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16 Killer Motion Graphics Demo Reels

Inspiration comes in many forms but for motion graphic designers it’s hard to beat a great demo reel. For this week’s roundup Topher gathered 16 killer motion graphics and vfx demo reels. Please feel free to add any links to reels you find inspiring in the comments.

16 Killer Demo Reels

  • Mark Coleran

    Mark is an amazing interface designer working on a ton of prestigious movies such as The Island, Children of Men and Mission Impossible III. His designs are both immensely futuristic and completely breathtaking to see.

    View Demo Reel

  • Andreas Feix

    Andreas’ website Eclipse FX, has bunch of links to the work that he has accomplished, and the awards that he has won. He is a very talented compositor working on many productions including the internet fanflim, still in the making, Star Wars: Threads of Destiny.

    View Demo Reel

  • Markus Gustafsson

    One of my fellow authors here on AEtuts+, Markus Gustafsson has a pretty sweet demo reel. Not only is he a great teacher, but you can see some of the subjects of his tutorials here, as pieces in his reel as well as some of the freelance projects he has done over the years.

    View Demo Reel

  • Onesize

    This Dutch based studio deals in everything… motion graphics, visual effects, animation, and anything else you can throw at them. They have done some amazing work for Nike, MTV, G4, just to name a few, with a truly unique feel to their work. I actually found them from their work on The American Dollar’s “Anything You Synthesize”, a truly amazing music video.

    View Demo Reel

  • Mutanthands

    James is a London freelancer, rocking a bunch of work for companies like VH1 and Nickelodeon, but what I really like about his work, is the 2.5d feel he gives it. A lot of the stuff you can tell can be created in After Effects, and has a great cartoony, paper-character feel to it.

    View Demo Reel

  • CL-DEEZ

    This french motion design artist has a ton of work for websites and branding projects, working mostly with 2D motion design, with a dabble in 3D, as every good motion design artist should.

    View Demo Reel

  • Josh Childers

    This reel here has a ton of 3D as well as some 2D, but all good artists have to broaden their horizons eventually. Josh shows you a great reason why. Working at tons of different studios as a freelancer, he has quite the reel put together.

    View Demo Reel

  • Noble Assassins

    Rick Morris runs Noble Assassins as Creative Director and has a great mostly 2D reel, working on advertising material for television. I love reels like this, because it really shows you how far After Effects can go as a primary tool.

    View Demo Reel

  • Nylon

    Nylon is run by three people: Jason Cook, the Creative Director, Bryan Lee, also Creative Director, and Joe Montalbano, EP. These three together produce some amazing work, which is very heavily reliant on 3D, and has an amazing colorful design appeal.

    View Demo Reel

  • Chris West

    I’m not gonna lie, in the first five seconds of this reel I thought “what in the world am I watching?” but then Chris broke into the real stuff in which makes his real worthy of this list. He has a great eye for creativity, and his motion design and animation are really well put together.

    View Demo Reel

  • Danny Yount

    Danny made it onto my Inspirational Typography list a while back and his demo reel now, will simply not be looked over without a mention. You have probably seen at least one or two of the clips in his reel on television or in flim sometime or another. Working at Prologue, he has worked on a ton of different movies, and has probably one of my favorite reels on this list.

    View Demo Reel

  • Kyle Richtsfeld

    Kyle has a cool reel with a lot of the pieces made entirely in After Effects. He works in Vancouver, BC as a mograph artist and director. One thing you won’t see in his reel though (and the reason I wanted to include him in this list), is the work he did on the “California” music video for Hey Ocean… amazing use of typography simulating the inside of a catalog.

    View Demo Reel

  • Rhino

    Rhino is a very high end studio with some truly stunning pieces they have worked on. They are more on the visual effects realm of things, but I thought it would be worth noting here because it was so rad. I’m sure After Effects was used here and there for touch-up, but for the most part things are created entirely in 3D.

    View Demo Reel

  • HUSH

    New York’s HUSH is run by Erik Karasyk, David Schwarz and Laura Alejo. Specializing in TV commercials, music videos and branding, the lastest reel from them is killer.

    View Demo Reel

  • Craig Hubbard

    Chubbard, as his freelance design is called, has worked on a few tv shows doing spots and branding such as Criss Angel, VH1′s Charm School and the IFC Channel. He has got a really creative eye, and some very cool design pieces in his reel especially the running hand at the end.

