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We connect game developers with the finest, seasoned artists, streamlining the process of sourcing, hiring, and managing passionate freelancers. Our approach is all about giving game developers the freedom to choose who to work with, and scaling up with ease, minus any hassle or red tape. We've got a network of artists and producers who are masters in art production, technical art, and publishing assets.
The Character Animation Process Behind Subway Surfers Blast
Subway Surfers: the beloved endless runner game that has captured the hearts of millions worldwide. With a staggering 2 billion downloads and counting, it’s no wonder that the game’s characters have become cultural icons. So, when Outplay Entertainment approached MLC to help bring Jake to life in their latest game, Subway Surfers Blast, we glided straight in. Join the wonderfully talented Rob (below), our Lead 3D Animator, as he takes us through the process and general animation techniques behind creating Jake’s character animations for Subway Surfers Blast, from start to end.
All of the animations were made in Blender.
Rob, MLC’s Lead 3D Animator
Like most projects, we were given a detailed starting point, including the use case of each animation, where that would take place and the character it should portray. Looking at the previous game’s animation style gave us an immediate style guide to follow as far as how exaggerated we can push the animations as well as giving us a visual to the characters personality. The reference is set, the brief is greenlit. Time to put frames on the timeline.
Every animation starts with a “Blockout” especially since some of these animations needed were long and character filled! A blockout is the process of setting “Key frames”, which are key moments within the entire animation that make up the overall flow and intention of the animation.
Imagine a person jumping on the spot. One key frame is the crouching down to build energy, the next key frame is the pushing up; the release of energy just before feet leave the ground. The apex of the jump then is your next keyframe, finally the land, the completion of that action. These 4 key frames will be enough to get the overall animation idea down, moving and roughly timed up. Generally blocking is done in what is called “Stepped” mode. This is where the keyframes “pop” to one another instead of smoothly blending. People who are not familiar with how the process works can struggle to look past the very janky nature of stepped mode. However, for the animator, this is enough to adjust and nail the overall pace of the animation.
We then moved onto the “Inbetween keys”. This involves telling the software what should be moving between each pose. These poses help make both the body mechanics closer to reality, and convey the right weight.
We had our key poses nailed down, and inbetweens to convey the character and how they move from each key pose.
Next on the agenda was polishing. Polishing is a very broad term but generally encapsulates the following:
All of the final animations we created for Subway Surfers Blast are below in all their glory!
It was a delight to collaborate with Outplay Entertainment on the character animations for Subway Surfers Blast. Check out the full collaboration here.
We connect game developers with the finest, seasoned artists, streamlining the process of sourcing, hiring, and managing passionate freelancers. Our approach...