Motion Graphics Fundamentals

Communication and marketing teams are asked for more video than ever: social media clips, explainer animations, event openers and internal announcements. Without basic motion skills, every small request goes to an agency, turnaround is slow and costs rise. Staff who try to learn alone often produce animation that looks mechanical, ignores brand guidelines or exports in the wrong format for the channel.

This programme takes participants from first principles to a finished piece. It moves through five stages: the principles of motion and planning, core animation skills in After Effects, animated typography, shapes and simple character animation, and combining media, sound and export for real channels.

Built on recognised practice. The programme uses the classic principles of animation as they apply to motion design, standard After Effects workflows and the accessibility guidance in WCAG on flashing content and motion. Participants also learn practical rules for using fonts, music, footage and AI-generated assets within licence terms.

What this changes in practice. Participants can produce simple animated pieces in-house, brief agencies more precisely when outside help is needed, and keep motion content consistent with brand guidelines across channels.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a short animated announcement for an organisational event that participants storyboard, animate, add sound to and export for social media and screens.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own brand guidelines, templates and channels, and can produce a set of reusable animated templates for your team.

Who Should Attend

Communication and marketing staff: team members who produce content for digital channels

Graphic designers: designers who want to add motion to their skills

Social media and content creators: staff responsible for short video content

Media and public relations staff: team members who prepare visual material for events and campaigns

Objectives

Explain the core principles of animation, including timing, spacing, easing and anticipation

Plan a motion piece with a brief, script, storyboard and style frames

Navigate the After Effects interface and organise projects, compositions and layers

Animate position, scale, rotation and opacity with keyframes and refine motion in the Graph Editor

Create animated typography that is readable and consistent with brand guidelines

Build and animate shape layers, masks and track mattes

Create a simple character or icon animation using parenting and the Puppet tools

Combine footage, images and audio and synchronise animation to sound

Export videos in suitable formats, sizes and aspect ratios for different channels

Present and explain a motion concept to a client or manager

Course Outline

Principles of Motion and Planning a Piece

What motion graphics is and where organisations use it
The principles of animation applied to motion design
From brief to script, storyboard and style frames
Brand guidelines, colour and typography in motion
Accessibility: flashing content, reduced motion and captions
Copyright and licensing of fonts, music, footage and AI-generated assets

Core Animation Skills in After Effects

The After Effects interface, projects and compositions
Layers, transform properties and keyframes
Easing and the Graph Editor
Precompositions and project organisation
Previewing and performance settings
Useful effects and presets for beginners

Animated Typography and Shapes

Text layers and text animators
Kinetic typography for social media
Shape layers and path animation
Masks and track mattes
Animated icons, lower thirds and titles
Consistency through reusable templates

Simple Character and Object Animation

Parenting and null objects
Designing a character for animation
The Puppet tools for simple movement
Walk cycles and gestures at a basic level
Introduction to expressions for simple automation
Adding life with secondary motion and overlap

Mixed Media, Sound and Delivery

Combining video footage, images and animation
Working with sound and syncing animation to audio
Export settings, codecs and aspect ratios for social media, web and screens
Working between After Effects and Premiere Pro
Pitching and presenting a motion concept
Final project review and next learning steps

Competencies

Principles of animation and motion design

Storyboarding and motion planning

Keyframe animation and easing

Animated typography

Shape layers, masks and mattes

Basic character and object animation

Audio synchronisation and mixed media composition

Channel-appropriate video export

Brand-consistent and accessible motion content

Jeddah

Access Elite Academy’s complete training portfolio in Jeddah. As a major Saudi commercial gateway with a broad private-sector and services environment, the city provides a strong setting for organizations and professionals seeking expert-led learning, with upcoming scheduled courses and other programs available on request. Jeddah is one of Elite Academy’s international training destinations and gives organizations and professionals access to our complete portfolio of training programs across all disciplines. As a major Saudi commercial gateway with a broad private-sector and services environment, the city offers a professional setting for focused learning. Participants can choose from upcoming scheduled courses in Jeddah or request any other program from the Elite Academy portfolio to be arranged in the city, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements. Browse the upcoming schedule below or explore our training areas to identify the program that best matches your organization’s development priorities or your own professional goals.