keyframe the beginning to the end product.
eg. I want to move a circle to the right, so I keyframe P for position at the beginning of the layer to mark the start, then drag another keyframe across to the end and type in the number needed to get the circle across to the right.
After effects will then automatically animate the movement, and the only thing that you need to change to your liking is the graphs, which controls the speed of the animation.
My understanding of this isn’t new, so I will talk about what I personally learned that was new for me, and sprouted some inspiration alongside new ideas.
The hand drawn line effect: Create an Instant Hand-drawn Look in After Effects (link to YouTube tutorial I followed)
I was aware of the turbulent displace effect, though I never particularly used it to my advantage at the time, nor did I properly look into it.
However, after watching the tutorial, it has opened my eyes to various new possibilities in animation I hadn’t thought of before, simply because I’d never actively considered after effects as a medium to animation.
I have made a rough few in the past, though one of the many things I thought it didn’t have was the ‘boil effect’, and that strayed me away from using it as much as procreate.
After trying out the tutorial, it made me realise I can replicate the hand drawn effect quite well, and I am now perhaps even considering trying out a couple sample animations of my own to see what kind of outcomes I could make.
Another small tip I learned myself was the ability to speed up a rotation, as well as being able to rotate it more than once. When clicking on R for rotate, there is an ‘_’ x, where you can add how many times you’d like for it to be rotated (this helped formulate my final outcome quite well).
As well as this, I learned how to animate the simple squish and stretch with the shape layer, which again had honestly flew over my head through the three years of using after effects. It again made me realise there are many aspects and possibilities to the program.
Lastly, I also realised for transitions, specifically for the shape layer, you can animate with the pen tool to morph and manipulate the shape in more detail.
Process and evaluation
For my outcome on motion graphics, I was fortunate on having a smoother process and journey into the work I created. This is because I have already had prior experience. Despite this, I still included a lot of areas into my outcome that were new and learnt primarily from the rotation. For instance, exploring the shape layer and learning how to animate it using the keyframes, as well as the anchor tool, and recreating the boil effect; a common occurrence with hand drawn or painted animations. The concept of the animation derives from the task we were given, which was describing ourselves as a shape. ‘How would we move? How would we look?’ Naturally, it would have been surprisingly easier to draw a physical character, instead of a simple shape, though I have come to believe that restricting one’s freedom could push our creativity further, because we are forced to think and make something new out of something insignificant. I am incredibly content with my outcome, because I responded to the shape I was, and animated its ‘personality’ quite accurately.
One thing I also know about myself that quite literally can correlate to a shape is the fact that I really love hats, specifically top hats. This is mainly because of an animated character named Theo I created just over a year ago, which was also prominently inspired by the fact that I am quite endeared by old music and clothes, specifically the 1960s. So, I thought I should make the shape a hat, because it does in a way represent me. This is where I used the new rotation tip to make the shapes and lines go incredibly fast, to replicate someone who really has just time travelled. I duplicated my fluctuating shape and positioned it differently each time, as well as changing the colour, to make the transition more intense and fuller of colour.
We were also asked to choose a sound, so I created my own and took advantage over the fact that I play piano and used the keys to make a build up from a C major scale. It was simple, though I believed it was quite effective for my outcome. One way I could have improved was by learning even more about the software, considering I knew a lot of what the tutorials were explaining already.
I ended up creating three different versions of ‘my shape’, though I think the first one belongs more so to a specific emotion I sometimes feel, being anxiety.
Anxious shape outcome: https://vimeo.com/904888231?share=copy
I asked my mum what her personal take on the first one was, and it actually made her feel quite uncomfortable, and uncertain, which is exactly how I feel when I do get quite anxious.
There was a particularly negative air to it, especially with the way I made the shapes move.
The second animation was simply a draft to the final outcome, though I had actually made some changes to the concept. I know I wanted it to be constantly fluctuating and out of place, though I felt like there should be a somewhat finish to it. That’s when I tried to think more about my personality, and perhaps the positive traits I know and am passionate about.
Overall, I am quite content with the outcome.
Link to final outcome: the-time traveller