MAINKURAFOTO - Minecraft Anime

For one of my modules in my first year of BA Animation, I had to develop a hybrid animation combining two forms of animation. I decided to make an anime-style opening based on the hit video game: "Minecraft". I designed all the characters in an anime-style, including Steve (the protagonist), the Creeper, the spider, the witch and of course, the zombie.

I animated the characters via 2D animation through Procreate as well as After Effects through character rigging. I filmed the references to use for the 2D character animation and created character models to rig in After Effects in Photoshop. To save time, I used loop animations for repetitive actions like running or falling in mid-air. 

I made the 3D environment for the animation from a map in my Minecraft World, exporting a snippet of it from this handy app called MINEWAYS where you can export Minecraft creations as 3D files. I added a realistic texture pack to make the environment look less blocky and feel more realistic, like an anime show's environment. I then imported it into Cinema4D and saved it as a file to use in After Effects. I then added camera movement so the camera moves through the different areas in the Minecraft World, starting in the cave and ending outside of Steve's house on the surface. I also made a rock-style theme song for the anime-style opening in GarageBand based on "Aria Math" by C418, who writes all of the music for Minecraft.