(upbeat music)
- Hello and welcome to the 31st video
in this beginner's guide to Adobe after effects.
In this tutorial, I'm going to demonstrate
how you can plan and design
for your video presentation in after effects.
Now, creating video presentations can be complex
and time consuming.
I always find it helps to have a plan
before jumping in to after effects.
It gives me something to work to.
Once you know, or have a rough idea
of what you're creating, it's a lot more fun
putting it together rather than
making it up as you go along.
Now, before I start any project in after effects,
I typically take a little time to plan and design
my video presentation.
This will typically include the following steps:
One - Project preparation and checklist.
Two - Planning the structure.
Three - Planning my timeline.
Four - Storyboarding.
And five - designing my artwork in Photoshop.
In this video, I'll be discussing these steps
and how I plan and design a video presentation
and offer some tips which I hope will help you.
So, before I start any video project,
I typically start with step one.
Project preparation.
So, this is a quick step I undertake to make
sure I have everything I need to undertake a project
and ensure I have thought everything through.
To do this, I use a project prep and checklist sheet.
So, this is a sheet I have prepared earlier
and I use this at the very start of each project.
First, I recap on the project and write a
quick project description.
Now, if you already have a brief, you can take
your information from there.
But, sometimes, I like to break it down
and make some minor notes of reference to come back to
as I develop my project.
Next, I write any notes I need to keep in mind.
And, then, I go through an asset list to make sure
I have everything I need to start the project.
Before I start any project, I will make sure I have
all the assets I need to include in the presentation.
Such as graphics, video, audio or any typefaces.
Now, I generally don't start any project until I have
all these boxes ticked.
Once I'm happy with this, I will move on to the next step.
Step two - planning the structure.
So, next I will give some thought to the overall
video presentation.
To do this, I use another sheet I have prepared earlier.
Before starting a video presentation, I like to have
a rough idea of how I'm going to structure a presentation
on what I'm going to develop.
Now, this may not be the final outcome.
But, it's an initial guide to work from.
Here I will ask myself questions like:
will I create the presentation in sections?
Will I include any animated video or image sequences?
Will the video be in sync to music?
And, are there any logo items I need to include?
As I think about this, I will plan my structure
on this sheet and make any further notes to keep in mind.
Once I'm happy with this, I will move on to the next step.
Step three planning my timeline.
So, once I have thought through the structure
of my presentation, I can start to visualize
the structure and think about how this make
take shape over a timeline.
To do this, I use another sheet I have prepared earlier.
This is simply a blank sheet with some lines
which I can sketch down some thoughts.
Here I can plan how I want to structure the
presentation over time in sections.
So, once I'm happy with this, I will move on
to the next step.
Step four - Storyboarding.
So, once I have thought through my timeline,
I can start to design how my presentation may look.
To do this, I use several sheets I have prepared earlier.
These are frame boxes printed on a few pages
in a variety of sizes.
Now, I use these sheets to bring the
timeline plan to life and start to visualize
how each key section may look.
Now, I typically sketch out some layouts
if I have initial thoughts and ideas.
Once I'm happy with this, I will move on to the last step.
Step five - Designing my artwork in Photoshop.
So during the storyboard stage, I will sketch
and think about how I may want my presentation to look.
After this stage, I will start to bring my initial
sketches to life and design everything in Photoshop.
This is a way to prepare all my layouts and artwork
and get everything ready to put together in after effects.
Now, in this process, I may prepare lots of images,
typography and graphics I will later
bring in to after effects.
Now, I generally spend quite a lot of time on this process.
Getting this right before I take everything
in to after effects and animate.
So those are my five key steps
I take before I even start an after effects.
Now, to help you with your process,
I have provided these planning sheets
in the down-loadable project folder.
With the project folder open,
click in to the S three create a project folder,
in to folder 31, plan and design,
in to the planning sheets folder.
And, in this folder, you will find
blank templates for the project prep and checklist,
project structure, timeline sheet, and
the storyboard sheets.
Now, if you print these out, you will be able
to use them in your video presentation design process.
Now, if you don't have the project folder and you
want to access these planning sheets, I have prepared
especially for you.
You can download the project folder for a small fee.
