I love creating motion graphics, and I used to rely on After Effects and now DaVinci Resolve to make them — the “normal” tools you’d expect to find in such a workflow. However, I also enjoy exploring alternative options, especially since I’ve been searching for Adobe replacements. This is how I fell into some of the weirder corners of graphics creation.

These tools were completely new to me, and some of them don’t really qualify as motion graphics tools; I just use them as such. If you’re tired of the usual lineup of graphics editors, then these tools will intrigue you…

Visions of Chaos

Generating trippy fractal graphics

I’ve written about Visions of Chaos before in my After Effects alternatives list, but it’s one of those tools that keeps pulling you back in. Visions of Chaos is an AI-powered fractal generator. A better description would be an experimental sandbox that combines math with graphics.

It has different modes that allow you to generate unique simulations, and they’re categorized into different sections. For example, the Fractals mode includes various fractal types like Mandelbrot, Ducks, and Thorn. There are different spirograph options in the Plotting mode. And my favorites are the snowflake and crystal growers in the Dendritic Growth mode. Every mode comes with default settings, but I recommend playing around with them to get some truly unique, math-based patterns.

It lets you save the frames as images, which I then include in my motion graphics projects as stills. But you can also create videos from your generated frames by checking the Create Movie Frames box in the mode settings. This consolidates all the generated frames into a video. Just ensure you have ample space on your drive because some of them will end up being multiple gigs in size.

I’ve only just scratched the surface with what this program can do, and I will continue experimenting. One more noteworthy thing about Visions of Chaos is that it doubles as a file converter - I’ve converted some of the videos it generated into GIFs. Overall, it’s a must-have program for anyone looking to experiment with interesting visuals.

Ebsynth

It’s like rotoscoping, but fast and simplified

This one was more of a handy find than a strange one. Ebsynth lets you make changes to an entire video by manipulating only a handful of the keyframe points. Let’s say you have a headshot video of a person. You export it as an image sequence, edit a couple of those images to change their hair color to red, and Ebsynth will superimpose the edits onto your video. Importing that sequence back into your video editor will change the person’s hair color to red for the entirety of the video.

There are other uses for Ebsynth, such as green-screening the background of your video or changing the entire video to a painting or a glitch effect, all by editing just one or two images from a sequence. You can get as creative or strange with it as you want.

Fractorium

Creating fractal flame art

This software lets you create visuals similar to Visions of Chaos, but it’s a fractal renderer, not a generator. You have to build and edit the fractals yourself as opposed to picking from a list of preset modes. It’s the perfect tool for creating swirling, glowing, and organic shapes, so you can create visuals that simulate a nebula, abstract galaxies, light trails, or just weird overlays for your videos.

What I like about it is that you don’t really need to understand the math behind the shapes - you can just experiment with the settings and parameters, watch how the visuals change, and fine-tune purely by eye. It lets you export your projects as a sequence, which you can then edit as a motion graphics video in software like Resolve or Premiere Pro. For a faster render, I recommend ticking the OpenCL option.

If you like the idea of Fractorium but want something with more of a kitchen-sink approach, I recommend checking out Jwildfire — another fractal flame rendering program. It has similar tools for layering and animating fractal styles.

Mosh

Quick and easy motion effects

This is another tool that isn’t a motion graphics editor, but it does let you create some pretty weird, real-time motion effects, and it’s the easiest tool on this list. I’ve been sticking to the free version, called Mosh-Lite, which does have limitations, but still gives me an arsenal of effects. These include Jitter, Shake, Wobble, RGB Shift, and my favorite, Smear. All you have to do is upload an image, apply an effect (or twenty) from the menu, adjust it, and save.

The motion effects, of course, won’t show on still images. So what I’ve been doing is downloading them as GIFs, since Mosh lets you do that, and then converting them into a video format.

Embracing animated chaos

If you’re bored with polished and predictable tools, these strange little programs are a reminder that motion graphics don’t have to follow a set of rules. From glitching your footage to conjuring fractals out of thin air, these tools are weird and fun to use. So if your timeline’s feeling stale, give them a shot and see what chaos you can animate instead.