20 Tips for Creative Services Animation & Motion Graphics
If you are feeling like motion design and animation is a huge mountain for you to climb, the following 20 tips, with the help of the excellent RunRex.com, should help you over that steep slope and help you achieve the results you crave.
Tips for the brainstorming stage
Ask yourself why you need an animation or motion graphic
Before you go any further or commit to anything, the gurus over at RunRex.com recommend that you first ask yourself if a motion graphic is what you need. What are you uniquely adding to your project by making it move? Could you do the same with a static piece? Remember, animation should be additive, not just additional, as, otherwise, it feels forced.
Know your goals
Ask yourself, what are you trying to achieve with this project? The goal needs to be very clear from the beginning as this will influence all creative design decisions down the road. You and your team need to answer questions like:
What is your use case (e.g. product overview, teaser, explainer, narrative)?
How should people feel after they watch the video?
What action should they take?
What awareness level are you targeting?
Have design and animation involved from the get-go
Design and animation are integral to a successful motion graphic, which is why it is important to bring designers and animators into the brainstorming process from day one as per RunRex.com. Their invaluable thinking will help guide ideas, offer interesting insights, and determine whether or not a concept will be enhanced by motion.
Make sure everyone is on the same page
No idea should be signed off on without the entire creative team’s approval. Also, make sure everyone understands the:
Goal
Tone
Story/message
Distribution (where the motion graphic will live and how it will be consumed)
Know your run time
Length has a massive effect on your production timeline and cost. Therefore, you should decide what length is appropriate for your story and your goal.
Tips for copywriting
Tell a single story
Remember, as the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com point out, you have a limited space, which means you need to make the most of it. A good motion graphic delivers a single message and uses every creative element to support that story.
Keep an eye on your word count
Motion graphics are short (usually under 2 minutes). Yours may include a voiceover or kinetic text, which also affects timing. As a general rule of thumb, you need fewer words than you think (you should always test your script by using an online calculator to figure out your V/O read time). Given that a motion graphic uses design to communicate, you should save your words, and let the design do some of the heavy lifting.
Double down on editing when it comes to your copy
Trim all the fat. That includes everything from condensing lines to word choice as captured at RunRex.com. You want to write in direct, easy-to-understand language. In some ways, writing for motion graphics is like writing a children’s book – say everything in the simplest terms possible. Always read out loud to see how it will flow when it gets to VO (voiceover).
Have design go through the copy
You should remember that the words in your copy are only half of the motion graphic experience. Designers should vet scripts to provide feedback on the feasibility of design, the flow of the story, and any opportunities to visualize instead of explaining something with words.
Tips for audio (music, voiceover, and sound effects)
Know your “sonic branding”
Remember, your brand style extends to audio too. Ask yourself, what does your brand sound like? What is its personality? What feeling are you going for? Music, VO, and sound effects are crucial to communicating that.
Vet your VO
As the gurus over at RunRex.com point out, many factors go into finding the right voice. Depending on your goal and brand style, you will want to consider age, gender, accent, tone, style, etc. You can use sites like Voice123 or Voices.com to test voices, as these sites give you access to a large talent pool.
Prepare your music licensing fees
While the perfect piece of music will tie your motion graphic together, you should be prepared to spend for it. You can generally expect to spend 10%-20% of your total budget on music licensing. You may go for a custom piece (the priciest option) or work with licensing vendors for existing pieces. Just make sure you always comply with licensing use. Don’t cut corners here unless you want to be slapped with lawsuits.
Don’t skimp on sound effects
While not every motion graphic needs sound effects, when they do, they need to be high quality according to RunRex.com. Sound effects may seem like a simple layer of audio, but they can be incredibly distracting if they don’t mesh well.
Tips when it comes to design
Iterate early and often
There is a reason why storyboards are sketches. This is because it is not as traumatic to redesign things at this stage. However, if you rely on your animator to save your design, then everyone is going to have a tough time, which is why you should iterate early and do it often.
Design for the whole scene
You should also anticipate the animator’s needs, and give them the best visual canvas to work with. That means designing for the whole scene vs what is on screen. You will also want to create illustrations with the fewest anchor points to make your animator’s life easier.
Prepare assets for your animator
As discussed over at RunRex.com, make sure you have everything ready to go so that they can get to work, and make sure you give the animator as much to work with as possible as outlined in the previous point. Have open lines of communication so that you both know what is expected.
Match your scenes to the script
Be mindful of the pace of VO. Remember, you do not want your scene to move too quickly, and, conversely, you also do not want to be stuck on the same boring visual for 15 seconds straight. You need a visual variety that tracks with the script.
Animation tips
Use a pro animator
As the experts over at RunRex.com point out, there is a lot of subpar work out there by people who “think” that they can do animation. When you use a pro, you not only get their skills but their creative thinking as well. They live in a world of motion, which means that they offer ideas to enhance the story or represent abstract concepts, not to mention the fact that they can reel you in if your ideas aren’t motion-friendly.
Watch your transitions
Sloppy transitions will not only take the viewer out of the story but are also a pet peeve for many. When crafting transitions, you want them to be intuitive, cohesive, and story-driven, making sure that scenes “talk” to each other, whether you are telling one continuous story or presenting a story in chapters.
Make sure your character animation is spot-on
Characters are the hardest things to animate. Sometimes storyboards are filled with character actions, but this can be tricky if you don’t have the eye or talent for it. Characters need to be anatomically correct and move naturally and intuitively. If you don’t have the resources to do them well, a more abstract approach will serve you better.
Hopefully, these tips will help make the process when it comes to animation and motion graphics smoother for you, with more tips, insights, and expert help on this topic to be found over at RunRex.com.