Shadowing Practice: Learn Figma Motion in 8 minutes - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Great motion shouldn't be an afterthought. It's what transforms a good digital experience into a memorable one.
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With Figma Motion, you can create, refine, and ship animations without ever leaving your design file.
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In this video, we'll walk through everything you need to get started.
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The best way to learn motion design is to start animating, so open up a design file and follow along.
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Start by adding a frame to the canvas with a basic rectangle inside. We'll have that moving before this video is over.
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You can access Figma Motion in any design file by switching the toolbar toggle to Motion.
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Once enabled, you'll see the same Figma editor you're used to with a few key changes.
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Most notably is the timeline along the bottom of the screen. This is where you'll add, refine, and preview your animations.
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To zoom in and out of the timeline, use this slider, pinch or spread two fingers on your track pad, or hold the modifier key while using your mouse wheel.
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You can also click and drag the top of the timeline to resize it, or click Collapse timeline to minimize it.
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Now that we're more familiar with the timeline, we can start adding animations.
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Select the rectangle you created earlier.
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With an object selected, you can now see an animation section in the right sidebar, along with new key frame controls next to each property. The animation section is where you can browse pre-built animations that let you quickly apply common motion effects like position, scale, or rotation without having to worry about adding individual key frames. We'll add an opacity animation to our rectangle so that it fades into view over the course of one thousand milliseconds or one second.
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Once you add an animation, you'll also see it reflected on the timeline.
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From here, you can click and drag the layer track to reposition it on the timeline or select the handles on either side of the track to change the animation's duration.
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Now that we've added an animation, we can preview it by clicking play or pressing space bar.
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Looks good. You can adjust the length of the timeline by clicking and dragging this handle or from the duration field in the timeline controls. Let's set the timeline duration to twelve hundred milliseconds.
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The timeline controls also let you move the play head to a specific point in time, change the units displayed on the timeline, and toggle between different playback modes.
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The playback is currently set to loop, so the animation will repeat until we press pause or hit space bar again.
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For more granular control, you can manually add key frames to the timeline.
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A key frame marks a point in time where you set a specific value for a layer property, such as opacity, position, or rotation.
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When you set a second key frame for the same property, but with a different value, Figma Motion will animate the transition between them.
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Let's try that out together.
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Grab the play head and move it to the start of the timeline. This is where we'll add our first key frame. You'll notice that the rectangle layer is no longer visible.
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That's because the fade in animation hasn't started at this point on the timeline.
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But we can still select the layer even if it isn't currently visible. Click the diamond icon next to the rotation field in the right sidebar to add a new key frame to the start of the timeline.
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We won't change the value here because we want it to rotate over the course of the animation.
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Move the play head to the one thousand millisecond mark and click the diamond again to add another key frame. This will sync our rotation with the fade in animation we applied earlier.
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This time, we'll change the rotation value to one eighty.
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Then we'll press space bar to see how the rotation looks as the animation plays. If you want to preview an animation on its own, you can hide other animations on the timeline by clicking the eye icon next to the animation name.
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For faster key frame creation, you can enable auto key frame.
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While active, updating any property in the right sidebar or adjusting an object on the canvas will automatically add new key frames to the timeline.
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Let's see that in action.
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Move the play head to the one thousand millisecond mark. You can hold Shift to align it with the other key frame we added earlier. With auto key frame enabled, click and drag the rectangle to the right of the screen.
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You'll notice that a new set of position key frames is automatically added to the timeline.
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Go ahead and press space bar to preview the changes.
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Great work.
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Before moving on, click to disable auto key frame so it doesn't add any additional key frames.
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Key frames define what changes and when. Easing defines how it gets there by controlling whether an animation accelerates, decelerates, or both.
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It's what separates motion that looks correct from motion that feels correct. To see how much of a difference the correct easing can make, take a look at these two examples.
