Motion Graphic: After Effects Final Timeline Explanation

Anja put together our motion graphic using Adobe After Effects.

Anja and I agreed that using the original illustrator files instead of the files exports (.png etc.) while creating our motion graphic in After Effects was a good idea as we were able to update and edit files easily when needed. We could either replace the file completely with another file or by opening up the illustrator file in Adobe Illustrator, editing the file then saving would automatically update this change in Adobe After Effects.

Anja used motion blur on all moving objects to make our transitions smoother and less jittery as well as adding the easy ease effect on each frame (causing our keyframes to look hourglass shaped).

Asbury (2012) explained this well in his blog, '5 After Effects Tips for Mastering Keyframes', he states, "The type of keyframe you see is a visual shorthand telling you how the keyframe will behave.  By default, keyframes in the timeline are linear and represented as a diamond. This means the speed is constant. Using only these will give your animation a robotic quality (when in real life most things build up or ease down in speed and don’t move at a constant value). After Effects gives you the ability to ease a keyframe, so speed more organically builds up or slows down.  Select a keyframe. right click, choose Keyframe Assistant > Easy Ease. This eases both sides of the keyframe (looks like an hour glass). This works well for beginning & end keyframes but generally not for middle keyframes."

The starting frames were grouped together so that the position of the Ocado logo, slogan, and background could be moved at the same time. Originally these objects weren't grouped which caused them to move not as smoothly than the were grouped as they were moving from slightly different positions causing these objects to move at different times.

The position of the title screen between the first and second keyframe was set to not move for the duration of one second, which would allow enough time for the audience to read the text, logo and slogan. Between the second and third frame the title screen's position was set to move left and out of view so that the next frame could slide onto the canvas.

These are the keyframes used for the desk and computer monitor/screen. The desk's position usually changes at the same time as the Mum. At 1 second 10 the desk's position changes from the right (off canvas) to on screen (on canvas) at two seconds. The Mum arrives on the canvas first at 1 second 29 so that it creates a subtle movement effect.

These are the keyframes used for the Mum's back.

Between the first and second keyframe, the position of the Mum's back was set to not to move for the duration of 1 second 10. 

Between the second and third keyframe the position of Mum's back was set to move from right (off screen) to left (on the canvas) and therefore the value on the x-axis decreased causing the Mum to move onto the canvas.

At two seconds an opacity keyframe was set with 100% opacity, a second keyframe was added at 2 seconds 29 with the opacity still set to 100%. At three seconds a third keyframe was added and the opacity was set to 0% so that it appeared as though the Mum head had turned as she has noticed that the girl has walked into the room. This opacity change occurred during a millisecond to stop the fading effect that happens when the duration of the change is longer. Therefore this small amount of time was chosen so that the head turning was a smooth transition.

Another illustrator file for Mum's head turn was added that ran parallel with some of the keyframes added to the Mum's back file.

Mum's side was set to 0% opacity between the first and second keyframe for the duration of 2 seconds 29. A third keyframe was added at three seconds where the opacity was set to 100%. 

Therefore with the Mum's back going from 100% opacity to 0% and the Mum's side going from 0% opacity to 100% at exactly the same time meant that the audience gain the effect of the Mum's head turning. 

The Mum's head is turned for the remainder of this scene and therefore this transitions to the next scene. At 4 seconds 15 the first keyframe for the position is added causing the Mum to move downwards. The second keyframe's position at 5 seconds 15 causes the Mum to be moved completely off of the canvas as its value has been decreased on the y-axis. 

During this time the girl has also walked into the room which is why the Mum's head turns to the side.

At 2 seconds 15 the position between the first and second keyframes are set to not move. Every two milliseconds until 3 seconds 15 keyframes are added changing the girl's position on both the x and y axis causing the girl to look as though she is walking instead of just changing the value on just the x-axis which would cause the girl to slide onto the canvas which would look unnatural.

At 3 seconds 29 a similar transition to the Mum's head turn happens however this is when the girl is pointing at the shelf instead. A keyframe is added with the opacity of 100% and at four seconds the opacity changes to 0% where the girl is now pointing.

The happens because at the same time, the illustration of the girl pointing has an opacity value of 0% at 3 seconds 29 which changes to 100% at four seconds.

At 4 seconds 15 a keyframe is added where the girl's position changes and its value decreases on the y-axis causing the girl to move downwards and completely off of the canvas at 5 seconds 15. The also happens to the Mum to transition to the shelf. This exact positional change happens to the desk as well.

At 4 seconds 15 a keyframe is added for the Grandma illustration which includes the shelf. The position of the shelf moves downwards at the same time that the Mum and girl do so that we can see what the girl was pointing at using a smooth transition. At 5 seconds 15 the shelf is in the correct place as the positional value has been increased on the y-axis and stays there for a second until 6 seconds 15 where the shelf's position changes and the value on the y-axis decreases. At 7 seconds 15 we are now looking at the computer screen.

When transitioning from the shelf to the computer screen many frames are happening at once.

In the Mum's back illustration, the opacity changed from 0% to 100% between 5 seconds 28 and six seconds as the Mum's head was turned prior to looking at the shelf and we wanted her looking at the Ocado website for a smoother transition. At 6 seconds 20 keyframes were added to change the position and the scale of the Mum. At 7 seconds 15 the Mum had moved slightly to the left (value decreased on both x and y-axis') which was decided so that the Mum's head wasn't in the way of the screen. At the same time the scale was increased from 500% to 700% which was decided so that the audience could see the screen better. 

These values also changed for the desk at 6 seconds 15 the position of the desk was moved so that the computer screen was in the centre and therefore the desk had to move to the right and down. The scale of the desk also changed from 6 seconds 20 to 7 seconds 15 where the scale changed from 400% to 590%.

While on the computer screen scene, the cursor moves towards the 'add to trolley' button underneath the packet of gnocchi on the Ocado website. 

At 8 seconds 04 a keyframe was added with the opacity at 0% this was so that the mouse cursor would only appear on the computer screen and not during other scenes. A millisecond later the opacity changes to 100% so that the mouse cursor appears from behind the Mum's head. Just as the mouse cursor is hoovering over the 'add to the trolley' the mouse changes to a hand cursor. This happens due to the opacity going from 100% to 0% opacity and the hand cursor going from 0% to 100% opacity. This happens before the end position keyframe is reached. The button is darker when it appears as though it has been clicked. At 9 seconds 24 to 10 seconds 25 the opacity of the button changes from 0% to 100%. 

The scene transitions from the desk to the van by changing the positional value of all objects (Mum's back, hand cursor and table with computer) on the y-axis.

From eleven seconds to 11 seconds 24 the main van the position of the van decreased on the y-axis and therefore the van was centralised and in the correct place at during the second frame. The frames were then five milliseconds apart as the position of the van changed slightly on the x-axis to appear as though it was bumping up and down. This was the same technique used on the walking girl.

The same principle was applied to the minivans that travelled across the screen, to show that Ocado's van are always delivering and showing the efficiency of their service.

The same technique of grouping objects was used at the end well as the start where the position was changed so that the logo, slogan etc. transitioned from the left onto the canvas.

The offer fades in which was created by using the opacity keyframes.

The characters pop up from the bottom on the canvas which was created by adding a position keyframe and changing the value on the y-axis so that the characters were displayed.

Bibliography

ASBURY, C. (2012) 5 After Effects Keyframe Tips. [Online] July 30th 2012. Available from: premiumbeat.com https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/after-effects-keyframe-tips/. [Accessed: 18th November 2018].