Overview
Motion graphics are animated videos built from designed scenes: type, illustrated characters, charts, screenshots and pictures, timed to a voiceover.
Video models still struggle to spell on-screen text. Motion graphics don't have that problem, because every word on screen is laid out as real text. That makes them the right choice when the words matter: explainers, announcements, tips, offers, how-tos, data stories and brand stories.
A motion graphics video can run from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. It's made in Studio, so its caption, approval, scheduling and publishing work like any other post.
Start a Motion Graphics Video
- Open Studio and choose Motion graphics.
- Pick the Length. The plan aims for that length with real substance, not padding.
- Pick the Shape:
- 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts
- 1:1 square
- 4:5 portrait feed
- 16:9 for YouTube and websites
- Pick a Look (see below).
- Choose where it will go first and the job of the post, for example to explain, announce, promote or inspire. The video's opening, structure and ending follow that job.
- In What's it about?, describe the video in your own words. This is required for motion graphics.
- Select Open Studio.
Asteria then plans a storyboard. Nothing is rendered or charged until you choose Render video.
Choose a Look
- Reel: a new paper-cut shot on almost every line, with stamps, stickers and a presenter who reacts. Good for short, punchy social videos.
- Story: a cast of drawn characters in drawn places, with animated phone screens, maps and cards. Good for customer stories and showing how a service helps someone.
- Kinetic type: bold type that builds word by word as it is said, with generated imagery behind and in front of it. Good for hooks, quotes and announcements.
- Data story: researched figures as counters, charts, people grids and ledgers, with a highlighter on the words that matter. Good for statistics and reports.
- Editorial: fewer, longer scenes with charts, quotes and screenshots. Good for detailed explanations.
Story and kinetic type also take an art style. There are 14 options:
- Flat vector
- Cinematic flat
- Storybook
- Paper-cut
- 3D clay
- Photoreal
- 3D caricature
- Anime
- Watercolour
- Comic book
- Marker doodle
- Pixel art
- Engraving
- Silhouette
You can also choose My style, which follows a saved style from your Style Library.
Where the Facts Come From
Before planning, Asteria works out what the video is about, and the source of the facts depends on that.
- Your own business. Facts come from your brand profile and your brief.
- Another named business (for example a client or a venue). Asteria looks it up from the website in your brief, or by its name and address.
- If more than one business matches, Studio asks Which one is this about? Pick the right one or choose None of these.
- Planning waits for your answer rather than guessing.
- A topic. Settled general knowledge can come from the model. Anything that changes (prices, rules, news, recent figures) only comes from web research, and each researched fact is checked against a quote from its source.
Research never puts another business's name, offers or prices into your video. "We" always means your brand. The storyboard shows how many researched facts it was checked against.
Review the Storyboard
The storyboard lists every shot with its narration, what appears on screen and roughly how long it lasts. Tap a shot to edit it.
- Narration: the words spoken in that shot.
- On screen: the text, pictures, characters, location and presenter for the shot. Each field fits its space; if a line is too long for the design, Studio tells you.
- Pictures and finish: generated pictures used in the video, and the overall finish (clean, film grain, cinematic, editorial poster or warm light).
- Cast and locations (Story look): the characters and places, and how each character speaks.
- Media: add your own screenshots, photos or clips with a short note of what each shows. The planner places them where they fit.
When the plan isn't what you want:
- Re-plan makes a fresh storyboard from the same brief.
- New video starts another video from a new brief. Facts are looked up again for it.
Settings
Open Settings in the motion graphics panel to change:
- What it is for: the job of the video.
- Length and Shape.
- Who speaks: one narrator, or, in the Story look, the characters speak too.
- Captions: burned in, word by word. Choose a caption style:
- Boxed phrase: the phrase being said, in a box.
- Highlighted word: the spoken word picked out in your brand colour.
- One big word: one bold word at a time.
- Voiceover: spoken in your workspace narration voice. If you have trained a custom voice, the video can use it (see the Custom Voice guide).
- Sound effects: accents on reveals and cuts. Choose a sound style and untick any sound you don't want.
- Background music: ducked under the voice so the narration always leads.
On 9:16 videos the bottom quarter of the screen is kept clear, because platforms put their own buttons there.
Render and Use the Video
- Check the credit estimate under Render video. It shows the most the render can cost and what share of your monthly credits that is.
- Select Render video. Rendering makes the voice, timing, effects and music. You can leave the page while it runs.
- When it's done, the video appears on the Studio canvas.
- From there, use it like any Studio video:
- Write or refine the caption.
- Create the post.
- Schedule it.
- Use Post to more accounts to send it to your other accounts.
Every render is saved as its own file in your media library. Rendering again never changes a video a post already uses. You can also download the MP4.
Characters and Styles
The Style Library keeps the looks and characters you reuse.
- Styles. Upload a reference image or video ("make it look like this"). Asteria analyses it and saves it as a style. Your default style also guides images, carousels, videos and documents across Asteria Engine.
- Characters. Characters drawn for your videos are saved so a series keeps the same faces. You can add a presenter for the Reel look, and Asteria draws six poses for it.
Tips
- Say who it's for and what they should do next. Describe that in the brief; the ending follows it.
- Name the business and its website. If the video is about someone else's business, put both in the brief so the right facts are found.
- Use a long length on purpose. A 5-minute video needs enough material in the brief to fill it.
- Edit before you render. Changing a line in the storyboard is free; rendering again costs credits.
Related Guides
- Studio overview guide
- Custom voice guide
- Songs, jingles and lyric videos guide
- Calendar guide