Running Horse Animation
After Effects Meets Analog Illustration
Merging hand-touched elements with digital motion and exploring how the two can work together harmoniously was the main goal of this experimental project. I wanted to hone new skills, but also explore design storytelling through motion, color, and texture combinations.
Preliminary Sketching & Color Experiments
Asset Building
Original paper cuts were designed and scanned. To minimize the amount of analog work and focus more on spending time in AE, digital shapes were created and overlaid as masks with the scanned and corrected textures.
Beginning AE Composition
Once all assets were into AE, I began to keyframe and play with different opacity settings to allow for further texture and depth.
The first iteration of this video came together well, but I wanted to create a less monochromatic background, showcase further AE capabilities, and add some length.
Additional Layering and Exploration
The first step in adding more depth and storytelling to the comp was to adjust some of the background textures to be more defined. The position of the sky was changed to move slowly with a color-changing effect added with the addition shape layer and more keyframes.
Smoothing effects were added and a loop was created on the comp to create length. Finally, more space was added on either side of the horse figure so that all elements felt more harmonious.