"Mocap" is a highly specialized term used primarily by designers. Literally, the word mocap means layout . With it, a professional creates a three-dimensional visualization of anything, such as packaging or printing. Often it is used in advertising. A simple example: McDonald's fast food chain. The delicious hamburger in the image is not a photograph, but a visual idealization of what you want to buy and eat. If the proposed product is inside the environment, it looks better and more profitable than a regular screenshot (snapshot).
What is it?
Mocap is a mockup used by designers to showcase a product or product to a customer. For example, a future business card, CD cover, photo album, postcard, content or appearance of a book. Thanks to this method, the customer visually evaluates the design proposed by a specialist in a working environment. It turns out not just a flat photograph, but an already imposed layout on the product. Mock up allows you to see the final result in reality. It simplifies the interaction of the customer and the designer. Visual layouts allow you to test products at the development stage, make changes, corrections before printing.
Mock up is good because it is a simple, time-saving work that everyone can learn without exception. In order to perfectly master this technique, it is important to have ideas about design, a sense of taste, style, measure, knowledge of color compatibility, and be able to work in graphic editors. During the development of mocap, review the work of famous designers, learn from other people's examples and mistakes.
Why is it needed?
Mocapas are needed for professional designers, freelancers, artists who work on order and create amazingly beautiful work. Later they are presented to the client in the best possible way. Mocap is created to demonstrate the history of a picture or inscription that improves a product and helps customers make a choice in its favor. Technically, mockups are PSD files with editable smart objects (layers in the Photoshop program that allow you to insert a design in the right place). Mocapas can be photos. For example: a notebook lying on a table, or a business card. You can make a mocap yourself, buy it or download it for free.
How to create it?
Mocap is a layout from scratch. Making perfect work is easy with the famous Photoshop program. For example, if you need to create a logo or inscription on a business card, it is best to use ready-made files. On special resources there are a huge number of photos with empty business cards lying on the table.
You should open the photo in Photoshop and the file with the finished label. It must be correctly placed on a business card so as to create a sense of reality. For this, all available program tools are used. Such work requires an initial knowledge of the graphics editor. If you do not know how to make a mocap on your own, study the theory, and also constantly train.
There is a special algorithm for self-creating mocap. Want to show your customer an inscription or quote? Prepare the camera and objects for the scene: a notebook, a beautiful neutral background. Set the right lighting, position objects and take a few shots.
Fields of application
Readers now know that mocap is a mock-up of a business card, magazine, book, postcard, on which the designer imposes a specific picture, photograph or inscription. This process helps to visualize the work (for example, to make an inscription on the card) and allows the customer to understand how the result will look. Mocap is used in creating websites, web applications, printing, advertising banners, signage, menus and much more. Often, interior designers turn to him when they are preparing a room design.
Mocap site
Only professional web designers can create a mockup site with knowledge. The reason is simple - specialists do not panic if the customer requires the completion of any details. Mocap helps the designer see the idea, develop and improve it in the future. A web framework is a schematic layout of a web page. First, the designer draws it by hand on a piece of paper. This is necessary in order to more effectively use the tools of graphic editors.
The site’s frame is created in black and white, which allows the developer to outline the location of the main elements: logo, menu, content, ad units. After the frame, the designer develops a site prototype: color and style. Eleven useful tools come to the rescue. They will help out when creating all the details of the site. Pay attention to the programs InVision, UXPin, Marvel App, Gliffy, OmniGraffle, Moqups, Axure, JustinMind, Mockingbird, HotGloo, Mockplus.
For example, Mockplus is a simple designer tool. It helps to create a frame, move from a black and white version to a color one. This tool allows you to use more than two hundred components, which greatly simplify the creation of the site. Other programs come to the aid of the designer. With their help, it is easy to create website elements, work out details, and learn. The most common and easiest way to get skills is to make mocap business cards.
Graphics editor
Photoshop is one of the programs that comes to the aid of a designer when creating various projects and layouts. Mocapas for Photoshop are ready-made PSD files. You can download them on paid, free resources or do it yourself. The easiest way is to find a ready-made mocap and use it to demonstrate the main work.
Try lettering for a booklet or postcard. Come up with an idea, decide on the color. Freehand sketch on a piece of paper. Then translate the idea into a graphics program.
An easy and popular option among beginners is a business card mocap. Open the downloaded file, caption and text. Go to the finished mocap, click on the "Smart Object" icon (this should be a business card image ), select "Edit Content" from the menu. An object ready for editing will open in a new tab . Next, activate the created inscription or text and transfer it to the surface of the business card. The inscription can be transformed, resized, choose the most suitable place for its location. Save the project.
Sources
There is nothing complicated in creating mockups. They simplify the main work of the designer, save time and effort. If you wish, create your own database of such files and start selling them. But for this you need a good camera, shooting skills, objects, knowledge of lighting, a sense of well-developed taste and style. Sources of images can be resources that sell ready-made pictures for a fee to demonstrate the design of something. If there is no free money to buy mockups, the designer is offered a large number of free sources. There you can easily find thousands of beautiful pictures on any subject for download.
Cons of ready-made mockups: uniformity, lack of individuality, stereotyped. Pros - accessibility, beauty, minimalism, maximum realism, convenience. If you are engaged in design professionally, be sure to have an accumulated base of mockups. It should emphasize the style of the author, profitably demonstrate the subject of sale, attract the customer.