Creating graphics for a Silverlight game
Animating the characters
I wanted the characters to animate in relatively subtle ways as they went about their roles in the game. Olop the bear had to take on some kind of walking gesture as he was controlled back and forth. The polutant invaders needed to emphasise their nastiness in some way. I 'sketched out' ideas of how the characters would animate in Expression design initially. The aerosol can would scrunch and spray; the toilet would open and close its lid; the eyes of all the characters would blink or frown and some would gnash teeth.
I then created the storyboards using keyline animation in Expression Blend. I would distort the path, change colours etc. and then restore the shapes manually. I wanted the the characters to change state in almost a ripple of a motion.
