School of Motion Podcast

The HONEST Truth About Motion Design in 2025 | Year in Review

It's that time of year again—the School of Motion End of Year Podcast is here, and this one is our longest yet... by a lot. Buckle up for an in-depth look at everything that shaped motion design in 2025, and a look ahead to 2026! 🗒️ SHOW NOTES https://schoolofmotion.com/eoy2025 [https://schoolofmotion.com/eoy2025] This year, we're joined by 17 industry veterans and special guests to break down what "motion design" even means anymore, how AI is actually being used in production, and the real state of the motion design economy. We cover major software updates from Adobe, Maxon, Unreal Engine, and more, discuss the recovery of the VFX industry, and explore how motion designers are expanding into UX, real-time graphics, and interactive experiences. This podcast represents our commitment to helping motion designers understand the bigger picture and make informed decisions about their careers. Thanks for being part of the School of Motion community this year! THANK YOU to this year's contributors: John LePore - Co-Founder, Blackbox Infinite Ivan Witteborg - UX Motion Designer, @Google Justin Cone - Executive Director of Communication, Buck & Residence @SternFX - Motion Designer & Educator Kyle Hamrick - Motion Designer, Editor & Educator Bekki Leahy - Motion Designer & Illustrator Greg Stewart - Lead Animator, @bibleproject @JJMotionStudio - Director & High Torchbearer, We Ride at Dawn @sweetboy.motion - 3D Artist & Educator Urban Bradesko - Founder, @DoubleJumpAcademy & Crispy Chicken VFX Dan Maurer - Co-founder, @cartandhorse Kris Bargen - Co-founder, @cartandhorse Erin Sarofsky - Owner & Creative Director, Sarofsky PJ Richardson - ECD, Director & Co-founder, Laundry @thejoelpilger - Founder, Forum Hayley Akins - Founder, @MotionHatch Caleb Ward - Founder, @curiousrefuge 👉 CHAPTERS 👈 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:15 Motion Design Present & Future 00:17:54 School of Motion Roundup 00:31:10 Our Favorite Work from 2025 00:52:26 Artists & Studios We Loved in 2025 01:20:24 The State of Adobe 01:32:42 Photoshop & Illustrator 01:43:10 After Effects 01:53:13 Premiere 02:06:12 Substance Painter 02:14:43 Figma on Our Minds 02:26:53 Descript FTW 02:28:43 Affinity: Adobe Killer? 02:38:22 Here Comes the Cavalry 02:54:00 The Rive Lovefest 03:27:51 Lottifiles Update 03:32:22 Greyscalegorilla Merger & More 03:36:05 Maxon's Moves 03:51:56 The Autograph Curveball 03:58:41 Will Blender Blend? 04:22:09 Houdini Happenings 04:29:17 Unreal is Unreal 04:55:14 Lottielab 04:57:27 Simulon 05:00:34 Spline & Hana 05:04:18 Womp Womp 05:09:09 Nomad Sculpt 05:13:22 Zbrush 05:16:00 Ad Industry Consolidation 05:25:49 Marketing Budgets Spread Thin 05:32:19 The Great Bifurcation 05:51:14 Pour One Out for The Mill 05:52:28 National Design Studio 05:53:00 Ben Fryc Makes a Keyboard 05:58:47 Contra is Cool 06:00:31 A New Vimeo? 06:05:42 The Motion Economy 06:16:18 Macroeconomic Trends 06:21:28 Return to Office 06:26:11 The Two Races 06:32:33 The Lost Art of Communication 06:54:21 The Race to the Top 07:21:17 The AI Conversation 07:23:22 Adobe's AI Play 07:37:11 Weavy & ComfyUI 07:49:52 MoveAI 07:53:51 Cascadeur 07:59:46 AI Image Generator Roundup 08:10:53 Firefly & Boards 08:17:41 AI Video Models 08:32:05 The AI Financial Bubble 08:39:16 The AI Vibe Shift 09:04:55 AI's Utility 09:26:01 THAT Coke Ad 09:31:42 How Artists Actually Use AI 09:41:38 The AI Ethics Question 09:49:29 2026 Predictions 🎓 SCHOOL OF MOTION COURSES MENTIONED School of Motion All-Access: https://schoolofmotion.com/all-access [https://schoolofmotion.com/all-access] School of Motion Team Training: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/training-for-teams [https://www.schoolofmotion.com/training-for-teams] Courses & workshops coming soon: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/coming-soon [https://www.schoolofmotion.com/coming-soon]