    View Demo Reel

  • Heebok Lee

    This guy has worked on some movies that would be a motion designer/comic book nerd’s dream. Spiderman, Superman, Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man… and his credits don’t stop there. I couldn’t think of a better reel to end the list with, but we have to sometime. Might as well be with something truly remarkable.

    View Demo Reel

Topher Welsh is TopherWelsh on Videohive
  • b pailla
  • Shifter

    Very Nice

  • k

    well, Josh Childers definitely has the best reel out of these 16. insane work. wish i had the skills :>

  • http://www.priyesh.de PRIYESH
    • http://www.johnfischer.tv John Fischer

      Hey, that was pretty good! I have to admit I wasn’t expecting much out of a “what about mine?” post ;) But kudos, nice job!

      • http://www.priyesh.de Priyesh

        Thanks a lot! Is much appreciated :)
        Btw, your tuts-network rocks.

      • http://www.digitalartlab.net mike

        lol was good , , i was quite surprised nice work

    • Matt

      Wundervoll!

      • http://www.priyesh.de Priyesh

        Dankeschön, Matt! :-)

    • ASHISH

      Hey priyesh this wouldn’t play….thought would hav a look at it

      • ASHISH

        srry i guess vimeo is down at d moment….gonna check it layer

  • http://www.johnfischer.tv John Fischer

    Obviously everyone will have a different favorite, but this has been one of the most inspiring to me: http://www.gkaster.com/

    • Rafi

      haha mine too! pretty crazy stuff

  • http://www.altograu.eu/portfolio Sérgio Soares

    awesome. Nice list
    Thank u

  • http://noisejunkies.net Rafael Guerra

    all of them are very inspiring reels!

  • http://www.jimmyweber.com Jimmy

    I’m a big fan of EDEN SOTO’S at EdenSoto.com

    You can check out mine at JimmyWeber.com also haha.

  • http://vimeo.com/user1038693 ninjtso

    NICE ON I REALLY LIKE IT ,,,:)

  • pyroclepto

    no renascent?

    I hate that guy because he is so awesome. He should be on this list for his technique, execution and overall vision

    • http://aescripts.com Lloyd

      Sure, just add the link in your comment.

  • Rev65

    Another great list, Topher! Tons to see and draw ideas from. I love that Mark Coleran has carved out a unique mograph niche and has made a successful run with it.

    • http://www.visualfxtuts.com Topher Welsh
      Author

      I love Mark Coleran’s stuff… one of my favorite reels to watch over and over. True freakin genius.

    • http://bitly.com/GbO3Y Dean

      I liked Mark Coleran’s reel as well, and since I’m a big music nerd I loved hearing “Wherever You Are” by Ulrich Schnauss!!

      • ASHISH

        me too i loved it…..wish to touch dt level

    • Becky

      Not only is Mark an awesome creative genius, he’s a really great guy. He’ll be speaking and showing his work in October at motion09. Check it out

  • http://www.randomentity.com RandomEntity

    surprised not to see Sebastien Cannone’s http://www.sebastiencannone.com or Nick Campbell’s, http://www.creamyorange.com

    • ASHISH

      sebestian …a great pic man

  • http://www.arnodotcom.com dotcom

    personaly i find this one very inspiring :
    http://www.gkaster.com/
    so elegant.

    • http://www.arnodotcom.com dotcom

      toh ! already mentioned ! with the same say… ( toh ! )

      • http://www.arnodotcom.com dotcom

        couldn’t stay like this,
        Here’s this one : http://www.gmunk.tv/

  • Ed Wood

    Not very recent but still inspiring… Conrad Ostwald’s reel:

    http://www.conradostwald.com/movies/Showreel_Conrad_Ostwald_2008.mov

  • http://www.mai-ai.org Wouter Bulten

    I think someone copied this article:

    http://www.goingame.de/2009/05/16-killer-motion-graphics-demo-reels/

    (Found the link on Mark Coleran’s website)

    • http://aescripts.com Lloyd

      Unfortunately this happens alot, as soon as we publish a tutorial or article it is robot copied to a lot of other sites that just steal from other sites. Don’t think there’s much we can do about it.

