Major Project 2
02/02/2026 - 29/03/2026 (Week 01 - Week 08)
Wang Yifan / 0368363
Major Project 2 / Bachelor's of Design Honors In Creative Media
Final Compilation and Reflection
INTRODUCTION
Proposal Deck
Storyboard
Major Project 1 schedule：https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wgi5UITNIXRNbIZMmqYyhQftcb2yBs-z?usp=drive_link
WEEKLY PROCESS
Week 01
In this project Spark of Hope, My main responsibilities are character design and 2D animation.
The story follows Miles, a firefighter who lost his parents in a fire during childhood, leaving him with deep fear and trauma. With the encouragement of a senior firefighter, he grows into a firefighter himself. During a rescue mission, he is forced to face his past again and eventually overcomes his fear while saving others. The story focuses on the theme of overcoming trauma and finding strength.
Logline recap
For character design, I started working in Procreate. In Week 1, I was mainly spent completing the basic line art for the other characters after Major Project 1, including the protagonist's father, mother, sister, and the protagonist as a child.
I first blocked out the overall proportions and shapes, then refined the face, body structure, and clothing. I made sure each age group looked different
 |
| Line art of the male protagonist as a child and his sister |
 |
| Line art of the male protagonist's parents |
Week 02
In Week 2, I refined and improved the designs. I corrected proportions such as limb length and body balance, and added more clothing details to make the characters more complete.
This is the three-view perspective of all the characters.
 |
| Male protagonist firefighter |
 |
| The male protagonist grows up |
 |
| tutor |
 |
| When the hero was a child |
 |
| Mother |
 |
| younger sister |
 |
| dad |
Week 03
In Week 3, I moved on to animation testing. I imported the characters into After Effects and separated them into parts such as head, body, arms, and legs. Then I used the Puppet Pin Tool and keyframes to create rough animation tests.
 |
| Role breakdown |
 |
| Produced by Ae |
Rough animation
Week 04
In Week 4, I started working on the 2D animation production together with my teammate Isabel. I was mainly responsible for the character animation, while most of the 3D background scenes were handled by my teammates. Based on our storyboard, I was in charge of the scenes marked with black frames.
At the beginning, I tried to use After Effects to produce the character animation. I separated all the character parts and imported them into AE, then used keyframes and the Puppet Pin Tool to test the animation.
 |
| Role breakdown |
However, during the production process, I found that After Effects (AE) was not well-suited for handling more complex character movements. The movements looked stiff, and it was difficult to control the details.
After testing, I decided to stop using AE and switched to Photoshop frame-by-frame animation, which I am more familiar with. I made this decision because frame-by-frame animation allows better control of motion, timing, and details, especially for expressing character actions and emotions.
Animation attempt
Week 05
From Week 5 onwards, I officially switched to Photoshop frame-by-frame animation. My workflow was to draw line art first, then apply coloring, and finally place the character into the scene. Based on the storyboard, I completed the animation scene by scene.
Line drawing
 |
| Color |
During the process, I continuously refined the smoothness of the animation. Some movements initially looked stiff, especially hand gestures and facial expressions.
 |
| Production process |
 |
| Production process |
Week 06
In Week 6, I started integrating my 2D character animation with the 3D backgrounds created by my teammates. I adjusted the scale, position, and proportion of the characters to match the environment properly. Some simpler backgrounds, such as the sky, were created by me in 2D to support the overall visual composition.
blend into background
.jpeg) |
| 2D background |
blend into background
Week 07
During Week 7, I realized that not all scenes were suitable for 3D production. Some scenes were either too complex to build in 3D or did not achieve the desired visual result, so I decided to use 2D backgrounds for certain parts, especially the first two scenes. This allowed me to have better control over the visuals and match the overall style more effectively.
