Best Motion Graphics Certificates Pittsburgh, PA: Find Courses & Onsite Training

Learn More About Pittsburgh Motion Graphics Certificates

What is Motion Graphics?

Originally developed in the 1940s, motion graphics transformed the discipline of graphic design by incorporating animation. Motion graphics include both text and graphics that are set to motion, and are typically shorter pieces of animation like the 3D motion graphics you see in advertisements. You’ll also find other examples of motion graphics in the title and credit sequences of films and television, news broadcasting, social media memes, and website UX design.

The internet, social media, and digital advertising have furthered the field of motion graphic design. Creative agencies now employ designers to create short animated advertising graphics that help break down complex processes into easy-to-digest steps. The evolution of infographics has been greatly influenced by motion graphics, enlivening informative yet static images to tell more engaging stories.

The ever-growing digital frontier constantly generates new opportunities for strategically creating and using motion graphics for marketing and advertising. Studying motion graphics can be great career development for established designers or an entryway for those new to the field of design entirely. Below you’ll find more information on motion graphics certificate programs to help you get started.

Why Become Certified in Motion Graphics?

Several educational paths can lead you to a career in motion graphics, but pursuing certification has many benefits over general training and classes. Becoming certified shows employers that you are proficient in motion graphics and can meet industry standards. It also proves your dedication to the field, as certifications typically require a larger commitment of time and money.

Certifications are also highly desired (and even sometimes required) by employers. Adding a certification to your resume, portfolio, or cover letter can position you above other candidates in the job application process. And, since motion graphic design is a constantly evolving field, acquiring certifications shows that you’re current with the latest skills and technologies.

The amount of time it takes to complete a certificate is usually somewhere between a regular class and an associate’s degree. This in-between length allows you to explore a topic in depth without having to wait multiple years to start your career. The work you complete in a certificate course can also be used as a portfolio when you apply for jobs, eliminating the need for an internship to gain proof of experience. If you’re looking to learn as much as possible in a short amount of time, then a certificate course is a great option.

There are many benefits to working in motion graphics, like the ability to work in a creative industry, telling engaging stories, and earning competitive wages. Becoming certified in motion graphics can help increase your chances of getting hired into a variety of related roles, allowing you to access a fulfilling and, hopefully, long career.

What You’ll Learn While Becoming Motion Graphics Certified

Learning motion graphics opens doors to a variety of creative worlds, from film to television to marketing. By creating animated digital assets, you’ll use a variety of skills and design tools, like Adobe After Effect, to bring your visions to life. Below is a list of the most essential skills needed to work in the field of motion graphics. If you currently possess a few of these, then you’re already ahead of the game.

Traditional Art Skills

The first and most obvious skill is artistic ability. Making sketches for storyboards and mockups and a firm grasp of things like color theory and design theory are the foundations for any graphic designer.

Storytelling Ability

One of the benefits of motion graphics is the ability to tell a story through a short, animated piece. Being a competent storyteller will allow you to use animated text and graphics to convey emotion as well as a message.

Understanding of Animation

As a motion graphics designer you’ll be responsible for bringing 2D elements to life through movement, so having a firm grasp on the 12 basic principles of animation is extremely important. Based on the work of animators at Disney since the 1930s, these principles were used to create the illusion that Disney’s characters followed the fundamental laws of physics. These tips and tricks will help your work come to life and create a more realistic final product.

Technical Skills

Technical skills, like how to use various software programs, are also important. Common programs used are After Effects, Cinema 4D, Animate, Autodesk Maya, Houdini, and Blender. If you have experience in any of these, you already have an advantage.

Collaborative Spirit

As a designer, you’ll communicate and collaborate with a variety of other people, whether that’s clients, creative directors, other designers, or marketing professionals. It often takes a team to produce top-quality creative work, so it’s key you work well with others and can communicate effectively.

