In this episode, host Kendall Hotchkiss welcomes Jake Bartlett, and they discuss his journey from motion designer to educator, his latest course launch, and his embrace of AI tools for creative work.
This episode covers:
- Animation Principles course launch: Jake's new course focusing on 8 core principles of motion design (condensed from the original 12 Disney principles), featuring projects like the Ease-N-Out Burger animation made with Blender and After Effects' Advanced 3D render engine
- Generous course giveaway: Jake offered free access to his Animation Principles course to all live attendees, demonstrating his commitment to education and community support
- AI-powered tool development: Jake's exploration of vibe coding with Claude AI and Claude Code to create After Effects scripts and extensions, marking a significant shift in how motion designers can build custom tools
- Career evolution through generalist experience: How starting as a generalist at a production company (doing motion design, editing, camera work, and graphic design) helped Jake identify his passion for kinetic text and animated lyric videos
- Lyric video specialization: Jake's journey to becoming known for lyric videos, culminating in work for Norah Jones and establishing a niche that combined his motion design skills with his music background
- Software exploration beyond After Effects: Jake's experiments with Blender, Rive, Figma, and interest in DaVinci Resolve's Fusion, while maintaining After Effects as his primary tool
- YouTube content strategy: Jake's spontaneous approach to video creation based on excitement rather than strict planning, and his upcoming 30-day series covering every panel in After Effects
- Efficient production workflow: How Jake optimizes his home studio setup with integrated camera, lighting, and teleprompter to streamline the tutorial creation process from recording to editing
- Teaching as ultimate career path: Jake's progression from full-time motion designer to freelancer to full-time educator, discovering that teaching was his true passion after trying different roles
Upcoming Events:
- Game Night: Wednesday, December 3rd - Gartic Phone and other games (watch for announcement in Monday Meeting channels)
Visit MondayMeeting.org for this episode and other conversations from the motion design community!
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