Pdoink in Action

I came to Silverpoint Media Inc. in March. For my very first project, I had to design and animate two Pdoink stories. I was first briefed according to what the client had requested and then I was left to make the stories come to life. My co-worker, Josh, had already completed the first animation for book one, thus I was left to finish books two and three. When I saw the first animation my mind went, pardon the expression, "bananas"! I thought to myself, I really want to bring this book to life.   

To complete this task, I had to really capture both the essence and message of each page. I ended up reading the full book eight to ten times by the time the project was finished. However, as I discovered, creating movement for the pictures and text was no easy task. Since it was a book that had to be printed, the images were all combined to one. To create any sort of animation or movement, I had to: select what I wanted to animate in Photoshop, cut around it, fill in the empty spaces, and then draw the missing piece. Furthermore, I had to keep in mind that the pictures had to be seamless in order to match the artist/illustrator's style. 

The subtle movements of zooming in and out, fading texts, and background music, and a hundred layers later - all created in After Effects - create a totally different experience than the printed book. The viewer, whether it be mom or dad or son or daughter, will feel engaged with the characters from the book and this will in turn make the stories of Pdoink more memorable for the entire family.

Ray