I get asked many questions when interacting with clients, producers, designers, students and friends about the work I do. Here are the top three questions I get asked most often.
1. What program do you use to create your motion graphics?
For every motion background, countdown timer and mini movie I create, I use Adobe After Effects to create it. This is the industry standard for motion graphic design and I have been using this program since 2002 (After Effects Version 5.0). To accomplish my designs I use Adobe Illustrator for my vector illustrations and Adobe Photoshop for my graphics.
To accomplish all the looks I achieve I rely on 3rd party plug-ins for Adobe After Effects to infuse extra power. These plug-ins include the Trapcode Suite, Optical Flares, Element 3D and Magic Bullet Looks.
2. Do you use a Mac or PC?
Since 2007 I made the switch to a Macintosh and I haven’t looked back since. If you can afford the “Mac tax” you will benefit from high performance hardware and a rock solid operating system that won’t buckle when the going gets tough. In the past few years I have also adopted the use of other Apple devices and services and have integrated them into my workflow. I currently use an Intel Mac Pro and I am looking forward to upgrading my current system to the new Mac Pro “black trash can” in the Fall.
3. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Believe it or not, finding inspiration and ideas has not been a problem for me until a few months ago. Before that time I would just think of something and make. This was a simple and easy process that I didn’t give much thought. Now I have more things on my mind such as family, business and other duties and I need to systematically look for ideas throughout the month and catalog them in Evernote. When I need to be creative and I am lost for ideas, I now just look through my Evernote idea notebook and pull out the best ones.
I wrote a blog posed titled, 5 Websites for Creative Design Inspiration that highlights some online communities I visit regularly to source new creative material.
Have another question for me? Write it in the comments section below.