Blocked Animation: Tests
Before you can run you must learn to walk. So I dusted off my copy of The Animator’s Survival Kit and got down to work.
The goal this month was to figure out an animation workflow. In the end, I decided to set up a simple puppet rig and animate it with Toon Boom Harmony. A puppet rig is like a 2D version of stop motion animation. Rather than draw out each frame from scratch, I manipulate vector layers into new positions. To make the puppet I drew out all of Quincy’s body parts, assigning each one to its own layer. Then I connected all those layers into chains based on how the body moves. For example, a hand is connected to an arm, which is then connected to the body. When I rotate the arm around at the shoulder joint, the hand automatically follows. This lets me pose Quincy with a few key frames, and the computer fills in all the frames in between.
I was hoping to make up puppet rigs for all 3 characters and work out the origami birds in 3D, but life got in the way a bit this month. Next month I’ll experiment with the other characters and get started on background art and look for some voice actors. Please come back and check it out!
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Interested in other cool projects? Check out and follow the One Side Project Challenge publication. I will give project updates on the 3rd of every month, so stay tuned.
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Rachel D’Erminio is a freelance illustrator/animator. Her website is raetastic.com
