The launch of the Essential Graphics Panel in the Adobe CC Spring 2017 update has opened up a whole new workflow between After Effects and Premiere Pro CC. The new method explained here replaces the live-text template workflow, which enabled Premiere Pro users to update the text from graphics created in After Effects.
Despite the benefit of being able to make text updates, many people found live-text templates frustrating because they prohibited users from updating the font size and text color in Premiere Pro. The good intention was there, but improvements were needed. In the latest update, Adobe launched Motion Graphics Templates, which are saved with the file extension .MOGRT (I pronounce it “mo-gurt,” like yogurt). These new Motion Graphics Templates allow users to change much more than just the text, such as the scale, position, color, and more.
Adobe’s Motion Graphics Templates can be created in both Premiere Pro and After Effects in the Essential Graphics Panel, but the .MOGRT file can only be opened in Premiere Pro. This tutorial will show you how to build a Motion Graphics Template in After Effects CC. You would think it’s pretty straightforward, but there are a few workarounds you have to apply in order to really make it work. (If you want to learn how to create a .MOGRT file in Premiere Pro, read my previous post here.)
How to open the Essential Graphics Panel
Go to “Window” and select “Essential Graphics” to open the Essential Graphics Panel in After Effects.
Under “Master,” select the composition you want to turn into a Motion Graphics Template.
How to make the text editable in your template
To make the text editable, drag the “Source Text” from the text layer in your comp into the Essential Graphics Panel. You can change the source text to another name, such as “Edit Text.”
Tip: Change it to something that would make sense to other users opening and integrating the Motion Graphics Template into their own projects.
Adding a text-scale property to your template
Go to “Effects and Presets” and search for “Transform.” Drag and drop it onto the text layer.
Under the text layer “Effects,” open up “Transform” and drag and drop the “Scale” property to the Essential Graphics Panel.
Note: The standard text-scale property is not yet supported in the Essential Graphics Panel. This is why we had to add “Transform” as a separate effect.
Adding text-position adjustments to your template
Go to “Effects and Presets” and search for “Separate XYZ position.” Drag and drop it onto the text layer.
Under the text layer “Effects,” open up “Separate XYZ position.” Drag and drop the “X Position” and “Y Position” into the Essential Graphics Panel.
Adding a color-fill property adjustment to your template
Go to “Effects and Presets” and search for “Fill.” Drag and drop it onto the layer you want to adjust. Here, I’ll drag and drop “Fill” onto my background layer.
Under the background layer’s “Effects” controls, drag and drop the Color Fill into the Essential Graphics Panel. You can change the name of this property to be “Background Color.”
Adding opacity properties to your template
Go to a layer’s standard transform tools and drag and drop the “Opacity” property into the Essential Graphics Panel. (Yes, this is the one standard transform property that works in the Essential Graphics Panel!)
Exporting your motion graphics template
Once you add all the properties you need, simply give your motion graphics template a name in the “Name” field.
Click on “Export Motion Graphics Template.” If you want to be able to use your template in Premiere Pro, change the destination to “Essential Graphics Panel.” If you need to send it to another editor or a client, you can export it directly to a local-drive folder and send it as an email attachment or via the cloud.
If you have any questions about creating .MOGRT templates, please leave a comment below. I also make new video-production and video-editing tutorials on my YouTube channel each week, so be sure to subscribe and keep up to date!