2023-3-19 Snapshot Close Up

This still frame has a lot of complex things happening in it, even if it appears fairly simple. Firstly, since Rex is built for use in Character Animator, this general pose needed to be made there with the Photoshop file. The complexity lies first in that the robotic cat, Epsilon, needs to be in front of Rex’s body, but behind his hands - while at the same time being in front of his arms!

To do this, after the pose is recorded for a short 2-frame take in Character Animator, the frame is exported as a still image AFTER layers are turned off in rigging mode. There are ultimately three frame files: the right arm, the left arm, and the rest of the body. The three images are exported as PNGs and then opened up in Photoshop and reassembled there according to their appropriate layer order. The forearms need to be on separate layers than the upper arms, so a bit of editing is done in Photoshop.

Epsilon is of course made in Photoshop and imported directly into Animate (not Character Animator). His eyes move side to side and his head colors cycle through four different layers as a movie clip that repeats, so give his head a bit of a technical and dynamic effect. The warp tool allows for his legs to be bent as desired in order to place him in Rex’s arms. In the full scene in Final Cut Pro X, prior to this Snapshot, Epsilon jumps up into his arms, then we quickly cut to a close-up of him in his arms. But first, the Photoshop file is imported into the Animate file that has Epsilon in it. the five different layers are arranged with respect to the cat so that he appears in Rex’s arms.

Then, in Animate, Rex’s arms and fingers move a bit using the warp tool in order to create the effect of him petting Epsilon. The still frame below comes from within Final Cut Pro X after the Animate movie is exported.