How To Become An In-demand Motion Designer In Canada?

Noah 2022-11-02 0 Comments

The world of animation and motion design is a sea of possibilities and development options. In this field, you need to constantly learn and experiment. In this article, you will learn about the profession of a motion designer: who it is and what he does. You will also understand what skills and abilities this specialist needs, where he can work and how to become a motion designer.

Who A Motion Designer Is

A motion designer creates visual effects for television, screensavers for YouTube, animated graphics for advertising, video presentations and animations for social networks. His skills are needed wherever you need to “animate” a static picture. Motion helps to evoke emotion in the audience and quickly convey to it the necessary idea.

Differences from the graphic designer

Although part of the skills of a motion designer coincides with the skills of a graphic designer, the difference between them is fundamental. And it lies in the name of the profession: “motion” – movement.

A motion designer is a person in whose hands an image comes to life and tells the viewer a little story, be it the title page of an auto blogger’s show, an ad for a new smartphone, or the credits before a movie.

A graphic designer works with static layouts, such as identity, package design, outdoor advertising, printing, and banners for websites.

How The Advantages And Disadvantages Have The Profession Of Motion Designer

Every job has something to love about it and something that is, quite frankly, infuriating. The motion design profession has its niceties and minuses.

Pros

  1. The pleasure of the creative process: creating a video, you can feel like a real creator;
  2. The profession pays well: there are fewer motion designers than graphic ones, and they are valued more;
  3. Skills motion designer in demand in many areas, you can participate in interesting projects in film or advertising;
  4. You can work as a freelancer with a schedule that suits you.

Cons

  • You need to be versed in several areas, as a motion designer is a designer, director, editor and producer;
  • There can be long coordination of the project with the client;
  • Possible creative burnout, if you do not monitor the load and schedule.

Motion Designer Skills

To create graphics that grab the viewer’s attention and deliver the right message, you need to know not so little. Motion designer works not only with video, but also with sound and text. He makes sure that all these things tell a coherent story. This is what a motion designer should be able to do.

Understand the design itself. In theory, you don’t have to be able to draw to be a motion designer, you have to be able to “move” what you’ve already drawn. But if you don’t have design skills, you’ll have a hard time getting into motion quickly. You’ll have difficulties with animation, composition, contrast, harmony, color and typography. So you’ll have to figure those areas out.

Have screenwriting skills. A motion designer is not just someone who creates a beautiful picture in motion. His work is stories, a fragment of stories, instructions or descriptions. In order for the picture to tell the viewer a story, you need an understanding of the dramaturgical techniques, editing skills and knowledge of how the story works.

To have a set of professional programs. Different motion designers use different software, depending on their preferences. In the section below, we’ll talk more about the most common programs and technical tools for the motion designer.

Tools for work

You need professional software to work on animated content. There are a number of programs that motion designers use most often.

Adobe After Effects – The main program in the profession, the masthead for the modern motion designer. The basic tool for most 2D and pseudo-3D tasks. With the help of this program you can:

  • Create titles for movies;
  • Make title sequences and transitions;
  • Remove objects from clips;
  • Bring characters and logos to life;
  • Create designs in 3D space.

Cinema 4D – The easiest way to get started in 3D design is with this program. It creates three-dimensional graphics and animation, and works with textures, light and materials.

Adobe Premiere Pro – This is a program for editing movies and videos for the Internet. It is often used by video bloggers and videographers. With Premiere you can edit multiple files at the same time.

Adobe Animate – A program suitable for classic frame-by-frame animation. You can use it to develop animation for games, TV shows, and websites. Animate cartoons and banner ads, create animated captions and avatars. The program allows you to add interactive elements to electronic manuals and infographics and quickly publish content on various platforms.

Toon Boom – Another professional yet accessible program for creating cartoons and animation. Known for being widely used in the film industry.

There are a number of other programs that are used by motion designers:

  1. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop – for creating graphics, image and video editing;
  2. Autodesk 3ds Max – for creating three-dimensional models;
  3. Autodesk Maya – for editing 3D graphics;
  4. Moho – for creating vector 2D animation and graphics.
  5. Programs, in fact, a lot, each designer uses a different set of auxiliary software.

Personal qualities

About a good motion designer can be said that he:

  • Knows how to keep up with changing trends in motion design;
  • Is a creative thinker;
  • Able to find common ground and collaborate with a team;
  • Willing to learn new programs and techniques;
  • Likes to create something new from scratch;
  • Willing to work hard to create a great product.

Responsibilities

Motion designers create graphics for movies, presentations, TV, commercials, YouTube splash screens, videos, and social media covers. Designers with different specializations perform different tasks, but all of them, in one way or another, are busy performing the following tasks:

  • Negotiating with potential and existing clients;
  • Searching for ideas for projects;
  • Working on projects in Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, Adobe Premiere Pro;
  • Creation of VFX: animation of explosions, destruction and movement of fluids;
  • Creation of animated infographics, 2D character animation;
  • Animation of logos and presentations;
  • Video editing, working with the frame and light;
  • Modeling 3D objects;
  • Making corrections to current projects.

