Case Study – Motion Graphics with Live Action Video

The challenge was communicating tech in an interesting way. Integrating motion graphics intricately with the on camera talent is an innovate technique for communicating more complex ideas. Pre-production is very important for making the graphics integrate seamlessly with the video. Starting with a storyboard is essential to visualizing what graphics will be needed and how the talent will interact with the onscreen motion graphics. The talent needs to visualize what the graphics will be and where they are in space to help make the illusion come to life.

The live action has a great look with the black background and dramatic lighting. The thin lines kept the graphics somewhat sparse, and the colors were limited to white and dark red to contrast with the dark background. The talent understood the concept of how the video and graphics would be integrated. He used hand motions very naturally and descriptively, really drawing with his hands. When the “invisible” content was filled in, the piece came to life in a very interesting way.

Post-production is where all the fun starts!

The overall look of the motion graphics needed to be both technical and somewhat playful. Most elements were created in Adobe Illustrator. Alice Lemmon, the designer and editor, tracked the talent’s hands for many of the sections. She found that she needed to do a lot of manual work with keyframes in order to smooth out the more abrupt movements. Alice also scaled back the range of motion to make it more realistic for a bouncing putt. In general, she did rely on software for many tracking operations, but in the end it usually comes down to human perception and manual adjustments.

One of the more exciting sections is the gyroscope. The gyroscope was created with Element 3D software. Alice tracked the hand motions and subtly scaled the gyroscope to fit within the changing space formed between the two hands. She had to play with the speed of the spin because of the stroboscopic effect. At some speeds there was an optical illusion that the gyroscope was slowly spinning backward. For the viewer this is a fun section because for a second the gyroscope almost seems real, but then suddenly it’s floating in space.

To discuss your next project, contact Mark Satuloff.