<div> <p>Animation has always been a form of meditation for me. &nbsp;There is something very soothing and very satisfying about the process of creating motion and visual excitement where there was nothing but a blank slate before.</p> <p>Motion graphics and animation have always been one of my favorite parts of my career in video production and has always provided me with a lot of really exciting challenges and personal growth. &nbsp;And yet, it is one of the most difficult things for me to explain to clients.</p> <p>And the funny thing is, we all know what motion graphics are. &nbsp;We're inundated with them daily. &nbsp;They are on the opening titles of all of our favorite movies and TV shows. &nbsp;They fly across the screen of every sports station and news channel. &nbsp;They are in almost every commercial we ever see. &nbsp;And yet, confront some one with the term "motion graphics" and most people won't know what you are talking about.</p> <p>So what is motion graphics? &nbsp;Motion graphics is what allows you to have photos, text, or logos move on the screen and creates a whole new level of visual interest. &nbsp;It's what gives a video that final polish and takes the quality and visual dynamics of the video to the next level.</p> <p>Take a close look at your favorite TV show, movie, or commercial next time you watch it. &nbsp;Now watch for those moments when there is text, or a logo, or smoke, particle, or lighting effects, or anything on the screen that you know wasn't filmed with a camera. &nbsp;The parts that are added in later are motion graphics. &nbsp;Once you start looking for them, you'll be astounded at how wide spread they are. &nbsp;They have become such an embedded part of our visual language that most of us don't even recognize them as their own particular art form and just take them for granted as a common place part of our media.</p> <p>Motion graphics allows us to create environments, worlds, and images that we would never be able to simulate with a camera. &nbsp;We're able to create things that don't or can't exist. &nbsp;With the help of some software and some patience, motion graphics artists are able to digitally create the impossible. &nbsp;And maybe it's that zen-like moment of pure creation that really makes me love every moment of the process.</p> <p>When I set out to create graphics, the pieces of the puzzle that I start with can vary pretty widely. &nbsp;I may be given full storyboards and a well planned idea or I may just be given a logo or a phrase or even just a color and I am tasked with taking those elements and creating the animation from the ground up.</p> <p>I take those seeds and for a while I don't even go near the computer. &nbsp;I just think. &nbsp;I think about the message the video is supposed to convey, I think about the elements that I've been given, I think about the type of company the video is for and their branding and image that they present to the world and how they talk to their customers.</p> <p>And this really is a process of meditation and reflection. &nbsp;Allowing those images and impressions to wash over me and my imagination takes all of those pieces of the puzzle and begins to map out the animation. &nbsp;How the images will flow, what colors I will use. &nbsp;Soft colors vs. hard contrast. &nbsp;Fast and edgy vs. elegant. &nbsp;Straight lines vs. curves. &nbsp;Until the pieces fall together and I begin to see the animation as a whole.</p> <p>And then I take that animation I've created in my mind to the computer and begin the technical side of building it and through that process you find more opportunities and surprises. &nbsp;Even if things don't work exactly the way you had hoped, the hands on process of building the animation gives you countless possibilities for refining and polishing your idea until finally you are watching the impossible play across your screen.</p> <p>And then it's time to start on a new impossible world.</p> </div> 2009-09-16T18:21:14Z -2.6617 210 6482 true 16 22975 zen-and-the-art-of-motion-graphics 0 2009-09-17T13:24:07Z 2009-09-17T20:24:20Z

Motion graphics have become an embedded part of our visual language and an incredibly powerful storytelling tool. And yet, even though all of us see them every day most of us couldn't tell you what they are.

1 2009-09-17T20:24:21Z