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Motion Graphics

Unit 64Assignment 1

+What are motion graphics?

Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for using in multimedia projects.

+What are motion graphics?

Motion graphics are very useful for showing something in a more interesting and visually exiting way, which is why many companies use them to present their logos or idents. Motion graphics can be found on a lot of different media now days, for example TV, internet (+ internet videos), DVD menus and many others.

+Video Compositing

Compositing is the combination of visual elements from from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously called “Chroma key, blue screen, green screen and others. Today, most compositing is achieved through digital image manipulation. For example above there is an image showing 4 of the same character, composited on top of a background layer.

+Motion Graphics and Video Compositing Examples

There are many uses for motion graphics and video compositing now days, which are used all over the media, for example in DVD interfaces, shown here on the right, which uses examples of both motion graphics and video compositing, as there are animated graphics on the screen, and there are images of characters composited onto the background.

+Motion Graphics and Video Compositing ExamplesAnother example of the uses of motion graphics and compositing can be seen in title and credits sequences, animated captions, stings, idents, interactive menus and web banners

Title sequence

TV Sting

Animated Captions

Interactive Menu

+Characteristics

DVD interfaces:

These can vary depending on the production, but they tend to have a still background, sometimes with some animated alterations to make it interesting. Also some use clips from the movie/show within the menu which loop until the viewer chooses something. A lot of menus use still images from the movie/show, showing the characters or significant items from the programme. However despite these variations, almost all DVD menus add music in the background, to make the viewer more interested.

+Characteristics

Title and credits sequence:

Depending on the type of programming, title sequences tend to be more exiting to create the build up to the actual movie. However the credits sequence tend to be slower with only text, and some company logos at the end, unlike the title sequences which can be overlaid on top of the programme its self as well as other graphics.

+Characteristics

Animated captions:

These tend to be very quick and subtle, used to display information like a name for example. Animated captions do not need to be complicated as they are meant to be in the lower third of the screen, also they should not take the attention away from the subject the image.

+Characteristics

Stings:

These are shorter and more concise idents used when the usual idents are too long for the scheduled programming.

+Technological Constraints

Although motion graphics are widely used by many media related companies, there are some technical constraints which limit them, for example video format can be an issue, as using the wrong type, or a type which the computers cannot read, will mean that the motion graphic cannot be played/shown. Also frame rate can be an issue, for example if you create the motion graphic in 24fps, but it has to be shown in 25fps for broadcast, you might get a different result, to what it originally looked like. Another constraint are the visual effects, because there are many different TVs, and some older models may not be able to give and accurate image, colours may be off and the image may be blurred. This can lead the viewers to think differently of your ident and therefore the brand as a whole.

+Aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of an image describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height. It is commonly expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, as in 16:9. For an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this same length unit, the height will be measured to be y units. The common European television aspect ratio is 5:3 (or 1.6667:1), however HD televisions now days are often at an aspect ration of 16:9 (or 1.77:1 or 1.78:1)

+Video Formats

Most countries in North and South America, including the US and Canada, utilize the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) format, while Europe, Australia and parts of Asia use a competing format called Phase Alternating Line (PAL). The major distinction between these two formats is the rate at which a broadcast is displayed on a TV screen: NTSC displays at 30 frames per second (fps), while PAL provides 25 fps. Each format also uses a different number of lines on an old analogue TV display when showing the signal, creating two different resolutions. The widespread adoption of High-Definition Televisions (HDTVs) by many consumers has not eliminated this difference, however, since older broadcasting methods have influenced digital signal playback.

SECAM (Sequentiel Couleur avec Mémoire, French for "sequential colour with memory") is an analogue television system, using frequency modulation to encode chrominance information. It is so named because it uses memory to store lines of colour information, in order to eliminate the colour artifacts found on systems using the NTSC standard. It was developed for the same purpose as PAL, but uses a different (and many would argue inferior) mechanism to do so. R-Y and B-Y information is transmitted in alternate lines, and a video line store is used to combine the signals together. This means that the vertical colour resolution is halved relative to PAL and NTSC.

+Frame rate

Frame rate, also known as frames per second (FPS), is the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate is most often expressed in frames per second (FPS) and is also expressed in progressive scan monitors as hertz (Hz).

+Resolution

The display resolution of a digital television, computer monitor or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. For example a common resolution with films now days is 1920 x 1080, meaning 1920 pixels in width, and 1080 pixels high.

+Compression

Data compression involves encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Compression can be either lossy or lossless. No information is lost in lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces bits by identifying unnecessary information and removing it. The process of reducing the size of a data file is popularly referred to as data compression, although its formal name is source coding.