Motion Graphics and Compositing: Project 1

Motion Graphics and Compositing: Project 1

22/4/2025-12/5/2025(week 1-week 4)

Yang Jiayi(0369288)

Task 1: Technical and Motion Graphics Sensibilities 

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Instructions

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Lectures

Week 2-Introduction to Motion Graphics

Motion graphics is a form of expression that combines graphic design, animation, sound and text. Its goal is not only to attract visual attention, but more importantly to effectively convey information and emotions.

Compared with traditional animation, the focus of motion graphics is the dynamic expression of text and graphics rather than character narrative.

It is widely used in advertising, movie titles, video production and information dissemination, and is a powerful tool for storytelling and communication.

Week 3-Compositing Toolkit

fig  Compositing Toolkit

Composition refers to the arrangement and organization of visual elements.

It includes basic visual elements such as lines, shapes, colors, light and shade, texture, form and space. These elements will be arranged purposefully according to the principles of art and design (such as contrast, balance, rhythm, unity, etc.) to achieve visual beauty and effectiveness of information communication.

• Unity Unity makes the work look coordinated and complete, while variety adds visual interest through contrast. The combination of the two can create a composition that is both harmonious and attractive.
• Balance Balance keeps the picture visually stable, asymmetry enhances tension, and symmetry conveys tranquility.
• Movement The sense of movement guides the flow of sight, making the picture more rhythmic and full of life.
• Rhythm The rhythm gives the picture a sense of flow like music, guiding the audience to watch the work rhythmically.
• Focus (or Emphasis) Emphasize that by highlighting the key points, the audience can have a clear focus and the picture can have more layers and direction.

• Contrast Contrast creates visual impact through differences, affecting the mood and perception of the work

fig Design principles

Week 4-Kinetic Typography

The video introduces how to use keyframes in Adobe After Effects to set the start and end points of a movement, which is a basic technique for making any animation. It also introduces how to make simple but dynamic text effects by adjusting the position, transparency, and scale of text.

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Practice

PRACTICAL: ADVANCE LAYERS, KEYFRAMING, BASIC ANIMATION

Our practice task is to collage the materials given by the teacher and make a poster first. We must create a 5 to 16 second animation using the provided elements.

This is the poster I made in Photoshop

I will first adjust the parent-level association according to the video provided by the teacher in class. Set "Building + People" as the parent, "Goldfish + Plants" as the child,and adjust the "Scale" of the parent.

fig 

I bound a bunch of sub-layers like the goldfish, buildings, and cars in the picture to the Controller, so that when the parent layer moves, the sub-layers move with it.

fig

Final product

PROJECT 1 - TECHNICAL AND MOTION GRAPHICS SENSIBILITIES

Part 1

We continue to complete the remaining principle designs based on the teacher's

fig Precomp

Symmetry

When it comes to this principle, the first thing that comes to my mind is the axial symmetry structure, where the text or graphic elements are balanced on both sides of the visual center axis.

fig Symmetry

Focus

I set keyframes for rotation, rotation 0x+19.8, to make the pattern dynamic. I added a keyframe in the first frame and rotated it in a circle at the end.

fig Focus

fig Focus

Scale

I added the most important zoom in the first second, fourth second，sixth second, and last second, making it gradually elongate from right to left, then widen upwards, and finally shrink to the right. At first,I only had one object to zoom in and out, but the picture seemed empty.Later, I started to add from one to two and then to the last four.

fig Scale

Rhythm

I used multiple shapes to create keyframes by deforming rectangles,which can form a layered rhythm. The rectangles expand and disappear one by one. I used a polyphonic graphic to create.

fig Rhythm

Part 2

We need to combine part 1 to form a 16-second combined video

Final product

Part 1

Part 2

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Reflection

Experiences

In this rhythm-focused venture, I utilized keyframes to control the visual beat of shape layers, such as darkness and scale. It was a prepare of trial and blunder, and I learned how to arrange the timing of these keyframes with the expecting disposition.   Adobe Debut Master too offers a one of a kind encounter. By connecting sublayers to parent layers, I can have different components move in adjust, which is helpful for making facilitated developments in complex scenes.

Observations

I noticed that timing and keeping things in sync were very important.  Even though the design was balanced, if the movement on each side didn’t happen at the same time or with the same smoothness, it felt unbalanced.

Findings

These exercises really helped me refresh my knowledge of motion graphics and also served as a warm-up for composition. I was able to quickly pick up previous knowledge in these exercises and apply what I learned better in subsequent projects.