TITLE: The Mask
YOUR ROLE: Director/Lead animator
MEDIA: 2D Animation
SOFTWARE: Adobe After Effects, LEGO Stud.Io
DURATION: 0:22
CLASS: FMX 322
PROFESSOR: Javier Olarte
SEMESTER / TERM: FA 23
INSTITUTION: University of Tampa
DESCRIPTION: This animation is actually a remake of the first version of the same animation I initially made for my VFX class, which used stock images of the same figures used in this newer version. The figures themselves come from the Lego toyline ‘Bionicle’ and due to the original versions being stock photographs, they couldn’t really move their limbs and were constantly facing forwards. For my remake, I used a 3D Software program known as ‘Stud.Io’ that has 3D models of the real life Bionicle toys to create my own versions of the images I used for the original animation, rendering each piece of the finished models separately on a transparent background. From there, I loaded the images into After Effects and parented the limbs and head of the figures to their bodies, alongside moving the image’s anchor points to where their limbs met the torso. With these newly rigged figures, I was able to redo the animation with proper, more expressive movement and a more immersive, equally correct perspective on certain characters.