TRON Ares' Secret Workflow: Figma to After Effects with Jayse Hansen & Darby Faccinto
Jayse Hansen and Darby Faccinto are the designer and lead animator behind the UI screen graphics in Tron Ares, and their combined credits include Iron Man, Avengers, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Top Gun: Maverick, Loki, and Skeleton Crew.
In this conversation, we talk about breaking into the film industry, the unlikely mentorship that launched Darby's career at 14, building a custom Figma-to-After Effects pipeline with Adam at Battle Axe specifically for Tron Ares, what it was like to work on Star Wars, why they still both prefer to use After Effects, and what AI means for the future of motion design.
🎬 Tron Ares is now streaming on Disney+
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:02 Jayse's Origin Story
06:37 Darby's Origin Story
12:55 Working hard and gaining trust
15:02 Figma to Illustrator
17:35 Figma Support for Overlord 2
20:27 Why Figma?
23:06 Tron Frames in Figma
28:19 Figma isn't hard to learn
30:05 Darby's Figma Experience
36:19 STAR WARS
39:42 Skeleton Crew
42:49 The State of After Effects
49:17 Learning New Tools
52:26 Thoughts on AI
57:48 We're never coming back from AI
🔗 RESOURCES:
Jayse Hansen: https://jayse.tv/
Darby Faccinto: https://www.darbyfui.com/
📺 ABOUT:
Hey! I'm Jake, a motion designer in Denver, Colorado. I've been using Adobe After Effects professionally since 2010. I try my best to work smarter, not harder, when animating. One of the only things I love as much as motion design is teaching, so this channel is a place for you to learn from my experience.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for more motion design tips: / @jakeinmotion
📸 Instagram: / jakeinmotion
🐤 X: https://x.com/jakeinmotion
💬 Discord: / discord
#motiondesign #aftereffects #tron #figma #uianimation