Information Design : Project 2

Week 6 - Week 7 : 7 Feb 2022 - 18 Feb 2022

Tan Yi Yun
0345559
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Project 2/Exercise 3 & 4 and Animated Poster

INSTRUCTIONS


EXERCISE 3 : Kinetic Typography

Process are recorded in this blogpost : Week 2 - Motion graphic tasks (Group)

Final Video Presentation
Kinetic Typography, Week 3 (21/1/2022)


EXERCISE 4 : Motion Graphic Chart

Process are recorded in this blogpost, including some extra motion graphic charts :

Line Graph Animation (Covid-19 cases), Week 3 (22/1/2022)

PROJECT 2 : Animated Infographic 

We are required to use the assets from Project 1 Instructable Infographic poster into a 60 seconds motion graphic. We are advised to capture the aesthetics and narrative of the poster with movements, SFX and music. 

Animation Layout 
I worked on the background first and then moved the previous assets into a new AE file to plan the composition. 

Figure 1.1, Layout in AI, Week 6 (12/2/2022)

Figure 1.2, Layout in AI, Week 6 (12/2/2022)

Animated Poster layout, Week 7 (16/2/2022) 

Animating in AE

I planned to go with a cheerful and energetic video style. I introduced bouncing effect to most of the assets by adding keyframes manually. 

Figure 1.3, Animating in After Effects, Week 7 (20/2/2022)

Figure 1.4, Keyframes, Week 7 (20/2/2022)

The animating process wasn't smooth. I encountered several problems (as shown in Figure 1.5 and 1.6). I have faced this issue (PDF document) since last year and I think the issue might be at the AI source files. For the BIB Error, I tried to uninstall the font and reinstall, and the number of errors have reduced, but still it's just a temporary fix. 

Figure 1.5, Trauma, Week 7 (20/2/2022) 

Figure 1.6, Second trauma, Week 7 (20/2/2022) 

Since I am unable to preview the file, I can only render the video to view the outcome. Then went back and forth to fix the timing. 

Sound Effects

I think YouTube is the best option to find sound effects. I searched for "cooking sound effects" and "Italian background music". After downloading all the video clips, I used Adobe Premiere Pro to add sound effects. 
Figure 1.7, Sound effects, Week 8 (21/2/2022)

Figure 1.8, Working in Pr, Week 8 (21/2/2022)


Final Animated Infographic

Animated Infographic, Week 8 (22/2/2022)

REFLECTION

The skills I have learnt in kinetic typography and motion graphic chart is pretty useful in the future, however it is still not sufficient. I understand there is always room for improvement and it takes time to become proficient in motion graphics. 

For the animated poster, things didn't go smooth all the way and it took far beyond my expectation to complete. I faced a lot of technical issues and "unknown BIB error", "unable to open PDF document" keep popping into the screen and at the end I gave up on playing the preview in After Effects. I rendered out the video and checked the timing and then went back to AE to make adjustment. Many unnecessary steps were done because of the "problematic AE file" and also the origin AI file. Another issue is the background is not fitted to the screen although I have ensured that the size is in correct ratio. The only solution is to export the background in PNG file and import into AE. I have no idea why this problem occurs (and my friend faced this issue too). To resolve *all of the problems above*, I think I have to plan my working schedule well so that I have extra time to handle the unexpected circumstances. 

All in all, saying that After Effects is not my strength is not an excuse to stop learning. Learning from mistakes is a crucial step to learn, adapt and explore more possibilities in the design world.