Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.

Although static graphics is obviously much easier to scan and therefore can be easily perceived, motion graphics brings dynamics and life into otherwise static content. Animation can help designers to convey a deeper meaning with the use of various video-techniques. It can also provide a better data visualization than the static graphics. How and where you use it in real-life situations is totally up to your talent and your abilities to express yourself.

Motion graphics are not only created using digital techniques; also traditional animation and special effects techniques are used. However, digital techniques help to minimize production costs and achieve nice results with less effort. For example, the Juno opening sequence was a hand-made motion graphics which took painstakingly long time to finish.

A couple of weeks ago we presented Best Tutorials For Cinematic Visual Effects. In this post we present a collection of useful Tutorials for motion graphics – created with the use of digital techniques. These tutorials focus on the designing skills of a motion designer and not on the modeling or the animation. You can use these techniques to create stunning motion graphics or improve upon these ideas and come up with your own creative ideas that will be truly remarkable. Most of the tutorials are from similar sources, because of its quality and usefulness.

[By the way, did you know there is a brand new Smashing Wordpress Book? Push WordPress past its limits!]

Useful Tutorials for Motion Graphics

Stormy and Electric Type Reveal
This Adobe After Effects tutorial uses a form plug-in to create a mysterious and electric type reveal.

Text Explosion
Create text explosion with the help of 3DS Max and Adobe After Effects software. Part 1 and Part 2

Old Paper Look
Create an Old Paper texture to add old look to the title animation using the Fractal Noise Effect in Adobe After Effects.

Dunk Your Logo in a Wave World
This Adobe After Effects tutorial uses Wave World plug-in to achieve this effect.

Sound Reacting 3D Waveform
Create a sound reacting 3D waveform animation in Adobe After Effect using built-in plug-ins.

Stunning Website Demo Presentation
This tutorial shows how to create a clean and elegant solution to show off your website.

Forging Fire
Give a forging fire effect to title in Adobe After Effects.

Particolor
In this After Effects tutorial you will learn to create colourful dynamic particles by controlling their motion using Trapcode particular.

Elegantly Handwritten Text Reveal
This Adobe After Effects tutorial will teach you how to animate a handwritten text sequence with ink bleeding through the paper to create an elegant old-world style title reveal.

Awesome 80’s Inspired Title Animation
Design an Awesome 80’s Inspired Title Animation in Adobe After Effects.

Ethereal Morphing Letter Canvas
This tutorial shows how to use the built-in radio waves plug-in to create an incredibly beautiful and ethereal animation of morphing letters.

Beautifully Animated Faux 3D Flower Scene
In this tutorial you will learn how to create and animate a beautiful 3D flower that can be a design element of any motion graphics piece.

Chromatic Aberration
Learn how to virtually create Chromatic Aberration – The failure of a lens to focus light rays to the same point. Images obtained from the lens having chromatic aberration are always colourful.

iPod Commercial
Create iPod ad in Cinema 4D using tracer tool and later composite the final video in Adobe After Effects.

Light-tastic” Logo Reveal

This 2 part tutorial you will learn to create some beautifully organic light streaks that are used for logo reveal. This tutorial makes use of expressions in After Effects. Part 1 and Part 2

Dreamy Logo in the Clouds
This tutorial shows how to use a particle generator to create 3D clouds and use them as a transitional device to reveal a logo.

Cinematic Opening Title Redux
This 2 part tutorial uses freely available scripts and expressions to create stunning Hollywood movie style opening. This is deep skill based tutorial which will show some techniques to harness a large amount of text and quickly format and animate it in a cinematic style and use scripts to split up and animate a logo into hundreds of pieces. Part 1 and Part 2

The Juno Opening Credit Look
Adobe After Effects tutorial to create famous handmade juno opening sequence.

Cinematic Opening Title
Another Adobe After Effects tutorial to learn how to create a beautiful cinematic opening title using Trapcode Form.

Mac OS X Leopard-style Aura Effect
In this After Effects tutorial you learn how to create beautiful Mac OS X Leopard-style aura effect.

Radio Detection and Ranging
This tutorial will teach you to create 3 types of animated radar displays using expressions rather than keyframes which will help you to save time.

Lottery Balls
This Adobe After Effects tutorial demonstrates how to use expressions to generate multiple custom particles in Particular to create an animation of bouncing and floating Ping Pong balls.

Heart Monitor
Create a heart monitor display using Adobe After Effects.

Volume Meter
Create a Volume Meter that is reactive to change in sound. It uses expressions in Adobe After Effects to achieve this sound reacting motion graphics.

Flying through a tunnel
Create a flying through tunnel effect in After Effects. Also check the similar tutorial at www.maxafter.com

Automated Odometer
This tutorial will show you how to create automated odometer in After Effects using expressions.

Sunrise
Create a stylized sun using expressions in Adobe After Effects.

Dropping into water
Create an effect of an object dropping into water, using the Caustics and WaveWorld filters in Adobe After Effects.

Line Chart Diagram
This tutorial will show you to create diagram which can be animated with use of expressions in Adobe After Effects.

