6 Steps Every Motion Graphics Project Should Follow (Before Animation)
The pre-production process involves numerous processes, and great motion graphic design does not emerge completely formed from a designer's thoughts. Yet, despite this, many individuals dive right into animating things, only to run into problems that may have been prevented with greater forethought. A thorough pre-production strategy can set your project up for success, whether you're producing a TV commercial, music video, 2D & 3D illustration animation, or internet video.
Plan for the project
A project plan is typically dispersed among several emails, to-do lists, spreadsheets, and papers, making it difficult to keep track of everything. These artifacts are gathered into one easy-to-find location under a single project design. It will change throughout the course of your project's life cycle, but it commonly includes:
The script
Your ideas
Inspiration and mood boards
Storyboards
Workflow checklist
Style frames
Define the concept and goals
It's critical to lay a solid foundation right away. Designers can produce their finest work with the framework and guidance provided by a clear, inspirational, and informative brief. Basic information, objectives, deadlines, visual and animation references, creative vision, and a guidebook are all common features of motion graphics proposals.
Establish the scope of the project
What message would you like your animation or video to send? Do you have a certain message or theme in mind? When the spectator sees it, how do you want them to feel? To convey the branding style and tone of voice you wish to create inside the project, use emotional language.
Make a list of the deliverables
What precise outputs are you looking for? Is it a TV commercial, a game animation, or a Youtube clip? Give as much information as relevant. The technological limits will inform the project's design and manufacturing process, as well as its price and timeline.
Describe your target market
This is the section where you discuss a certain sort of audience and what matters to them. What is it that they are concerned about? What motivates them? Include any relevant statistics or research that you have. All of this aids the designer in selecting an appropriate tone or graphic animation style for your target demographic.
Give your team a copy of the completed brief
It's time to share the finalized brief with your team, schedule an initial meeting, and get started after you've completed any last modifications.
Brainstorming
When you begin a new motion graphic design project, you usually start with a preliminary notion or idea. So, how can you turn that concept into something more substantial? Looking for inspiration!
Brainstorming is a tried-and-true method for swiftly creating fresh ideas. You may use it to experiment with different graphic animation techniques, come up with new characters and settings, or even find the aesthetic style you're looking for. It's best described as a means of igniting our creativity.
Organize inspiration & references
You visualized the many aspects of your idea while brainstorming. It's time for us to start using a collection from other sources to explore some graphic possibilities. Mood Boards may aid in the visualization of any component of a project. You may concentrate on how you want the final design to appear. They might also be focused on gathering inspirations for graphic animation styles. You may make separate mood boards for each of them or combine them all into one. There are no hard and fast regulations.
Your mood board will also serve as a great guide for your team, from the client to the animators, by allowing everyone to see the final product.
Visualize the sequence of your animation
Storyboards are a great method to visualize the composition, action, and appearance of a project before you begin working on it. "The storyboard is the means to see the complete movie in advance," remarked Martin Scorsese, director, producer, and screenwriter.
Storyboarding integrates skills and methods such as illustration, writing, and production, and many individuals devote their entire lives to it. A storyboard used to be made using analog sketches, but now you may utilize photographs, 2D & 3D illustration animation, color, and notes to emphasize essential characters, situations, and items with a contemporary digital application.
Share visual concepts with your team
Style frames are a crucial step in the motion graphic design process since they are a simple visual depiction of how the finished graphic animation will appear. Before beginning an animation, motion graphic designers, animators, and creative professionals employ them to offer possibilities to clients and teams. This allows everyone involved in the design process to contribute comments and decide on a graphic style.
Bottom Line
There is a lot of work when you start motion graphic designing and you need to invest in it. Maybe you need a pool of staff or a partner in a motion graphic design agency that possesses professionals and experienced designers. It is always cost-effective to hire short-term agency services because you don’t need to pay for the long run. They present their bundle packages with maximum services and have a limited amount you have to pay.
So, it’s up to you what option you are choosing!