# data[].attributes.body
Our first week of motion design was focused on preparing for the course content and appropriately setting up and formatting our devices. As I was not able to attend the class physically, I followed the PDF tutorial to format my files and folders on my extended drive. It was very easy to understand and I was able to successfully create the necessary folder breakdowns.

# data[].attributes.body
Due to my absence, I also created my photo sequence for week two in my personal time, using a small piece of blu-tack to move around like a worm and created a dramatic sequence to work with.

# data[].attributes.body
I was unsatisfied with the outcome of my initial photograph set so I decided to retake my photos, giving myself more room for experimentation. I photographed my own hand moving in various ways to conjure a small figurine of mine

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Image gallery imported into Lightroom Classic

# data[].attributes.body
Our second week involved beginning experimentation with Lightroom composition and editing, whilst compiling our photo collections to import into photoshop.

# data[].attributes.body
We were introduced to organisational elements like colour coding, flagging, and the star system

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Photo editing choices (tint, exposure, contrast, highlights, clarity, vibrance)

# data[].attributes.body
We were then introduced to the photo editing system, and I mainly focused on brightening the environment and adjusting clarity to ensure all elements are clear and easy on the eyes.

# data[].attributes.body
I ended up with 54 photographs showing the progression of my hand making a small figurine appear. I felt that this gave me more of an opportunity to experiment with the materials as it had a single changing form in the middle of the frame, whilst my old images did not.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
All photographs organised and edited appropriately.

# data[].attributes.body
Our third week was focused on experimenting with the tools within photoshop to create a final composite image and gif.

# data[].attributes.body
As I was unable to attend the in-person class this week, I closely followed Peter’s video tutorials on specific things like layers, clipping masks, the transform tool, blend modes, snapshots within the history panel, cropping and resizing. I found these to be very simple to follow along with and found myself experimenting with my subjects between each tutorial.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Alternate blend mode combined with clipping tool

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Clipping tool, blend mode, and warp/transform tool

# data[].attributes.body
Unfortunately, my first rendition was practically finished when I pressed an unknown button and was not able to recover my work in its original state.

# data[].attributes.body
I ended up starting from scratch, though I feel my final product is a better representation of each learned element, particularly the clipping tool.

# data[].attributes.body
The final element within experimenting was turning our project into a GIF.

# data[].attributes.body
I was sure to crop my project into a square, as this is the recommended format for GIF creation.

# data[].attributes.body
I experimented with the frame duration and the tweening, duplicating some sections to elongate the focus on certain elements. I mostly stuck to a 0.1 delay on particular sections.

# data[].attributes.body
Week four covered the importation of our images into after effects, to offer us some info of how to continue to edit and alter the final state of our images.

This week included a lot of experimentation with our resources and exploration of opportunities After Effects brings.

# data[].attributes.body
After importing my sequence into After Effects, I was sure to adjust the framing to 1920x1080 to fit into the video setting frame constraints for the upcoming upload.

# data[].attributes.body
After importing the sequence, we started with altering the timeline speed and duration. My sequence has quite a consistent formation, so I wanted it to remain easy to understand. I settled on a duration of 0.03 to help it flow, but keep it from going too fast.

# data[].attributes.body
We also experimented with a differentiation in transition style, which I settled on ‘dissolve front layer’ at a quick duration of 0.01

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Transition cross dissolve front and back

# data[].attributes.body
Following these, we explored a variety of effects and variations that After Effects offers in their library and tested how these altered our footage.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
CC Glow, CC Kaleida, FX VR Converter, Transform

# data[].attributes.body
I was fond of the CC Kaleida effect, as combining it with some other elements turned it into a completely unrecognisable series of images.

# data[].attributes.body
There were also some settings like CC Particle Systems II which did not impact the footage at all, and turned it into a completely different form.

# data[].attributes.body
I found many of the effects fascinating as I recognised them from various sources of media, and was able to put a title to the effect and see how I can alter it myself.

# data[].attributes.body
We finally exported our projects as HEVC files to test the outcomes in a finalised format to post to YouTube.

The video links are provided below.

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment one of motion design has introduced me to many resources across specific software within the Adobe suite which I had never explored. It has offered me insightful information for how to effectively use the tools offered within each program, and how to use them in combination with each other. I have found the material to be very beneficial to my experience, as it is all entirely new to me, and will hugely impact my projects as I continue to design.

I had not used a professional camera in several years, so I thoroughly enjoyed relearning and using the DSLR camera for our image sequence. As I could not attend the initial class where photographing took place, I enjoyed the experimentation that came with deciding on a subject. I believe my decision to change subjects after the initial experimentation with Photoshop was a blessing in disguise, not only as the new images gave me far more interesting material to experiment with, it also prompted me to think further about my options for my following assessments, and gave me the opportunity to practice more with the camera, which will be coming in handy later.

I have always had a distaste for Photoshop, as I found it very convoluted and confusing at times. Despite my mis-click which resulted in losing all my progress on my first experimentation, I found the content well-explained enough to pick back up where I could and redo the project in about half the time. The content was very cohesive and digestible, to which I enjoyed experimenting with once I understood the basics of the necessities. This produced my favourite outcome of all the image sequence projects, and I can see myself revisiting the resources to create a similar project in my own time or potentially using them to abstractedly edit more images.

As I was previously taught a different editing software, I was new to After Effects, though I was able to pick up on similar, basic and reoccurring tools. Whilst I enjoyed the freedom of Photoshop editing more, After Effects offered a library of unique effects that are not available at such an accessible piece in other software, like the one I was taught. While it may not be very useful to my style of projects, I found it enjoyable to explore the wide range of unique stylistic opportunities available to me through After Effects and can consider experimenting with them for my next motion design project.

I feel that these four short weeks have been incredibly beneficial to my growing knowledge as a designer, as these techniques and resources would continue to be useful in my pursuit of either of my desired career outcomes, this being branding design or illustration. While the content has only been a minor introduction to the opportunities these Adobe software brings to a beginner designer, there is far more to explore within the programs, and I feel this will be done in the remaining weeks as I build my project.