Christina Sirabella

Live action video production can be pretty tricky when everyone at your company is social distancing—so if your brand has never delved into the world of motion graphics or animation, this is the perfect time! Animators can create motion graphics videos from the safety of their own homes, and they’re a great way to tell a story or share your message without having to shoot anything.

There are a few reasons why, even during times when you aren’t social distancing, you may want to learn how to make a motion graphics video. For starters, if you didn’t capture something on a video shoot, it’s impossible to add a shot without scheduling another shoot and replicating the exact setup. With motion, it’s always a possibility to add something because the visuals aren’t limited to what was captured during a one-day shoot. Motion graphics are also a great way to help visualize abstract concepts that you can’t capture on film—or even sensitive topics that you don’t want to see IRL (think foot fungus). And lastly, they can give new life to existing assets. You can add animated illustrations to photos or turn them into a slideshow, and you can make videos even more attention-grabbing with added visual effects, text, and/or graphics.

Not sure where to start? Here are four different ways you can use motion graphics, in order from least to most complicated.

Quick Messaging/Attention Grabbers

You only have three seconds to catch a user’s eye in the feed, and a great way to do that is through basic movement and accented animation. Since this is less complex than some of the examples you’ll see later on in this blog, there will also be a relatively quick turnaround—so it’s great if you need something quickly.

Works best for:

• Communicating a short message, deal, or promotion (e.g. “50% OFF!”)

• Teasing longer-form content (e.g. animating the title of a blog post)

• Bringing life to static imagery

In these examples we created, you can see that the videos are short and the animations are subtle.

Lists/Short Stories

The animations and dynamic movement in this next level are a bit more complicated, and might include things like custom vector design. If you have a little bit more time and a slightly longer message to communicate, this could be the way to go.

Works best for:

• Featuring new products

• Making long-form text (like a blog post or article) more digestible and visually interesting

• Helping lists stand out more (e.g. “Top Summer Movies”)

In these examples we created, you can see that the videos are slightly longer, the animations get more complex, and there are also custom designs (like the monkey and the turkeys).

Explainers/Infographics

And again, getting more complex! 96 percent of people say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service, so this level is perfect for if you want to convey a lot of information while providing a very interactive viewer experience. These types of videos generally include complex animation or simple character animation.

Works best for:

• Explainer videos (e.g. “how to” or educational videos)

• Animated infographics or data visualization

• Longer-form storytelling

In this example we created, you can see that the animation is more complex (lots of moving ants!) and the video is over one minute long.

Longer Stories/Character Animation

If you have a complex or abstract idea to convey, using custom illustration, character animation, or complex VFX (visual effects) is likely the way to go. While the advanced level of animation in these longer, more intricate videos will undoubtedly take more time to create, it’s also common for brands to use cutdowns or clips from the longer video on various platforms—so you actually end up getting more content than just one video.

Works best for:

• Communicating complex, abstract ideas

• Telling a story in a very dynamic way

• Using stylized designs to make content more accessible

In these examples we created, you can see that the animation and motion graphics are advanced, using characters and very custom, stylized designs.

Whether you want to motivate your audience to take action, make data more digestible and interesting, or tell a complex story about your brand or product, there’s a type of motion graphic best suited for your goal—and we’re ready to help you create it.

Article Source: Likeable’s Blog site