These lower thirds were designed for ASU's GIT 314 class: Multimedia Design. The prompt was to create a set of three lower thirds for a sports team of our choice using Adobe After Effects. I chose to create my thirds for the Arizona Coyotes. I was required to create one-tier, two-tier, and three-tier thirds that incorporated multiples skills such as blend modes, animation presets, and motion graph editing.

https://youtu.be/YdB1GmU6PMo

I was heavily inspired by the Coyotes' color scheme, and also wanted to incorporate elements that represented the speed and intricate movements of the sport. I made the banner of each tiered third a different color belonging to said color scheme, and used a racing-type animated preset as the key eye-catcher. I also added the peeling preset to the logo for the intro and outro of the thirds as it gave them a sort of three-dimensional feel that I felt suited the brand.

Below is the creative brief I made to simulate one I would receive from my client in a real scenario:

I found that I find it easier to tackle animation projects when I build out all of my flat assets first, rather than animate as I go. I started with the most complicated three-tier third, and determined the shapes and spacing of elements I wanted the third to have. With this third as the model, I had a much easier time building out the two- and one-tier thirds as they were both simplified versions of the three-tier.

I then moved on to timing out my animations. There were guidelines I had to follow in terms of how long certain elements should transition and hold on screen, so that was a big help. From there, the challenge was figuring out what I wanted the main transition to look like and how long each individual element should take to come on screen, and in what order. I also added the required amount of animation presets for the project, and tweaked the details and timing of each one. I especially liked the waving animation I added to the end of the banners, as they look like they are waving in the wind.

Finally I rendered out my project into a smooth-looking video. I really like how this project turned out, and I'm proud of my work as I am still very new to After Effects!

One of my biggest challenges with this project was just working my way through After Effects. This was only my second time using the program, so it was difficult bringing my initial vision to life as I only knew of its base capabilities. It took a lot of trial and error to find the right animated presets for my designs!

The motion graph editor was also a new but interesting challenge for me. The project specified that it wanted mostly non-linear motion timings for the animations, so I had to heavily review past lectures and tutorials to learn more about the graph editor and how to separate dimensions in order to fine-tune the motion styles.

Coyotes Logo: https://seeklogo.com/vector-logo/359973/arizona-coyotes