3D City
Using this tutorial you can create a stylistic 3D city with 2D images in Adobe After Effects.

Card Dance
Create a effect of millions of pictures flying around.

The 007 Intro
This tutorial shows you how to achieve the classic introduction of James Bond films using only basic After Effects plug-ins.

Earth Zoom
Create a cosmic Earth zoom in Adobe After Effects.

Welding Sparks
Create welding sparks effect using Trapcode particluar in Adobe After Effects.

Spin Orbs
Create a spinning orb in Adobe After Effects that self animates with times

Fun with Ink
This Adobe After Effects tutorial uses Particle World to create ink spatter elements.

Swirls
Learn to create animated swirls in Adobe After Effects.

Moving 3D Lines
This tutorial will teach you to create flowing light streams using Adobe After Effects.

The Blue Planet
This tutorial will teach you to create an earth in After Effects with atmosphere, rotation, solar eclipse and lighting. This tutorial uses CC sphere plug-in to convert flat map to 3d earth.

Car Racing Scene
Create a scene of cars racing down a road towards camera from photographs. Part 1 and Part 2

Medical Zoom
This 3 Part tutorial will show you how to model a blood cell (3D Max) and use it in After Effects to create the effect, where a camera goes inside a person`s body. Part1, Part2 and Part3

Dead Planet
This tutorial is similar to “The Blue Planet ” which will show you to create a dying planet with visible lava and cracks.

Planet Explosion
This tutorial will teach you to create explosion using shatter effect in After Effects.

Fancy Title Plate
Create a beautiful fancy 3D Title in Adobe After Effects.

Flaming Chrome Text
Creates flaming chrome text in Adobe After Effects using the glow and liquefy effects.

Growing 3D Vines
This tutorial will teach you to create growing 3D vines over a water floor in 3D Max and later composite it in After Effects.

Smokey Type Effect
This tutorial will teach you to create Smokey Type animation in Adobe After Effects.

Colorful Universe
This tutorial Uses expression in Adobe After Effect to create a 3D dynamic space world with light streams.

Breathtakingly Awesome Rain Scene
Adobe After Effects tutorial shows how to create the dramatic slow motion rain drops falling scene. Part 1 and Part 2

Organic Mesh
This tutorial will teach you to create an bloody wet organic mesh using 3DMax.

Spray Paint and Stencil Effect
In this tutorial you will learn how to create a spray paint effect using After Effects.

Shiny Ring
This tutorial will teach you to create a silver ring in After Effects with a particle wipe and some expressions.

TV Screens
This Adobe After Effects tutorial will teach you to create many TV screens placed in a grid. Also some optical effects are added to make it look interesting.

DVD Motion Menu Design
Major difference between this tutorial and the other DVD menu design tutorial is that it shows you create interactive menus from pen-and-paper sketches.

Graffiti Writing
This is an awesome After Effect tutorial to simulate graffiti writing on a wall in 3D along with some paint splatter elements.

Ink Bleeding Effect
Create an ink bleeding effect. This tutorial makes use of Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe After Effects with Trapcode’s Particular

Cool TV bumper
In this tutorial you will learn to create a cool TV bumper using mattes in Adobe After Effects.

Speed Particles
Create sandy like particles that fly off of text using expressions to drive particles based on speed.

3D Watch Animation
This 3 part tutorial will teach you to create a 3D Watch Animation. This tutorial makes use of Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extendend with Google 3D Warehouse Plug-in and Adobe After Effects. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Droste Effect
This tutorial demonstrates the use of new Pixel Bender plug-in to obtain “Droste Effect”.

Retro Style
Learn how to create a vintage retro style.

Building and animating a CGSnake
Learn how to create a animated snake in Adobe After Effects based on a “chain rig”.

3D Toon on Paper
Transform your hand drawn sketch from paper to digital animation.

Fracture Design
Use expressions and scripts to create a distressed title in Adobe After Effects.

Best Sources for Motion Graphics Tutorials

• aetuts+
  Website is full of great Adobe After Effects tutorials.
• Video Copilot
  High quality After Effects video tutorials for motion graphics and visual effects presented by Andrew Kramer.
• Creative Cow
  Support community for digital video, video editing, and media production professionals in broadcasting, motion graphics, special FX and film.
• GREYSCALEGORILLA
  Blog dedicated to Graphic Design.
• maltaannon.com
  Adobe After Effects and Production Studio Video Tutorials
• GomediaZine
  Resources for artists and designers.
• Digital Arts
  A place for digital artist to find articles, reviews and tutorials.
• Layers Magazine
  Everything about Adobe.
• ayato@web
  Japanese website providing useful Adobe After effects tips and tutorials.
• Maxafter
  Visual Effects and Motion Graphic Design tutorials.
• www.henrythejedi.com
  New website providing visual effects, motion graphic and animation tutorials.

About the author

Vailancio Rodrigues is a college student, webmaster and webdesigner who likes to learn new things and share them with others. He likes to work in the creative field and is constantly improving his skills. His field of interest are Web Technologies, Photography, Motion Graphics, Art and Technology. You can follow Vailancio on Twitter.