I often found myself wondering… Should I or shouldn’t I make After Effects templates? Why on Earth would anyone buy pre-made motion graphics? You know? I actually thought templates were sort of a waste of money to buy and a waste of time to make. But after making a few myself in my spare time, out of boredon sometimes, other times because I was inspired and other times because I was practicing, I ended up with a large number of After Effects templates and I thought to myself: “Well, these look kind of nice, it would be a shame if no one ever saw them or used them”. So I decided to put them for sale and I never thought they would sell, I just wanted to put them out there for people to see but something amazing happened. I began to realize, through the eyes of my customers, how useful these nifty little things are.
Why Buy After Effects Templates?
The short answer is: Time saving. But, of course that is not the whole story. It’s more than that, you see. Truth is, sometimes you can’t come up with something like that. Sometimes the skill level that takes to make one of these After Effects templates goes beyond your abilities using this or that software or maybe you have the skills and can make it, but you have a limited amount of time to do so, and well, this templates are already made and are not that expensive… And that is the key, I think. They are not that expensive. Whether it’s lack of skill or lack of time, templates are usually an affordable and quick solution.
There’s no Shame in Using Pre-Made Motion Graphics.
Sure, it may seem pathetic and lazy to some, especially if you are skilled enough to come up with one yourself, but even I have done it, to a certain extent when I’m in a hurry. But of course, you wouldn’t use these just the way they came in the box. I personally can’t live with myself if I use a template just the way I found it. I generally have to modify and re-shape the whole thing until it’s unrecognizable, not because I am ashamed of using the template, I pay homage to the artist, but mainly because everyone else will be using the same boring template, I want mine to look different! So depending on your skill level you can actually get away with creating an entirely new piece of art, sometimes even better than the original template.
Now, time for my shameless plug… In case you are interested, have a look at my After Effects template portfolios at:
https://www.videoblocks.com/portfolio/nevermoregraphics
https://www.pond5.com/artist/nevermoregraphics
Or check someone else’s templates. Once again, I recommend Pond5 or VideoBlocks, but there are tons of other places out there.
If you like my work, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel or like my Facebook page for more updates!
Got ideas or suggestions? Please leave a comment down below!