First Steps in Animation
In various projects now I’ve taken on the role of animating visual elements. So far, I’ve found considerable value in learning to animate for communicating solutions to team members and project stakeholders, as well as providing added value through micro interaction to users. I’m learning about how detail oriented animators have to be, as well as intentional for the animation that is being set out to complete.
Animating has taught me that there are 100 ways to do the same thing — especially in Adobe products. Diving into the nuances of Adobe After Effects, the tiniest, most over-look-able settings detail can make the differences in a clean, smooth, professional animation with the feel needed to execute the idea. On multiple occasions I’ve said “oh, so that’s what that means” while playing with Advanced settings.
Two tools I’ve successfully used now to animate in both After Effects and Framer include:
- Storyboarding — the art of planning what’s going to happen in timeline, to refer to in design decisions.
2. Brand Identity Analysis — understanding what fonts, colors, movements, and interactions are common in the brand being worked with. Does the text bounce? What font sizes are common in different usage throughout the product? If there is no current brand style guide, doing a deep dive into everything the brand is currently doing helps to understand the most succinct way to communicate product goals through animation.
I’ve found great success so far in turning to YouTube for lessons in animation. Everything that I want to do, somebody has either done or done something similar to that is adaptable to my project. The creators of animation lessons often have full channels with step-by-step guides that build on the previous lesson — channels I hope to move through in my conquest to animate. It is easy to get off-track with objective from time-to-time, with so many suggested videos offering something more exciting and advanced than the thing I am attempting to learn in the current player — but my video que is packed and I hope to get around to each.
I think being able to animate, whether it be a quick demonstration or a high-fidelity composition, is a great tool to have for communicating the product’s goal. Animations bring joy, and reflect intention and message. It’s just about knowing what animation to pursue through understanding context. I look forward to learning more about animation and continuing to build on my skills.
