Diamond Advantage
My Role: Freelance Animator
In late 2021, Clutch Studios needed an animator to build a 2-minute branded product video.
When Clutch Studios asked if I had the capacity to tackle a branded product video, I excitedly said “Yes!” This type of project is perfectly suited to my skillset.
Clutch Studios had created the storyboard, sourced the assets, and written the script. It’s not often I’m able to focus on animation, so this was a fun project.
The first step was to create a rough voice-over track to estimate the timing of the script. I tend to talk super fast naturally, so slowing my speech down to what Diamond Advantage wanted was a bit of a challenge. It took a few tries, but with a scratch track recorded, I could start to build the timing for each scene.
Before I can animate, I needed to recreate the assets inside of After Effects. Clutch Studios had created most of the storyboards in Photoshop (which is my preferred method too). Unfortunately, some blending modes in Photoshop don’t work the same inside of After Effects. The best workflow method was to recreate each scene inside of After Effects. This maximized control for animating each shape, letter, and element.
One tricky part of this project was that some assets needed to be updated at a later time. Knowing this allowed me to build the project with a bit of “template mentality” that allowed new assets to be swapped quickly and easily in the future.
As the project progressed, the After Effects project grew. By the end, I had over 300 layers and assets to manage. With so many layers, keyframes, and pre-comps to manage, the organization becomes extremely important. I’m very meticulous about keeping layers trimmed, named, and color-coded to make revisions as easy as possible.
Managing 300+ layers requires organizational discipline!
Testimonial
“Drysen is a great video editor & animator. We collaborated together on a long-form branded product video on a tight timeline. Drysen is super organized and an excellent communicator. He takes great direction and provides creative solutions. As a producer, he is exactly what I'm looking for when sourcing freelance motion designers!”
— Ilyssa Schwartz, Senior Producer - Clutch Studios
Finishing the project
The entire project took a few weeks to animate. I loved that Clutch came with the style frames and storyboards flushed out. This allowed me to dive deep into the animation, transitions, and effects.
With the animations locked in, Clutch sourced a VO artist, and a SFX designer to bring the spot to life. I dropped the new audio files into the video, retimed a few elements, and delivered the final render.
Working with Clutch Studios was a fantastic experience, and I’m excited to continue working with them in the future!