Qualities of a Motion Graphics Designer

I recently did a Q & A with some college students to help with a project they were working on, and one of the questions was about what skills/qualities are required to do my job.

I thought my answers might be of interest to anyone looking to get in to Motion Graphics, so decided to post them here (these are in no particular order, and are by no means an exhaustive list)...

(NOTE: These aren't all essential skills for somebody starting in motion graphics design, just things which have been useful to me over the years, whether they were existing skills or things that I picked up along the way. )

• Graphic Design Skills - I often decribe my job as being a 'graphic designer who makes things move'! It is essential to understand things like the difference between vector and bitmap (or raster) graphics, and the difference between CMYK and RGB. A basic knowledge of software such as Illustrator and Photoshop goes a long way. Understanding the basics of typography, colour and layout are also very important.
  
  
• Understanding of how television/video works - it's very useful to understand things like frame rate, the differences between formats such as PAL and NTSC (and now HD formats), TV-safe margins, Broadcast colours etc - if you don't have this knowledge before you start, it should be one of the first things that you learn.
  
  
• Observation of the world around you - particularly the way things move in the real world. Also, the 'imperfections' of the world, for example dirt and grime on objects, and the variation in nature.
  
  
• Understanding of how light works - how white light is made up from Red, Green and Blue components, the way those colours mix and how light interacts with different surfaces.
  
  
• Attention to detail - this is a key difference between an OK designer and a great designer! Humans are subconsciously very sensitive to how things appear - when you're trying to simulate reality it's the small details that will really make it convincing.
  
  
• Understanding of 3D - knowing how X, Y and Z positioning and rotation work
  
  
• Musical Knowledge -synchronising motion and events to music is an essential part of being a motion graphics designer. It's really helpful to have an understanding of how music is structured and an ear for the subtle nuances in music which can act as cues for motion. If you're a freelancer or work for a small company you can often find yourself needing to edit pieces of music to fit a particular purpose - understanding how beats and bars work is essential in this situation.
  
  
• Mathematics / Computer Programming - Motion Graphics software such as After Effects allows you to control parameters mathematically using 'expressions' which can be a huge timesaver if you know how to use it. As a simple example, you could create a wave motion by using a Sine curve to control position, rather than having to create dozens of keyframes.
  
  
• Thirst for knowledge / research skills - Often it is necessary to research a subject yourself, and it's important that you can research efficiently and accurately.
  
  
• Workaholic attitude - Near-impossible deadlines go hand-in-hand with this profession, no matter which sector you work in, and working long days is a regular occurance!
  
  
• Understanding the fundamentals of computers and files - professional motion graphics software is not designed in the same way as office software like Microsoft Word where there are Wizards and Assistants popping up all over the place to help you along your way! You particularly need to understand things like file types & extensions and file sizes.

Geek update

I've just splashed out on a new workstation, as my 'youngest' was a three year old Athlon dual core machine that was struggling a bit with CS4 and the increasing complexity of projects that I'm working on.

I spent all of last weekend carrying out a major operation to get the new computer installed, and shuffle everything around in order to retire my oldest 'admin' PC which is 5 years old.

For anyone who's interested, the spec of the new machine is as follows:

Processor: Intel Core i7 Processor i7-930 (2.80GHz)
Memory: 12GB CORSAIR XMS3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz
Motherboard: ASUS P6T WS Professional
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
Storage: 1 x 250Gb for OS etc, 4 x 1TB configured as 2 x 2TB RAID-0 drives for video storage
Graphics Card: PNY Quadro FX580 512MB GDDR3

It's running like a dream! Rendering is at least 4 times faster than my other workstation.

This is also the first time I've used Windows 7 and I really like it. (Thankfully I missed out Vista altogether!).

Advertising Tips for Nightclubs and Bars

Here are my three tips to improve the advertising of your venue's events and drinks.

Before I start, I should explain that I'm no expert in the subject, but with 10 years experience working in and with the nightclub/bar industry, I've learned and observed a few things over the years!

(In case you're wondering - I started out with a Saturday job in a sound and lighting shop, which led me to a four year spell working as a lighting designer, programming light shows in nightclubs among other things. I also taught myself to beat mix which led to DJing and promoting a successful club night for six years. In 2004 I became a motion graphics designer and have been supplying nightclubs and bars across the UK and internationally with custom visuals and advertising ever since.)

So, on to the tips:

1. THINK AHEAD

I never cease to be amazed by the number of bars/clubs who ask me to make an advert for an event that's only a week or two away!

I would recommend that you begin promoting any event at least a month before it happens. By 'begin promoting' I mean you should have all of your advertising in place. Therefore you should aim to get your designers briefed 5-6 weeks before the event.

It's equally important not to advertise too early (although this is rare!) - start too early and the impact and momentum of your campaign will be diluted.

