Background Trials.

This is a trial for the background of my motion graphic, although my actual background will be 3D. I like the way that such a subtle movement can bring life into a still background.

Vine Trials.

This is a trial animation of some of the vines that I will be using for my motion graphic. I have used different shapes and sizes of vines, as well as ones that blend into the background. I believe that these vines have a nice flow to them, which is what I wanted t achieve.

Growing Vines Animation

This is an example of a growing vines animation, and this shares a similar
look as to what I want to achieve with my motion graphic. However, I will
base mine around a 3D layer, rather than a vertical scrolling 2D layer. I like
this effect, and I find it appealing, as well as stylish, and I hope that my graphic
can be as good as this; if it is then I will have achieved my goal to make a motion
graphic that is aesthetically pleasing, and flows well.

Reverse After Effects

Rather than make my animation in reverse, I can make it as normal, then add in a Time- Reverse Layer over the top of it. This will cause my animation to play in reverse, and I believe that this will help me achieve the affect I am looking for to a more believable standard, rather than trying to guess how it would animate from finish to start.

Root Research

I have come to the decision that I will base my motion graphic around plants roots, and how they grow from a single seed, much like this video shows.

However, I may have my animation start from the end, and work backwards; starting from the roots, and ending at the seed. I plan to have the roots work around the 3D space, and I plan to use the camera to rotate around the space. I will use textures for the 3D space, to give it an authentic underground feel, but I may just use vectors for the roots, as I don't want to go for a completely photorealistic look.

3D Movement Test

This is a test of moving the 3D layers that I have created in After Effects. I like this feature of the programme, as it allows me to move my workspace, as well as the actual animation. This is something that I cannot do with a 2D layer.

I have gained a larger knowledge as to how the 3D aspect works, and I believe that it will work well in my final piece.

2D on 3D Test

This is a quick test on using 3D in a 2D environment. This was mainly just to try out something like this, as I have never attempted it before. It is a fairly simple process, but of course I would like my motion graphic to be more polished than this, and not go inside the object when it doesn't need to.

Motion Graphic Theme

As I would like my motion graphic to be based around a 3D environment, I would like my theme to be something that I could easily implement in one. The things I am focusing on mostly is that my animation will flow nicely, with no abrupt pauses, and that the graphic will spread throughout the environment that will be working in. Thinking about it this way, a theme that could work would be water, or something, flowing throughout the environment, or the spreading of a bacteria or disease, and how it will effect the environment.

However, in the case of using something like the latter idea, I will try to exaggerate it as best as I can, to make something that isn't realistic, but retains the same idea. For this I could shift my research into a more medicinal area, and study the movements and patterns from medical videos, and implement this into my motion graphic. I would stick with making it realistic, but I would like my motion graphic to be able to appeal to most people, not just people who are interested in medicine, and to do this I will back away from the realistic aspect of it.

That being said, I may drift from this idea if anything else comes to mind, but at least I have the basic idea as to what sort of things I want my motion graphic to feature.

MUTO- by Blu

Even though this is not digital, it is quite similar to what I want to achieve; more specifically the fact that it uses 2D to go around a 3D environment. I find this effect quite appealing, and believe it draws the user into the piece, allowing them to become more involved in it. Of course, I won’t be able to do my work with paint on real buildings, but using the 3D layers tool in After Effects I can simulate a 3D environment in which I can work around.

However, I don’t want the 3D aspect of my motion graphic to be the main feature, but rather a three dimensional canvas upon which I can work.

MUTO- by Blu

3D Test

This is a short animation I made in After Effects testing out the 3D Layers and camera tool. As I want to incorporate some 3D like this in my motion graphic, I decided to get used to how the camera tools work, and how to get it to zoom, as well as pan around, an object. Now that I have a larger knowledge to how the tool works, I can incorporate it into my final piece.

I believe that working in 3D adds some depth to the piece, and allows the viewer to become more involved in the work. Also, it allows me a larger area to work within, as I am now not restricted to solely work in one, single, plane.

However, I will not just work entirely in 3D, as I want the majority of my animation to be in flat layers, but working around 3D environments. I may have my animation work around the 3D object/s in my motion graphic, similar to some graphics were a graphic is running along the sides of a building, and along the floor.

Living Inside A Pollock.

