Cassidy ‘Cass’ Bisher is a freelance motion graphic designer and a Final Cut Certified Pro. He has worked with high-profile clients including Verizon and AT&T, and his work is seen on the Discovery Channel, History Channel and various TV commercials. Cass is also the owner and mograph designer at DropDrop.com, which designs and sells high quality After Effects templates.
It’s been said that the visuals in a motion graphics project are only half the final product; that it isn’t truly complete until it’s been fitted with music, whooshes, hits, beeps and beds. Taking a break from whizzing your After Effects layers through 3D space and turning on your speakers to find appropriate sound effects will help make your final product be all it can be. We’ve caught up with Cassidy Bisher from DropDrop.com to see what we could glean from his experience.
How important do you feel sound design is in motion graphics?
I think sound alone can evoke emotion and put you in a certain mood, so sound coupled with motion design only enhances the presentation.
Have you noticed a lot of work from new and intermediate users who neglect the sound aspect?
I’ll see it from time to time, but that is because it’s so hard to be good at both things. And the time commitment is longer.
Do you feel motion designers should make a stronger effort in order to get good at it, especially during the learning phase?
I think if it comes naturally then yes… otherwise find someone that is really good at it and combine your efforts. Otherwise, it’s hard to get anything done or meet your goals.
What do you feel is the best way to get good at it? How long did it take you?
I have been recording for years, even before motion graphics… I can remember locking myself in my home studio for days going through tutorials and what not. So it’s taken me a good 10 years probably to really get the jist of it.. but I still have SO much to learn.
Do you audition sounds first or do you save that for later?
Most of the time the animation comes first, especially if you are doing motion graphics design for freelance. You’re trying to get the client something — even if it’s rough — so they can get a feel for what you are doing. Then you go back and add them in.
Wouldn’t you think that since sound has such a large impact on the feel of the animation that the clients would get a better picture of what you’re trying to make for them? Or is it just impractical?
I don’t think it’s impractical. Sometimes I will throw some kind of “sound cue” or something in the mock up to enhance it. But it never fails! There are always changes. Once you know you have no time left and the deadline is say, in 1 hour… that is your chance to sweeten the audio track for the animation. Sometimes you get lucky and have lots of time, i wish that was the case more often.
Do you ever audition sounds before animating because they might wind up providing some inspiration that would affect the animation?
I can say that I almost never do that. Usually it’s me manipulating what I already have… after the animation to sync up the timing of the sound to the animation
For projects which are heavy on the sound effects like your Grunge Pack trailer, do you add sfx directly in After Effects or do you add them after the animation is rendered in a friendlier program such as an NLE?
I never, ever, ever, ever add sounds in AE. I always use my NLE editor Final Cut Pro.
What about projects which need to move to a music track, like your Massive Impact trailer.
Yes, that project was actually inspired by the music bed. I wrote the music first and then animated the template to the music.
Any tips for new users on making their project match up to a music track?
It’s a tedious process. But when you bring in your audio track in AE, press, “LL” and that will give you the Audio Waveform. At that point you can try and match up your movement to the Audio Waveform. Also, listen to the track and imagine the movement in your mind.
Do you have a large collection of Sound Effects? Which collections do you use? Or where do you get them?
I usually manipulate sounds in Cubase which is the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) I use. You can slow or speed things up. Usually starting with a drum hit of some kind. Time Reversing a kick drum with reverb is a cool trick I use all the time. However, because of the tight deadline that we had for the Grunge Pack 1.0 trailer, I pulled from a huge library of sounds that I got from Zero G, a company located in the UK.
