Resources for starting out in motion design, from Buff Motion
Whether it’s an ad, film or interactive website you’ve seen recently, motion design very likely played a big part in bringing it to life. Looking to sink your teeth into this immersive world? Buff Motion, a design studio making animation for groundbreaking brands, agencies and non-profits, is here with some tips. Below, designers Abraham E. and Mark Longworth recommend a list of resources to give you a head start on your motion design journey.
💭 Industry Insight and Inspiration
Disney’s Filmmaking Process (Website)
Many of us have grown up marvelling at Disney and Pixar animations, but there is not enough information about the monumental, multi-layered process behind their work. Recently, they have started sharing their feature filmmaking process, from early scripts to final renderings.
Check out Disney’s Filmmaking Process here
Derrek Elliott (YouTube Tutorials Channel)
Out of the many Blender [an open-source 3D motion application] YouTube channels out there, I think Derrek Elliott’s channel is a goldmine. For anyone looking to use Blender to create more slick, product renders and animations, there are dozens of high-quality tutorials in his channel.
Check out Derrek Elliott on YouTube here
School of Motion (Podcast)
A fantastic podcast created by motion artists for motion artists of all levels, hosted by the School of Motion team. Designers, animators, producers, and other industry professionals sit down to chat about craft, business, growth, and share many creative insights.
Check out School of Motion Podcast here
Between the Keyframes (Podcast/Vidcast)
A great podcast hosted by creative director Erin Sarofski and professor Austin Shaw. It’s particularly helpful for juniors starting out, offering advice on careers and valuable showreel reviews.
🏛️ Learning Platforms
School of Motion (Online learning platform)
A great online learning platform, with beginner to advanced courses on digital 2D and 3D design and animation. The courses are expensive and intense, so it’s both a time and financial investment for those that can take it on. But they have a good focus on foundations and industry workflows, community feedback, creative insights beyond technicalities (that have shaped my skills), and lifetime access to course material.
Check out School of Motion here
Motion Design School (Online learning platform)
Another very popular learning platform with beginner to advanced courses that tend to be shorter (and thus cheaper) but more tailored to specific workflows, like logo animation, kinetic type, character rigging and animation, seamless loops, Unreal, and Blender workflows – just to name a few.
Check out Motion Design School here
Ben Marriott Courses (Online learning platform)
Many will know of Australia’s treasure, Ben Marriott, for his fantastic tutorials covering various design and animation techniques in After Effects and Photoshop. Recently, he’s been creating some great-looking, self-paced courses focused on design and animation for both beginners and advanced motion designers. These courses could be worth investing in for those looking for more structured classes.
🔨 Online Tools and Resources
Poly Haven (3D asset website)
Poly Haven describes itself as “a curated public asset library for visual effects artists and game designers, providing useful high quality 3D assets in an easily obtainable manner.” I primarily use it to grab HDRIs [high dynamic range images, digital images that have unlimited pixel brightness and can match real-world lighting], which is quite key to a lot of people’s lighting workflows. This site has so many varieties of them that it makes starting lighting work less daunting.
Check out Poly Haven here
Ambient CG (3D asset website)
A public domain 3D library with thousands of hundreds of materials [visuals that are applied to objects to define texture, appearance and interaction with light], HDRIs and models for 3D artists, curated by Lennart Demes. I came across this whilst at uni, and it was an instant bookmark.
Once I better understood the PBR [physically based rendering, a method for creating 3D models that simulates light and shadow interaction with models in real-world settings] workflow, this site became a goldmine of just about any material I could need. It has made material creation a lot more accessible to me, before I commit to paid material libraries out there.
Check out Ambient CG here
Metronomer (Timing tool)
A free metronome generator for timing guidance when blocking out edits. When I’m unsure what music I’ll be working with, or if there’s no music at all, I use a metronome to help me with some basic timing for shots or actions.
Check out Metronomer here
ChatGPT (AI tool)
[Mark] I use this to create simple expressions [small pieces of code to loop and extend animations] and scripts for After Effects projects. It’s come in handy for writing scripts to streamline certain processes; it’s also been helpful in expanding expressions further to be used in slightly different ways. If you paste an expression, it’ll explain what the code is doing line by line.
📁 Project Files and Directories
Ordinary Folk’s Play (Project files)
Project files, experiments and scripts to learn from and use, from one of the best motion design and animation studios around. Every now and then, I find digging through Ordinary Folk’s project files really insightful – discovering new expressions, rigs and animation workflows I am oblivious to. All things I can learn from and take into other projects... if I can wrap my head around them!
Check out Play here
Coat of Arms BTS (Project files)
Similarly to Ordinary Folk’s Play, Coat of Arms studio has shared files from their various projects for educational purposes.
Check out Coat of Arms BTS here
Ae Reference (Resource directory)
A big list of resources, expressions, presets and tool recommendations for motion designers and animators, generously curated by animator Chris Zachary. It’s a truckload of resources, but there’s really something for everyone here. I personally use the expressions from this directory quite a lot. Anything we might have missed from this list might just be on here!
Check out Ae Reference here
Kai Henthorn-Iwane’s Gumroad (Tools and presets collection)
A collection of After Effects tools and presets created and shared by the brilliant designer and animator, Kai Henthorn-Iwane. It has some extremely useful After Effects presets, especially for faux 3D rigs – I’ve come to really need them in my animation workflow.
Check out Kai Henthorn-Iwane’s Gumroad here
Interface In Game (Game interface library)
A collection of video game interfaces, screenshots and clips to inspire designs and interactions for games design.
Check out Interface In Game here
Panimation (Motion directory)
As the animation and motion graphics industry hopefully grows more diverse, this directory features amazing women, transgender, and non-binary professionals working in the industry. It’s an inspiring resource for discovering incredible talent and gaining insight into their work while also fostering inclusion within the field.
📚 Offline recommendations
Book: The Animator’s Survival Kit
There are a lot of fantastic techniques used in traditional 2D animation, from the simpler ones to the more complex. This book covers everything I try to apply to digital 2D/3D motion design and animation. Safe to say it’s a bit like a bible, with so many nuggets applicable to anything that you wish to make move with character and conviction.
Check out The Animator’s Survival Kit here
Self-care: Take computer breaks
And finally, make sure you can find some headspace in amongst the work. Find a nearby park, or any green space, ideally away from your computer, where you can get some calm.
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Buff Motion is a Creative Lives in Progress brand partner. Every year, we partner with like-minded brands and agencies to support our initiative and keep Creative Lives a free resource for emerging creatives. To find out more about how you can work with us, email [email protected]
Written by Buff Motion