How to Turn Your Creative Anxiety Into Your Biggest Advantage

What if the things that make you anxious are actually pointing you toward your greatest strengths? School of Motion Creative Director EJ Hassenfratz shares his talk from the Motion Plus Design conference in New York City, exploring how the anxieties we face as creatives—imposter syndrome, the proliferation of AI, creative blocks, and staying relevant in a fast-changing industry—can actually become our biggest competitive advantages. EJ reveals practical ways to transform nervous energy into creative fuel and reframe professional anxiety as a guide toward growth and opportunity. Recorded live at Motion Plus Design 2024 in NYC. Big shourt out to the Motion Plus Design team for allowing us to share this footage! Want to get more insights into the Motion Design industry? Check out our blog at schoolofmotion.com/blog

How to Build a Tutorial Empire Like Ben Marriott

We got Ben Marriott on the podcast, and honestly, it's about time...Ben's one of the best tutorial creators out there for After Effects and motion design, and his journey from freelance illustrator to full-time YouTuber happened faster than anyone expected (including him). Check out the corresponding blog post with key takeaways here: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/b... [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbkpFVEVDWlJaMnlqNU5UVXNTbTRKd1ZOWFB2Z3xBQ3Jtc0trUEU5NzZYWFdYY2ExcUJXVnlWSWU2TzRxOGFKbXM4eEV1c0hzbldOVm8yUHNPVkRUZkp0M3hadnhzbHBBZWdpeVpnaFhKYW9zcGNBNVFOalJ2Q3lMR3htWnl6QWZKazZkYjhMRG1DdGlMZXF5MjZqMA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.schoolofmotion.com%2Fblog%2Fben-marriott&v=Nyq1b4mSDlk]

