I’ve been gradually getting to grips with Adobe After Effects for the last two years and whilst I’ve picked up useful tidbits along the way I recognised that producing something with a larger scope would benefit my skillset substantially. My usual output would be a short looping animation which trades on basic alterations in artwork position to simulate movement. This is usually paired with an ambient element to bake everything together. The Klopp / Scorpio loop below is an apt example.
I decided to build a project around the return of the Champions League which would focus on player preparation. I could pair players with specific exercises to develop self contained loops. When all were finished I could knit them together and have a piece with more impact than one lonely loop. Below are some early experiments with style.
Initially I couldn’t get my head around the animation method. I use the Rubberhose plugin to give limbs a flowing sense of movement but it proved difficult to figure out here. Collected below are three attempts at building rigs of Raheem Sterling doing a squat.
I felt I had to use Rubberhose because I owned the technology but when I went with my gut and just drew what I felt worked, I abandoned it and went for old fashioned smears which can be seen below. This was a great release as I could now develop loops which were based on a motion with a swing or swift movement in one direction.
This is the first smear I developed, it’s slowed down so you can see the different stages of the drawing.
You can watch the fully finished video below.
I planned the project so I’d have maximum use of artwork. Each loop, all arranged below, can be exported as a gif and a sticker and uploaded individually to my Giphy page.
