Climate Change - Conservation Agreements

A few months ago I finished working on this interesting project for the NGO known as Conservation International.

I had not done anything like this in years so it was both fun and challenging to develop all the art on my own (most of the times I take the artwork from someone else and animate it). The process began as usual: I got a script which I turned into a storyboard. Once it was approved it was time to get into production.

What's nice about a storyboard is that it makes it easier to illustrate all the artwork. You have a solid reference to work from, right? Well, in this case it was even better! The client just loved the style I used on the storyboard so there was no need to develop a new style, it was already there in the paper. So I scanned those pages and took them directly to Toon Boom, drew over them, tweaked a few things here and there and then started putting some color.

Once all the illustrations were colored it was time to take them to Photoshop. All of you who have read my previous posts know this is what I do: take the original illustration from Toon Boom and add some lights and shadows in Photoshop. Keep in mind that all these illustrations were exported as separate layers if they were going to get animated.

Now that the whole package was colored, I started all the compositing work in After Effects. Every object was in place just like the original B/W storyboard but fully-colored. It was really nice to see this thumbnails coming to life even though they were not animated yet.

All the animation process went very smooth. I have to admit this is the way things should go every time you work on an animation project on your own but they just don't. Due to time constraints, most of the times you just start animating the whole sequence on-the-go.

The end result is something that I am really proud of. I take credit for all the artwork and the animation. Sound effects and music were added by someone else after I delivered the video file.

Now go ahead and take a look!

The Recyclables - Episode 3 scenes

Final episode of "The Recyclables". Simone and Bottle are looking for Cardboard in the sanitary landfill. Flex and Battery think they have everything under control, but they don't. Lucas, a new friend of Simone's gets there just in time to save the good guys.

The Recyclables - Episode 2 scenes

Scenes from episode 2 of "The Recyclables". The characters are now in planet Earth, the Recyclables have become friends with a girl called Simone. Meanwhile the Toxics are on their way to kidnap Cardboard.

The Recyclables - Episode 1 scenes

Going back to the 2008-thesis-project known as "The Recyclables". I posted a detailed description of this project weeks ago, so feel free to go back through my older posts. Below, you are going to see a few completed scenes including audio tracks and subtitles!!

SOAT TV Commercial - 2D

SOAT is a mandatory car insurance that every car owner must have in Ecuador, no matter the insurance company you choose.

So back in 2009 all insurance companies were trying to get as much clients as they could. How? TV advertising. They offered a lot of things but each company had their own approach in terms of creativity. "Alianza Seguros" wanted a full-2D commercial which was "warm, friendly, and attractive". We were a group of 4 guys, 1 illustrator, 2 animators, and the post-production supervisor. This commercial was developed by producing company "Primal Producciones" based in Quito, Ecuador.

I was responsible for all the compositing, which was done with After Effects. The roulette scene was enterily mine. After that I illustrated and animated the bus, and just animated the cat, car & skid marks.

What you are going to see is the final composite with no audio tracks and no text (they were added by the supervisor). Enjoy!!

Animation Reel (August 2010)

Updated version of the previous demo reel from 2008. Most of the included scenes were done by myself in After Effects. 3D work was done in Maya. I take credit for most of the illustrations, except for the ones in the "priest scene" (minutes 0:30, 1:00). The 3D soccer characters are not mine, I just animated them. 3D models like the ones in the "priest scene" were provided to me. My job was to illuminate and render those scenes.

The rotoscoping scenes nar the end were done in After Effects. I used clone brush and a few layers were in 3D perspective.

Logos are property of their respective companies.

Animation Reel (March 2008)

This was my first demo reel. All work that you see in here was done while I was a student and an intern in the "Ozmosis" TV show, which aired for a few years in the Ecuadorian TV station Ecuavisa International.