The Zodiac series is a challenge I wanted to set for myself, to design and animate the Lunar New Year animal for each 12 years of the Zodiac. This challenge, documents my animation improvements over the years as well as providing an opportunity to experiment with different styles and compositing techniques.
2023 Rabbit
For the year of the Rabbit I wanted to animate a run cycle of the rabbit loop, I used a smudge brush with white highlights to create a grainy and smeared effect. I imported my frame-by-frame animation into Adobe After Effects I overlayed 4 color gradients and glow effects on the subject and text.
2022 Tiger
For the year of the Tiger I wanted to create a morph animation, using one subject to transform into the next one. I started with the black and white line work, animating a tiger’s eye opening and blinking, as the eye closes the eyelashes form into the Tiger stripes and the rest of the tiger animates on screen. I intended to loop this animation, and I tested a few different styles for the final composited look, I stuck with a tri-color embossed treatment over a black background.
2021 Ox
The first year of the Zodiac series started with the year of the Ox, I made this animation with my free time between projects. I wanted to create a loop of the ox subject on centre screen with the banner text moving in opposite directions. The color treatment was simple with the classic gold and red, I focused on creating a paper stencil look for the animation style overtop a textured paper background.