Scopes Of Work Of A Motion Designer

Animated content works flawlessly if you need to grab the viewer’s attention in seconds. With the help of a video you can explain in a minute how an online service works, talk about the benefits of the product and get the audience on the right track.

The demand for motion is growing and will continue to grow with the general digitalization and the development of technology. Let us have a look at where the results of motion designer’s work can be applied today.

Television

Intro and end titles, captions, captions and various title sequences are the work of motion designers.

Film

Motion designers create effective titles and title sequences for movies. They are also used for the production of the movie teasers and trailers.

Clips

The teams that make music videos also need motion. Designers do a variety of things, from caption plates to complex infographics and frame-by-frame animation.

Online media

Entertainment, informational and educational online projects constantly use motion design to make short and vivid videos.

Explainers are often made for this industry. These are videos explaining something: how the program works, why dogs run in their sleep, what makes this brand of refrigerator better than others.

Advertising and marketing

In commercials on TV or YouTube, we constantly see animated text, logos and product images. A small video can contain as much information per unit of time as an infographic, webpage or article can’t always deliver.

Offline shows and events

Motion can be seen in 3D-mapping. 3D-mapping is a laser show on the facades of buildings, during which the shape of the building, the details of its architecture and location are played off. It is also used on screens during concerts, festivals and celebrations.

Forums and conferences

Motion designers take part in creating videos for presentations and infographics for websites. They make visual products, presentations for partners and conferences.

Art

Sometimes designers, in addition to work for clients, create videos in which they embody their own ideas. It’s also a great way to pump up skills and build skill.

Animation for social networks.

This is a good option for novice designers: you can just animate the elements of graphics, you do not need to make a full-fledged video. It is convenient to start with social networks to enter the profession. For example, you can create creative videos for clients for TikTok or Instagram stories*.

Motion Designer Jobs at Canada’s Best Casinos

You love animation and you want to work in the Canadian gaming industry? Great news! There are plenty of opportunities for motion designers at Canada’s best casinos.

The Top 50 Online Casinos are always looking for talented and creative individuals to join their team. As a motion designer, you will be responsible for creating engaging and visually appealing animations that will capture the attention of casino guests.

In order to land a job at one of these top casinos, it is important to have a strong portfolio that showcases your skills and talent. Be sure to highlight your experience with designing for digital media, as well as any previous projects you have worked on.

With a little hard work and some dedication, you could soon be working at one of Canada’s best casinos!

What is the Salary of a Motion Designer from Canada?

The pay for a motion designer can vary greatly depending on experience, qualifications and company. A large proportion of professionals work for themselves rather than on the staff of studios. This means that their income consists of fees from clients, rather than a steady salary.

According to statistics on the website Upwork, where you can see the average salary for motion designers in Canada range from 50,000 to 75,000 Canadian dollars a year. On average, this job in Montreal offers C$55,000 to C$65,000 per year for this position.

Employers expect the following skills from a professional with a salary of C$50,000 to C$75,000:

  • Professional proficiency in the following programs – After Effects, Adobe Premier, Photoshop, Illustrator;
  • Practical knowledge and application of scripts, plugins for After Effects: Trapcode, Magic Bullet Element, Particular and others;
  • Experience of working with chromakey (technology of combining two or more images) using Keylight effect in Adobe After Effects;
  • Excellent level of work with typography, knowledge of animation and editing principles;
  • Understanding of the requirements and technicalities of all stages of video production.

In general, the upper income bar for professionals in motion design is almost unlimited, it all depends on the skills and scale of projects. 

Career Development and Prospects of the Profession

Motion design is a fairly young procession, the field is developing very rapidly and now comes to the profession easier than ten years ago. A specialist in animated content can endlessly build up skills, and then work only with the top clients and only on projects that are in my heart.

Many designers deepen their individual specialization: some go into art directors, creative directors, producers, or studio owners.

Some experienced motion designers pull up their English, build a great portfolio and go international.

How to become a motion designer

Motion design is where graphic designers, developers, SMM people and just newbies without any experience come in. A few tips for those who want to enter the profession:

  • Master the design and art base;
  • Don’t forget editing, screenwriting, sound design and dramaturgy skills;
  • Show your portfolio, let as many people as possible see your work – for example, you can post teasers of videos on Instagram*, and from there call subscribers to your Vimeo- or YouTube-channel.

There are a lot of self-taught people in this profession, but you will have to sweat to learn all the skills on your own. It will be faster and more effective if you have a systematic approach: first, take some sensible courses on motion design, where you will get a necessary and structured framework, and then practice a lot.

Conclusion of the article review

A motion designer is an artist, director, screenwriter, producer, cameraman, editor and sound designer. This is one of the most creative professions on the digital market. A big plus in the job of a motion designer is that you can work as a freelancer on projects that interest you. In this case, the earnings depend only on the scale of the project and your skills. Choose your path to a career as a motion designer, look for a course to suit your needs and start creating.