Motion graphics brief template
“We have the assets, they only need to move” is sometimes true and sometimes a 2D animation in disguise. This brief tells the two apart before anyone quotes.
For teams briefing animated logos, explainers, on-screen graphics and animation over existing material.
About 9 questions, mostly taps. Free, no account. About ninety seconds.
Start a motion or video briefThis is what a finished motion or video brief contains, with an example line in each section. Write it by hand from this, or answer the questions below by tapping and the page writes it for you.
The one thing that must not be got wrong
The constraint that overrides everything else. Put it first.
“The product name is Vela, pronounced VEE-la, and it must be said aloud once.”
What we are making
The kind of film and how many, in physical terms.
“One hero film and a set of cutdowns for social, from one shoot.”
Where it plays
Every placement. Each one is a deliverable with its own ratio, duration and sound rule.
“Instagram Reels, Meta feed, YouTube pre-roll. Reels is the hero cut.”
Specifications
Written for you from the placements. Ratio, pixels, duration, codec, sound, safe areas.
“Reels: 9:16, 1080×1920, 30–90s typical, MP4 H.264, sound on. Meta feed: 4:5, plays silent, captions required.”
How it is made
Live action, 2D, 3D, motion graphics on existing material, or not decided yet.
“Live action, one shoot day, with product stills we already have.”
Audience and objective
One person it is for, and one verb they should do.
“For a first-time buyer who has seen the product on a friend. They should tap through to the product page.”
Tone
Positions on three scales, not adjectives.
“Considered rather than energetic. Understated rather than bold. Warm rather than cool.”
References
Work to sit beside, and work to avoid, one reason each.
“Like the Hay spring film for its pace. Not like the Zalando spots; too fast for us.”
What exists
What the client already has, so the rest can be priced.
“Logo files, brand guidelines, product stills. No music licence, no script.”
Budget, dates, sign-off
A band, the live date, and who says yes.
“60–150k DKK. Live 24 October. Two people sign off; Mette decides a tie.”
Open questions
What the brief does not know yet, said plainly, so nobody guesses.
“Music not chosen. Voice-over language undecided: Danish only, or Danish and English.”
You answer the questions. The brief writes these.
- Ratio, pixels and duration per placement
- Codec and container
- Sound on or silent by default
- Safe areas and caption rules
- Minimum production window
- Adaptation count from the hero cut
Motion graphics is the technique people reach for when they say "we have the assets, they only need to move". Sometimes that is exactly true, and the job is a quick, inexpensive treatment of a logo, some type and existing footage. Sometimes the assets do not exist in the form an animator needs, and the job quietly becomes a 2D animation with a motion-graphics budget. The brief is where those two possibilities get told apart, before anyone has quoted for the wrong one.
The document above is a finished motion brief with the technique set to motion graphics. The decisions below are the ones that decide whether it stays one.
The decisions that move the quote
What "existing material" means. An animator can work with a logo in vector, footage at the right resolution, product stills with enough pixels to crop, and a typeface licensed for video. An animator cannot work with a logo in a Word document, a PowerPoint export or a JPEG from the website. The list of what exists is the most important part of this brief. Every unticked item is either a line in the estimate or a reason the technique is not really motion graphics.
Where it plays. Idents for a venue screen have no sound. A website hero loop is muted, must loop without a visible join, and has a file-weight budget. A LinkedIn feed plays silent and needs captions. Digital out-of-home wants no small type and high contrast. Pick the placements and the frame, the duration ceiling, the sound default and the safe areas are written for you.
Who writes the words. A great deal of motion graphics is animated type, which means the words have to exist before the animation does. "Text on screen" without a writer named is the thing the animator will be waiting for. If there is a voice-over instead, the same goes for the script.
Whether the music exists. Motion graphics cut to a track feels different from music laid under it afterwards. If the music is to be licensed, decide the territory and the term; a worldwide perpetual licence costs many times a one-year, one-territory one. If the track exists, the animator needs it before starting.
How many pieces. A set of idents or bumpers is usually five to ten pieces that share a system: the same logo resolve, the same transitions, different content. Brief them as a system with a count, or the quote will be for one film.
How many languages. Language versions multiply the text layers, which is cheap if the animation was built for it and expensive if it was not. Say the count and the animator builds the text as a separate layer from day one.
The logo rules. The resolve, the clear space, the speed at which the mark can move before it stops looking like the mark. That is usually the one thing that must not be got wrong.
Mistakes we see most
“We have all the assets, they need to be animated.”
“We have: vector logo, brand guidelines, licensed typefaces. We do not have: footage, product stills, or the on-screen copy. Anna writes the copy by 1 October.”
Now the animator knows what they are making and what they are waiting for.
“A short animated ident for our screens.”
“A set of six idents for the reception screen, no sound, ten seconds each, sharing one logo resolve and one transition system.”
Six, not one. The quote changes by a factor of four.
“Use something upbeat for the music.”
“Music to be licensed. Denmark only, one year, online and in-venue. If the track we like is more than 5,000 DKK to license, propose an alternative.”
Territory and term decide the price of the track more than the track does.
Answer the questions below by tapping, and the brief records the technique, the placements and their specifications, the asset list and the count, and marks anything that means this is not motion graphics after all.
What it asks, and why.
- ScopeWhat are you making?
Leave it open and your designer prices the smallest reading of the job. Everything after that is a change request.
- ScopeWhere will it play?
Each placement is its own deliverable with its own ratio, duration and sound rules. Three placements briefed as one film is a threefold deliverable count nobody priced.
- CraftHow is it made?
Live action and 3D can differ four times over in cost. Leave it open and your designer quotes for the cheapest one.
- CraftWhat does this need?only when it applies
A shoot day means a producer, talent means casting, a location means permits. Unnamed, they arrive later as extras.
- CraftWhat kind of 3D?only when it applies
Photoreal 3D built from scratch is a different budget from stylised work on existing models.
- CraftIs there sound?
A voice means a script someone has to write. A commercial track means a territory and a term someone has to negotiate.
- LookWhat exists, and what must appear?
Every unticked asset is a line in the estimate. Skipping this produces the phrase 'we assumed you had that'.
- LookWho is this for?
A film for existing customers and a film for people who have never heard of you are different films.
- PracticalitiesBudget range
A band is a signal about which kind of job is on the table, not a commitment. Without one the designer guesses.
- PracticalitiesWhen does it go live?
A date only means something next to the minimum production window. If they do not fit, better to know now.
- PracticalitiesThe one thing that must not be got wrong
Every project has one. It is rarely written down because it feels obvious to the person who knows it.