The Process of Planning an Animated Infographic

The funny thing about creative projects is it’s very easy to do one of two tings: Jump right into creating something or feel overwhelmed by the blank page in front of you. The problem with both of these scenarios is there is no planning involved. And as we learned in our Pre-Production class, lack of planning costs more time, money and includes more roadblocks.

That’s why when I sat down to work on my latest Post-Production assignment, an animated infographic, I decided I was going to invest in the pre-production process before jumping into creating it. And it really made things go smoothly, and I’m very pleased with the outcome.

Everyone has a different process, but I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about the planning process through completing my assignments.

Step 1: Understand the concept and choose a topic

We were given an assignment to create an animated infographic based on a topic we chose. An infographic is a visual way to represent information. I began planning for my project by watching several animated infographics to get a better understanding of what they were and get some ideas. I chose to create a self-promotional infographic. I thought it would serve a dual purpose of showing future employers I could make a video like this and also present information about myself.

Step 2: Gather, Group and Organize the Facts

Now that I knew what an animated infographic was and had a topic to pursue, it was time to gather the facts. I tried to quantify facts about myself since much of the infographics I saw included lots of statistics. I wrote down how many blogs I’ve written, how many social media accounts I’ve managed, years of experience I had in certain fields and more. I then took my long list of facts and grouped them into categories and put those categories into an order that seemed logical to me. In the margins I made a few notes and thumbnail drawings of the images and animations I thought I might use.

Step 3: Storyboard the video and choose a visual theme

At this point I was feeling very good about the project. Ideas were coming to me, and I could see it staring to form in my head. I drew a storyboard in my notebook of the different panels I would create. I jotted notes on the animations I would use to move from panel to panel. I chose a color scheme and the fonts for the video.

Step 4: Create the Graphics

Based on the storyboard, I knew what graphics I was going to create. Some of my graphics I was going to need to create in Photoshop before working in After Effects, where the video would be put together. This step was very helpful. If I had jumped right into working in After Effects, I would have been jumping between After Effects and Photoshop, creating the graphic once I got to that part in the video. While this would have worked just fine I assume, the workflow went much smoother.

I should also mention that this is when I created a folder specifically for this project. All my files went into this folder. That way, I wouldn’t have trouble finding where my files were and if I needed to move the project to another computer or storage device, it would be very simple to do so.

Step 5: Create the Video

When I opened a new project in After Effects, I imported the graphics I made in Photoshop. I followed the storyboard I made earlier. I made a few changes as I began to put it together, but there really wasn’t much trial and error like you have when you jump right into making something without planning.

Even though this project was complicated, by researching and planning I didn’t feel overwhelmed. There was no staring at a blank project, getting stuck part way through making the video or starting over because I didn’t like what I made. I think I ended up with a video that is well thought out and has a consistent look. I’m glad I invested in the planning process.



How do you plan creative projects? Please share your tips and thoughts in the comments.

My After Effects Demo Reel

Note: Please watch this video at it's highest quality by adjusting the YouTube player settings if necessary.

As promised, I have put together a collection of projects from my Motion/Visual Effects class. All these projects were created in After Effects, a really cool program used to create animations and title sequences. We completed the tutorial exercises in class, and then we were asked to create our own original projects. What you see here are the pieces I've created along with a description of the techniques used for each one.

This class has given me the foundation to create more advanced motion and visual effects on my own. Recently, I've used the program to construct a kinetic typography ad for a gaming community which raises money for childrens' hospitals. I enjoyed learning After Effects much more than I thought I would, and I plan on using it a lot in the future to supplement my Adobe Premiere projects.

A New Appreciation for the News

Not too long ago I saw a shot in a news segment where the camera was in a sink facing up towards the faucet. The water came rushing down onto the lens. I thought to myself, that seems like an awfully elaborate shot just for a simple news story.

Since then, I really pay attention to news segments – the shots they set up, the transitions they use, creative camera angles and graphics. A lot of thought, planning and creativity go into presenting news stories.

There are shows I watch where the writing and the acting is great, but the camera work and editing are equally as great. One of my favorite shows uses text in a creative way. The text and graphics on the screen allows you to see inside the mind of the main character. I was watching this show last night, and it was exciting to see particular effects that I admire and figure out possible ways to recreate those effects in After Effects, the program I am currently learning in class.

Speaking of my Motion/Visual Effects class, it will be ending soon. It’s an accelerated class and will be ending before spring break. After spring break I have another accelerated class starting called Video/Sound Editing where I will be learning more about Adobe Premiere, a video editing program. I can’t wait to learn more about the program so I can make even better projects.

I’m working on a project for this blog you’ll see soon hopefully. I’m trying to do it the proper way and incorporate some of the things I’ve learned in my program this past year. As the saying goes, stay tuned!