Class introductions and overview. A personal tour through kinetic typography, from Saul Bass to Eadweard Muybridge to contemporary designers and studios. After Effects fundamentals: compositions, layers, keyframes. Project 1 launched.
Lecture:A personal tour through kinetic typography — from Saul Bass to Eadweard Muybridge to contemporary designers and studios.
A 3×3 grid of 10-second animations, identical except for keyframe interpolation — a study in how timing alone changes meaning.
Due: Tue, Jun 9
Project 1, Phase 1
Begin Project 1 (lyric video). Phase 1 deliverable.
Due: Tue, Jun 9
Tue, Jun 9Type, Timing, and the Match Cut
After Effects part 2: text animators, parenting, nesting, match cuts. Project 1 proposals review.
Activity:After Effects part 2: text animators, parenting, nesting, match cuts. Project 1 proposals review.
Homework:
Exercise 2: Don't Blink
A composition responding to the phrase "don't blink" using at least five match cuts.
Due: Tue, Jun 16
Project 1, Phase 2: First Minute
Create a video for the first minute of your song, incorporating the feedback you received from your classmates on your type choices and animation styles. Be prepared to explain your design choices, and how you plan on improving this video for the next assignment.
Due: Tue, Jun 16
Due:
Exercise 1: 3×3 Interpolation Grid
Project 1, Phase 1
Tue, Jun 16Ways of Seeing & Working in 3D
After Effects part 3: the basics of text animators and working in 3D. 3D text and layers, the Cinema 4D renderer, moving and rotating along the Z axis, cameras, lights, geometry and bevel options, and material settings. Discussion of John Berger's Ways of Seeing and how it applies to motion design — how images carry argument.
Activity:After Effects part 3 — text animator basics and 3D: 3D text and layers, the Cinema 4D renderer, the Z axis, rotation and movement, cameras, lights, geometry and bevel options, and material options. Review of Project 1 videos.
Homework:
Exercise 3: Typographic Poster Sequence
A short typographic poster sequence responding to Ways of Seeing, Episode 1. Choose either the reading or the video to respond to.
Due: Tue, Jun 23
Project 1: Final
Finalize Project 1 (lyric video) for full critique next session.
Due: Tue, Jun 23
Due:
Exercise 2: Don't Blink
Project 1, Phase 2: First Minute
Tue, Jun 23Lyric Video Work Session
In-progress review of your lyric videos. Studio time, technical troubleshooting, and one-on-one feedback to push your projects toward final.
Activity:WIP review of lyric videos. Studio time and one-on-one feedback.
Homework:
Exercise 4: Population Comparison
Create a visual narrative comparing the population of two countries. You must use at least three 3D objects, two nulls, and two examples of match cut animation. Compositions can be any size and any length. Submit one video.
Due: Tue, Jun 30
Project 1: Final
Finalize Project 1 (lyric video) for full critique next session.
Due: Tue, Jun 30
Due:
Exercise 3: Typographic Poster Sequence
Project 1: Final
Tue, Jun 30Lyric Video Critique + Procedural Thinking
Project 1 (lyric video) due — full critique. Introduction to procedural thinking: working non-destructively and building rigs you can reuse. Project 2 launched.
Lecture:Introduction to procedural thinking.
Activity:Project 1 critique. Working non-destructively and building reusable rigs.
Homework:
Project 2, Phase 1
Begin Project 2 (appropriation/interpretation piece). Phase 1: develop a motion identity system. Reference work by Mouthwash Studio for examples of how a motion system can be built and applied.
Due: Tue, Jul 7
Due:
Exercise 4: Population Comparison
Project 1: Final
Tue, Jul 7Cavalry 1
An introduction to Cavalry, a procedural 2D animation tool. Building and editing primitive shapes and layout, making shapes editable, drawing with the pen and pencil tools, working with typography and type on a path, importing and editing SVG, connecting nodes, and using the Duplicator. We'll hook shapes and text up to color arrays with the ID node, then render and export.
Lecture:A procedural approach to design — how Cavalry's node-based, non-destructive workflow replaces repetitive manual work.
Activity:Cavalry basics: primitive shapes and layout; making shapes editable (Direct Selection tool → right-click Make Editable, or ⌘E); pen and pencil tools; typography and the Type menu (variable fonts, type on a path); importing and editing SVG; connecting nodes; Duplicator basics with the ID node; hooking a circle and a text object up to a color array; rendering and exporting.
Homework:
Exercise 5: Oblique Strategies
Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies uses constraints to generate new ideas. Pick one prompt from the complete list and respond to it. Post the prompt you used in the Discord. You can use whatever tool you'd like to respond.
Due: Tue, Jul 14
Project 2, Phase 2
Finalize your logo animation and tagline animation based on critique. Final deliverables should include three different sizes — 1920×1080, 1080×1080, and 1080×1920 — to emphasize the flexibility of the design system you are building.
Due: Tue, Jul 14
Due:
Project 2, Phase 1
Tue, Jul 14Cavalry 2
A deep dive into Cavalry's Duplicator: input shapes, grouping for flexibility, and driving multiple shapes. Distributions — grid, circle, intersection, linear, path, shuffle, submesh, and voxelize. Introduction to behaviors: oscillator, noise, and stagger. Understanding indices and how they drive color, staggering, and randomness.
Activity:Working with the Duplicator: input shapes, transformations, and hooking up multiple shapes; auto ID and adding randomness with shape IDs. Distributions (grid, circle, intersection, linear, path, shuffle, submesh, voxelize). Behaviors: oscillator, noise, and stagger. Debugging indices with color arrays.
Homework:
Exercise 6: Screen-Saver
Create your own “screen-saver.” You must use at least three behaviors and/or deformers.
Due: Tue, Jul 21
Project 2, Phase 3
Continue developing Project 2.
Due: Tue, Jul 21
Due:
Exercise 5: Oblique Strategies
Project 2, Phase 2
Tue, Jul 21Cavalry 3
Continuing with behaviors and the Duplicator: linear distributions, debugging indices with index-to-color, and how the Duplicator overrides the attributes of its input shapes. Working with text and submeshes. A deep dive into color: scene vs. library palettes, gradient shaders, color arrays, the color generator, and multi-point gradients. Filters and shader arrays: animating blurs and tri-tone image treatments.
Lecture:How the Duplicator overrides shape attributes; the difference between scene and library palettes.
Activity:From ellipse to Duplicator with a linear distribution; visualizing indices with index-to-color. Text before and after submeshing; oscillating a submesh. Color workflows: scene color palettes, adding a gradient shader to a fill, setting gradients from library palettes, connecting nodes with a scene palette, building color arrays (from the library or via command-period), connecting color arrays to gradient shaders, and connecting colors to other colors. Gradient shader, color generator, and multi-point gradient shader. Filters: adding and animating blur. Shader arrays: hooking an image up to tri-tone.
Homework:
Exercise 7: Squash, Squish, Squoosh
Create an animation with a variable axis using a variable font of your choice, made with any software or analog tool you'd like. The animation should be 1080×1080 px and loop.
Due: Tue, Jul 28
Exercise 8: Peer Feedback
Choose a classmate and give them written feedback on their Project 2. Think about ways the project could improve, and include specific examples.