The Toolkit
The full toolkit package consisted of 21 components with various layouts, customization options, and animated transitions. The idea was that the Smart Money editing team could join and layer the components in infinite ways to develop the right edit the episode needed. Smart motion graphics? Now that's Smart Money.
NerdWallet knew the majority of elements should be presented as Premiere Pro mogrts, allowing the editors to swap in footage and text without needing to open up After Effects at all. Some of this customization involved controls for changing text style and treatment, various page textures, holding or retiming the animation overall, and toggling various components or alpha windows as-needed in the project.
Dynamic Footage Replacement
One challenge in working with mogrts is that, at the time this project was developed, there was no good way to handle animating footage between AE and Premiere Pro while preserving the footage audio.
As a workaround, lovatt developed a system to allow the editor to swap in footage and place it properly, preserving the dynamic animation timing and feel crafted by collaborator Sarah Anne Gibson, while allowing the NerdWallet team to sync these transitions with their audio.
Custom Brand Controls
In addition to the footage components, our toolkit also contained several graphical overlay components such as this ID bug.
Once the animation pacing & feel were established, our team was responsible for adding in controls to customize the look and feel of the component, as well as ensuring proper behavior when entering live text (where applicable).
Technical Director
Zack Lovatt
Design & Animation
Sarah Anne Gibson
Producer
Felicia Shivakumar
Art Director
Chloe Dalby