Living inside a Pollock After effects animation from Andrés Magana on Vimeo.

This animation features a nice sense of progression, starting off from a single drop of ink, and spreading out to a complex maze of webs that go into the background, and exist in multiple planes. I like the way the camera goes into the webs, as it allows you to feel more involved in it, as if you are going deeper into the animation, rather than just show it to you as two dimensional. Also, the subtle rotations throughout the piec makes it seem as if it is truly 3D, not just clever manipulations of 2D shapes. I am aiming to add some psuedo-3D qualities into my motion graphic, as I find the affect appealing, and believe it draws in the user more than a standard 2D image; I will achieve this by using 3D Layers in Adobe After Effects.

I enjoy the use of limited colours during this motion graphic, and I believee this adds to the appeal of it. The use of red, which is introduce partway briefly, also adds to ths appeal. I like the sense of progression in this animation, but I would like my motion graphic to show a true sense of progression, rather than just start off as something small, and expand to be more complex.

E4 E Stings

For my first piece of research, I will look at the E4 E Stings, which are featured on the E4 Channel. This is the type of thing I am looking to achieve making, albeit longer, and for the time being with a more general theme, which I can narrow down in the future if needs be. I like the concept behind these animations though, and it shows how much of a variation you can have of one single theme; in the case of these that would be the E4 logo.

This is the winner of E4's 2009 E Sting competition. This animation has a really clever design, and is very abstract, which I like. It uses a combination of photographs and animation, which gives it a unique feel. The fact that the majority of different pieces to this animation are photographs help give this a more professional look, which in turn allows for more time focusing on the actual animation itself, not creating the images.

However, whilst using all photographs could save time, I'm looking to working with solid colours and vectors, although I will probably use photographs. This is because I want my piece to be something that I have created from scratch, not just getting a bunch of photographs together and manipulating them.

This is an example of a more traditional animation, featuring characters. I like the style of this animation, and I believe that the limited colours, along with a contrasting colour for the main focus, give a really appealing aesthetic, and one that I may try to use when creating my final piece. The animation itself is very slick and fluid, and I find this to be appealing, and something that I want to achieve, especially since I'm looking to just create a graphic, not an animation of characters interacting with one another.

I may include a character in my animation, but it will only be there to continue the flow of things, not to make it the main focus. Thinking about this, I would like my animation to focus on movement, trying not to include any noticeable pauses; this will allow me to create an animation that flows nicely.

This E Sting has a more realistic look to it, due to the use of 3D perspective and shadow. However, it still uses animation that isn't photographic, which adds to the appeal of the animation. Whilst this animation isn't as fluid as the other animations, it contains lots of subtle movements which work really well. As with the last animation, I like the limited colour scheme, although this lacks the contrasting colour that the last one had, unless you count the bright light to the dark shadows as a contrast.

I like this animation, but it is too realistic, and not a lot happens on it; this isn't really what I want to achieve, as I want my animation more abstract, and flowing.

I really like the style of this animation, and the abstract, continuous movement is something that I want to include in my animation. Again, this uses the limited colour scheme which I like, although this one uses a transition between colours for part of it. I like the fact that the animation of this is really random, yet it manages to flow smoothly. Although I would like to pick a theme that I could base my animation around, I would like to keep it fairly random, and spontaneous.

This E Sting features a clever use of perspective, and dimensions. All of the people are 2D, whilst the buildings, and music equipment, are a sort of pop-up 3D. When the music equipment is used, all the people burst out into colour, and are moved into different angles, adding to the 3D effect. The animation uses a good camera pan, and it helps bring this seemingly flat world to life. The piece has a sort of dull, monotone look, but it bursts to life when all the colour comes into it.

I like the use of 3D on 2D in this animation, and that would be something that I would think about using when I am making my animation. The only thing I don't really like about this animation is the use, and reliance, on the characters, however they all follow the same pattern and behaviour through most of it, with numbers over their heads being the only way to tell them apart. This gives them the appearance of being one single entity, which as a theme is really clever.

Final Major Project

This blog is where I will put my research on the subject I am focusing my Final Major Project on. As my key outcome is the creation of a short animated graphic, I will look into existing animations and graphic pieces, and place them here, highlighting what I like and don't like about them. This will help me come to a conclusion of what I want my final piece to be.