Zenith

Introduction

Zenith challenged us to use the skills we’ve learned during our time at Freestyle and use them to design our own final project. For me, the reason I came here was to learn 2D animation, so I think it was fitting I chose 2D animation as my last project.

My friend Christa and I decided to team up to create a 2D animation together. For her, the challenge was that she had never attempted 2D animation before. For me, my challenge was teaching her and attempting to compose difficult shots. I used my knowledge of 2D animation from last year to use Photoshop and After Effects to complete the animation.

Process

For our project, we decided to use a character that Christa had already designed. Her name is Sashi, and she’s a crab-person that can breathe fire. We wanted to make a short but action-filled sequence. After some discussion about what we wanted to include, I ended up quickly storyboarding a sequence where she runs towards an erupting volcano.

Once the storyboards were done, I used Photoshop to create the rough animation/animatic. Then Christa did the lineart for all the heads and facial expressions, while I did the lineart for the body. Christa made the color palette for the whole animation and we took turns coloring and working on background design. We finished by editing the clips and sound together in After Effects.

Zenith

Zenith
Explanation, Process, and Inspiration

Reflection

Zenith Reflection

Christa and I are both passionate about 2D animation. She didn’t get to do it because she joined Freestyle in her senior year, where our animation course focuses on 3D animation. So we decided to create a 2D animation together. To make the brainstorming process easier, we decided to use a character Christa had designed a while ago since we were both familiar with what her personality is like. We also knew the animation had to be short because of the amount of time we had to work on it. With these two things in mind, we decided to create a short clip of her showing off her abilities similar to character trailers for video games. 

We were inspired by types of trailers  for characters like the ones for Genshin Impact or Super Smash Bros. For the animation itself, we looked at various different animated shows and movies we liked for reference.

We had to figure out how to collaborate at first since Christa was in AM and I was in PM classes, but in the end it kind of made it easier to work on the same file at different times. I think the hardest part for Christa was learning animation in Photoshop since she usually uses Krita for drawing and hadn’t done 2D animation before. For me, the hardest part was understanding  the technical aspects of figuring out someone else’s file organization and the exact style we were going for. 

If I could do the project over, with the same time constraints as before, I don’t think there’s a lot we would have wanted to do differently except for maybe adding shading. However, with more time, we would’ve liked to make more short clips showcasing different characters, or do a full fight scene with Sashi.

I think I improved the most with collaboration. We were good with meeting our deadlines and checking in on what we each needed to make the piece look unified in spite of our different art styles. I felt like I knew more about how to work together with someone on a project compared to how I was when I started at Freestyle. I don’t think I improved that much with addressing global issues, but the primary purpose of the art I make is for more lighthearted entertainment so that makes sense. 

Overall, I’m proud of our Zenith and how far I’ve personally come since I started animating. I feel like this project in particular showcases not only the technical animation skills I’ve learned at Freestyle, but the collaborative ones too. I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned here to future projects.