So I decided to go for it! I started with just the title and drew out each individual letter by creating paths in their shape and using a stroke to match the width of the letters. Curves have been the bane of my existence, but after watching several wonderful tutorials on using the pen tool in Illustrator, I’ve found it much easier to work with in After Effects too.

I’ve worked with “Trim Paths” quite a bit in After Effects and I knew the way to achieve the look I wanted came from drawing out each individual letter from watching this tutorial previously. I wanted the letters to build themselves on screen.

I wanted a really quirky font and I didn’t just want a fade in. The time suck came from my desire to create “Write-On” Text for the title screen. That’s a great tutorial! I learned a few tricks to accomplish graphic movements I’d witnessed but only ever clunkily created with much more ease and precision. So many people make simple tutorials drag on forever but Matt was able to create, animate, and explain well his piece in just over 5 minutes. I had already been researching different types of clean lower thirds for inspiration on a work project and I ran across this tutorial by Mt. Why, you might ask? Because I wanted to give it an extra “umpf” by creating a quirky title and lower thirds. Yet somehow I still ended up spending 6 to 8 hours on the project. I added some light leaks for a whimsical effect, but other than the beautiful scenery there wasn’t anything particularly awe-inspiring in that part of the process. On the most basic level, “Summer Adventures” is just a travel-inspired music video with shots I’ve taken over the summer (and even some from the end of last summer!) artistically cut to music. But this week, I made the effort to learn something new and create something beautiful that tested my skillset. It’s what I strive towards even if it’s not necessarily what I create on my channel regularly. I like to see content that pushes the boundaries of video and music and storytelling and art. But my first love on YouTube–what I watch and always have wanted to emulate–are the experimental editors, the motion graphic artists, and the music video directors. I’ll be honest, it’s much easier for me and has a much better payoff to film and upload videos of myself talking about getting your crush to like you or building up your self-confidence. It probably won’t be my highest viewed video (as my music videos and experiments in editing never rank as high view-wise), but I wanted to celebrate it on the blog today because I put a lot of hard work into it. I guess I should be uploading on Friday so that it could be “Fun Fridays with Kaitlyn!” since that’s the general vibe I’m going for) hold a special place in my heart.

This week’s Tuesday video (I really need a fun name for it.

Mt mograph facebook