For the motion graphic sections of the animation I am going to create some vector drawings in illustrator and adding the animation in after effects.
I first started to experiment with the sunflowers part. In this case I have traced the original artworks to get the outliner.
This is another illustration I have created using illustrator: I traced the original paintings by Van Gogh and I will include them in my animation as if they are part of his letters with and explanation on top (he would usually add some sketches of the artworks he was working on in the letters he wrote especially those he sent tho his brother Theo).
I after created 1920 x 1080 video size format and imported the layers there
Once I have imported everything in After effects including a brown-washed texture in the background to recreate an old letter effect.
These are some videos I have used to create the animation for the motion graphic parts where the vectors drawings are shown.
I am also taking in considerations the techniques showed in the videos beneath to create a write on text effect in After Effects.
Since I have already used this technique for a previous project I have worked on and it did not tuned out the way I wanted it to be ( the online looked very different and the word tracing was hard to achieve especially if you have long text) I figured I can try and record myself while writing maybe digitally.
Editing the vector drawing in After Effects
Within the several techniques I have learned from the tutorial I have watched one way to simulate a scribbled animation was through added the “roughen edges” effect but it did not work unfortunately since the edges of the vector drawings I had created were too thin and they would disappear with that effect.
The turbulent displace effect is the one that along with wiggle path added the scribbling effect to the animation.turbulent displace
Overall I figured that I would have had to split the vector drawings in separate layers in order to archived the 2D hand drawn animation I was looking for.
Another feature I was planning onto adding was a textured back ground to recreate the old letter effect. So I looked for some animated background tutorials to recreate them. What I did was create a new composition import some texture image and tint it with a neutral hue. I after randomised the position of the texture image.
Regarding the particles in the starry night drawing I was planning on making them move to recreate the movement that Van Gogh added in the paint. Although when using the technique explained in the tutorial beneath the frame rate and the texture would not go well with th over-all style.
I actually imported the drawing in procreate and tried to draw the sky particles and animation them with a 6 frame rate as well as animating the brush strokes which is a much better effect which blended better with the overall style.
regarding the text that will be displayed in the motion graphics, I thought I could a wipe effect to simulate a write on effect as if the animation would take place on one of Van Gogh’s letters.