Motion Graphic & Compositing: Practical Exercises



29 Aug 2022 - 26 Sept 2022 (Week 1 - Week 5)
Zetie Binti Bahaman / 0351297 / BDCM
Motion Graphics & Compositing
Practical Exercises

LECTURES

Week 1 - Lecture 1

Constructive Workflow


The first lecture was a quick introduction by our lecturer Mr Fauzi, on the overall module and his expectations. He explains that a good workflow is important to help keep us organized in meeting deadlines and managing our time with other modules on top of his. Design thinking is also applied as part of the process whereas motion graphics will be the output.

Week 2 - Lecture 2

Introduction to Motion Graphics


This week, we learned about the application of motion graphics in the real world:

-Intro Sequence
-Title Sequence
-Telling a story
-Explaining a concept

Softwares:

Adobe PS - Create double exposures, overlays
Adobe AI - Design still images, and animate them part by part

Week 3 - Lecture 3

Fundamental 3D and Digital Compositing Principles


As we attempt to begin working on Project 1, this week we learned about the importance of composition. A good composition is essential to draw viewers into our work. The elements of design have to be arranged/organised according to the principles of design.

Week 4 - Lecture 4

Kinetic Typography Fundamentals


In this video, we learned how to animate text in a typography layout. Mr Fauzi also shared a link to his workflow process and showed us a breakdown of essential animation tools and the fundamentals of keyframes.


Understanding the basics of keyframes will teach us to have good control of keyframes. This way, we have a solid foundation to build more complex movements/animations. 


Week 5 - Lecture 5

Animation Techniques


In this video, the creator breaks down four different techniques for motion graphics. We learn to create exploding graphics, repeated objects, line animations, and duplicated objects. This is helpful for us to apply into Project 1.

INSTRUCTIONS


EXERCISES

Exercise 1 - Composition Studies: Collage 

Materials:

- Bring tools
- Gather graphical elements from magazines, plastic bag, newspapers.

Figure 1 Materials for collage activity, Week 2 (5/9/2022)

I used an old mounting board for the base. As for the graphical elements, I sourced from an old beauty magazine and a craft paper journal. 

Figure 2 Cut outs of the graphical elements, Week 2 (5/9/2022)

I took some time to find pieces that I feel would make my collage interesting. I also tried finding pieces with colours that would match each other like pinks, reds, and yellows to contrast with my black background.

Figure 3 Map as a focal point,  Week 2 (5/9/2022)

I figured the map would be a nice main focus of my collage. I arranged the elements into an island with a map and then with a black and white pattern. Based on feedback, I rearranged the flow so a viewer's eye would go from top to bottom.


Final Outcome

Figure 4 Final Collage, Week 2 (5/9/2022)


Exercise 2 - Digital Collage Design

We are to deconstruct images provided by Mr Fauzi and create a digital collage out of them. The final output will be animated.


Works In Progress

I decided to use the fencer with a tv as his head as my main focus point in the collage. So all three of my compositions revolved around this element.


Figure 5 Composition attempt on Photoshop

Some of the elements given to use already had their backgrounds removed. I mainly played around with the blending modes of each element.

Figure 6 Clipping masks on Photoshop

To create a more interesting effect, I also merged elements using the clipping mask tool.

Figure 7 Using the Distortion Effect on Photoshop

This is me trying to create something cool using wave distortion of the textured cement background.


Outcome
Composition 1

Figure 8 Composition #1



Composition 2

Figure 9 Composition #2



Composition 3

Figure 10 Composition #3

For the animation, I chose the final composition #3 because I thought it's the most interesting with various elements that I envision to animate. 


Figures 11,12 Animation wip in Afer Effects

We are to animate it with the 1080x1920 dimensions. Hence, it took me awhile to import each element and ensure the sizing fits just right into After Effects.


Attempt #1
Animated Collage Video

Figure 13 Digital Collage Animation - Attempt #1


Revised Animation

Figure 14 Further masking in progress

I masked the film projector and all that is left is this round shape.


Figure 15 Adjusting the settings to AE

Following the same settings as Photoshop, I used the same blending mode and adjusted the opacity. This graphical element depicts the sun and will rotate accordingly after it appears in the video.


Figure 16 Revised animations for these graphical elements

Based on feedback, it was unnecessary to animate all the elements. Hence, for the final attempt, I deleted off the animations for the people walking and reduce the movement for the houses/buildings.



Final Animated Collage Video


Link to video

FEEDBACK

Week 2

General Feedback: Determine which piece is the main focus and make that your starting point. 
Specific Feedback: My initial composition was almost there, there was a flow of direction but the separation between each element felt like they were on their own islands. Hence, Mr Fauzi suggested I rearrange the flow of the elements and don't be afraid to place them on top of each other.

Week 3

No feedback as I was absent.

Week 4
General Feedback: We can either animate one composition or all three into one. 
Specific Feedback: Good job on the composition and animation. I met the exercise requirements whereby I had to rearrange the final composition to fit into the IGTV sizing for animation.

Week 5
Specific Feedback: Nice pastel colors and overall balanced composition. He quite likes what I did with the textured vertical lines. After looking at my working file, Mr Fauzi suggests that I don't actually have to animate everything, as long as, people get the general idea. 

REFLECTIONS

The practical activities assigned by Mr. Fauzi have been useful for us to gain knowledge on After Effects and do further exploration of motion graphics. I observed how important composition is as it will make or break the animation. Even if the animation is smooth but the composition is not pleasing to the eyes, it will ruin the overall outcome. 

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