Hey there, logo animators!
I’m here to tell you how to easily animate your own logo with a custom-made animation sequence. However, if you are not a designer, then getting a professional-looking logo is quite difficult. So, it will be great to have a logo designed by the right animation company. But if there is no option left and need an urgent designer. In such a case, you can design your own logo. In this article, you’ll learn how to gather your assets, convert and trim them in Photoshop, create an easy-to-follow composition timeline, and lower MP4 files into the composition so that they can play back smoothly.
Choose Your Tools
Now that you know what you need to create a logo, it’s time to choose the right software. So, the first step is choosing your animation software:
- Adobe After Effects (the best)
- Adobe Illustrator (if you’re really into creating vector graphics)
- Adobe Photoshop (for those who prefer a more traditional approach)
Adobe Premiere Pro can also be used for animation, but it’s not as powerful as the other two options listed above. If you’ve got an older version of Windows or Mac OS X and don’t mind spending some money on extra features like GPU acceleration and dynamic link libraries (DLLs), Motion 5 is another option worth considering.
Gather Your Assets
- Import your logo
- Transfer audio
- Import your video
Convert And Trim Your Assets
Before you can start animating your logo, you’ll need to convert and trim your assets.
- Import the files from your design software into Adobe AfterEffects. You can do this by using the “Import” command in the File menu and choosing Import Files from Finder or Finder via Copy/Paste (depending on which version of OS X you’re using).
- Use the trim tool to cut off any excess parts of each file that are not needed for animation purposes; this will make it easier for us later on when we’re working with them in our timeline!
- Go back into After Effects’ library panel by clicking Library > Browse Files and Folders… at the top left corner of your screen (or press Command + R). Navigate through until inside the “3D_Assets” folder located under the “Documents” folder, where most likely there will be another folder named “Logo. Open up this new folder and find all three logo files inside it; copy them over into some other location, such as the desktop, so that no one accidentally loses them again during switching between workflows, etcetera.
Create A Master Composition
Now that you’ve created your custom logo animation, it’s time to add some final touches.
- Include a mask in your work.
- Change the duration of your animation
Add Text To The Layers Panel
- Add Text to the Layers Panel
- Create a Text Layer
- Set the text font and size.
- Change the color of the text
- Set the opacity of the text in the Layers Panel (optional).
Build The Logo Animation Sequence
- Importing Assets
- Adding The Logo To The Timeline
- Setting the Duration of Each Layer
- Adjust The Starting and Ending Points of Each Layer (Optional)
- Make The Key Frames For Each Layer
Compress The MP4 Files Into The Composition
- Import the MP4 files into your composition.
- Lower their opacity to 0 so that it’s easier to see what’s going on in your animation sequence and make adjustments as needed (i.e., adjusting layer duration).
Make The First Layer Visible And Set The Duration
Make the first layer visible and set the duration of each layer in the timeline. When you’ve created the first layer of your custom logo animation, it’s time to set its duration. You can do this in two ways:
- Open up the Time Ruler on your Timeline and go to the bottom of its menu. There, choose “Duration.”
- On a Mac, hold down Option (PC) or Alt (CTRL) while clicking on one of your layers and select “Duration.”
Animate The Logo Yourself
You can animate your own logo. It’s not hard, and you don’t need a lot of expensive software. Moreover, the good news is that you don’t even have to start from scratch! Adobe After Effects has an animated logo feature that allows users to add text and movement to their logos without having to create the animation themselves (which would be time-consuming). This can be used as a starting point for your custom animations.
If you’re using Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, there are also some great tools available in these programs that will allow you to make changes and add effects quickly—and at no cost! You’ll need an account on either SoHo Illustrator or Adobe Stock if these services aren’t free yet, but once they are, well, then go ahead and explore them!
Conclusion
By following these steps and using the tools we’ve outlined, you can create your own logo animation sequence. We hope this article has shown you how easy it is to animate a custom logo. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please leave a comment below or get in touch with us on Twitter or Facebook!
