Animated Robin Loop in 5 different styles.
For this short looping robin animation I wanted to practise character animation as well as experiment with a few different style options in After Effects.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/d6846bcb-26ac-408f-bfdc-11afdfd408dd/8d5831d2-d169-4dd3-b221-0356db5c7e0e_rw_1920.gif?h=fc5ea3f59c4bfa32ff9efaa088b17222)
Rough Keyframe Animation Guide
First I established the key poses in Adobe Animate, drawing frame by frame and adjusting until I was happy with the timing. I used this sketch as a guide for animating the various shapes and paths that made up the robin in After Effects.
Although most of the animation was achieved by transforming shapes and paths, I used Rubberhose to rig the legs. This useful tool speeds up the process of creating simple IK rigs in After Effects - meaning I could more efficiently and accurately animate the knee bends on the robin.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/d6846bcb-26ac-408f-bfdc-11afdfd408dd/85c05e40-df15-4c6c-8b23-6d2ddcca7457_rw_600.gif?h=3ad71c3bae898d4b3b6786f5bbe40b93)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/d6846bcb-26ac-408f-bfdc-11afdfd408dd/35d0715c-e7e9-45c8-8f40-0b87e2428491_rw_600.gif?h=5839928db69a04d0db13e7afb14caa62)
I wanted the flapping of the robin's wings to feel really fast and frantic, so I hand drew some smear frames to exaggerate their speed. In animation, smear frames are used to simulate motion blur. By depicting two wing poses on a single frame, the viewer receives more information about their movement, despite only having a limited number of frames to view.