Motion Graphics Industries in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been known for its steel industry since the Gilded Age, thanks to industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and George Westinghouse. The steel industry played an enormous role in the history of Pittsburgh business, but the city is now also home to many other industries including life sciences, healthcare, business services, computer science, and more.

Climate tech is one of these thriving industries, employing 86,000 residents and receiving $1.2 billion in venture capital funding for CleanTech from 2018-2022. Pittsburgh International Airport is the first airport in the world to be completely powered by natural gas and solar energy thanks to its unique microgrid, and The Tower at PNC Plaza is the most sustainable business building and a 33-story landmark in the city’s center. And, with 6 percent growth in clean energy jobs in Pennsylvania since 2017, there are plenty of opportunities within the field as well.

Pittsburgh also boasts a robust cybersecurity industry. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) ranks as the top school in the U.S. for Computer Science while The NSA and Dept. of Homeland Security have designated the Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC) as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE). The tech talent pool has grown by a whopping 20.7 percent in the last five years, showing a promising expansion of the cybersecurity industry in “Steel City.”

Motion Graphics Careers in Pittsburgh

There are many career titles and paths available to you once you’re a certified motion graphics designer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Special Effects Artists and Animators earn a median salary of $98,950 per year. Employment for professionals in this field is projected to grow 8 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations. Plus around 9,400 job openings are projected each year, on average, over the same decade.

A Motion Designer can expect to make anywhere from $61,000-$76,000 per year. You’ll most likely find a lot of entry-level roles with this title. Similarly, a beginner Animator can make approximately $75,000, while a Lead Animator can make over six figures.

You could also be a Concept Artist, creating rough visual representations of ideas for use in movies, video games, animations, or comic books before they are added to the final product. You can expect to make between $70,000 and $80,000 in this role.

As your career progresses, you could eventually find yourself becoming an Art Director. Art directors are responsible for the visual style and images in magazines, newspapers, product packaging, and movie and television productions. You’d oversee a team of creative professionals and help guide the overall visions for a collection of projects. The salary range for this position typically falls between $85,0000 and $143,000 per year.

As you can see, there are multiple roles and career paths available to you once you are certified in motion graphics. Keep reading to learn about available certification programs and how to choose the best one for you.

Should You Pursue a Certificate or Certification

While these two terms might seem interchangeable, they are quite different when discussing training programs. Acquired through an assessment or a professional training program, a certification is a professional credential that shows you are proficient in your field. Many jobs require specific certifications for promotions and career advancement. These certifications can often lead to increased pay, potential promotions, and enhanced professional expertise. Several professions require certifications to be renewed at regular intervals to show you are up to date on evolving industry standards. Some companies may even cover the cost of certification, as these credentials can bring value to the workplace.

Often considered continuing education, a certificate is given to signify your successful completion of a course or training. Mid-career professionals pursue certificates to enhance or develop high-demand skills in their industry, while beginners use them to carve out new career paths. Offered by educational institutions, these courses are noncredit programs so you won’t earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by completing them. A certificate can definitely add value to your resume, but it won’t carry the same weight as an associate's or bachelor’s degree, which are commonly required for many jobs.

If your goal is to change career fields entirely or learn as much about a new industry as you can, then a certificate could be the right choice. A certification course is probably the right route if you are established in your career and looking to gain a new title or increase your pay.

You’ll also want to consider the amount of time and money you can commit to your training. If your company requires a certification for you to advance in your career, they may either pay in full or offer assistance for your training. If they don’t, you’ll want to be mindful of your budget, as these training programs can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Both certificates and certifications can vary in length, from a few days to several months, so it’s important to consider how long the program will take you to complete and how much time you can commit on both a daily level and overall for the length of the program.

Regardless of which option you choose, both can give you an upper hand in your professional development and expand your skill set, making you highly desirable within your current field or a new one.

Top Motion Graphics Certificate Programs in Pittsburgh

A certificate in web development has many benefits – setting you apart from other applicants, helping you create a portfolio of work, and thoroughly preparing you for a new career – but choosing the right certificate program can seem challenging.

