Motion graphics and animation are very similar styles. But the first is often about setting in motion inscriptions, abstract pictures, or other objects. Animation is more used for storytelling. Let’s consider motion graphics vs animation to select the more suitable option for your business.
What is Motion Graphics?
It is a technique that makes static pictures move. The style is suitable for explainer video production, educational and entertaining videos, as well as for various branded videos about the company, to promote goods and services.
Motion graphics use sounds, visual effects, and different animation and graphic techniques. It combines video, audio, and text into one animated story.
Motion design involves sound and visual sensations. Objects that can move and change their appearance attract more viewers’ attention than static images and text. The technique is ideal for creating meaningful messages. It is becoming more and more popular in recent times due to the many benefits of the style.
Advantages of Motion Graphics
There are a few main benefits:
- Delivers messages quickly. In advertising and infographics, brevity and clarity are key parameters due to time constraints.
- Reveals complex ideas and concepts and systematizes data simply and understandably. This is exactly the case when a picture is worth a thousand words. A short video contains a huge amount of information, and at the same time, it is easily absorbed by the viewer.
- It grabs and holds attention. Most users choose video over reading. Motion graphics are attractive to the viewer, and therefore so popular.
What is Animation?
Animation is the creation of short video clips in which backgrounds, characters, and other details are fictionalized and drawn. Animated videos can be used on television, during presentations of business projects, in the field of education and culture, and for advertising goods and services. There are no scenario restrictions in the animation, so you can use non-standard solutions and give the characters any properties.
In classical videos, animators draw the entire video frame by frame. To ensure smooth movement and facial expressions of the characters, each frame must be drawn with the smallest details. Animators draw the contours of objects manually, and for their tinting and coloring use graphic editors.
Benefits of Animation
Animated video is a great choice for any company, which in some cases allows you to save a lot on a limited budget, and in others, it will positively stand out and emphasize your style. All this is possible thanks to the advantages of the style:
- Colorfulness. When developing animation, you can use video, sound, graphics, and 2D and 3D technologies.
- High-quality content. Ability to manipulate an object and present it from different angles.
- Animated scenes easily catch and hold attention. The viewer immediately understands the real proportions of objects and their location in space. For this, it is enough to look at the picture once.
Differences
Of course, there are differences between graphics and animation but it is often a little blurry and consists of several aspects. It is not always possible to say exactly which type a video belongs to.
Animation vs motion graphics design: what to choose? The first is more used for storytelling. If you have watched Pixar cartoons you know that animation is a strong way to express yourself.
Motion graphics can originally present statistics but animation can bring heroes to life through emotional storytelling, creativity, and artistic expression. Animation costs more because it’s harder to create. You have to be ready to pay more for complex 2D or 3D computer graphics.
When to Use Motion Graphics?
Use animated objects and characters to convey certain information to the audience. The video does not have to be entertaining. Its main task is to provide information, sell the product, and explain the idea. The style includes explainer videos, infographics, ads, and movie titles.
It is best for highlighting facts and illustrating what you are trying to tell. Motion graphic trends are used when there is no need to tell long stories. Videos can memorably explain your offer.
When to Use Animation?
You should use animation if you want to make a close connection with your audience, tell an interesting story, and get an emotional response. Often, the main purpose is to entertain and evoke a reaction. The style is good for short and full-length clips and films, TV shows, and music videos.
Final Thoughts
Considering motion graphics and animation in comparison, don’t forget that they have a lot in common, and sometimes it can be hard to split them. But no matter which style you choose, you’re on your way to interesting content for your customers. And Rocket Motion is here to help you make it the best!
FAQ
Motion design is the process of creating animated graphics based on the principles of graphic design. Examples are kinetic typography and graphics used in movie sequences, advertisements, video games, mobile apps, and television, as well as animated logos.
Animation is a method that is used to change the properties of one or more objects. With animation, you can bring any vector drawing to life or create a frame-by-frame scene from various photographs. For example, if you animate a character, then he can move, speak and perform any action as if he were alive. Initially, animation is used for entertainment purposes, to create funny heroes, and tell stories.
Both motion design and animation have their advantages, so it’s impossible to say which is better. You should make the choice depending on the goals that you set for yourself. Motion design is suitable for those cases when you just need to present information to the audience memorably. By choosing a suitable option from the list of animation styles you can tell a whole story by establishing an emotional connection with customers.
