???% Wallpaper | mob psycho

Combining rigging with stylized distortion VFX techniques.

This was a relatively quick project with a very simplistic but effective rig. The crux of this project was definitely creating and selling the look of the original with stylized VFX. I came up with a really awesome solution that allowed for a lot of control, and perfectly encapsulated my desired look.

Timeline: 3 Days (January 2024)

(breakdown pictured below)

Tools

Role

After Effects

Trapcode

Element

Photoshop

Visual Effects

Animation

Rigging

Compositing


01 - character breakdown

original panel

This image was broken down, layered, and repainted underneath for more range of motion within the animation.

art breakdown & layers

Masked out and repainted layers used in the animation of the character.


02 - VFX breakdown

character vfx

I utilized a creative but niche technique to achieve the distortion on the character, and it turned out exactly how I envisioned.

Using chromakey effects like linear color key, Keylight, etc., I was able to key out the lighter values, such as the whites and high grays, leaving only the darkest values behind.

Once this was done, I used several instances of fractal noise to drive displacement on these all-black layers, making multiple iterations and layering them accordingly so they appear less intense, and more.. “ghosty?” “phantomy?”

Something like that! :)

environmental VFX breakdown

wind/speed lines

Turbulent noise pattern animated & looped. It bulges out in the center so it creates the illusion of wrapping around the character.

background

The background was animated using fractal noise patterns to drive displacement.

(Same technique used for the character VFX)


Thanks for reading!