Here's a little look at some of my cycle animation work for Kung Fu Panda 3. My supervisor Spencer realized that we had already done 2 previous panda films and never had a single patron eat or drink anything. This was due to the old crowds system, and prop parenting, etc. So Spencer's only request was for a longer cycle (to cover the length of the shot) and have them actually eat the dumplings.
I orchestrated a whole conversation between the six different variations of this cycle, so they are saying things like "Mmm, dumplings are delicious" while the pig comments "Pork? You don't say?"
I also learned that I've been holding chopsticks wrong in my reference video. A thanks to my old co-worker D'lun Wong for correcting me before I had gone too far in the animation!
What's crazy is that I did this animation almost exactly 2 years ago. A lot has happened in those two years. Back then the storyline of KFP3 was much darker, several characters were also much more serious, and at least two new characters had different celebrity voices. The last time I saw a version of this movie it was about 80% storyboards, 10% previs, and 10% a title card that says "final battle begins"!
