Snake Charmer Animation
I was inspired by Moroccan culture the bright colors, distinct patterns, and snake charmers. As any viewer watches they are transported to another country diving deep into Moroccan culture. This animation is more than just a design it's a lifestyle, a culture. My wish is for the design to come across adventurous, happy, captivating, and moving.
The task was to create an animation that looked great as a still image, looped for at least thirty seconds, and contained a pre-comp.
Storyboard
The storyboard process was different from all other projects I've worked on. One of the challenges of this new process was first trying to picture the exact frame by frame movements I wanted. I knew I wanted a snake to slither out of a jar. This thought process allowed me to understand what I wanted the animation to look like before taking it into Adobe After Effects.
Initial Concept and Concerns
My draft was simple in design I focused more on the animation than details at this point in the project. You can see from these snapshots the different positions the snake follows in the animation.
When I went to animate I noticed that I didn't need the shorter snake neck it was difficult to animate at the same exact times with the head and long body also unnecessary. I studied videos of snakes trying to understand their movements. Since I didn't have a lot of details at this phase I was able to go back into Illustrator and make the necessary corrections.
Through trial and error I found the best way to make a loop. I decided it would be best to use the code "loop out." You have to make a "loop out code" for each element otherwise it will only loop certain elements. A pro tip to make it a smooth loop transition is to use the first key frame as the last. Sounds like common sense now but it wasn't earlier this week. Learning little tips and tricks like these are what make all the hard work worth it.
The Final Stages
I was able to conquer deciding what the best way to animate the snake. In the end I used a wiggle code, the puppet pin, and position keyframes. My viewers were content with how the complete animation turned out. Captivated by the creative idea and well thought out design.
The design principles I used enhanced the overall appearance of the design so when it was paused it still was enticing. The colors are bright and contrasting. With the warmer colors in the foreground it makes the subject stand out. The repetition of lines on the basket and lid unite the animation. This last project really illustrates the high skill level and how much I have learned over the course of just a few months.
Here is a link to the live animation: https://youtu.be/TLBTodMMJkU
