Animation, It’s not Just for Mickey Anymore

Recently, during a meeting with a client I realized the horrified look on the faces across the round conference table as I was singing the praises of computer animation to accentuate their upcoming television spot.

Finally, I had to ask, "why the scared looks?" As I was talking about high-end graphics as accents, they were picturing disney characters toting their products to and fro. "OK," I said, "I think I should come up with a different word for animation as well as explain what it really is." There is another term for Animation in the professional world. Fortunately, it covers a broader spectrum than just onion-skin cell animation that has made Disney and Hanna Barbara iconic. The term is motion graphics.

I'm not assuming that motion graphics is an unknown underground term but it certainly isn't as widely recognized as it should be. Now that we've put a name on it, let me define it.

Everyone’s favorite oracle - Google - turned up a couple of definitions for motion graphics. The wiki-definition tels us that, "motion graphics are graphics that use video and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or a transforming appearance." (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Motion_graphics) To define it in my own words, I’d say that motion graphics are using visual effects and artistic elements to accentuate film or video. In addition, motion graphics can be stand alone content using certain aspects of optical effects to create realism or fantasy. Okay, perhaps Wikipedia has the more user-friendly definition, but its implementation ranges from the crude animation style of South Park to the sophistcated effects of 28 Days Later and therefore is difficult to generalize.

The chosen motion graphic design platform is Adobe After Effects. And it's no suprise that the creators of such amazing still graphics software like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator would have led the innovative march in motion graphics. Falling into a close second in this arena would be Apple's Shake. Long before this, you saw content like Monty Python's animated sequences and you saw feature film’s title sequences made in high-end 3D environments. Like everything else in the design world, the tools have become lower in price and the industry easier to access and enter.

Now what are some of the real elements that make motion graphics so popular and aesthetic? In After Effects, we can set up any number of still graphics and position them in 3d space. With a few clicks and drags we can create the following elements of realism.

Shadows and Highlights: I think some artists realize it's importance but all artist's practice it's necessity. When lighting a scene on video, I explain to clients that shadows and highlights make things real when something is flat. Posters, paintings, illustrations and even a television screen is flat. That's one reason we use a ton of hot lighting when shooting video or film. In motion graphic software, one can place a series of lights that affect the objects in the scene. Aside from Shadows and Highlights, other lighting effects include transparency/translucency, specular (shininess), and how objects are affected by ambient light.

Depth of Field: Depth of Field is something that photographers and videographers are intrinsically aware of. Depth is what one realizes looks really real.. really cool but doesn’t know why. Depth of field is essentially the distance in front and behind the subject that appears to be in focus. It's a range.

Motion Blur: This one is simple but important. The easiest explanation is when Scooby and Shaggy are running from the chocolate ice cream monster. Their legs appear to be blurs. Ahhh, but I was trying to shake of the cartoon misconception. So, when things move fast, your eye doesn't see every frame in high resolution. This can usually be accomplished with a click in your favorite motion graphic software.

I hope that this brief article has illuminated how motion graphics can accomplish moving art in a realistic way. This has a number of professional and artistic applications. Where the professional meets the artist is what I intend to touch on in next months newsletter so stay tuned! Lastly, if you seek more information on motion graphics, Adobe After Effects or video production in general, I recommend the following sites:

www.motionographer.com
www.creativecow.net
www.otakumotion.com

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