Animated graphics: a round trip with Kinetion by Zaweba

Titles built into an editor go a long way, but sooner or later a project wants a proper animated graphic: a moving logo, a lower third with character, an explainer diagram that draws itself. Video by Zaweba links straight to Kinetion by Zaweba, the animation app, so you can make that graphic and see it in your edit without exporting and importing files by hand.

How the link works

In Video by Zaweba, choose Graphics > New animation in Kinetion. Two things happen. A new Kinetion project is created for the graphic, and a placeholder clip is placed and linked on your timeline. The placeholder stands in for the animation while you work, so you can already position it, trim it and build the edit around it.

Then you design the animation in Kinetion. When you save, Kinetion renders it as a transparent WebM, and that render replaces the placeholder clip's media in your edit. The transparency means the graphic sits over whatever is on the tracks below, rather than covering the picture with a solid background.

Why a placeholder helps

Working from a placeholder changes the order of decisions in a good way. You can cut the programme first and drop placeholders where graphics will go, with the right lengths and positions. The edit is then readable to anyone watching it, and the animation can be designed to fit the time it actually has, rather than being made first and squeezed in afterwards.

It also helps when someone else does the graphics. The editor places the placeholders, and the person animating opens each linked Kinetion project and fills it in.

Making graphics that fit

Keep the graphic's length in mind while animating. If the placeholder is five seconds on the timeline, design for five seconds, with the motion settling before the end so the graphic can sit or fade out cleanly.

Leave transparency where you want the footage to show. Anything you fill in Kinetion will cover the shot beneath, so a lower third should be just the bar and text, not a full frame.

Think about the safe areas of the frame. Text pushed right to the edge can get clipped on some screens, so keep important words comfortably inside.

Revising later

Because the clip is linked, changes are simple. Open the graphic in Kinetion, adjust it and save, and the new render replaces the media on the timeline. There is no need to export a file, find it and swap it in by hand, which removes a common source of mistakes such as using last week's version.

If you trim the placeholder on the timeline after the animation is done, check the graphic still finishes cleanly within the new length, and adjust the animation if not.

When to use built-in titles instead

For a plain caption or a simple name card, the titles inside Video by Zaweba are quicker and stay entirely in the editor. Reach for the Kinetion round trip when the graphic needs real animation, drawn shapes or more design freedom than a title template gives. Used that way, the two apps behave like one workspace, with the edit in one and the motion design in the other.