I only noticed at the end, but it appears the author is only 18, which makes this even more impressive.
The author, Alyssa X, is apparently quite prolific: https://makermag.com/2018/12/21/top-women-makers-2018/
Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
11–20 of 33 posts
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#12One style of program that you might want to have a play with, is a node based editor.
To me it makes complex motion graphics much easier to understand, and from a UI point of view I think there is much to innovate.
nuke, combustion, natron and blender(although the node based bit is hidden somwehere) are all good examples of the rough idea. However they were all copying a previous bit of software.
As you're seeking to fill a different segment, you'll have the luxury of not having to make it handle like shake, Flame or others.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#13>My plan was to build the product in 6–12 months (for an initial MVP)
For the kind of product being described, 6-12 months seems way too long for an initial MVP. I also think statements like "build the entire tool" conflict with the concept of delivering something actionable / people-will-pay-for within a short amount of time.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#14One style of program that you might want to have a play with, is a node based editor. To me it makes complex motion graphics much easier to understand, and from a UI point of view I think there is much to innovate. nuke, combustion, natron and blender(although the node based bit is hidden somwehere) are all good examples of the rough idea. However they were all copying a previous bit of software. As you're seeking to…
Have you tried SideFx Houdini? Basically everything in it is a node.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#15Have you written to Dylan from Figma? He was around 20 when he came up with the idea for Figma and got funders behind him. You NEED to make this happen, Alyssa! This has been a need for very very long.
I think you can almost jump past the MVP stage for validation, this is a pure execution problem and you need to get money, make this your full-time job, and execute asap given your excitement on this problem!
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#16One style of program that you might want to have a play with, is a node based editor. To me it makes complex motion graphics much easier to understand, and from a UI point of view I think there is much to innovate. nuke, combustion, natron and blender(although the node based bit is hidden somwehere) are all good examples of the rough idea. However they were all copying a previous bit of software. As you're seeking to…
Have you tried SideFx Houdini? Basically everything in it is a node.
I'd forgotten about houdini, mind you thats harder to get hold of.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#17Have you written to Dylan from Figma? He was around 20 when he came up with the idea for Figma and got funders behind him. You NEED to make this happen, Alyssa! This has been a need for very very long. I think you can almost jump past the MVP stage for validation, this is a pure execution problem and you need to get money, make this your full-time job, and execute asap given your excitement on this problem!
I know about his story with Figma, and AFAIK he managed to push it forward through the Thiel Fellowship (which I've considered myself too).
Honestly as I've mentioned in the post I've been quite excited about the product (specially when I managed to make the MVP useful enough to replace AE for simple GIFs, I even use the tool for that purpose) and my initial plan was definitely to make this happen, but I haven't really seen a solid way to go about it full-time without taking a huge risk, specially at my age.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#18Have you checked shapeshifter.design, Tumult Hype or Keyshape? They are very similar.
Yep, but they have different purposes. These focus on HTML5 animations (super useful and handy for web), but mine is meant to be used as a simple tool to make videos and animations of different formats. It also has video and audio support (I believe unlike the two tools you've mentioned).
What you are building looks really nice and seems like it could totally fill a niche of its own. I've done a lot of work in similar areas and I'm very impressed.
BTW, as a creative person, I personally can't stand it when people's only comment is "have you seen X Y and Z which are similar to what you've built?" I get it, reinventing the wheel isn't always the best use of time, but I wish people realized how much of a wet blanket that sort of comment can be, especially if it is unaccompanied by any other insights about your work. It seems to imply that you haven't done anything worthwhile or unique, and your efforts are a waste of time.
I hope you continue to build this out into a product. Good luck with it and congrats on all your successes at a very young age.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#19> The UI of Adobe After Effects can be quite overwhelming to a new user.
I suppose so. When I was learning Mograph in school, After Effects was the most intuitive tool among many others. Combustion, Motion etc never quite managed to pull it off in balancing simplicity, ease of use and versatility.
AE aged very well IMHO and to this day is the weapon of choice of Mograph.
Re: Building a Web-Based Motion Graphics Editor
#20I'm not really familiar with animation tools, but isn't this exactly what Flare does?