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Motion Graphics

Have your ever been fascinated by the design of the opening credits for a film, a flash intro to a web site, or a moving diagram in news broadcast? Motion graphics describes a specialized field within graphic arts that concentrates on the design of moving image sequences such as titles, charts, graphs, diagrams, and other support illustrations that require movement.

The origins of this specialization can be traced back to the work of designer Saul Bass who changed the way feature film credits were displayed. Before the James Bond movie, 'The Man with the Golden Arm', credit titles scrolled across the screen with very little relationship to the story that followed. Bass created a motion graphics sequence including moving bars morphed into an arm that symbolically referenced the movie's theme. This provided a direct connection for the audience between the title and to the film's story.

Today, motion graphic artists produce not only titles but also a wide array of work that requires movement to effectively communicate and enhance usually static visual information. One example is a 3D animated diagram of how a tornado is formed providing insight into the dynamic interaction of warm and cold fronts colliding over the Great Plains. Other examples include the illustration of a moving army across a battlefield, the rise and fall of the stock market over time, the opening credits for a TV program such as the national nightly news, a Flash animation opening for a web site, roll-overs, and interactive menus for wed band CD and DVD media.

Today's designer has the ability to combine sound, video, animation, photographs, illustration, and other visual using a variety of computer software. PhotoShop, After Effects, Flash, Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools and other software form the common tools a motion graphics designer uses to prepare material for use on web sites, DVDs, video walls, kiosks, projection systems, and any number of other venues. So when you watch a sports event on ESPN, the latest news from the battle field on CNN, the graphics you see have been designed and produced by motion graphic artists.

Resources:

Designomotion creates award-winning motion graphics for a wide range of media. Owner Joseph Silver’s work has won the Gold Promax Broadcast Design Award (BDA)

CyberMotion is a motion graphics design studio in the Los Angeles area specializing in high-impact, multi-layered 2D and 3D graphics for video and film, often tightly integrated with music. The studio has created motion graphics for a large variety of media and venues, including film titles and trailers, commercials and show opens, plus animations for nine-screen circlevisions, the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, and NBC's AstroVision sign in Times Square. We also have crafted main and support graphics for a number of trade shows (including Comdex for Xerox, CES for Clarion, and Sun JavaOne), press events, and other promotional purposes.

Directory: Motion Graphic Schools. Private schools offering programs in 2D and 3D motion graphics.

Title Safe. A Houston media design studio specializing in 2D and 3D graphics and animation for video and film, with an emphasis on special visual effects.  The studio has produced motion graphic material in a wide variety of media, including commercials and show opens for broadcast and cable TV and graphics and animation for press events, trade shows, and other promotional purposes.

Portfolio Examples. Work by Toronto based motion graphic designers.

Books and Software:

ProAnimator A software product designed for video editors and motion graphic artists to easily create broadcast-quality 3D text and logo animations. ProAnimator lets you open Illustrator EPS files, fonts, and 3D models; color and arrange them, and then animate them using a special no-keyframe-based method. As you craft your animation you will see a preview playing back over and over in real time. Changes made to the animation are immediately reflected in the playback window. When you are done creating the animation it can be rendered to a wide variety of file formats for integration into compositing or video editing programs. Source: web site.

, Volume 1: The Essentials (2nd Edition, Version 5.5) Master all the core concepts needed to use After Effects 5.5 on a daily basis, including transformations, keyframing animation, editing layers, masking, track mattes, stencils, nesting, precomposing, transfer modes, effects, adjustment layers, and rendering, plus the major new features Parenting, 3D Layers, Cameras, and Lights. In addition to the new topics, owners of the first edition of CMG will benefit from the updated coverage of such key features as transfer modes, masking, and collapsing transformations. Beginners and students will enjoy the new first chapter, which takes them on a tour through After Effects in the form of creating a mythical television show opening title sequence. The CD includes free plug-ins and keyframe assistants from Boris FX, Walker Effects, Digital Film Tools, The Foundry, Digital Anarchy, and DigiEffects plus inspirational footage from Artbeats, Digital Vision, and EyeWire to experiment with. Source: web site.

On Screen In Time: Transitions in motion graphic design for film, television, and new media.Few disciplines can capture attention and imagination as effectively as motion graphic design—and few are as seductive both to designers and viewers. Through interviews with the cream of today's motion graphic designers and examples of their work from the turn of the 21st century, this book brings a global perspective to the creative innovations at the cutting edge of motion graphics, and the challenges facing the industry. Source: web site.