Responsive: Final Submission for LoopDeLoop-Breakfast

My final LoopDeLoop submission was created using Photoshop assets assembled in After Effects using the DUIK plugin. Throughout my Character and Narrative module I have been using the plugin to animate my character, so my pre-existing knowledge of DUIK has served me well when it comes to creating a LoopDeLoop animation for Responsive. I did toy around with the idea of creating the assets for this animation in Illustrator, due to the many advantages using vectors has over bitmaps (smaller file size, more resizable...) however I opted to use Photoshop in the end as I am overall more experienced using it's toolset. While a lot of what I was doing would be accomplishable in Illustrator, Photoshop's brushes proved to be the deciding factor for me, as I prefer using them to Illustrators more technical vector based approach.

Each of the moving parts on my rig was created in a separate layer in Photoshop using the concept image from the previous post as reference. While generating the assets for my character I was taking into account the tools in which I would be using to animate. I have been having trouble with animating certain types of characters in DUIK in the past due to the artstyle I used and the way they were constructed, so for this character I looked to more simplistic character designs for inspiration. One of the main inspirations I took was from the characters from Pendelton Ward's Adventure Time, whose characters for the most part have long, almost pipe cleaner-like arms and legs which facilitate working with the IK chain tool in DUIK.

I imported the PSD file into After Effects as a composition retaining layer sizes and rigged the model within said composition. Initially I was going to have the character in my animation walk back and forth as he flips the pancake, however due to time restraints and the limited mobility of the assets I had created for the legs, I opted to cut the character off at the hip. As for the animation of the pancake itself I created three variations of the asset, one for when it was resting in the pan, one when the pancake is in mid air and one where it is resting on my character's head. In DUIK I would go on to animate the pancake using a 2-point IK chain so the pancake would flop slightly when being thrown in the air. In order to animate the pancake batter filling the pan, I simply resized the pancake asset.

Having finished my animation and submitted it to LoopDeLoop, I can say I am satisfied with the final product, but at the same time believe that it could have used more detail in the animation. I also feel that I could have simplified the design of my character a little more, and possibly moved away from animating human characters. Character Design is an area I feel I definitely need to branch out in order to diversify my output, as too often I resort to the same two or three character types. Perhaps in the future I will experiment with creating characters based around animals or using more unconventional body types.