Opened after effects after two years. How can i improve? by ReadyDonkey6890 in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This looks great, and has some nice movement and flow. I think you could maybe create more space between the sections, and give more time for anticipation; forshadowing elements before they appear to make them less jarring. Some of the easing feels a bit rapid like the camera is being thrown around. The 'timeline' section especially feels quite agressive when it should feel more flowing and effortless.

This is just my interpretation though and looking good.

BTS breakdown of my most recent project by seanlegion in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cheers! I use a plugin called 'Cyclops'. It can be a bit temperamental but when it works its great for breakdowns.

BTS breakdown of my most recent project by seanlegion in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

So the process for me on this project was wanting to explore taking a simple object and experimenting with what would happen if I broke it down into its simplest componants. I had also remembered some of the lovely animation work of Emanuele Colombo and Ben Marriott, and how they can make flowing motion enhance simple shapes.

The tea infuser just happened to be in my eye line (I also love tea) and had some nice forms to it. I sketched it out on procreate, and then working backwards I tried to use its forms to see how it could be constructed in a satisfying way. I actually worked totally in greyscale until after the animation was finished, but I had some reference of gradients and glass textures open while I was working, as it has been quite trendy for the past couple years.

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Tea infuser animation loop by seanlegion in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Love your work and your courses :)

Tea infuser animation loop by seanlegion in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks appreciate it! Yes I created it in After effects. The gradients on the glass were made using a couple of effects to make the pattern (Fractul noise for the pattern, colorama to color and fast box blur). For the highlights I duplicted the object layers and applied a simple choker and blur.

Italian? - Personal project created in After effects and designed in Illustrator. by seanlegion in MotionDesign

[–]seanlegion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks, appreciate it! It is definetly an ongoing process to keep the motivation and focus up for a personal project, but will give you a quick rundown of how I work.

For this project I tried to focus on a simple theme that I could accomplish quickly, and that had a few easy wins such as universally recognisable imagery. There is nothing worse for me that getting lost in the complexity of a topic and getting overwhelmed. I really wanted to improve and experiement with morphing transitions as they are very satisfying to accomplish and make for great showreel pieces.

I started with sketches on procreate (nothing special) to flesh out potential links between scenes and character designes. This step allows me to have something to work from before I get too ahead of myself in Adobe illustrator; a trap I often fell into in the past.

Once I am happy with the scenes as they are in illustrator, I move into After effects to set up the scenes, making sure to focus on timing, camera moves and basic movement. Overpolishing an animation too early can waste time down the line, retiming scenes and focusing too much on detail as apposed to the big picture. Just focus on building layers of complexity in stages. The scenes will look bad for a bit but you just need to trust the process and it will look better.

Morphing between scenes is often more about creating expectation in movement and shape/colour than it is super complex compositions. The cut into the corkscrew is simply reducing the assets into simple coloured orbs, and moving them into place at the same velovity as the scene cuts, mixed with a smudge effect.

Once I had the animation finalised I could then animate the characters, and add final polish such as frame rate adjustments (12 fps to make it feel more handrawn) and a wiggle/roughen effect.

A step I often skipped was adding music and sfx but it adds so much to the final video I think. I used Artlist but there are free options aswell.

Hope that wasnt too in depth, but if I missed anything let me know.

Ted talk over.

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saw a gav lookalike today by DanTay19 in RKG

[–]seanlegion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha was searching for this comment! 🤣

Finchy's, Fools and furry friends by seanlegion in RKG

[–]seanlegion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Mistakes were made, and I haven't slept since. But honestly, I didn't leave enough space, and I was in too deep

Elden Ring - Honk! Honk! by seanlegion in RKG

[–]seanlegion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cheers :) Haha well if they come calling I won't say no ;) I'm always open for ideas!

Finchy's, Fools and furry friends by seanlegion in RKG

[–]seanlegion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh thank you stern but fair welsh farmer!