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Design cards

Design cards

A design card is an on-screen graphic placed over the footage at the moment the voiceover says something worth showing: a figure, a year, a quote, a person, a list. MotionKnit chooses the card, fills it with the words from your script and times it to your voice. Every card can be changed afterwards in the editor. These are some of them.

How cards are chosen

A card only appears where the line earns it: a figure card needs a figure in the line, a person card needs a person. The engine reads the whole script first to decide what kind of film it is, so a documentary leans on dates and quotes while an explainer leans on numbers and lists — and the same design is not repeated back to back.

Changing a card

In the editor you can rewrite a card’s words, change its colours and type, move it, retime it or delete it, and add any other card from the gallery by hand.

Make a video with MotionKnit A script and a voiceover in, an editable video out.

Stat over footageA figure from the line, set over the continuing shot
Count upA large figure that counts up to the number the voice says
Number slamOne figure and its unit as a single line over a darkened shot
Waffle shareA percentage drawn as filled squares out of a hundred
Bar chartA short series of figures as bars over the footage
Trend lineA rise or fall over time, drawn as a line
Money figureA sum of money with what it buys or costs
Comparison scaleTwo quantities set on one scale
YearThe year the line states, stamped over the shot
DatelineWhen and where a scene happens, in the corner
QuoteA quotation set on screen and attributed
Serif quoteA quotation in large editorial type
Lower thirdA named person and their role, where they enter the story
Portrait & nameA portrait with the person’s name and role
Keyword slamThe one word the line turns on, set large
Marker lineA phrase highlighted with a marker stroke
Cinematic headlineThe line’s key phrase as a film title
Boxed wordA phrase with one word boxed for emphasis
List panelThe items a line lists, one row each
Split bulletsThe subject on one side, two or three points on the other
Numbered pointsA numbered list with the current item lit
ChapterA section divider over the beat’s own footage
Countdown slateThe arrival of the next item in a ranked list
Then / nowTwo moments of the same subject side by side
Split screenTwo things the line names, side by side
RevealTwo things the line opposes, set against each other
QuestionA rhetorical question set as a hook
Thesis labelThe claim the last few lines argued, as a short label
Bracket boxA label pointing at what is on screen
Map pinsThe places a line names, pinned on a map
Quad gridFour members of a set, one panel each
TriptychThree related pictures sliding into one frame