2D background
2D background
For the indoor scene, I tried combining 2D characters with a 3D environment, but it was challenging due to perspective and lighting differences. Although I adjusted the scale and position of the character, it was still difficult to match perfectly. I still completed and refined the scene, and this helped me understand the importance of visual consistency when combining 2D and 3D.
 |
| 3D background |
2D+3D
In the final week, I combined all the completed animations by integrating my 2D character animation with the 3D backgrounds created by my teammates. I adjusted the overall visual consistency and finalized the scenes, then compiled everything and sent it to the team leader for final editing.
This is all the animation I've completed for the 2D parts.
Final Submission
MP4
Presentation Slides
FEEDBACK
Week 1
All main and side characters were designed and drawn in model format, including basic front and side views. The character designs were clear and consistent in style, which helped build a good foundation for the animation. However, more supporting assets such as props and small 2D elements could have been prepared earlier. This would make the later animation process smoother and reduce time spent creating additional elements during production.
Week 2
Character parts such as hands, arms, and legs were separated more clearly to support animation. There was an attempt to test the puppet method, but it was not very effective for more complex actions. Some movements still looked limited and less natural. It would be better to decide the animation method earlier and focus on one approach to improve efficiency and consistency.
Week 4
The movement in some scenes, especially the washing plates action, looked slightly stiff. The animation mainly focused on the main action but lacked smaller body movements, such as slight arm or body shifts. Adding more secondary motion and subtle details would help make the animation feel more natural and less rigid.
Week 5
The combination of 2D characters and 3D backgrounds worked overall, and the scenes were visually understandable. However, the background texture was slightly too strong compared to the flat 2D style, which made the elements feel a bit disconnected. Reducing the texture or simplifying the background would help improve visual consistency and make the characters blend better into the scene.
Week 6
Some frame-by-frame animations appeared slightly blurry when scaled up, likely due to resolution differences between software. This affected the overall visual quality. It is important to plan the canvas size and resolution earlier in the process to ensure consistency and avoid quality loss when integrating different elements.
Week 7
The overall animation was understandable, but the narrative flow and climax were not very clear in some parts. There were also minor glitches in certain scenes, and the running animation had a slight sliding effect, which reduced realism. Some elements, such as shadow animation, were too complex and time-consuming compared to their visual impact. A simpler approach could have saved time and improved overall efficiency. Overall, the work is complete but can still be improved in terms of polish, clarity, and animation quality.
REFLECTION
Experiences
In this project, I was responsible for character design and 2D animation. I started by designing characters in Procreate, where I focused on building clear proportions, simple structures, and consistent visual style. After that, I moved on to animation production and completed most of the scenes using frame-by-frame techniques. I worked scene by scene based on the storyboard, starting with rough sketches and then refining them into cleaner line art and colored frames. Throughout the process, I continuously refined motion smoothness and timing by adjusting frames and improving transitions between actions. I also revised several scenes multiple times to fix stiff movements and make the animation more natural. At the same time, I integrated my 2D character animations with the 3D backgrounds created by my teammates, which required careful adjustment of scale, position, and composition. Finally, I compiled all scenes and submitted them for final editing, completing my assigned part of the project.
Observations
During the process, I observed that motion smoothness and timing are very important, especially for character actions and emotional expression, which require continuous frame adjustments and careful observation of movement. Even small changes in timing or spacing can greatly affect how natural the animation looks. I also realized that combining 2D and 3D is challenging and requires careful adjustments in scale, positioning, and visual style to achieve consistency across different elements. In some cases, mismatched perspective or lighting can make the scene feel unnatural, so repeated adjustments are necessary. In addition, early design decisions strongly affect later animation production, as a clearer and simpler design makes it easier to animate and reduces problems in the later stages.
Findings
Through this project, I gained a clearer understanding of the full animation workflow and learned how to adjust my approach when facing problems. Frame-by-frame animation allowed me to control movement more precisely and helped me better understand timing, rhythm, and detail in animation. I also improved my patience and attention to detail through continuous revisions and problem-solving. This process taught me the importance of flexibility, as changing my method helped improve the final result. Overall, this project strengthened both my technical skills and my way of thinking, and made me more confident in handling animation production from start to finish.
.png)
评论
发表评论