Top 10 Best Motion Graphics Blogs and Resources

Everyone who works within After Effects has heard of Andrew Kramer, so it is no surprise that he is at the top of this list. Andrew is a god when it comes to cutting edge tutorials in motion graphics and visual effects. His Sure Target preset has revolutionized the way you work with 3D cameras and the Demon Face and Car Hit tutorials have swept away novice After Effects artists and spun them into a frenzy of wanting to make cool videos. The Video Copilot blog and forums are a huge hit, and the products the website and team provide continue to be groundbreaking. Make sure you take a peak if you haven’t already. Get updates via twitter on VCP stuff by

Nick Campbell aka “The Gorilla” runs GreyScaleGorilla.com, a blog focusing on Nick’s life as a Motion Designer at Digital Kitchen in Chicago. Nick tries to get a GSGcast (what he calls his video blogs) out every day… and this guy couldn’t be more full of useful information. Expelling knowledge of After Effects and Cinema 4D, he has videos on “How to be Creative and Get Paid” to tutorials, to just random stories and projects he has done in the past. His new 5 Second Weekly Projects have become a huge hit in the mograph community prompting everyone to get out there and “make cool shit!” as Nick puts it. This is another everyday stop for me, as it should be for you. You can follow Nick’s twitter @nickvegas.

AEtuts+ launched a couple of months ago, but it is already gaining steam very fast. With over 40 tutorials already published, they are becoming a very popular site with lots of great information. Part of the Envato Network and a sister site to the ever popular PSDtuts+, Nettuts+, Vectortuts+ and Audiotuts+, you know things are gonna be great. They have articles, tutorials, presets, freebies and a bunch of other stuff as well. Best thing about this site, is it is community-based, so you can write articles or publish a tutorial yourself! Run by Lloyd Alvarez of AEscripts.com (further down) you can follow their twitter @AEtuts.

The Hive is the official blog of VideoHive.net, the online marketplace for motion design elements, .AEP projects and stock footage. The Hive is run by Michael Capitelli, and it is full of tons of techniques for making better work. When I say that, I mean that whether you shoot still photography, video, work only in After Effects as a motion designer, or composite as a VFX artist, there is something on this blog for you. Make sure you follow their twitter @VideoHive.

AE Portal News is your best bet to find the most updated news in the After Effects world, hand down. Run by Rich Young, this blog has daily updates of sales on plugins, when AE tutorials are posted, and extensive insights to all kinds of different aspects of After Effects, not to mention there is a gigantic humungo link list to anything and everything After Effects in the sidebar. With over 4 years of information all archived, there is usually an answer to a question posted somewhere in the depths of this blog.

Mograph.net is a great community for asking questions, posting work, and just hanging out with fellow mographers. Attracting the professional community from around the world, you can always count on getting a professional answer or insight to something that you post. Most of the people on the board are industry professionals, and know their stuff. I highly recommend this site if you have questions, looking for feedback on a work in progress, or just want to have an intelligent converstion.

Stu Maschwitz, owner of the late VFX compay, The Orphanage, has worked on a ton of movies including The Spirit, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Sin City, as well as many others. Well known by many in the mograph/vfx community, Stu aka @5tu on twitter, and his blog ProLost has become a great resource for production tips, photography insight, and lately he has taken a lot of interest to the HD video aspects of the new DSLR cameras. Even though his blog isn’t updated daily, I highly recommend following @5tu on twitter for his daily endeavors and awesome tweets on production tips and the like.

The Hypa Blog, run by Tim Clapham, Cinema 4D professor at FXphd.com and the upcoming host of the new Making It Look Great 6 training dvd has a great blog about Cinema 4D and its uses with motion graphics design. Cinema 4D and After Effects go so well together, and this is a great blog for tips and tricks within Cinema 4D. With over 11 years design experience, Tim and Hypa.tv have a lot to bring to the table. You can follow Tim on twitter @hypatim.

Speaking of Making It Look Great, the man behind the series, John Dickinson has a killer site as well, with a fresh redesign a couple months ago. Motionworks, is one of those sites I have followed since I started in motion graphics, and he continues to impress me with what he puts out. Working as a motion designer at Foxtel Box Office in Australia, JD demonstrates techniques, tips and tutorials that we all can benefit from. John’s work is great, and is always getting better. His niche of work is mostly of what a lot people are looking to learn from… motion design for advertising and television. JD’s is a must bookmark site, you can also follow him on twitter