By thinking ahead you will give your event the best promotion possible, and you will get the best quality work from your designers rather than a rush job.

2. CONSISTENCY

There is nothing more frustrating than being faced with conflicting information from different sources when all you want is a simple answer. Imagine a potential customer looking up information on your venue - if one website says your venue is open on Friday nights and another says it's closed, the chances are they aren't going to take a gamble - they'll just go somewhere else. I would guess that over 60% of venues have conflicting information on different websites.

Make a list of all of the places that your marketing appears, print it out, stick it on your wall, and use this as a checklist whenever you make a change to your listings etc.

Here are some obvious ones:

Your website
Networking sites: Facebook, Myspace, Bebo
TV Screens
Posters & Flyers
Event listings sites (Don't stay in, Tilllate)
Magazines & Newspapers (Mixmag, etc)
Directories - Yell.com etc

Always look for the most clear, concise way of getting your message across, and use that same message on all of your websites, adverts etc.

Close down out-of-date profiles on networking sites so that you have just one 'page' for your venue - you don't want your punters to search for your venue and be faced with a choice of four different groups/pages/profiles for the same venue!


3. MAKE YOUR ADVERTS ENTERTAINING

The drinks industry is well known for clever and entertaining advertising campaigns. Why not try to emulate this with your own adverts? Rather than just stating a product and a price, think up a funny, clever, or attention-grabbing message and you are sure to see increased sales.

Selling on price is rarely a good idea - unless you're a giant with huge buying power like JD Wetherspoon you are much better off selling the benefits of your products (drinks/venue/events) rather than the price alone.

As a simple example, imagine an advert for Tequila shots. Rather than just stating "TEQUILA SHOTS £1", you could play on the well-known song lyrics "Tequila, it makes you happy!" perhaps accompanied by a good stock photo of a group of people at a bar laughing (although you'd probably want to put a small disclaimer saying that tequila isn't actually guaranteed to make you happy!).

Think about your typical customer and what would make them tick - are they students who would have an 'off the wall' sense of humour, are they sophisticated people who are sold on style and glamour?

A picture is worth a thousand words - so, for example if you're putting together an advert for cocktails, go to the effort of making up each of the cocktails and taking a good photo of each (and by good, I mean well lit, in focus, and nicely composed with spotlessly clean glasses - don't just take a quick snap without thinking about it!).

Finally... unless you want to date your venue by 30 years, please please please don't spell nightclub as "niteclub" - just a personal niggle of mine, but I never cease to be amazed by the number of clubs still doing this - it was fashionable in the eighties, but definitely isn't now! 
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I hope these tips will help you to promote your venue more successfully.

There aren't enough hours in a day

Lack of time is my biggest source of frustration!

Being a bit of an 'ideas person', my mind is constantly bursting with new ideas - ways to improve my workflow, marketing, website, new products, etc., but obviously these things come secondary to doing actual jobs for clients which, thankfully, I'm never short of!

I've been known in the past to take a week's "holiday" just to make some headway on some of these ideas! Of course the downside to taking time off when you're self employed is that it's unpaid - a week off means losing quarter of your monthly income!

I'm hoping to be in the position to take on an employee over the next year which will be great as it will free up some of my time to spend on these ideas, although employing somebody will be a big and scary jump!

Behind the scenes - Club Candy TV

Here's a short video I've put together showing s0me of the making of Club Candy for anyone who's interested:

"Don't give up the day job" (Club Candy video tutorial)

I've just posted a video tutorial on using Club Candy TV on my YouTube channel -

http://www.youtube.com/user/philbearman#p/u/0/HoVUUZtkIaw

As you will see, presenting really isn't my forté - I won't be giving up the day job any time soon!

There are also full length samples of the 6 video files included with Club Candy Vol.1:

http://www.youtube.com/user/philbearman#p/c/A5BC935B777A23F3

Christmas... DONE! (nearly)

It's Monday morning - two days of work left before my Christmas break begins. I'm feeling smug because I've hit my sales target 10 days early, so can take a couple of weeks off for Christmas without feeling guilty! (Although this has only been achieved by working 12-hour days for most of this month!).

This also means my turnover has been exactly the same as last year - not bad for a year strongly hit by a recession!

Last week I finished work on my new DVD title - "Club Candy TV" - at long last! I'm still waiting on stock to arrive from the duplicators, but the initial response I've had has been fantastic. I've already got ideas for a second volume, so I hope it sells well!

Over Christmas I'm planning on writing a couple of articles for my blog/website. The first will be a guide to marketing for Nightclubs and Bars. The second will be a guide to setting up a small business for individuals - I thought it would be nice to 'give something back' and share some of what I've learned during my 10 years of self-employment!

Anyway, better get some work done - still a few loose ends to tie up before Christmas.

I have no idea how many (if any!) people read my blog, but best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to any of you out there!

Phil