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Motion Graphics & Compositing / Project 1

22.4.2025 - 30.5.2025   / Week 1 - Week 6
Bong Sue Zhiun / 0366866
Motion Graphics & Compositing / Bachelor of Design ( Hons ) in Creative Media
Project 1: Technical & Motion Graphics Sensibilities


TABLE OF CONTENTS









LECTURE


Week 2 / Introduction to Motion Graphics



Motion Graphics
  • Animated graphic design
  • Animation that uses text as a main element
  • Early example of motion graphics: Psycho 1960 Intro 
  • Used to communicate messages and enhance stories
  • Works well with music and text
  • Commonly used in:

    • Ads
    • Movie title sequences
    • Informational videos

Uses of Motion Graphics:

  • Branding: Build brand identity
  • TV Title Sequences: Create opening scenes for shows
  • Storytelling: Animate illustrations for stories
  • Creating Awareness: Highlight important issues
  • Explain Concepts: Make complex ideas easy to understand
  • Product Videos: Show and promote products creatively

Week 3 / Compositing Toolkit



Basic principle of Form & Design

1. Movement: The path that the viewer's eye takes through the work of art, often to focal areas.

2. Hierarchy: The control of visual information in an arrangement or presentation to imply importance.

3. Balance: A visual interpretation of gravity in the design. It used to ass stability, structure, create emphasis and dynamics.

4. Direction: It flows the way our eye moves through a composition.

5. Symmetry: When elements are arranged in the same way on both sides of an axis.

6. Focus: Focus is the areas of interest, emphasis, or difference within a composition that hold the viewer's attention.

7. Scale: It refers to the relative size of a design element in comparison to another element.

8. Rhythm: It is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement.

Fig.1.1 The principle of form & design, Week 3, 6.5.2025



Week 4 / Kinetic Typography

Vid.1.1 Making Kinetic Typography in After Effects, Week 4, 13.5.2025

Vid.1.2 Kinetic Typography, Week 4, 13.5.2025



Week 5 / Animation Techniques

This tutorial video covers four graphic techniques: animated lines, shape splodes, repeated circles, and spread your work.

Vid.1.3 4 Great Motion Graphics Techniques, Week 5, 20.5.2025



INSTRUCTIONS




PROJECT

Project 1 is divided into two parts: Part 1 focuses on pre-composition (pre-comp), while Part 2 involves creating the final composition. For this project, we are required to download and use the After Effects template provided by Mr. Fauzi.

Below are the instructions and guidelines for this project.



Part 1: Precomp

We are required to create and animate four basic principles of Form & Design—symmetry, focus, scale, and rhythm. These animations are done separately as individual pre-comps. 

Before starting, I looked for some references on Pinterest and planned how I could animate the four basic principles. 

Here are the links to view the references:

Fig.3.1 References, Week 2, 29.4.2025

After that, I began creating and animating each principle in After Effects. 

1. Symmetry

Fig.3.2 Symmetry, Week 3, 6.5.2025

2. Focus

Fig.3.3 Focus, Week 3, 6.5.2025

3. Scale

Fig.3.4 Scale, Week 3, 6.5.2025

4. Rhythm

Fig.3.5 Rhythm, Week 3, 6.5.2025


FINAL OUTCOME

Vid.3.1 Final Project 1 ( part 1), Week 3, 6.5.2025




Part 2: Composition

After completing Part 1, I moved on to Part 2: Composition. In this stage, we needed to combine all the pre-comps—both the four templates provided by Mr. Fauzi and the four we recreated—into one main composition. We were encouraged to apply basic transitions between each section. The main goal of this part is to help us become more familiar with using After Effects and to practice organizing and animating multiple elements in a single project.

I started by searching for suitable background music to match the mood of the animation. Once I found the right track, I began remixing the 8 elements—4 from the templates and 4 of my own—so that their transitions and animations followed the rhythm and beat of the music.

Fig.3.6 Progress on remixing the precomp, Week 4, 13.5.2025


FINAL OUTCOME

Vid.3.2 Final Project 1( part 2), Week 5, 20.5.2025



FEEDBACK


Week 3

Specific Feedback: The symmetry animation looks great, and the others look good as well. I can now move on to Part 2.

Week 5

Specific Feedback: The zooming effect at the beginning looks really nice, and overall, the animation turned out well. I can submit it directly to Google Classroom.



REFLECTION


Through this project, I learned not only the basic animation techniques in After Effects but also how to apply simple transitions to make my animation flow better. Although I still find After Effects quite difficult to use, mainly because I'm not very familiar with the software, this project gave me a good starting point. Exploring and understanding the tools took more time than I expected, and sometimes I struggled to create the effects I imagined. However, I hope to improve my skills with more practice and become more confident in using After Effects for future projects.


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