50 motion design resources that creatives actually use

Whether you're a beginner in motion design or a seasoned professional, here are 50 great resources to help you. Some are paid, most are free, but all of them have been tested by people in the industry and have lived up to their promise.

To prepare this article, we have teamed up with an expert in the field. Created is an online academy that offers hands-on motion design courses in partnership with some of the biggest and best names in the business. In the Motion Design Pro and Motion Design Foundation courses, you'll develop all of the skills you need to be successful, not to mention an interview-ready portfolio. (Created also offers UI and UX design courses if that's your problem.)

Some of the best resources for motion design can be found on the Created website itself, which is where you can find useful tips, from getting an internship in a motion design studio to a job as a motion designer, or even how to become a motion designer, not to mention of 5 unexpected jobs for motion designers. Try it out today! In the meantime, here are 49 more resources that you may find useful.

Free models for motion designers

There are many free 2D models available online. However, mentor Tom Kilburn, a freelance animator and illustrator based in Tokyo and London, explains, "In general, 2D models are the type of assets an animator, illustrator or designer would create themselves." However, 3D models can be a huge time saver for motion designers. They help you get started and save you from having to reinvent the wheel over and over again.

“Turbosquid, CGTrader, and 3DmodelHaven are great resources for finding free 3D models,” says Tom. "The first two are mostly for purchasable assets, but there is still an abundance of content on the sites." Joe Baxland, a Graduate of Created at Crazy Paving, recommends Three D Scan and Sketchfab as good places to find 3D models for free.

Free plugins for motion designers

There are plenty of free motion design software plugins out there, but don't go overboard, warns Tom. "Most plugins that are robust and useful generally come at a relatively small price," he warns. This can be difficult to justify if you are just starting out to study or animate as a hobby, but as a professional, the time-saving features of most plugins justify the price tag in a matter of hours! Paid plugins I don't want to live without are:

• Timelord, which offers workflow improvements between After Effects and Photoshop / Animate;
• Overlord, which provides workflow improvements between After Effects and Illustrator;
• Motion: The most useful extension for motion designers using Adobe After Effects.
• Joysticks' n Sliders: a pose-based rigging system for After Effects; and
• Pen Pal: Provides "Path Editing Enhancements".

Even so, some free plugins are definitely worth trying. Joe offers four recommendations from his personal toolkit. "In After Effects, I use Text Evo for quick text animation and Duik for character rigging, and a lot more: the animation cleaner is great," he says. "I also used Bodymovin and Lotte on a project and I am very keen to use it more as the results are amazing." Meanwhile, Created Mentor Maurizia Carrera, a freelance motion designer based in London, uses Video Copilot's FX Console, a fast After Effects search tool, and Saber, which lets you create beams of energy, lightsabers, lasers, and more.

Timelord

Tools for motion designers

Plugins aren't the only free tools that motion designers can use. Maurizia uses Notion, an all-in-one workspace app, to keep all resources organized. She also uses five free color inspiration apps, namely the Adobe Color and Color Supplyyy color wheel tools. Cooler, a fast color scheme generator; the Color Hunt palette inspiration platform; and Instant Eyedropper, a color recognition tool for the web.

Did you also consider Pinterest for organizing your sources of inspiration? "I'm a huge Pinterest fan," says Tom. "Being able to create mood boards from project to project is really useful, and it replicates the exploratory nature of old bookmarking websites like the now defunct ffffound.com."

Graduate Laura Sybre, a freelance 2D motion designer at WeAreSeventeen, uses Pinterest as well as Evernote and Are.na to store and organize her visual research.

Laura explains: "It is very important for my work to store beautiful or meaningful content, words, thoughts, pictures, how to put them in a bucket. Then I will bring them out like a rabbit out of a hat to help me Visualize what I'm trying to develop out of my own imagination.This mostly happens when I need to find creative directing and art direction solutions, such as the phase in which the idea is still being explored: not exactly defined but comprehensive. "

Color hunt

Podcasts for motion designers

Podcasts are a great way to keep in touch with the latest animation and motion design trends. One of the most popular is Motion Hatch, a bi-weekly show hosted by Hayley Akins. "I've listened to some of the episodes and found them useful to improve my process, both in terms of my professional practice and the way I run my business," says Joe.

Maurizia suggests visiting Greyscale Gorilla, which includes motion design, 3D rendering, Cinema 4D and the motion design business. and Animalators, who offer "curious conversations from the world of animation".

Greyscalegorilla Podcast

Tutorial videos for motion designers

Do you need to learn new techniques or brush up on your existing skills? YouTube is packed with great tutorials. "My two After Effects go-to places are the Ben Marriott and EC Abrams YouTube channels," says Joe. "Meanwhile, for Blender, I'm checking out Andrew Price, aka Blender Guru. I would also recommend his newsletter, which has a lot of useful information."

Maurizia meanwhile highlights the self-explanatory Maxon C4D Quick Tips, Hellolux for VFX and motion graphics, Division05 for design and motion graphics and Mt. Mograph, The Rusted Pixel and Ukramedia for motion design tutorials.

Remember, however, that YouTube isn't the only place to find motion design tutorials. In addition to the YouTube channel Eyedesyn, Tom recommends Greyscalegorilla for Cinema 4D tutorials, while Laura Sybre, a graduate of Created, is a big fan of Domestika's courses. "YouTube is great because it has free tutorials on certain things, but I like Domestika because they have very specific courses on a topic that are very affordable," she explains.

Never fail to work

Motion design inspiration websites

We covered how to organize your visual sources of inspiration. But where do you find them anyway?

"I find the Vimeo staff selection very useful, as well as Instagram, Linkedin and Behance," says Laura. Tom recommends Wine After Coffee and Never Not Working: "Two great blogs with a wealth of fantastic animation."

Finally, Maurizia Carrera supports the motion design blog Motionographer, the Art of the Title for beautiful sequences of credits, animation screencaps for inspiration and composition of color palettes and screen movie caps for the design of film titles.

To learn more about studying the Motion Design Pro or Motion Design Foundation courses from Created, visit Created.academy.

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