Motion Templates

Creating Motion Graphics Templates (.mogrt) with Essential Graphics.

What are Motion Templates?

Motion Graphics Templates are After Effects compositions with exposed properties that editors can modify in Premiere Pro without opening After Effects.

Compdown lets you:

1. Define compositions with editable properties
2. Expose those properties via Essential Graphics
3. Export back to YAML preserving the property mappings

Basic template

A simple title card template:

compositions:
  - name: Title Card Template
    width: 1920
    height: 1080
    duration: 5
    layers:
      - name: title
        type: text
        text: "Your Title Here"
        fontSize: 72
        fillColor: FFFFFF
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 500]

      - name: subtitle
        type: text
        text: "Subtitle text"
        fontSize: 36
        fillColor: CCCCCC
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 580]

      - name: background
        type: solid
        color: 1a1a2e

    essentialGraphics:
      - property: title.text
        name: "Main Title"
      - property: subtitle.text
        name: "Subtitle"
      - property: title.transform.position
        name: "Title Position"

Lower third template

Editable lower third for interviews:

compositions:
  - name: Lower Third Template
    width: 1920
    height: 1080
    duration: 5
    layers:
      - name: bar
        type: solid
        color: 3498db
        width: 500
        height: 80
        transform:
          position: [250, 920]
          anchorPoint: [0, 40]
          scale:
            - time: 0
              value: [0, 100]
            - time: 0.5
              value: [100, 100]
              easing: easeOut
            - time: 4.5
              value: [100, 100]
            - time: 5
              value: [0, 100]

      - name: name
        type: text
        text: "Person Name"
        fontSize: 36
        fillColor: FFFFFF
        justification: left
        transform:
          position: [100, 905]
          opacity:
            - time: 0.3
              value: 0
            - time: 0.6
              value: 100
            - time: 4.4
              value: 100
            - time: 4.7
              value: 0

      - name: title
        type: text
        text: "Job Title"
        fontSize: 24
        fillColor: EEEEEE
        justification: left
        transform:
          position: [100, 945]
          opacity:
            - time: 0.4
              value: 0
            - time: 0.7
              value: 100
            - time: 4.3
              value: 100
            - time: 4.6
              value: 0

    essentialGraphics:
      - property: name.text
        name: "Name"
      - property: title.text
        name: "Title"
      - property: bar.transform.scale
        name: "Bar Width"

Template with effects

Expose effect properties for customization:

compositions:
  - name: Blur Title Template
    width: 1920
    height: 1080
    duration: 5
    layers:
      - name: title
        type: text
        text: "TITLE"
        fontSize: 120
        fillColor: FFFFFF
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 540]
        effects:
          - name: Glow
            matchName: ADBE Glo2
            properties:
              Glow Threshold: 50
              Glow Radius: 30
              Glow Intensity: 1

      - name: background
        type: solid
        color: "000000"
        effects:
          - name: Gaussian Blur
            matchName: ADBE Gaussian Blur 2
            properties:
              Blurriness: 0

    essentialGraphics:
      - property: title.text
        name: "Title Text"
      - property: title.effects.Glow.Glow Radius
        name: "Glow Amount"
      - property: background.effects.Gaussian Blur.Blurriness
        name: "Background Blur"

Call-to-action template

End screen with multiple editable elements:

compositions:
  - name: CTA Template
    width: 1920
    height: 1080
    duration: 10
    layers:
      - name: heading
        type: text
        text: "SUBSCRIBE"
        fontSize: 80
        fillColor: FFFFFF
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 400]

      - name: channel name
        type: text
        text: "@YourChannel"
        fontSize: 48
        fillColor: FF0000
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 500]

      - name: cta text
        type: text
        text: "Click the bell for notifications"
        fontSize: 32
        fillColor: CCCCCC
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 600]

      - name: button
        type: shape
        transform:
          position: [960, 720]
        shapes:
          - type: rectangle
            size: [300, 60]
            roundness: 30
            fill:
              color: FF0000

      - name: button text
        type: text
        text: "SUBSCRIBE"
        fontSize: 24
        fillColor: FFFFFF
        justification: center
        transform:
          position: [960, 720]

      - name: background
        type: solid
        color: 1a1a2e

    essentialGraphics:
      - property: heading.text
        name: "Heading"
      - property: channel name.text
        name: "Channel Name"
      - property: cta text.text
        name: "Call to Action"
      - property: button text.text
        name: "Button Text"
      - property: heading.transform.position
        name: "Heading Position"

Tips for templates

Keep it simple

Expose only the properties editors actually need to change:

essentialGraphics:
  - property: title.text
    name: "Title"
  # Don't expose every single property

Use clear names

Make property names obvious:

essentialGraphics:
  - property: name.text
    name: "Person's Name"  # Clear
  # Not: name: "text_01"   # Confusing

Group related properties

Order properties logically:

essentialGraphics:
  # Text content first
  - property: title.text
    name: "Main Title"
  - property: subtitle.text
    name: "Subtitle"
  # Then positioning
  - property: title.transform.position
    name: "Title Position"
  # Then styling
  - property: background.effects.Gaussian Blur.Blurriness
    name: "Background Blur"

Test round-trip

1. Create the template from YAML
2. Modify values in AE
3. Export back to YAML
4. Verify the properties are preserved

Exporting as .mogrt

After creating the template:

1. Select the composition
2. Go to Animation > Export as Motion Graphics Template
3. Choose destination and settings
4. Click OK

The exported .mogrt can be used in Premiere Pro, where editors can modify the exposed properties without After Effects.