The download link with instructions is in the description.
The download folder comes with lots of exercise documents
we will be using on this course that have been
carefully developed to aid your learning experience.
The folder also comes with document resources
such as videos, graphics, and images you can use
to build your first video presentation from scratch
later on in this course.
To get the full learning experience, I recommend
you get the project folder.
Download link with instructions is in the description.
So, let's now take a quick look at how I use this plan
and design process for the project we are
about to create.
So, with the project folder open,
click in to the S three create a project folder
in to folder 31 plan and design,
in to the first folder plan and design,
and you will see the same documents
I just demonstrated though with my workings.
Now, if you have access to a printer,
I would recommend printing these out
as we are going to be referring back to these
as we progress through this section of the course.
If you can't print, just make sure you
have them to hand ready to look at as I refer to them.
So, first come and open sheet one
project prep and checklist.
So, this is a scan of my project prep and checklist.
Here are some notes I have taken down
before starting my project.
So, this project title is London top five
and the duration needs to be around one minute.
For the project description, I have noted
create a two D advert for a travel blog
showcasing five top venues to visit in London.
The presentation will need to run the duration
of the audio file which has been provided
and, ideally, the video sequence will run
in sync with the audio.
So, this is something I will need to keep in mind
when creating my presentation.
From my notes, I have destinations are:
Hyatt Park, the aquarium, Shoreditch,
Camden Town, and Tower of London.
Graphics are provided but you will need to create
additional artwork to build the presentation.
So, this is the main criteria I need to keep in mind.
For my asset checklist, I can check off everything
as I have received them and have them all ready to use.
So, next, come back in to the project folder
and this time open project structure.
So, here I am thinking about possible
sections for the video.
Now, the video is about the five destinations
to visit in London.
So, already, there are some clear sections
I can structure my presentation with.
To this, I want to include an introduction section
and an outro section.
So, from my initial thoughts, I will have
around seven sections to my video presentation.
For each, I have given some thought as to what they will be.
The introduction will be an animation.
The five destination sections will be video
or image edits and the outro section
will be an animation.
For notes, I have written:
keep in mind that I will need to somehow
sync the sections to the music provided,
listen to the music and see if there are any ways
I can sync each section up.
So, next, come back in to the project folder
and this time open timeline sheet.
So, here I have taken the blank sheet I showed earlier
and planned a timeline based on the previous
project structure.
Here I am thinking about the seven sections
I just established and how they might work
on a timeline and what I may include.
So, on the timeline, we can see seven clear sections
which I can organize my video in to.
For the introduction, I am thinking about creating
an animated sequence with typography and images.
For the Hyde Park section, I am thinking of creating
a video edit of clips and images with type on top
and, if this formula works, I will apply it
to the other destination sections.
And, for the outro section, I will create an animated
sequence to finish the presentation.
So, with this initial timeline plan,
I can now start to think about how my presentation may look.
So, next, come back in to the project folder
and this time come in to the storyboarding folder
and open storyboard overview.
So, this is a quick idea and a really rough sketch
of how some of the frames can work.
This is based off the previous timeline sheet I created.
And, here I have used the same colors for the sections.
Here we can see section one through to seven
and here I have thought about what I may include
on each key frame.
For the intro, I am thinking of three frames.
Frame one will state five top places.
Frame two will state to visit in
and frame three will state London.
For the next frames, I have thought about
maybe having the destination title in bold
and then including some type beneath it.
So, once I have a rough outline like this,
I then spend a bit of time thinking more about
the details of the layouts.
So, next come back in to the project folder
and this time open the next pdf number two storyboard.
So, here I have taken the previous storyboard sketch
a little further and started to think about
each key frame visually.
Here I have thought about section one, two, and seven.
So, if I zoom in here,
for section one, I'm thinking of starting with
a map in the background and using some
destination pin graphics.
This will lead on to the next frame where we will
build up to London on top of the British flag.
So, coming down to section two, here I have thought
about starting this section with a destination icon
with a number.
This would lead in to an image or video where
the typed destination will appear
on top in bold typography.
And, then, this will lead on to a frame
where the title pans up to reveal the
description copy below.
