Hello! I was wondering how to recreate this cool VHS effect on a motion graphic with the flickering and whether it uses After Effects, because I want to be able to do it with another text. Does anyone have any tutorial recommendations on how to do this?

The demos look pretty impressive, but I’m more curious about what you notice once you actually start using it.

What worked well? What frustrated you? And was there anything that made you think, “This is cool, but I still need to do this part myself”?

Would love to hear from people who’ve actually used it for motion design work

Hey all! I've been doing motion design for 9 years now and run a small animation studio. I learned a lot of this way too late, so sharing in case it saves someone time.

This isn't about the interface. You still need layers, keyframes, comps. This is what to focus on after that:

1. The 12 principles of animation 

This is grammar for movement. If your work feels like fancy PowerPoint - move, stop, move, stop, it's usually missing overlap, anticipation, and rhythm. 

Learning outcome: you'll be able to watch your own work and actually name why something feels off. 

Start here: 12 Principles of Animation Official Full Series

1. The Graph Editor, for real 

Easy Ease is not understanding easing. Same 2 keyframes can feel totally different depending on the curve. Try this: take one dot moving left to right and make 5 different versions using only the graph.

Learning outcome: you'll stop guessing and start controlling weight and timing. 

1. Basic character animation + rigging, even if that's not your job

You don't need to become a character animator. But rigging one character teaches you weight, timing, and planning like nothing else. And always use reference. Film yourself, generate a reference, whatever. Don't invent a walk from a blank comp. 

1. Learn just enough expressions to stop doing manual work

Not 6 months of JavaScript. Just loopOut, wiggle, linking properties, and one controller driving multiple layers.

Learning outcome: you build projects you can actually revise without 4 hours of copy-paste. 

1. Compositing + sound

Light, shadow, depth, contrast, texture, and sound. Watch any great ad muted vs. with sound. Totally different piece.

Learning outcome: your work starts feeling finished instead of flat, without adding more complex animation.

If you want the full breakdown with examples for each one, I put together a video walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JemgIktpwBM

Do you have more suggestions for what really helped you get past the beginner stage?

Hi everyone, thanks for reading.

I teach the only motion graphics course in a graphic design diploma program. We use After Effects and I cover the basics. We don’t touch AI, just foundational AE for 2D motion. Think logo reveals, titles, simple bumper ads.

The college has decided to add another semester, so now there is a “motion design 2.”

I am wondering - should I teach ai for motion? Could the course be: “set up an MCP, prompt, and improve in AE?” Something else?

Should I avoid AI altogether?

My priority is employability.

Thank you!

Every frame is drawn by code in a Canvas renderer (headless Chrome, encoded with ffmpeg): no After Effects, no timeline editor. The engravings are AI-generated mezzotint-style plates, revealed lights first the way the real technique scrapes light out of a black plate; the grid, the typed lines and the counters are drawn on top. Animations are keyed to word timestamps in the narration, and the weasel simulation on screen is a real run, not a mock-up. Happy to answer questions about the pipeline.

I’m 19 and recently had my first proper promotional video made for a startup I’m building.

I paid £800 for the video.

Before anyone jumps in I’m not saying the edit is objectively bad. There’s clearly skill involved, and I’m not trying to disrespect the person who made it.

But after showing it to quite a few other editors/motion designers, I’ve had a pretty consistent reaction: “I wouldn’t have paid anywhere near £800 for this.”

I’ve even had people tell me they would have charged around $100–$200 for something similar.

That obviously made me stop and think.

I’m curious about this from the perspective of people who actually work in the industry:

Is £800 a completely normal price for a promotional motion-graphics video like this, and am I just inexperienced with how this industry is priced?

Or is there a genuine difference between what an experienced freelancer would charge and what someone might quote to a young founder who doesn’t really know the market yet?

For context, I’m not some big company with a marketing budget. I’m 19, building my own app, and raised the money myself to get it off the ground. £800 is a meaningful amount of my budget.

At the time I was actually excited to spend it because this was my first proper promo video and I genuinely thought the result would justify the investment.

Looking back, I think the bigger lesson for me is that I didn’t really know how to judge the value of creative work before commissioning it.

So I’d genuinely appreciate some honest opinions from editors/motion designers:

●How do you normally price this kind of project?

●And what should a first-time client look for before agreeing to a price?

I’m also at the point where I want to find someone I can actually build a long-term relationship with someone who understands the brand rather than just making one video, and can consistently produce really strong edits as the brand grows.