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The first uses linear movement or motion that is the same from start to finish.
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The second uses an ease in and out curve.
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Notice how it starts slowly, builds speed through the middle, then settles into its final position. That subtle shift is what makes the motion feel grounded rather than mechanical.
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Now that we know the principles behind easing, let's take a look at the easing controls in Figma Motion. To adjust easing, select an animation on the timeline and open the easing drop down menu or click the line in between two key frames.
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From here, you can either select a default easing curve or use the curve editor to create a custom one.
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Custom curves let you go beyond standard motion and create bespoke movement that matches your product's personality.
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When used consistently, that character becomes part of your brand's motion language.
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Custom curves can be saved as variables, making them reusable across your entire design system.
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To learn more about variables and custom curves, check out our help center.
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Let's adjust the easing on our position animation. Click the line between the two keyframes and select Ease in and out back from the menu. Now our rectangle moves with a bit more expressiveness before settling into its final position.
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As your animations become more ambitious, the Figma agent can help handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on the craft.
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Describe the motion you're after and let the agent add the initial keyframes.
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Then fine-tune the details directly on the timeline or re-prompt the agent until the motion is just right. This can be a real time saver, especially for complex or repetitive animations.
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For example, I can prompt the agent to create a number counter animation that uses an easing variable for my design system.
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In just a few moments, it gives me a solid starting point that I can keep refining until I'm happy.
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And because the animation is a component, I can reuse it across all of my designs.
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Once you're happy with how everything moves, it's time to get it into the hands of your developers.
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Dev Mode eliminates the guesswork and gives developers a complete picture of what you built so nothing gets lost in translation.
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The read-only timeline lets developers scrub through and inspect the animation at full fidelity. From there, they can copy the underlying code in whatever format fits their workflow: CSS for standard animation code, React for framework-ready implementation, or JSON for raw timing values.
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Figma Motion is also MCP compatible, so you can pass your full animation context, including keyframes, timing, and easing, directly to your coding agent using the Figma MCP server.
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And if you want to share your animation with others or save a copy outside of Figma, you can also export it in a variety of different formats.
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That's everything you need to get started with Figma Motion. Now you're ready to get your own projects moving.
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To learn more about Figma Motion, check out the resources linked in the video's description, including the Motion Design Fundamentals collection, which covers the concepts behind effective motion design and includes hands-on projects to keep you moving forward.
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About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will have the opportunity to practice your English speaking skills while learning the fundamentals of animation using Figma Motion. As you follow along with the video, you will enhance your vocabulary related to design and motion and develop your shadowing abilities. Shadowing is a technique where you listen and repeat what you hear in real-time, which will improve your pronunciation, fluency, and overall confidence in speaking English. By engaging with this lesson, you can also gear up for key assessments such as the IELTS speaking practice.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • Animation: A method of creating moving images.
  • Timeline: The part of the software where you manage your animation sequencing.
  • Keyframe: A specific point in time where an animation's property is set.
  • Easing: The technique of adjusting the speed of an animation for a more natural feel.
  • Opacity: The transparency level of an object.
  • Playback: The action of playing back an animation to review its motion.
  • Custom curve: A specific easing path that offers unique movement dynamics.
  • Fade in: A transition effect where an object gradually appears.

Practice Tips

To make the most out of this lesson, utilize the shadowspeak technique while watching the video. Listen to the speaker’s pronunciation and intonation, and try to mimic it as closely as possible. The pacing of the video is brisk, so it's essential to remain focused and patient as you repeat phrases. When encountering key phrases or concepts, pause the video and practice them multiple times to solidify your understanding.

As you practice shadow speech, pay special attention to the nuances in stress and rhythm, particularly when the speaker discusses terms like easing or animation. These are not only crucial for your vocabulary but also represent common themes in conversations related to design and multimedia. You might also want to record yourself while practicing to compare your pronunciation against the original audio. This approach can aid in refining your speech and ensuring your outputs are smooth and comprehensible, making it especially helpful in prepare for situations like the IELTS speaking practice.

Remember, consistent practice is the key to improvement. Engage with the content regularly, and use the phrases you've learned in daily conversations. This will not only boost your vocabulary but also enhance your confidence in using English in real-life scenarios.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →