The Mograph Workflow: A Helpful Step-By-Step Guide

THE MOGRAPH WORKFLOW
Don’t put the cart before the horse. Unless you’re haulin’ horses.
A HELPFUL STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

It would be false to say that every Motion Designer approaches their craft by following the very specific workflow listed
below. However, we’ve seen this sequence of steps result in incredible Motion Graphic projects again and again. These are
tried-and-true techniques, not set-in-stone laws, but take it from us, you won’t regret following these steps.
1. BRIEF / SCRIPT
It all starts with a brief. A brief is simply a rough explanation of what the client is looking for. The exact style of the brief will
vary from client to client. It is really important to study the brief and ask the client any and every question that comes to
mind. Small miscommunications at this point can lead to dozens of wasted hours later on in the project.
In addition to the brief, most clients will provide a rough script of the project you are working on. Again, this is a great time to
ask questions and voice concerns. Some clients are very easy to work with and a brief can literally be a short email followed
by a phone call. Other clients (usually corporate) require more meetings and back-and-forth. Once you establish your niche
you’ll find yourself booking more and more of the clients you prefer, but it all depends on personal preference.
2. INSPIRATION
Once you know what the client is looking for it’s time to get some creative inspiration. Most clients will give you some sort of
creative style and emotion that they are hoping to achieve. This will dictate the design and animation style that you go to for
inspiration online. Great places to look include:
• Vimeo Channels
• Instagram Hashtags
• Behance Portfolios
• Dribbble Portfolios
• Google Image Search
Once you find things that you like, download them to your hard drive and create a virtual moodboard. This will be a catalogue of
influential design styles for your creative project. We typically like to use Adobe Bridge to preview our inspiration boards.
3. SKETCH YOUR THUMBNAIL

Once you have a sizable collection of inspiring pieces it’s time to move into some design work. But before you click the Photoshop
button, get out a few sheets of paper and begin sketching out some of the key scenes in your video. What will the layout be like?
How will you transition between scenes? What are the key design elements? This process will help you get all of your thoughts
on paper without the visual distraction of a computer screen. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Chicken scratch is acceptable.
4. BOARDS
The next step is to create some purdy storyboards. Using the thumbnails you sketched in the previous step begin constructing
some still images using Photoshop. This process is really about refining your design. The goal is to create a visual example
of what a few of your final frames will look like. Once you’re done, you can share your boards with the client. After they
approve you can use the boards as a reference in After Effects and Cinema 4D.
5. ANIMATIC
Now it’s time to bring some motion to the design. An animatic is a rough video featuring what the final video will look like
once animated. The video shouldn’t be much more than keyframes applied to your boards. There will be minimal movement
with some basic music, sound effects, and voice over. Your animatic is typically created using only a video editing software like
Premiere Pro. Like before, you’ll want to send your animatic to your client before you begin animating so that everyone is on the
same page. After this step it is going to become very difficult to make major changes.
6. ASSET GATHERING
At this point you know what cake you’re trying to cook, now it’s time to gather the ingredients. Make a list of all of the assets you
will need to complete the project. Every project is going to require its own set of assets, from textures and stock footage to shapes
and logos. It’s your job as the artist to find the resources you need and organize them on your hard drive. This usually means
contacting your client and asking for things like logos, video, color palettes, and images. Sometimes you may have to build assets
like shape elements in Adobe Illustrator or seamless textures in Photoshop. It just depends on the project.
7. SCENE SETUP
Every project, no matter how small, has a scene in which it is taking place. From a simple 2D background to a complex 3D
world it’s best to start the creative process by laying out the various sequences and compositions that you will need to place
your characters or shapes in. In Cinema 4D this can mean modeling the environment. In After Effects this can mean creating
compositions and backgrounds for each of your projects.

8. ANIMATION / COMPOSITING
Once you have all of your assets, a sense of the design, and an understanding of the environment it’s time to create the animation.
After Effects is the most popular animation software out there, but if your project is going to have a lot of 3D work you’ll
probably be using Cinema 4D as well. After you animate your individual sequences you’ll likely merge them together in a master
composition and work on the animation and timing between sequences. Once you’re done you can render out your sequence.
9. FINISHING
Finishing is kinda an umbrella term for everything that happens after you animate the project. This includes adding music,
sound effects, color grading, and other simple stylizations that can help polish your project for delivery. This step can very
easily be overlooked as harsh deadlines approach, but any extra time spent in your video editing platform will pay dividends in
the final product.
10. DELIVERY
Once you’re done with the video it’s time to send it to the client. Modern Motion Designers like to use online review platforms
like Frame.io or Vimeo to collaborate with clients. These make it easier to communicate during the next step…
11. REVISIONS
Remember, no matter how perfect you think the video is, the client is probably going to want to change something. Take the
feedback and be kind. You’ve put your heart and soul into this project and they are going to butcher it up. It’s annoying, but it’s
part of the job. After a few (knock on wood) revisions you’re ready to get paid and move on to the next project!

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THE MOGRAPH WORKFLOW

A HELPFUL STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

inspiration online. Great places to look include:

• Google Image Search

3. SKETCH YOUR THUMBNAIL

compositions and backgrounds for each of your projects.

the final product.

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