More great work from Jarratt Moody. I’m a huge fan of this piece.
Looks like trapcode form, sounds like Sigur Ros.

Wilson (Spec) from Jarratt Moody on Vimeo.

I’d have to say this is as close to “classic” as it gets for sports graphics. Drive did a fantastic job. Great camera moves, animation. Big glossy 3D. I think there is a lot to learn from here.

Read more…

After a lot of long days tweaking code the new graphicsmafia.com is live. Overall, I ditched the featured projects at the top. Those seemed to get a little stale and linger for too long, but the category is still here and you can view any previous “Featured” post here or navigate towards the top bar which has the top 9 categories. All you Internet Explorer users should have a better browsing experience as the site seems to work for IE7 and up. Let me know.

I’ve got the links to other great sports motion graphics related sites, tabbed into their respective categories. Should be easier to find what you want instead of an impossibly long list. As for tutorials, look for future posts to have more of a discussion and links to existing tutorials. If a tutorial doesn’t exist, maybe I’ll just make one

As always, thanks for visiting and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about the new look.

Came across some great work from New York-based designer Daniel Garcia for Nike.

Daniel Garcia is a New York-based designer/art-director specializing in developing content for today’s leading and emerging brands.He began his career at global agency DDB, where he worked on a number of international campaigns for Budweiser, Volkswagen, and McDonald’s. Daniel was drawn to the production side of advertising/communication and so opted to freelance with several NY, LA, and European production companies and design studios. His talent and unconventional artistic approach drew the attention of MTV, Nike, Sony and other image-based brands, with whom he maintains continuing relationships. In 2001, he co-founded a startup that has since ballooned into a full-scale, European-based visual communications agency, Super-Fi. Daniel continues to consult for Super-Fi as well as freelance for a handful of agencies, networks, and studios. His passion lies in giving shape to ideas and collaborating with top talent to create memorable works that are both visually stimulating and emotionally engaging.

Read more…

I’m a little late on this one. But National Television did a fantatic job with their ESPN MLB opening day animation.

Take a look at this article by George Johnson of ESPN, and in particular what he has to say about the Chicago Blackhawks pre-game jumbotron show. I should note that I’m good friends with everyone over there, and contribute to the graphics whenever possible, so its nice to read this.

13. Easily the best pregame JumboTron video package we’ve seen
Reverential yet modern, as current as Kane’s curls and as old-school as a Billy Reay fedora. The Golden Jet, Stan Mikita, Tony O, Mr. Goalie, Keith Magnusson, Pierre Pilote, J.R., Eddie the Eagle, Dipsy-Doodle Denis, Al Secord … what else could a slavish shinny devotee possibly ask for?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=johnson_george&id=4114044

Some very nice boards for Wilson done by Jarratt Moody.

Lucsious or Felipe Posada created this is a few years back. If you like this look, well you’re going to have a great eye for design because this one is beautiful. But, to learn how “grow” elements on in the background like Felipe, check out Jayse Hansen’s tutorial on CreativeCow.net to get started. Some of those masking principals are useful. Also, looks like some 3d stroke is flying around in there as well.

For those Cinema4D and After Effects users out there (if you already don’t know) allow me to introduce you to GreyScaleGorilla. A longtime friend of GraphicsMafia, Nick has been posting some valuable tutorials. Great for beginners and intermediate users.

This is also a good time to ask, would you readers be more interested in seeing tutorial/resource posts or in seeing whatever cool inspiring sports related graphics I come across?

Cinema 4D: CS Tools – Cluster from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

Download CS Tools for C4D

Check out all Nick’s great videos.

Rezn8 with 3 March Madness spots this year. Nice simple effects that don’t overshadow the emotion of each play. You wouldn’t wan’t to detract from those closeups and Rezn8 does a great job of making the graphics the main character when they have to be.

Here are a few techniques that work great in these spots and I’ve linked to some tutorials that cover similar topics. Not to say this is the way Rezn8 created these spots, but at least you can play around with ONE way to get it done.

3D text in after effects

Ah the million dollar question. Well the oldest way that I know of is duplicating your layer and moving back -1px in Z-space about 40times and then pre-comping the layers. However Zaxwerks makes a very popluar plugin called 3D invigorator that allows you to manipulate simple 3D shapes, extruded splines and text right in After Effects. John Dickinson of Motionworks just posted his 3d invigorator tutorials to get you started. But I like Chad Perkin’s Shatter trick simple and doesn’t require any plugins.

Reflections

Try Video Copilot’s 3D reflection tutorial. Pretty simple tutorial, even adds a little blur to the reflection.

Compositing and tracking

Another Video Copilot tutorial, HUD (or Heads up Display) covers a similar subject. Except in March Madness video you would track the background (perhaps a chair) or any static element in the scene.