Blog-folio

Free Logo Animations Contest is Live

Thu, 2 May 2013 10:45:05 -0700

Head on over to our contest page and check out the details to our new logo animation giveaway contest. All you need to do to enter is upload a photo on facebook.

Free Logo Animations Contest Coming Soon

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:45:32 -0700

It’s that time again my friends. Spin My Logo is giving away logo animations to three lucky winners at the end of May 2013.

Facebook has changed some legalities for contests due to all the abuse. With that said we are going to have to dig around and test out a new system for running our next contest.

Check back soon for more information on how to enter.

::Sprout::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:11:23 -0700

We have an add on for our logo animations called "character animation." If we don't add that we are limited in what we can do with the character. This one can't run and dance around, but we added some subtle movement to bring him to life.

Technical: First the lens flare functions as the "camera flash." Then the text moves right as the character moves left. I applied puppet points to the hair and added a wiggle expression to the position to add a little movement there. I recreated the spinning top with 2 duplicated shape layers. I kept playing with the 3d rotations to get the angle right. I also applied a turbulent displace effect on the "sprout" text to give that some life.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Everything Connects::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:47:23 -0700

This is one of those logo animations that I am really proud of and can watch over and over again. The client chose our "choice" package which included the graphic designer as well as the sound designer along with our motion artist and creative director (myself). I handed part of the concept over to our designer with the challenge to come up with some type of accent that would go with this animation. She drew up some beautiful images with elegant lines and the leaves. The client and I both loved it, and worked hard to make everything come together. I loved the sound design.

Technical: Some logos can be just 5 layers big. This one was in the hundreds. It took some time to break out the pieces. The biggest challenge was separating the icon above into pieces that would animate well. Essentially I isolated the "highlights" and then the foreground and background to the green "e." I used the original logo globe as a guide and recreated it within after effects using cc sphere, cc grid, trapcode's 3d stroke, and simple circle shapes with a glow applied to the lines and circles. I blurred the sphere at the beginning as it came into focus. Once it landed I used feathered masks to reveal all the different segments to the green "e." All the leaves had a scale and rotating wiggle expression applied. Initially I built the lines with trapcode's particular 2, but was having difficulty getting the right tapered edge. I then rebuilt it with 3d stroke and used a mask so the lines could go behind the globe. The "everything" text was animated letter by letter using masks. A final burst of a glow along with a lens flare from optical flares finished up the animation.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Perseus::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:43:57 -0700

I understand why a lot of movies have a "directors cut." In my line of business the client is the boss. Sometimes they grant me creative freedom and lean heavily on the input from my team. Other times not. This animation was somewhat removed from my original vision. I still have a hard time with two different colored lens flares. The client did contribute some great ideas though.

Technical: Using a simple star field effect I add trapcode's starglow effect on top of it. Using the camera within those stars really shows off the depth in 3d. Originally all the "snakes" on medusas head were in a lot of motion. That was toned down quite a bit. I think I used a "laser" effect that you can connect a line to two separate x,y coordinates. Wiggling the null layers (x,y coordinates) allowed for the subtle movement of the snakes. Next, the lens flare transitioned into the text movement. The text below faded on with a vertical blur and position keyframed. Followed by the lens flare transitioning into the "eye" movement. Lens flares made within video copilot's optical flares.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Main Street Startups::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:31:42 -0700

I love this logo. It is simple, elegant, and the colors work great. I have come up with a formula for logo designs and animation. Here it is: Ugly logo = ok logo animation at best. Awesome logo = good logo animation at worst. So it would be pretty difficult to mess this one up. We kept the animation simple and elegant in keeping with the style of the design.

Technical: Animating each of the building through positions and masks I staggered the development of each building over time. Once the buildings were formed the light panels shifted opacity while they glowed with trapcode’s starglow effect.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Alpine Health::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:24:23 -0700

The shadow in the logo icon gave inspiration for how this animation unfolded.

Technical: Within illustrator I broke the icon down into separate triangular shapes. Within after effects I transformed each shape over time. At the same time I added a lens flare rising up behind the icon with a shadow to match changing in the foreground. At the peak of the lens flare the triangles fade into the slanted lines. Each of the letters was revealed step by step utilizing masks keyframed over time.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Blue Print Effects::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:58:49 -0700

You know you are in the right line of work when you enjoy your day to day work. This was another fun task. Most of the time I spent on this animation was breaking apart each of the separate layes in adobe illustrator so that I could add the animation within after effects. You would have to watch this video quite a few times in order to see all the animation done in the details.

Technical: There are 3d aspects to the logo, but all the animation was done in 2d. Most of the small accents are simply revealed with a linear or radial wipe. The icon on the left starts with a blue foundation revealed by masks. The building grows through a series of layers scaled and moved up. I recreated the top part of the first tier with a shape layer so we could see the top and keep the illusion of 3d. All the "squiggly lines" were made using a turbulent displacement effect. Another great sound design from "the Human."

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Video 21 Productions::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:51:24 -0700

The fun part of this animation was getting the film reel to unroll. If you watch it closely you can see all the reel in motion during the spinning. The client was able to provide a nice textured background to give this animation a mood.

Technical: Setting this animation up in 3d I used a spotlight to create the shadow against the background. I used the pupet tool in creating the motion for the reel. Often with these animations it is best to work backwards. That is how I worked on the reel animation. I used optical flares for the red light accent.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com

::Campfire Festival::

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:34:04 -0700

Fire is one of those tricky elements that is very difficult to animate correctly. So this tip is from one of the pros. Not me! Check out this great tutorial utilized in kung fu panda! http://www.trapcode.com/sharelog/2011/9/10/kung-fu-panda-2-stylized-fire-effect.html

Technical: Each flame is basically made by two different particle emitters. Each emitter on either side of a shape layer masks out part of the shape. Each emitter rises up and out so the fire tapers to the top. The tricky part was just tinkering with the particle settings to get what I wanted. I applied a glow effect to both the yellow and red flames. Lastly, I added a shape layer behind the logo and played with the glow settings, blending mode, and wiggled the opacity/glow settings to better help sell the flame was bright in the environment.

Let me know if this helped you!

Logo Animations: spinmylogo.com
Explainer Videos: pandamotion.com