How can you add motion graphics to your videos?

1 Choose your tools

When creating and editing motion graphics, you have many options to choose from, depending on your budget, skill level, and preferences. Adobe After Effects is a powerful and versatile software that can create almost any kind of motion graphics, from 2D to 3D, with a wide range of effects, presets, plugins, and templates. It also integrates well with other Adobe products. Canva is a free and easy-to-use online platform that can help you design and animate simple motion graphics. It has a drag-and-drop interface, a large library of fonts, icons, and images, as well as a variety of templates and animations to choose from. Lumen5 is another smart and fast online tool that can turn your text or blog posts into engaging videos with motion graphics, music, and voiceovers. It uses artificial intelligence to select the best visuals, fonts, and colors for your content and lets you customize them with a few clicks.

2 Plan your design

When planning your design, it's important to think about the kind of motion graphics you want to add to your videos. Consider your purpose, audience, style, and message so that your motion graphics are relevant, consistent, and appealing. Ask yourself what type of motion graphics you want to use: text, shapes, icons, or images? Do you prefer 2D or 3D motion graphics? Will they be transitions, overlays, backgrounds or standalone elements? What color scheme will you use? Does it match your brand identity, video theme or mood? Does it contrast or complement the colors of your video footage? What animation style do you prefer? Do you want them to be smooth, fast or slow? Subtle, dynamic or dramatic? Also consider the timing and duration of your motion graphics. Will they sync with your audio, narration or music? Will they distract or enhance your video content?

3 Create your motion graphics

Creating your motion graphics is the third step, and the amount of time and effort needed depends on the complexity and quality of your motion graphics. To help create better motion graphics, you can use templates and presets available in most tools, or find free or paid templates and presets online to import. Additionally, keyframes and curves can be used to control the speed, direction, and shape of your motion graphics. Masks and layers are also features that can help you create different effects, such as transparency, blending, or shadows for a more complex and realistic look.

4 Edit your motion graphics

The fourth step of creating motion graphics is to edit them and adjust them to your videos. You can use the same tools you used to create them, or opt for a different one, such as Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or iMovie. To edit your motion graphics, you can trim and crop them to fit the length and size of your videos, as well as remove any unwanted parts or edges. Additionally, you can scale and position them to match the resolution and aspect ratio of your videos. You can also adjust and tweak the color, brightness, contrast, saturation, and other parameters of your motion graphics to make them more harmonious and attractive.

5 Export and share your videos

The final step is to export and share your videos with your motion graphics. You should choose the best format, quality, and settings for your videos based on the platform, device, or purpose that you want to use them for. Additionally, take the time to check for any errors, glitches, or improvements before you export and share them. When selecting the file format, consider the size, compatibility, and compression of each type. For video quality, balance your needs and expectations between 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Lastly, optimize your videos and motion graphics with settings such as frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, or audio quality.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?