Why Motion Designers Are Having a Moment — with Adobe's Michael Tanzillo

From pouring drinks to lighting shots at Blue Sky to leading Adobe's Substance 3D team, Michael Tanzillo's professional path is anything but typical and his story is packed with lessons motion designers need to hear. Check out the corresponding blog post here: www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/adobe-michael-tanzillo In this episode of the School of Motion Podcast, EJ Hassenfratz sits down with Michael to talk about the state of 3D, why motion designers are impressing major animation studios, and how foundational skills (like lighting and storytelling) will outlast any software trend. 🗒️ SHOW NOTES Michael Tanzillo https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltanzillo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltanzillo/] The 3D Artist Newesletter https://3dartist.substack.com/ Jasmine Katadakarn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-katatikarn/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-katatikarn/] Alwyn Hunt https://www.therookies.co/about/team/alwyn-hunt Andrew Kramer https://www.videocopilot.net/contact/company/ Sebastian Deguy https://x.com/sebdeguy?lang=en [https://x.com/sebdeguy?lang=en] Nick Campbell https://nickvegas.com/ Connor Henkle https://vimeo.com/996490291?fl=pl&fe=ti&pgroup=plv [https://vimeo.com/996490291?fl=pl&fe=ti&pgroup=plv] Connor Henkle on SOM podcast https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/connor-henkle-sports-design [https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/connor-henkle-sports-design] Patrick Foley https://www.instagram.com/patrick_4d/ [https://www.instagram.com/patrick_4d/] Colosseum https://colosseum.co/ [https://colosseum.co/] Winbush https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmzWP6o2cw73moEF7LO_KvA [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmzWP6o2cw73moEF7LO_KvA] PJ Richardson https://www.pj-richardson.com/ [https://www.pj-richardson.com/] Victoria Nece https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-nece [https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-nece] Sora https://openai.com/sora/ Midjourney https://www.midjourney.com Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ Substance 3D stager https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d/apps/stager.html [https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d/apps/stager.html] Omniverse https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/omniverse/ [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/omniverse/] Structure reference tool https://www.adobe.com/learn/firefly/web/generative-ai-structure-reference-image?learnIn=1&locale=en [https://www.adobe.com/learn/firefly/web/generative-ai-structure-reference-image?learnIn=1&locale=en] USD (Universal Scene Description) https://3dartist.substack.com/p/demystifying-usd [https://3dartist.substack.com/p/demystifying-usd] Blue Sky App https://bsky.app/ [https://bsky.app/] NAB Conference https://www.nabshow.com/ [https://www.nabshow.com/] Safe Space LA https://www.safe-space-la.com/ [https://www.safe-space-la.com/] Camp Mograph https://www.campmograph.com/ [https://www.campmograph.com/] Blue Sky Studios https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sky_Studios [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Sky_Studios] Pixar https://www.pixar.com/ [https://www.pixar.com/] 20th Century Studios https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/ [https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/] Disney https://www.disney.com/ [https://www.disney.com/] The Mill https://www.themill.com/ [https://www.themill.com/] Frame Store https://www.framestore.com/ [https://www.framestore.com/] Buck http://buck.tv/ [http://buck.tv/] Finding Nemo https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/ Ice Age Three https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1080016/ [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1080016/] Rio https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436562/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1 Peanuts Movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1 Nimona https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19500164/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1 Spider-Verse https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_spider-man [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4633694/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_spider-man] Game of Thrones https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/ Severance https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/ Flow https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4772188/ Wild Robot https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/ [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29623480/] The Whale https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13833688/ [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13833688/] SCAD https://www.scad.edu/ Cinema 4D https://www.maxon.net/en/cinema-4d?srsltid=AfmBOoqj346c50q5PODG-_HTeZ017JdipbkaQRt_XDIX0NBHsGV7Mu-z [https://www.maxon.net/en/cinema-4d?srsltid=AfmBOoqj346c50q5PODG-_HTeZ017JdipbkaQRt_XDIX0NBHsGV7Mu-z] Maya https://www.autodesk.com/products/maya/overview V-ray https://www.chaos.com/vray?srsltid=AfmBOoogC_jTWraDUnBTjNhG0pkAZ9csF4CO_mtNstdVflJtvuZ4zWju Redshift https://www.maxon.net/en/redshift?srsltid=AfmBOoo_siCAT_UUp0clTp4nqupkBj5b8zl9tVbL_q_9s4rSApkihGbo ZBrush https://www.maxon.net/en/zbrush?srsltid=AfmBOoo3KatuGEWJE2rr4ztpt3_DJlV7Wbz0dxzl1sY2pzACcpzxdeMI Blender https://www.blender.org/ Lightroom https://lightroom.adobe.com/ Substance Painter https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d.html [https://www.adobe.com/products/substance3d.html] Substance Viewer https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-viewer.html [https://helpx.adobe.com/substance-3d-viewer.html] Project Neo https://helpx.adobe.com/project-neo/help/overview.html [https://helpx.adobe.com/project-neo/help/overview.html] Mixamo https://www.mixamo.com/ [https://www.mixamo.com/] Firefly https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html [https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html] Unreal Engine https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US [https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US] Mega Scans https://quixel.com/megascans

Nikola Wonder Dynamics

In the sea of surface-level chatter about AI and filmmaking, Nikola Todorovic is saying the quiet part out loud—and it's the stuff creative pros actually need to hear. Check out the corresponding blog post with our key takeaways here: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/wonder-dynamics As Co-Founder and CEO of Wonder Dynamics, Nikola helped build Flow Studio, an AI-powered platform that lets small teams create VFX-rich productions without VFX-rich budgets. The work was so forward-thinking that Autodesk acquired Wonder Dynamics in 2024, folding it into their growing cloud-based creative suite. But this conversation goes way deeper than "AI saves time." It's about what happens to artistry when the tools start doing more than just accelerating workflows—and how indie filmmakers, animators, and motion designers can harness that shift without getting swept away by hype.