All projects
3D Art & Animation

2 KINGS

My short graduation film, made over about ten weeks, and the first step towards a claymation world inspired by Scotland.

Role
Modelling, sculpting, animation, rendering, compositing and sound design
Tools
  • Blender
  • DaVinci Resolve
  • After Effects
Format
Pre-rendered animation

Introduction

2 KINGS is my short graduation film, made over about ten weeks. The film is the first part of a claymation world inspired by Scotland, which I want to keep building on.

The characters in 3D

I modelled, sculpted, rigged, textured and animated the king and the advisor myself. Here you can rotate around them and switch between their rest pose and an animation from the film. For the web, I made the models lighter with fewer polygons, the hair as single strands without children, and the surface of the clay baked into textures.

Interactive 3D, running live in the browser Open in new window
How to use the demo
  • Choose the king or the advisor
  • Switch between animation and rest pose
  • Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom

Reflection

As a graduation film, 2 KINGS brought every part of the 3D work together in one film: characters, animation, lighting, sound and editing. The hardest part was combining the claymation look with cloth simulation. The characters are animated in stepped animation, so they move in jerks as in stop-motion, while the king's cloak had to flap in the wind without breaking the style. I am happy with the result, especially because I made every part of the film myself. On the other hand, I felt how many roles you take on when you work alone, so next time I would like to have more people involved in the production itself. The story will continue with what happens when the king and the advisor enter the town.

Production

All 3D elements were made in Blender, from modelling and sculpting to animation and rendering. Compositing was done in Blender and DaVinci Resolve, and the sound design and final edit in After Effects.

Collaboration

The film is a solo project, but I got input along the way. Jais Bredsted gave feedback on the animation, Stefan Hansmar was my sounding board throughout the project, and Rasmus Jensen gave guidance on the story.