The Duel
This passion project was a collaboration with my good friend Jules Premus.
Both of us draw a lot of inspiration from Genndy Tartakovsky in our personal styles, so we knew we wanted to create something in the vein of Samurai Jack. I was especially excited to experiment with building tension and quick release in our storytelling, as well as pushing myself on what I can do with character animation.
Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with the outcome – it’s probably my favorite project I’ve ever worked on.
Illustration: Jules Premus
Animation: Will Maciejewski
Designing for Animation
Jules made sure that every piece of the character was separated onto different layers and labeled correctly. Keeping animation in mind in every step of the design process is such a key component to making sure everything goes smoothly.
Moving with Moho
For a few years now, I've been grappling with After Effects' rigging tools. While the tools themselves are fantastic, the significant slowdown when handling numerous layers was a dealbreaker for my deadlines. I knew I needed to explore other options. After extensive research, I discovered Moho Pro 14, which turned out to be the perfect solution for me. Moho is designed specifically for rigged animation, featuring a snappy user interface and instant preview times. Among its many quality-of-life tools, the standout for me was the Smart Bone System. This system allows me to set extreme points for a limb and then focus solely on the actual animation and staging of a character, significantly speeding up my workflow. Tasks that used to take me a day in After Effects now take just an hour, giving me more time to polish the final product.
Setting
the Scene
Adding lighting really helped mush everything together, in the best sense of the word. I feel like for a few years now I had been chasing the idea of building atmosphere in the worlds I animate, and I think with this piece I am starting to see the way forward.
