VMworld 2021 Theme Animations
Over the course of months, the VMworld event theme gets sculpted through rounds and rounds of design and messaging revisions and milestone reviews with key stakeholders. 2021 was the first year of knowing it would be an online event throughout the theme refinement. The VMware brand team developed the design theme and messaging, and I collaborated with J-Cut Films, VMware’s Creative Director, the Director of Video, and the Senior Design Director to create the theme animations, templates, and promos.
Templates and Toolkits
-
Pre-Rendered Animation Templates Kit
The pre-rendered animation toolkit is for content creators without the access or ability to utilize the motion graphics templates distributed through the Adobe CC library. This kit includes pre-rendered versions of all variations and specific instructions for re-creating the animations. This is useful for internal creators and non-adobe users and becomes a key distributed asset of enablement.
-
Adobe CC Animation Template Library
The Adobe CC template library is the main tool to share the animation templates with agencies, vendors, and content creators. It consisted of 15 templates, all created in After Effects for use by editors in Premiere Pro. It also included two companion libraries for China and Japan that had template variations for their native languages.
-
Video Toolkit
The video toolkit consists of project files for many of the VMworld 2021 animations. This allows animators and content creators from external agencies and vendors to create assets based on the animations I have already created in alignment with the theme and stakeholders’ approvals. This is a powerful tool for the enablement of on-site productions as well.
Opening Bumper
Closing Bumper
Bumpers
It usually begins with the bumpers. For VMworld 2021, the bumpers were created and distributed through almost twenty variations. These included regional-specific and global variations, ad, vertical, shortened, and still image versions.
Theme Extension Promos
These were a series of six promos across three different sizes (16x9, vertical, and square). The template was set up so that there could be multiple shapes, colors, dates, and line animations chosen by the editor for rendering. There was even an option for a custom messaging line. This created the opportunity for numerous variations. Additionally, a “blank” promo template was created to allow for a large text block alternative.
Lower Thirds
Lower thirds are a key element of the event animation templates. They are also quite a tricky one. The lower third template is set up so that it auto-adjusts to the name, title, and company of the person and includes some additional options such as a third line (for really long names or titles) and a left/right option.
Transitions
For VMworld 2021, I also created a branded transition template. This was something that had been requested in past years, and the template gave the option to create several variations so that it didn’t seem stale with steady usage. The transition was featured heavily in the final event sessions and videos and really tied things together with the theme.
Additional VMworld 2021 Creative Assets
Music Curation
In 2021 we added a curated music library of pre-approved music available and licensed to use for VMworld video productions.
Layouts & Backgrounds
For all pre-recorded VMworld sessions, as well as many of the other productions, a library of layouts and backgrounds that aligned with the theme were created. This library contained dozens of options and configurations and was used extensively by external agencies and vendors.
Theme Utilization
Once the theme is created and the basic assets are created, requests come in for one-offs, additional animations, examples for vendors, and various “fire drills”. This is an example of a one-off animation I created as a template for an external agency to follow in their video production.
Text Callouts
Sometimes once vendors are deep into producing the hundreds of videos that get created using the assets I created, we get a request to cover a gap that has appeared. This template was created to give producers a text overlay to utilize within videos. It was created quickly but gives the editor options on colors, shape, and animation while also giving them complete control over the copy that is included.