Should You Use Preset Packs When Animating Video Ads?
Preset packs can be extremely useful tools to save time when animating and editing, but we at Vidsy have our own opinions. So, to pre or not to pre? Keep reading to find the answer…
What are Preset packs? 📦
Preset packs like Motion Bro and Animation Composer are plugins that enable you to add pre-made animations to your work on apps like Premiere Pro and After Effects. Many of them are very popular, free to use, and can include text effects, textures, transitions, text effects, and much more.
Here’s our verdict on whether you should use preset packs 👇
The Benefits ✅
They can save you tons of time when animating or editing - since they’re already premade you can add these animations instantly to shape layers and text layers, saving you time animating layer properties yourself.
They’re customisable - Preset packs are often customisable with the colour of objects and the direction of the animations and transitions in your composition. This gives you freedom when altering your animations to suit brand colours and adding some movement to your composition.
They look good! - Presets from companies like MotionBro and Animation Composer (Mr. Horse) are well made and they look professional and seamless.
They’re suitable for longer-form content and batch editing - They’re time-saving nature lends them to editing longer videos (over a minute long) that require animating or to edit a group of videos quickly if time is tight.
The Drawbacks ❌
It makes your animations look generic - Since they’re so popular so many people use them and they’re easily recognisable to trained motion designers.
They stunt your skill development and creativity as a motion designer - When you rely on preset packs to animate most of your work you’re doing yourself a disservice as you won’t be learning the skills to make complex animations yourself and use your own creativity and skills
They aren’t easily editable for other creatives - Preset-heavy AE files are notoriously difficult to amend when you send them to other creatives. Creatives often have to have the exact same preset pack and plugin as you to be able to edit parts of your work affected by that specific plugin.
They aren’t suited for making video ads - When it comes to making ads for large brands, it’s best to not use preset packs because of the other drawbacks mentioned before. A motion designer with work that is all their own based on skills that they built up themselves will generally look better than someone’s work who relied on presets if they’re going for the same brief.
Key Takeaways 🧐
Use preset packs for longer video content (if truly necessary) - We get it - they’re useful for saving time! But be careful in relying on them too much.
Do NOT use preset packs when making video ads - We at Vidsy do not recommend our creators to use preset packs when submitting their work for remix briefs. They’re a nightmare to amend, and they make the creator’s work look generic.
Vidsy is there to support you every step of the way. If you need help with leveling up your motion design skills, get in touch with the community team at community@vidsy.co.
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