Motion Graphics for Video Editors: Creating Backgrounds

- Hi, my name's Rich Harrington and welcome to this course about motion graphics for video editors. I'm a video editor myself and through the years I've often had a need for graphics in my project. So today, I'm going to focus on techniques that are both easy to use and don't take a lot of source materials to pull off. No third-party plugins. No big, fancy things to buy. Just simple ingredients that you can easily download using some of the files we provide to you, in fact or other websites I'm going to point out. As well as built in filters that come with tools, like Photoshop and After Effects, so you can get the job done.

Backgrounds are essential because every project essentially needs a background. Whether it's going to be something for a chroma key set, or to put a lower third graphic with a title on the screen. Full screen graphics, title sequences, there are so many times when backgrounds come in. Truly, their the foundation for every motion graphics project. So, I'm going to share with you several strategies. Things that get the job done with not a lot of work because I realize you're likely on a tight deadline and this course is suitable for users of all levels. So, even if you're just getting started in Photoshop or After Effects, you'll find things that you can use and even if you are well experienced, there's a lot of great shortcuts as well as just some years of creativity, some of my favorite things I've discovered while working with these apps.

With that in mind, let's get started.