HydroSlime+
HydroSlime+ by HydroLock is the perfect way to keep your skin hydrated and protected against the harshest conditions.
This was the final year project for my Diploma in Animation at Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore. As a creative problem solver, I am always learning and exploring new techniques in the artistic realm. This led to creating an animation with lots of techniques like liquid (slime) simulation and creating visual effects in Unreal Engine.
01
Process
The making-of video sums up my journey thus far - a challenge and an opportunity to grow. I started off this project by designing Ada, and the pieces quickly fell into place.
I based my design choices off my desire to turn her into a plush-toy. Her design is practical and unassuming, but any adventurer would recognise the scuff on her boots as a mark of her experience.
Her face is difficult to rig and animate due to the fact that she has a wider mouth and non-human features. In the process of developing a look for the film, I chose to make the effects semi-realistic instead of toon-shaded.
02
Storyboarding
The story didn't come together neatly until the very final cut, which might surprise you to know. It's not a secret that creatives tend to procrastinate, but I threw out half of my initial storyboard to wrangle a cohesive story within the time limit.
03
Branding & Ident
Coming up with the HydroLock brand and the HydroSlime+ product packaging was challenging, as I had never created branding for any kind of product before. It was a new experience, which I am grateful for as an academic exercise.
04
Unreal Engine
The environment for this film was created entirely in Unreal Engine, and pushed my understanding of the software to new heights (and perhaps my sanity off a cliff too). Staring at a bunch of nodes to create textures or visual effects all day is not recommended. You'll start to wonder how to create the material of every object you see in real life, in Unreal Engine.
The lighting in the scenes was a pain to set up. Pretending to enjoy it would be too far of a stretch for me. I did enjoy watching the different effects in atmosphere I could create once I had figured out the lighting systems in each scene, though.
And yes, please look at the textures and visual effects that I worked so hard on. I love to brag about this in particular. Thank you for perceiving my work.
05
Final Film
I love how this turned out, despite the many challenges I faced. Moving forward, I'll be working on making my characters more angry, so that I can actually animate faces moving and scrunching. No more cutesy concepts for me! (I may or may not be lying.)