  • http://www.dsaportfolio.com.br/ Diego SA

    These demo reels are really breathtakingly awesome videos to watch. Even with an excellent sequence of works they have done, the soundtrack they chose are dancing, great to enjoy. And they made a wonderful synchronization, highlightning the Hush demo reel with The Ting Tings’ song “Great DJ”. Astounding video!
    And excellent collection of demo reels you got here Topher! I’ve got distracted for several hours! Nice work!

  • Lawrence

    Nice round up! Take a look at mine… It’s nowhere near this standard http://www.vimeo.com/4900525

  • http://www.Davi-T.com Davi-T

    Great list of reels and a lot of inspiration. Just makes me want to study harder and harder. Loved the Bugs Bunny sound clip at the end of Craig Hubbard’s reel mixed along with the audio track.

    • http://brockmedia.co.uk Lawrence

      I hear that! Watching some of these reminded me of why I started. Long way to go but it’s a good ride.

  • http://www.eclipse-fx.net Andreas Feix

    Hey there!

    Wow, I didn’t expect to find my showreel here when I posted it; it’s quite an honour… :)
    & to all others – you really got some very neat showreels… ;)

    Keep up your good work y’all,
    Andreas

  • dukkas

    can anyone help me where I can find the background song used for Heebok Lee demoreel.

    • http://visualfxtuts.com/ Topher Welsh
      Author

      It says right there…. on the page to view the reel…

      What Else Is There by Royksopp

  • Stewart
  • http://sneakybadger.com Jason Kempshall

    Very nice!

    This is also a great one –

    http://www.matthewrobertjones.com/

  • Steve Batz

    One thing I noticed which made a huge impact on me in these reels was the choice of music. Some inspired and enhanced the reel, others made me want to switch off.

    PS. Loved the start of the Chris West reel!

  • Eduardo Torres

    Rhyno’s demo reel is jaw-dropping… I cannot imagine all the hours dedicated to learn techniques to achieve something like that.

  • http://www.paulfelmer.cl Paul Felmer

    Hi!
    This Reels are amazing thanx for the info.
    I leave you here my new reel.
    From Santiago de Chile

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MEnU_exoNk

    Im working on my web there are some works to
    Check it out
    Thanx!

  • http://www.vimeo.com/3529570 CL-DEEZ

    Hi, I’m just give u the right link to my Demoreel :
    http://www.vimeo.com/3529570

    My website has been hacked for a week so you can see it on Vimeo.

    Bye ;)
    Cédric Le floch form cl-deez

  • Jim Simpson
  • http://fr.lutece.paris.fr/forums/user/profile/1234.page Dazfbfsq

    I am assured, what is it

  • http://www.filmview.com.au Tim

    Its awesome work!!!! Keep gng.

  • http://www.pegasyssoft.com crm services

    Its really amazing.Gr8 effort keep it gng!

  • Rohullah Kabir

    yah thats like true demo reel i have seen many Demos but those that i saw now those where great keep it up (ae tuts) keep adding these kind of stuff

  • Daniel Winne

    There are some great reels there!
    Several though seem quite… mediocre…

    Anyways, its always great to see a collection of true talent.

    I just finished my reel for 2009
    http://www.vimeo.com/8036208

  • ASHISH

    Hmmm, know doesn’t stands anywhere before all these breathtaking reels but u guyz can help me improve by leaving a criticism… hr is ma first 6 months of after effecting

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpKcyzrzNic

    btw mark coleron & rhino ma personal favourites though all are truly inspirin…

  • http://www.vectormeldrew.com alex

    check mine out and see if you would add it also?

    http://www.vectormeldrew.com/motion-graphics-showreel-after-effects/

  • Yiannis

    Guys, check this one also!!!

    http://www.vimeo.com/18958627

    I think its one of the greatest! (It’s not mine… but I know those guys!)

  • http://think360studio.com/ Think360 Studio – Web Design Company

    great job Topher :)

  • zopper

    one realistic 3d awesome demo reel :

    http://vimeo.com/23720382

  • http://www.behance.net/gallery/Showreel-intro/3334211 Cristina
  • http://about.me/anubhzz Anubhav Misra
  • http://about.me/anubhzz Anubhav Misra