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Objective: I wanted to create a logo for my YouTube channel and then create a short animation using the logo to place at the start of my videos. Thus, the logo animation needed to be both short and eye-catching.
Equipment: Created logo with Adobe Illustrator, added the effects and particles with After Effects and added the sound and fade-out using Premiere Pro.
Development Process: First, I created my logo in Adobe Illustrator using the Pen Tool to make it a vector image. I divided the logo into separate parts: The tail, the head, the top text, the bottom text, and the red horizontal line in the middle. This was so that I could have more flexibility and control with each section of my logo. Next, I hid the top three text layers of the logo and exported only the head and tail sections. Originally, I had exported all of the layers but when I tried working with them in After Effects, I found that keeping all of the layers was not the best method for what I was planning for the animation.
After importing the head and tail sections into After Effects, I created a new mask layer by using the "Auto Trace" option. Afterwards, I added the AUTOPILOT Saber effect onto the mask layer and added keyframes onto the "Start Offset" value to make it as if it is being "drawn" into view. Next, I added the two texts ("Z-blade Gracin" and "Productions") and the red line in between them. I then added "Scale" and "Opacity" keyframes so that the line would scale into view and that the two texts would pop out of the line.
I also wanted to add something eye-catching for the background and found an idea on YouTube for creating floating, glowing embers. I thought that this would provide the added "flare" I needed for presenting my logo animation. To do this, I added a particle effect onto a black solid positioned behind my logo, changed the color to orange and dark red, and adjusted the "birth size" and "death size" so that the embers would appear as sizable embers and then fade into nonexistence. Then, I adjusted the "physics" values so that the particles would float from the bottom-left to the upper-right and behave the way that embers would normally behave. Finally, I added a glow effect onto both the ember and text layers to make them stand out further.
For my last step, I transferred my After Effects project into Premiere Pro and added the sounds from Pond5 and the YouTube Sound Library, and added the "Dip to Black" transition.
Equipment: Created logo with Adobe Illustrator, added the effects and particles with After Effects and added the sound and fade-out using Premiere Pro.
Development Process: First, I created my logo in Adobe Illustrator using the Pen Tool to make it a vector image. I divided the logo into separate parts: The tail, the head, the top text, the bottom text, and the red horizontal line in the middle. This was so that I could have more flexibility and control with each section of my logo. Next, I hid the top three text layers of the logo and exported only the head and tail sections. Originally, I had exported all of the layers but when I tried working with them in After Effects, I found that keeping all of the layers was not the best method for what I was planning for the animation.
After importing the head and tail sections into After Effects, I created a new mask layer by using the "Auto Trace" option. Afterwards, I added the AUTOPILOT Saber effect onto the mask layer and added keyframes onto the "Start Offset" value to make it as if it is being "drawn" into view. Next, I added the two texts ("Z-blade Gracin" and "Productions") and the red line in between them. I then added "Scale" and "Opacity" keyframes so that the line would scale into view and that the two texts would pop out of the line.
I also wanted to add something eye-catching for the background and found an idea on YouTube for creating floating, glowing embers. I thought that this would provide the added "flare" I needed for presenting my logo animation. To do this, I added a particle effect onto a black solid positioned behind my logo, changed the color to orange and dark red, and adjusted the "birth size" and "death size" so that the embers would appear as sizable embers and then fade into nonexistence. Then, I adjusted the "physics" values so that the particles would float from the bottom-left to the upper-right and behave the way that embers would normally behave. Finally, I added a glow effect onto both the ember and text layers to make them stand out further.
For my last step, I transferred my After Effects project into Premiere Pro and added the sounds from Pond5 and the YouTube Sound Library, and added the "Dip to Black" transition.
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(Z-blade Gracin Productions vector logo created in Illustrator and separated into five different layers)
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(Hiding the top three layers to isolate the head and tail layers)
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(Importing logo and creating a new mask layer using "Auto Trace")
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(Adding the Saber Effect to the mask layer)
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(Adjusting Saber Effect to fit onto my logo and adjusting Start Offset values with keyframes)
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(Adding reddish line in After Effects composition and setting keyframes to make it scale into view)
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(Adding the text and keyframes)
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(Adding the particle effect and adjusting values to make it look like fiery embers)
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(Adding sounds and "Dip to Black" transition in Premiere Pro)
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Credits
Font: Algerian Regular. Saber Plugin made by VIDEO COPILOT (https://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2016/03/new-plug-in-saber-now-available-100-free/). Sounds from Pond5 and the YouTube Sound Library.