1. Salford City College
Eccles Centre
Creative Media Production
1
Motion Graphics and Video Compositing Unit 64
Use of text:
(Title, Credits, animated captions, stings,
indents, interactive menus, web banner)
I Have chosen an Ident for Channel 4 that I found on YouTube
No text is used in the graphic besides the 4 logo
Brief description:
What do you see?
The video starts off with the camera flying very fast across a desert looking at the ground as
though it were an aeroplane. The Camera starts to look up and begins to slow down as it
approaches an aeroplane base. There are other planes in the air and hundreds of planes
bunched together on the floor. The camera twists 90 degrees and starts moving upwards and
for a couple of seconds the channel 4 logo is visible in the space in-between the planes.
Techniques used:
Animation, Visual Effects, Colour Rendering,
Graphics, Movement
The ident uses a small amount of animation when the 4 logo is visible to clear the space purely
because it would be lots more work and possibly money to organise with the owners the
physical setup that would be required. The movement of the camera was controlled, smooth
and very effective. This helped the channel 4 logo be seen and created a dramatic effect for
the ident. The colour used is all very plain and desert like this creates a continuous theme and
makes the ident look incredibly real. I could create something like this using various footage
and Adobe Premiere or for a more animated look I could use Lightwave.
Advanced techniques:
Blur, Sharpen, Distortion, Rotation, Opacity
At the beginning the ident uses the blur effect to really create the image of travelling at a high
speed over the desert even though the camera itself is travelling slowly and the quality
remains at a high level. The ident itself is quite sharp looking especially the logo which I
suspect was sharpened in the editing software to make it clear and visible.
Technical comments:
Video Format, Screen Ratio, Resolution,
Frame rate, Compression
Screen Ratio – 640x360
542 average kbps
Frame rate – 26fps
Resolution – 1080p

2. Salford City College
Eccles Centre
Creative Media Production
2
Glossary
Motion graphics - Graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, graphics are
usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects.
Compositing video - When there are several different clips of video are layered over one another to create a single image.
Interactive Menus – DVD Interface or Interactive Menus on a web page
Ident – The ‘call sign’ of a channel or production company to identify themselves on screen, usually shown before a programme.
Animated Captions – Animated Graphics layered over an image / video
Web Banners – A form of web advertising that is embedded into a web page. They are used to attract a viewer to their website. A Web
Banner usually a mix of motion graphics and video
Video Format - 3 Main Formats HD, PAL, NTSC. HD is the highest resolution (720 or 1080 vertical lines in the image). PAL is the UK
Standard definition image (576 vertical lines). NTSC is the US Standard definition image (480 vertical lines). Now in the
digital age we now look at video format in terms of pixels (i.e. High definition 1080; 1920 x 1080 or 2,073,600 pixels)
Screen ratio – Standard TV ratio is 4:3; this means that for every 4 units wide it is 3 units high. It is likely that the screen ratio will be
Widescreen (16:9) in a cinematic sequence.
Resolution – The amount of detail in an image or signal, such as Standard TV Definition and High Definition. See Video Format.
Frame Rate - The number of video or film frames displayed each second (frames per second; fps). PAL frame (standard UK TV) is 25
fps, NTSC (standard US TV) is 30 fps, film is 24 fps. This means as NTSC updates more regularly there is less strobing
(jerkiness).
Compression – The use of Codecs (WMV, DivX) to reduce the file size of a video by a variety of methods. This sometimes means a loss in
image quality (a “lossy”). Codecs are found in Video Cameras, DVD players / recorders, Editing Packages, Video upload
sites)