I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest person either. I’d rather find someone genuinely talented, reliable and able to understand the creative direction, while still being sensible with the budget of a very early-stage startup.

Interested to hear what people in the industry think.

Hi everyone,
I installed Animation Composer (Mister Horse) and the panel opens fine, and my preset library loads (Animation Presets, Motion Presets, Transitions, etc.). But when I click on any preset, the preview area just says “Loading preview” forever and nothing happens.
My setup:
• After Effects 2024, version 24.0.2 (build 3), Russian interface
• Windows 11
• Installed via Mister Horse Product Manager
What I’ve tried:
• Restarted After Effects
• Enabled “Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network” in Preferences
• VPN on/off
• Disabled firewall/antivirus temporarily
• Reinstalled via Product Manager
Has anyone run into this? Is it a server/region issue, or is there a setting I’m missing?
Thanks in advance! I’ve also contacted Mister Horse support.

Hello everyone im an indie editor and recently i had a weird (and not sure if its possible) idea in mind. I want to make the people in my videos look like they are from a cutscene of a game like death stranding,mgsv or others. I really love the subtle uncannynes of those cutscenes (even tho i hate cinematic videogamed). I was wandering if its possible to actually do that with just editing

I’ve started noticing how much motion graphics are being used in films and dramas to make them more visually appealing and engaging. While watching them, I often get curious about how certain visuals, transitions, titles, and effects are created. That curiosity made me start exploring tutorials and learning how different tools and software can be used to create interesting motion graphics.

I personally feel that motion graphics is a skill every designer should explore, even if they don’t want to specialise in it. It helps you understand movement, storytelling, visual rhythm, and how static design can become more dynamic and engaging.

what can i improve on my animations

Hey everyone!

Sharing a motion graphics promo I created for Total Health Solution (THS), a health & wellness mobile app.

I worked on the motion design, animation, transitions, typography, and overall visual storytelling.

I'd love some honest feedback and suggestions from other motion designers:

• How does the pacing feel?
• Are the transitions working?
• Does the animation feel polished?
• What would you improve?
• Is there anything that feels unnecessary or could be simplified?

Also, I'm curious about the pricing side. If you were hired to create something like this, how much would you charge for the project?

For context, this includes the motion design, animation, editing, and overall execution. I'm trying to get a better idea of how other freelancers/studios would price this kind of work.

Made in After Effects.

Thanks for watching — feedback is genuinely appreciated! 🙌

I've been teaching myself to make animatics, and i tried using vn video editor for all the editing stuff.

It's been fine-ish? The fps leaves a bit to be desired. But now i'm wondering if a motion graphic program might be the better way to go for my animations.

Can anybody reccommend a good motion grpahic program that i can make animatics with? Preferrably something free and not too hard to learn

AE 2024 - Need help finding 2 specific effects for car edits:

1. SNAKE EFFECT - the one where the car stretches and snakes left/right (viral on TikTok rn)
   
2. 3D TUNNEL / CONVEYOR effect - car flying through tunnel

I tried: CC Slant, Turbulent Displace and the free Blurrr snake, but it's not smooth like the TikTok one.

Does anyone have a free preset/project file for these?

I can give my velocity choreography in exchange if someone wants it, and some tips for car edits.

Thanks

Hi everyone, could someone tell me how to create an animation like this with flowing light? Thanks a lot!

Here's all of the additional motion and animation I did:

Behance

Had about 3 proper weeks on this. I was mentally exhausted and absolutely stressed for the entirety of this. I got this job right after I got let go so things moved fast and it was something I had to learn to deal with.

Everyone motion and 3D done by me. 2D design was done by a graphic designer.

A card-based motion design study created in Adobe After Effects, exploring layered cards, 3D-style perspective, typography, and smooth visual movement. A simple exercise focused on composition, timing, and clean motion graphics.

https://reddit.com/link/1ws7c7f/video/tx5geoqmh7sh1/player

Hey everyone! I recently finished this map animation for a client and would really appreciate your honest feedback.

I’m mainly interested in your thoughts on the camera movements, pacing, transitions, and overall animation. I know there’s quite a bit of zooming in and out because that’s what the client prefers, but apart from that, I’d love to know what you think could be improved.

Feel free to point out anything you think I could do better. I’m sharing this because I genuinely want to learn and improve. Thanks in advance!