Animated Loops with James Curran

Learn the fundamental theory behind creating great animated loops, then we’ll get into the swing of things by creating your first looping animation with the basic shape of what will later become your character.

Let’s animate your new character! We’ll get them warmed up on a trampoline in a bouncing loop, showing how to use overlapping animation to make short repeating actions feel continuous, while adding lots of detail by animating every single part of their body.

We’ll exercise your character a bit more by taking them out for a run, then give them somewhere to run to by animating a scrolling looping background. Learn how to effectively create a parallax effect to give your scene depth and a sense of speed.

We’ll look at your run cycle from a new perspective by learning how to animate isometric loops. Then, we’ll give your character some friends by showing how to create a loop with multiple characters running in different intersecting directions at once.

It’s time to keep looking closer at loops by learning how to create a continuous zoom. We’ll work with the graph editor to show how to give your loop a constant zoom speed, then combine this zoom with camera rotation to create a hypnotic spin that sucks you in forever.

Your character deserves a break, so let them take a seat on a rocking chair, while you learn how to use a particle system to create a continuous looping smoke effect from a moving source – their pipe.

Let’s get moving again, this time in 3D! Learn how to combine cameras, 3D layers, and 2D animation to seamlessly roll your character through a three-dimensional racing scene.

If rolling didn’t get them dizzy, let’s try a spin instead. We’ll use 3D in a different way, with a real spinning 3D object as a guide, to make your 2D character appear to fluidly spin around and around while floating on water which we’ll learn to create with a simple wave effect.

What’s next for your characters? Let’s talk about it! We’ll learn how to find inspiration for loop ideas from real-world situations, combining all of the techniques you’ve now learned into new and exciting animated loops of your own!