Author Topic: motion graphics file requirements (Read 7309 times)

suz7 · « **on:** April 27, 2016, 02:57 »

Hi, I'm trying my hand at simple motion graphics videos.

I've been using illustrator for vectors and am learning after effects.

Am preparing a simple video to submit but am a bit bamboozled by the codecs and containers.

Do I use Quicktime? Bit concerned after being told to unistall it.

I've got no idea about codecs, etc does this apply to graphics?

And do you submit AE files, or rendered files? Or both?

Kind regards
Suzie

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #1 on:** April 27, 2016, 16:25 »

Really depends where you're uploading hem to, so you should check the submission requirements of each site. Generally though, Quicktime Photo JPEG is the most widely accepted format. 75 or higher for quality, 90 for some and 95 or higher for iStock. Fotolia don;t accept Photo JPEG for some reason.. unless they do and I'm missing something.

Not sure about the whole Quicktime issue. Have been reading the info it, but will wait and see what the outcome is. Can always convert my existing stuff at some point, but would rather not!

After Effects files... some sites will want them, some don't even accept them. Depends on the usability of the file whether it's worth uploading and whether it will sell. Aim for CS6 if possible, then you'll still catch those who haven't gone over to Creative Cloud. If you use any plugins then try and pre-render those elements so those without the plugin can still achieve the desired effects. Not VideoCopilot stuff though, it's against their user-license. If you do upload the AE project, upload renders from it as well for those that don't have AE.

If you're creating vector assets and then animating those in AE, consider selling the vectors by themselves as well, on sites that accept graphics files. Then you've got two potential sources of income from the one project, and you're appealing to Illustrator people as well as After Effects people.

Consider usability when creating your motion graphics elements and AE templates... transparent backgrounds for ease of compositing, control layers for changing colours, procedural compositions so it's easier to make changes etc etc.

Just a few suggestions... I'm sure those more knowledgeable than me will have more/better ones!

suz7 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 28, 2016, 08:13 »

That's so kind of you to take the time to give me some advice

I've only uploaded one video to shutterstock so far, just to see if I could get the file requirements right. Took a couple of goes but it did get accepted in the end.

I did them in quicktime (i guess we'll just have to wait and see on how that goes) and motion4 and that seemed to be ok. Good to know not all sites accept the same, will look into that.

I do sell some vectors on shuttertstock and fotolia, I'm adapting some of them for motion graphics.

I'll probably leave the AE versions then for now, until I get a bit better at it and can make the files more user friendly.

Thanks again for replying
very much appreciated
s:)

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #3 on:** April 28, 2016, 11:50 »

No worries! VideoHive accept Apple Motion templates... just so you know.

click_click · « **Reply #4 on:** April 28, 2016, 12:14 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on April 27, 2016, 16:25

... Fotolia don;t accept Photo JPEG for some reason.. unless they do and I'm missing something. ...

That is incorrect.

Fotolia does accept Quicktime mov files with Photo-Jpeg compression. Have been uploading that format for years.

Only for quality and editing reasons I have switched to ProRes recently and Fotolia seems to be processing them fine now (PC generated files).

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #5 on:** April 29, 2016, 03:45 »

Quote from: click_click on April 28, 2016, 12:14

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on April 27, 2016, 16:25
... Fotolia don;t accept Photo JPEG for some reason.. unless they do and I'm missing something. ...
That is incorrect.

Fotolia does accept Quicktime mov files with Photo-Jpeg compression. Have been uploading that format for years.

Only for quality and editing reasons I have switched to ProRes recently and Fotolia seems to be processing them fine now (PC generated files).

I had a niggling feeling that they would, seemed strange that they didn't... I was going purely on the submission requirements on the upload page:

Quote

Supported video formats are: asf, avi, flv, h264, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpegts, mpegvideo
Supported codecs are: flv, dvvideo, h264, mjpeg, mpeg1video, mpeg2video, mpeg4, rpza, svq1, vp6f, wmv2, wmv3
Please upload the highest resolution available
Min. resolution 320 x 240
Max. size: 3,900MBs
Video length must be from 5 to 60 seconds
Record with the best image quality available
The FPS value should match the footage format
Sound is acceptable if it is a natural part of the scene (music is not permitted)

No mention of Photo JPEG so I've been uploading in different formats to be on the safe side.