This will then lead on to the next sections.
Though here, I have not drawn out the frames
for my other sections as I want them to follow
the same formula as seen here for section two.
And, lastly, I finish with section seven.
After all the destination sections, I want to end
with an animation that starts with simple bold type
and then an illustration that builds up and
appears underneath.
So, once I'm happy with my initial planning and
storyboarding, it is now time for me to start
to design and build the layouts in Photoshop.
So, next, come back in to the project folder
and this time come in to the design folder
and open the project design Photoshop file.
So, here I am in Photoshop and this is where
I took all my storyboard sketches and
brought them to life.
So, if we look over in the layers panel,
you can see I have folders and each is named
with the sections one through seven I planned previously.
Now, I suggest you have a little look around in here
and see how I have prepared my layouts.
This is very typical of the type of document
I will prepare before I even get in to after effects.
Before I jump in to after effects, I like to think
carefully about every element and design it
just how I want it.
So, when it comes to building my presentation
in after effects, I have done the hardest part.
And all I have to do is simply build it in after effects.
So, in each folder, I have carefully designed the layout
of each section from my storyboard.
So, in the first folder one, introduction
if we toggle this down,
inside I have frame one, two, and three
which again is a reference to my storyboard.
So, right now, we are looking at the very first frame
which is the same frame I initially sketched.
Here, I have my type, the pins, and the map background.
This is the look and feel I want to create
in my video presentation.
Now, during my design process, I chose to include
round pins instead of the square pins as I thought
that would look a little better.
My idea here is to have these pins animate in
at the start as the type animates in.
So, next, is frame two and here I'm going with
another color.
And then, frame three.
So, looking at my storyboard, here I wanted the type
to be placed on a British flag.
So, here I have composed how I want that to work.
My idea here is to have all these flag shapes
animate in so it has a nice dynamic effect.
I think this would look pretty cool if I can achieve that.
So, the next folder above is Hyde Park.
So, if I toggle the visibility of this folder,
and toggle down the folder, we have three frames.
Again, referencing the storyboard I created earlier.
So, first we have a number pin
and this is how I want that to look.
My idea here is to have the pin bounce down
just before we move on to the next frame.
I think this would look pretty cool if I can do that.
So, this is how I see the frames building up
for the destination sections.
The type will sit on top of a background image
or video edit.
Now, I think if these bars were to animate in,
this would look pretty cool.
Now, the same goes with the other sections.
For these, I want to use the same formula throughout.
So, if you look in to each folder,
you will see the same layout.
Though, what I have done differently, is change
the color of the number pins at the start of each section.
So, it goes red, blue, red, blue and so on.
So, finally, the last section.
Section seven, the outro section.
So, on the storyboard, I wanted the type to appear
and then some buildings animate in below.
So, back in Photoshop, frame one,
we can see the type
and here I have decided to include the pin
as part of the type
as it's becoming bit of theme throughout the video.
And then, on to frame two, which would build up
in to a scene with lots of London buildings
below just like my storyboard sketch.
Now, during my design process here in Photoshop,
I chose to include some clouds here
for added visual effect.
Now, my idea here for this composition is to have
a few things animate.
I'd like the clouds to animate in
and move across the sky.
I'd like the helicopter to fly across the sky,
the London buses to move across the bridge,
and the London Eye to rotate around.
If I can achieve this, this might look pretty cool.
So, this is my design I have in store
for the video presentation.
Like I said, earlier, I typically spend
a lot of time in Photoshop designing my layouts,
graphics and visual style
before getting in to after effects.
Once I am happy I have everything covered,
it is now time to get in to after effects
and start to bring the whole presentation to life.
So, this whole process of planning and design
starts with simple ideas
and builds in to visual solutions
which I can create in after effects.
Now, this is a method I always use
as it encourages me to really think about
what I am doing.
It makes something that at first appears complex
and difficult just that little easier to manage.
Now, you don't have to undertake this process
though I would recommend it as it really works for me.
So, once we have a good idea of what we want to create,
it's now time to jump in to after effects
and make a start.
In the next video, we are going to start
by setting up our document in after effects
and preparing out project folder.
So, see you in the next video.
(upbeat music)