Motion graphics is a kind of animation that is made with computer software. Various educational, news, advertising, and entertainment media use video clips to attract audiences. Various motion graphics creation tools allow users to display their ideas quickly and accurately.
Introduction
Making motion graphics videos and using audio and visual effects has made it easier to convey the message to the target audience. Familiarity with the principles of design, tools for making motion graphics, and acquiring skills in this field are necessary to create high-quality animation.
In this article, some of the best motion graphics tools are introduced, and their list is Photoshop, the oldest tool for creating motion graphics; Adobe Illustrator; Natron, Pencil 2D, Blender; Adobe After Effect, Cinema 4D, Premiere Pro, the most famous tool for creating motion graphics. Graphics, 3D modeling with 3D MAX, Maya, Adobe Animate for making motion graphics videos, Moho Pro 13, 3D modeling with ZBrush, making motion graphics videos with EmberGen, Pixelmator Pro, and PixLr.
Photoshop, the oldest tool for creating motion graphics
The best tool for creating motion graphics is Photoshop, and most people have heard the phrase (this photo is Photoshopped). Photoshop software is one of the oldest graphic programs used to edit images or design new paintings. This program allows people to design and edit their desired images. With Photoshop, images can be merged, and it is also possible to edit all the frames of an animation in the best way. Although Photoshop is for professional designers, this application can be used even with the most basic skills.
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator works on Windows, Mac, and iPad and is a good software for 3D modeling and image editing. This editor is used in most animation studios worldwide to create motion graphics images. Like Photoshop, the final images of this software can be easily imported into video production programs such as After Effects. Adobe Illustrator creates images as vectors, so changing their size and other elements does not affect the quality of the output image. Of course, changing images from vector to Bitmap images, jpeg, and other formats is possible.
Natron
The performance of this program is the same in all operating systems, and it is a suitable tool for making motion graphics videos and even movies. Natron can create unlimited layers of masks, shapes, and images with which designers can capture their creative ideas.
Pencil 2D
It is an animation tool that allows users to create 2D motion graphics. They have been using it for many years for personal and commercial projects. This software allows beginners and professional users to convert desired images into motion graphics.
Blender
This software runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac operating systems and requires relatively little memory to install and run compared to other graphic collections. Blender is used to create 3D animation videos. With a wide range of tools available in this software, enthusiasts can create motion graphics videos without learning and having a lot of skills.
Adobe After Effects
After Effect is suitable software for creating multi-dimensional animations, and most motion, graphics designers are familiar with this tool. This software is used to produce long motion graphics projects for broadcasting on TV. With special effects and the combination of this program’s images, you can produce attractive, high-quality motion graphics. Although After Effect can provide all the necessary tools for making motion graphics, editing videos with other software is better. In other words, in this program, it is possible to add effects, make animations and merge several videos, but to use professional editing tools, you can use other software such as Premiere Pro.
History of Adobe After Effects
After Effects was first developed in 1993 and has since been acquired several times, the initial developers were the Company of Science and Art (CoSA), which produced two versions of this software with limited functionality. These functions provide the possibility to combine layers and transform the different characteristics of each layer. The first version was released only for the Apple operating system and could be used on Macintosh computers.
After Aldus bought Effects in 1994, just one year after its introduction, many interesting new features were added, such as system gend rendering and motion blur. But before 1994 ended, Adobe bought the technology and still owns After Effects.
Since the purchase of this software, Adobe has released 50 different versions of it and has turned After Effects into the leading software of this industry, which provides new features in each version. Some versions are bigger than others, but all are great software. In 2019, After Effects received the Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement, which is a testament to the coherence and power of this software.
What is the difference between After Effects and Premiere?
Adobe has released another software called Premiere Pro. This software is used for video management, and you can edit and export videos. In this part of the article introducing After Effects software, we will examine the differences between the two.
After Effects is not a good option if you want to cut a video; with its vitalized tools, Premiere Pro is designed for this purpose and enables the efficient manipulation of video clips. Besides video, Premiere Pro is also equipped with powerful audio features that allow you to cut and combine audio tracks for videos.
After Effects adds visual effects and animation by processing key positions and stacking layers, you can change anything about an image by accessing the transformation properties, such as color, size, rotation, and more. In addition, you can make the layers interact for more creativity.
Cinema 4D
This program is widely used to simulate motion graphics based on real photos. By customizing its attractive user interface, you can quickly design all motion graphics. Most beginner designers are interested in this software’s Track Modifier Tag tool. The Track Modifier Tag tool makes the work process easier if many animations must be done simultaneously.
Premiere Pro is the most popular motion graphics creation tool.
Editing is one of the important components of making all kinds of motion graphics videos, which can be easily done with this program. Due to the many features and facilities of Premiere Pro software, it is known as the best tool for video editing. The program’s ease of use, simple user interface, plugins, attractive templates, and patterns have made most people prefer this software. Premiere Pro offers the possibility of performing various types of editing, such as multi-camera and creating different viewing angles, editing with proxy, evaluating the sequence of images, etc.
3D modeling with 3D MAX
3D Max is great for professional 3D modeling. This tool allows designers to visualize the final motion graphics videos, and 2D images can be converted into various 3D models. Although the output of 3DMAX is 3D images and models, they can be animated with some program tools. 3D Max’s user interface is customizable in many ways; for example, keyboard shortcuts speed up workflow.
Maya
Maya offers some unique motion features and has attracted the attention of many designers. Polygonal modeling, time editor, and some 3D dynamics such as fluid simulation are other features of this software. Maya can store in the operating system’s cache, by which the program’s performance will be faster. Usually, in the motion graphics industry, this software is chosen for making 3D videos.
Adobe Animate for making motion graphics videos
The most advanced tool for creating motion graphics is 3D, and the developers of this program are constantly updating the software features. Beginner designers with this software will understand that creating motion graphics is not that complicated. With the features of Adobe Animate software, you can use all kinds of images and text to create motion graphics.
Moho Pro 13
This wonderful software has been released for different platforms. Moho Pro 13 toolkit efficiently makes motion graphics time-consuming and boring projects.
3D modeling with ZBrush
This software, like 3D MAX, is used for 3D modeling. ZBrush is famous for its wide variety of brush tools. Its trial version is free for thirty days and works with an internet connection. The powerful ZBrush software has provided countless capabilities to design and modeling enthusiasts.
Making motion graphics videos with EmberGen
EmberGen is a powerful simulator that creates various animations, such as motion graphics videos. This software provides motion graphics designers and creators with tools to use anything like fire, smoke, or liquid images in 3D animations. Designers can create the special effects they want in just a few seconds instead of hours of work on images.
Pixelmator Pro
This program is made only for Mac and is used for editing images. Pixelmator Pro is designed as an alternative to Photoshop software and allows users to prepare images and edit them advanced.
PixLr
It is a free motion graphics creation tool that can be run in a web browser. Many features are similar to Photoshop, which supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android for quick editing.