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ANIMATION FUNDAMENTALS | FINAL PROJECT — ACTION ANIMATION

Week 10 – Week 14 | 27/11/25 – 31/12/25
Emily Soh Ching-Ling | 0359478
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Animation Fundamentals | Section 01 | GCD61104
Final Project — Action Animation

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1.0 LECTURES 

*Sidenote: All lectures have been completed in Exercises, Project 1, and Project 2.

2.0 INSTRUCTIONS 


3.0 FINAL PROJECT — ACTION ANIMATION 

Instructions: 
  1. Animate your character from Project 1 in an action sequence.
  2. The action sequence must involve physical movements, such as a fight, chase, or sports-related activity.
  3. Your storyboard should visualise the scene's key moments, actions, and emotions. Incorporate visual continuity and a variety of camera shots and angles.
  4. Your animation should have the following processes:
    1. Rough animation.
    2. Tie-down animation.
    3. Clean-up animation.
    4. Coloured animation.
  5. Your animation should have sound effects and background music.
  6. Software: Adobe Animate.
  7. Requirements:
    1. Storyboard:
      1. Format: PDF.
    2. Final Animation:
      1. Length: 5–10 seconds.
      2. Frame Rate: 24 fps.
      3. Aspect Ratio: 16:9.
      4. Resolution: 1280 × 720 (HD 720p).
      5. Format: .mp4.
  8. Submission:
    1. Storyboard.
    2. Final animation.

3.1 IDEATION & STORYBOARD

Figure 3.1-1: Storyboard, Week 10 (29/11/25)

I knew from the get-go that I wanted to include my character's shapeshifting ability as part of the action. I chose a "running → transform into bird → flying" sequence to demonstrate this. 

My initial plan was to reuse the layout design in Project 1 for this project, however I had trouble animating from that perspective (back view), so I decided to try a different perspective entirely. I found many references for running with a low angle POV, so that is what I decided to go with. The low angle view also added a sense of drama and excitement, which I find appropriate for my character.

3.2 PRODUCTION

Backgrounds

Figure 3.2-1: Scene 1 — Background Sketch & Line Art, Week 10 (30/11/25)
Black: Original Background; Blue: Extended Background

Figure 3.2-2: Scene 1 — Background, Week 10 (30/11/25)

Figure 3.2-3: Scene 2 — Background 1, Week 10 (30/11/25)

Figure 3.2-4: Scene 2 — Background 2, Week 10 (30/11/25)
*Black rectangle is the size of the screen.

I made the backgrounds larger than the given screen size to accommodate the camera moving. For Scene 1 (running segment), I unfortunately had to extend the background size after rendering because I forgot about the screen shaking.🫠

Rough Animation

Figure 3.2-5: Scene 1 — Rough Animation, Week 13 (23/12/25)

I used the front part of this video as reference for Scene 1. Figuring out how to position her clothes is how I spent 90% of this project. Next time I do another hand-drawn animation, I'll have to keep the character design simpler... 

While keyframing, I was questioning why there was an uncanny feeling to my work. After some contemplation, I realised it all led back to the hat. I based my character’s movement on an action anime, which had exaggerated movement. In contrast, I animated her hat as though it were stiff, which made it move less. This contrast between the hat and my character’s energy level made the overall animation look off-putting. I remedied this by making the hat more flexible and thus move in a similarly exaggerated way as my character.

I realised after completing most of the rough animation that I did a lot of line art for my character’s dress to show its movement, which is fine for illustrations but a little overwhelming for a fast-paced animation. When I added the coat and capelet, I kept the line art minimal so that my character’s form is easier to read. 

Figure 3.2-6: Scene 2 — Rough Animation, Week 13 (23/12/25)

Scene 2 is surprisingly much easier to animate. Since my character is further away from the camera, I can get away with mostly drawing her silhouette and focusing on the movement. 

3.3 POST-PRODUCTION

Visual Effects

Figure 3.3-1: Scene 2 — VFXs, Week 14 (30/12/25)

With the main animation out of the way, I added VFXs to Scene 2 using the straight ahead method. I used a painterly brush and kept it a little messy-looking so that it looks cartoonish.

CapCut

Figure 3.3-1: CapCut, Week 14 (30/12/25)

Since Procreate is a drawing software first, animation software second, it is a little tricky to do the moving background idea that I had in mind, as any element that has been moved outside of the canvas will be cropped. To remedy this, I did the animation on a transparent background in Procreate, then added the background, foreground, and sound effects in Capcut.

The following audio were taken from Pixabay:
  • Forest ambience
  • Walking on grass SFX 1.
  • Walking on grass SFX 2.
  • Walking on grass SFX 3.
  • Wind ambience.
  • Swooshing SFX 1.
  • Swooshing SFX 2.

Compilation

Figure 3.3-2: Compilation, Week 14 (30/12/25)

3.4 FINAL SUBMISSION


Figure 3.4-1: Final Project — Storyboard (Final Submission), Week 14 (31/12/25)

Figure 3.4-2: Final Project — Video (Final Submission), Week 14 (31/12/25)

4.0 REFLECTION 

I'm pretty proud of how the final animation turned out. As torturous as it was making all that accessories move in the way I wanted them to, I'm glad I took on the challenge. I've gotten quite good at drawing fabric over the course of this project.

Will I ever animate another character with such a complicated design again, though? No way haha.

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