While there aren’t currently any in-person motion graphics certifications in Pittsburgh, there are plenty of top-quality online options that will fit the bill. Each of the below certificate programs and bootcamps will teach you everything you need to know to gain an entry-level position as a motion graphics designer.

Motion Graphics Certificate

Offered through Noble Desktop, this intensive course will teach you to animate motion graphics and create digital effects. Held over two to four months (depending on if you’re part-time or full-time), you learn to craft animations with After Effects and add animation to layered Photoshop or Illustrator files, photos, and videos. You’ll also master important skills like greenscreen removal, background replacement, rotoscoping, and cell phone screen replacement. You’ll then move on to creating 3D models in Cinema 4D Lite and use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit video, add music, voiceover, dialogue, time out video clips, and adjust their placement, speed, & color.

This course is open to all students and has no prerequisites. Payment plans and financing are available, and extra perks like one-on-one mentoring, a free one-year retake, and a verified digital certificate are included with your purchase.

Motion Graphics & Video Editing Portfolio Development

A great option for beginners, this Noble Desktop course covers the basic principles and best practices of motion graphics to create unique motion graphics from start to finish. Structured around a series of projects that can be added to your professional portfolio upon completion, you’ll learn to create moving images from live video or animated graphics, use software programs and efficient workflows, and craft an engaging story for the viewer. This course will also help you prepare for the types of projects you will work on professionally by discussing what opportunities are available, how to market yourself, and what red flags to look out for while looking for your next gig.

Multimedia Arts Certificate

A collaboration between Pittsburgh Technical College and Ed2Go, this course will teach you the conceptual, technical, and visual design skills required to create multimedia applications and environments. You'll become proficient in the essential tools for interactive development: Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects, and learn to shoot and edit digital video. You'll also discover how to create images, pages, and motion graphics for web-based multimedia. Lessons will cover the fundamentals of digital imaging and color theory, how to create compliant web page layouts with HTML, various kinds of typography and how to create your own font, video editing techniques, and how to create motion graphic work in After Effects.

The only prerequisites for this course are that you be 18 years old or older with either a high school diploma, GED, or state-approved home school equivalent. You’ll also need to have all the required Adobe products installed on your MAC or PC before the start of class.

Adobe After Effects 101 – After Effects Essentials

This three-day course from Ledet Training (held live online or in-person at select Ledet Training locations) offers in-depth training on the industry-standard tool for creating motion graphics, broadcast television, and Hollywood-style effects. You’ll create compositions leveraging assets from a wide range of sources including video, Photoshop Files, Illustrator files, and other file types. By the end of this course, you’ll have a foundational understanding of After Effects learning and possess a more intuitive view of the program, its capabilities, and how to best employ it in your work.

Ideal for novice users of After Effects, it’s recommended you have some experience with Photoshop or have attended one of Ledet Training’s Adobe Photoshop CC Essential Skills classes to get the most out of this course.

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Learn More About Pittsburgh Motion Graphics Certificates

What is Motion Graphics?

Why Become Certified in Motion Graphics?

What You’ll Learn While Becoming Motion Graphics Certified

Traditional Art Skills

Storytelling Ability

Understanding of Animation

Collaborative Spirit

Motion Graphics Industries in Pittsburgh

Should You Pursue a Certificate or Certification

Top Motion Graphics Certificate Programs in Pittsburgh

Motion Graphics & Video Editing Portfolio Development

Multimedia Arts Certificate

Adobe After Effects 101 – After Effects Essentials

Pittsburgh Motion Graphics Courses by School

After Effects Bootcamp

After Effects & Motion Design

Pittsburgh Motion Graphics Corporate & Onsite Training Noble Desktop

Pittsburgh Careers & Salaries Related to Motion Graphics

Related Classes

Pittsburgh Motion Graphics
Corporate & Onsite Training