Glossary

(Project) Timeline

The project timeline is the visual representation of the entire duration of an animation project in Linearity Move. It serves as the central control where you can manage and organize the various scenes that make up the motion graphics composition. It has two components: the storyboard timeline in the top portion, and the scene timeline in the bottom portion.

(Scene) Timeline

The scene timeline is the bottom portion of the overall animation timeline in Linearity Move. It represents a single scene within your project, and allows you to focus on the animation stacks and arrangement of keyframes and keyframe pairs relevant to that scene.

(Storyboard) Timeline

The storyboard timeline is the top part of the overall animation timeline in Linearity Move, in which only thumbnails are shown. It allows you to create complete scenes focusing only on the key moments of the animation without seeing any of the granular keyframes.

Time-sensitive Content (Ephemeral Content)

Time-sensitive content includes all media forms with a limited lifespan of up to 24 hours. The content triggers the FOMO (fear of missing out) of consumers.

Well-known examples of providers of time-sensitive content are Facebook Stories, Meerkat, Periscope, WhatsApp Status, and Snapchat.

Investing time and financial resources to produce content that will disappear within 24 hrs might sound counterproductive at first, but there are several benefits of creating time-sensitive content:

• Time-sensitive behind-the-scenes content humanizes your brand and lets the user bond as they witness real, in-the-moment content
• Forces your audience to take immediate action
• Creating time-sensitive content often needs less effort, as the content doesn't need to be overly polished.
• More engagement from users
• Less competition, as less time-sensitive content is being produced than evergreen content.
• Drives a significant amount of traffic to your website

Top of the Funnel (Tofu)

Tofu, “top of the funnel,” is a term used in marketing and customer acquisition to refer to the early stages of the marketing and sales process, where many potential customers are introduced to a product or service. The term "tofu" symbolizes a raw and undifferentiated product, similar to the large, undefined group of potential customers at the top of the funnel. The top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) term signifies the first step in the customer journey, where a broad audience is aware of a product or service and begins learning about its features and benefits. TOFU marketing aims to create awareness and interest among potential customers, intending to attract them to the next stage of the funnel, where they can be qualified and converted into paying customers. Marketing activities at the top of the funnel include content marketing, search engine optimization, social media, and advertising. These activities aim to attract a large audience and generate leads, intending to nurture those leads and guide them through the rest of the customer journey. The top of the funnel is a crucial stage in customer acquisition, laying the foundation for the customer journey. A successful TOFU strategy can help a company generate a large pool of qualified leads and increase the likelihood of customer conversion.

Twinning

In animation, twinning refers to a phenomenon where two or more characters or objects in a scene have identical or nearly identical poses, movements, or designs. This can occur unintentionally, as a result of the animator copying and pasting elements or reusing animation cycles to save time, or it can be a deliberate stylistic choice.

Twinning can detract from animation's visual interest and believability because it can create a repetitive, robotic look that feels unnatural. It can also make it more difficult for viewers to distinguish between different characters or objects in a scene. As a result, animators typically strive to avoid twinning as much as possible.

To avoid twinning, animators may use various techniques, such as offsetting the timing or positioning of similar elements, adjusting the size or shape of objects, or changing the design of characters or objects slightly. By introducing subtle variations into the animation, animators can create a more exciting and dynamic scene that feels more natural and realistic.

In some cases, twinning can be a deliberate stylistic choice, especially in highly stylized or abstract animation. In these cases, twinning can be used as a design element to create patterns or symmetry within the animation or to emphasize the similarities or differences between characters or objects. However, even in these cases, animators must be careful to balance the use of twinning with other elements of the animation to create a cohesive and visually attractive final product.