The first major optimization came directly out of testing. The original animations were built in 3D with a moving camera — visually compelling, but computationally expensive. Converting the scenes to 2D layers connected to nulls to simulate the 3D environment cut render times by 50%. Same visual result, half the time. That kind of discovery only surfaces when you're stress-testing with production constraints in mind, not just previewing in a comfortable studio setup.

Testing ran in two phases. First internally, refining a purpose-built After Effects export project that let us hot-swap station logos while preserving very specific animation timing — complex MOGRTs exported with only the assets each station needed, but maintained from a single source file. Then with beta stations, testing on local machines less powerful than ours to confirm render performance held in the real world, and working through ease of use with editors seeing the tools for the first time.

A few deliberate decisions shaped the final result. Redundancies were built in so editors could manually overwrite auto-updating dates and Legal IDs for edge cases — smart by default, never inflexible. We mapped which layouts could be station-agnostic versus station-specific, keeping the library as lean as possible. And one small but meaningful UX call carried over from the Typekit: instead of a dropdown for station selection — which would make stations at the bottom of an alphabetical list scroll every single time — editors type their call letters into a text field. Everyone has the same entry point.

One necessary compromise: time-protected regions were removed to support audio. A documented tradeoff, not an oversight.

Delivery runs through station-specific Adobe Libraries. Each station follows an intranet link to the libraries relevant to them — keeping their workspace clean and ensuring they only ever see tools that are actually theirs to use. It scales cleanly across the network without becoming a free-for-all.