As the message creators, we are responsible for effectively creating startling designs that will not only catch an audience’s attention, but keep them interested. By now, it is well understood that the message creator only has a few precious seconds to make sure the audience member pays attention to their message. While there are several methods to increase the likelihood of attention, one of most successful is animated movement within video.

Adobe After Effects is used to create animated movement within objects. Picture these two situations:

• A video where content appears on the screen but remains stagnant throughout
• A video where content appears on the screen, moving into different positions to correspond with the spoken subject material

The first video, unfortunately, will be too boring for your audience member. Since there is nothing exciting going on or anything visually pleasing, the audience will move their attention on to the next topic. The second video, however, is much more likely to both grab your viewer’s attention and keep it there. By consistently adding new elements that are moving within the video template of space, the viewer has things to keep their mind interested in throughout the video.

When deciding what objects to animate, consider the following: You need to find a happy medium. On the other side of the spectrum, when you animate too heavily, you actually lose the viewer’s attention. They become too engrossed in the moving objects that they look past any information at hand. By previewing the video to friends or associates, you can receive criticism on your animation strategies and techniques.

Here is a list of objects that are especially great to animate:

• Logos
• Social Media links/buttons
• Any short, few words that entice excitement
• Small pictures

For those who are still wondering about a professional example of Adobe After Effects at work, here is one that was hand-picked by the staff at Vimeo. There A LOT of great aspects of this video, but perhaps one of the strongest is how easily it flows. There never really is a dull moment, as the animation moves the spoken word forward into the audience’s attention span. The video creator also does a great job of focusing on important words and graphics. While all words presented are important, there are always a few keywords that will help summarize the subject. A video like this essentially completes both the goals of videos:

1. Gain and maintain the audience’s attention
2. Convey the necessary information

To learn more about using Adobe After Effects, click here.