Mecha Ascent

Mecha Weekly

Mecha Weekly

Mecha Weekly

Mecha Weekly

An animation series produced weekly on Instagram. A personal creative endeavor spawned while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An animation series produced weekly on Instagram. A personal creative endeavor spawned while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An animation series produced weekly on Instagram. A personal creative endeavor spawned while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An animation series produced weekly on Instagram. A personal creative endeavor spawned while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An animation series produced weekly on Instagram. A personal creative endeavor spawned while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Year

2020

Year

2020

Year

2020

Year

2020

Year

2020

Role

All aspects

Role

All aspects

Project Files

Holdframe

Project Files

Holdframe

Project Files

Holdframe

Agency

Personal

Agency

Personal

Week 17 —

Week 17 —

Week 30 —

Week 40 —

Creative output

Creative output

Creative output

Creative output

Creative output

Each week since the end of May 2020, I have released an animation. Forcing myself to complete a project every week has allowed me to understand the parts of the creative process I struggle with and excel in. I've found that I feel most confident in my animation and composition abilities, but I have some work to do on my color pairing.

I use these projects as an opportunity to learn new techniques. I've found that I learn most efficiently when I understand the real-world application. Learning this way, through personal projects, has allowed me to absorb information in a much more enjoyable and sustainable way.

Each week since the end of May 2020, I have released an animation. Forcing myself to complete a project every week has allowed me to understand the parts of the creative process I struggle with and excel in. I've found that I feel most confident in my animation and composition abilities, but I have some work to do on my color pairing.

I use these projects as an opportunity to learn new techniques. I've found that I learn most efficiently when I understand the real-world application. Learning this way, through personal projects, has allowed me to absorb information in a much more enjoyable and sustainable way.

Each week since the end of May 2020, I have released an animation. Forcing myself to complete a project every week has allowed me to understand the parts of the creative process I struggle with and excel in. I've found that I feel most confident in my animation and composition abilities, but I have some work to do on my color pairing.

I use these projects as an opportunity to learn new techniques. I've found that I learn most efficiently when I understand the real-world application. Learning this way, through personal projects, has allowed me to absorb information in a much more enjoyable and sustainable way.

Each week since the end of May 2020, I have released an animation. Forcing myself to complete a project every week has allowed me to understand the parts of the creative process I struggle with and excel in. I've found that I feel most confident in my animation and composition abilities, but I have some work to do on my color pairing.

I use these projects as an opportunity to learn new techniques. I've found that I learn most efficiently when I understand the real-world application. Learning this way, through personal projects, has allowed me to absorb information in a much more enjoyable and sustainable way.

Each week since the end of May 2020, I have released an animation. Forcing myself to complete a project every week has allowed me to understand the parts of the creative process I struggle with and excel in. I've found that I feel most confident in my animation and composition abilities, but I have some work to do on my color pairing.

I use these projects as an opportunity to learn new techniques. I've found that I learn most efficiently when I understand the real-world application. Learning this way, through personal projects, has allowed me to absorb information in a much more enjoyable and sustainable way.

Week 05 —

Week 07 —

Week 01 —

Origin

Origin

Origin

Origin

Origin

The visual style of the Mecha Weekly series came about while working on a project I completed in 2019: Mecha Ascent. I grew to appreciate the illustrative style and felt it could be built upon with future projects.

The goal for Mecha Ascent was to create a walking robot solely with a physics simulation, i.e. without traditional keyframe animation.

The visual style of the Mecha Weekly series came about while working on a project I completed in 2019: Mecha Ascent. I grew to appreciate the illustrative style and felt it could be built upon with future projects.

The goal for Mecha Ascent was to create a walking robot solely with a physics simulation, i.e. without traditional keyframe animation.

The visual style of the Mecha Weekly series came about while working on a project I completed in 2019: Mecha Ascent. I grew to appreciate the illustrative style and felt it could be built upon with future projects.

The goal for Mecha Ascent was to create a walking robot solely with a physics simulation, i.e. without traditional keyframe animation.

The visual style of the Mecha Weekly series came about while working on a project I completed in 2019: Mecha Ascent. I grew to appreciate the illustrative style and felt it could be built upon with future projects.

The goal for Mecha Ascent was to create a walking robot solely with a physics simulation, i.e. without traditional keyframe animation.

The visual style of the Mecha Weekly series came about while working on a project I completed in 2019: Mecha Ascent. I grew to appreciate the illustrative style and felt it could be built upon with future projects.

The goal for Mecha Ascent was to create a walking robot solely with a physics simulation, i.e. without traditional keyframe animation.

mecha_03_v23 (00049)
mecha_03_v22 (00036)
mecha_03_v21 (00022)

Development

Development

Development

Development

Development

Mecha Ascent began as an exercise with Cinema 4D's dynamics system, which contains numerous tools to create physically accurate simulations. Playing with the rigid body dynamics and hinges, I realized that the toolset in C4D exists to create something not unlike the mechanisms that power the strandbeest sculptures.

I found that the least complex approach to creating a robot that mimics the stride of a legged animal is to utilize a mechanism called the klann linkage. It's a simple system comprised of a crank, a leg, two leg rockers, and a series of pivot hinges.

The challenge for this project was basing the construction on real-world designs while factoring in the limitations of C4D's dynamics system. I often ran into designs that would collapse under the weight of the components, or designs where the robot would wander in circles.

The final design was cemented after adding spring suspension to each of the eight legs. This stabilized the structure, which allowed the unit to walk in a straight line while preventing hard-hitting impacts that oftentimes broke C4D's dynamics system.


Mecha Ascent began as an exercise with Cinema 4D's dynamics system, which contains numerous tools to create physically accurate simulations. Playing with the rigid body dynamics and hinges, I realized that the toolset in C4D exists to create something not unlike the mechanisms that power the strandbeest sculptures.

I found that the least complex approach to creating a robot that mimics the stride of a legged animal is to utilize a mechanism called the klann linkage. It's a simple system comprised of a crank, a leg, two leg rockers, and a series of pivot hinges.

The challenge for this project was basing the construction on real-world designs while factoring in the limitations of C4D's dynamics system. I often ran into designs that would collapse under the weight of the components, or designs where the robot would wander in circles.

The final design was cemented after adding spring suspension to each of the eight legs. This stabilized the structure, which allowed the unit to walk in a straight line while preventing hard-hitting impacts that oftentimes broke C4D's dynamics system.

Mecha Ascent began as an exercise with Cinema 4D's dynamics system, which contains numerous tools to create physically accurate simulations. Playing with the rigid body dynamics and hinges, I realized that the toolset in C4D exists to create something not unlike the mechanisms that power the strandbeest sculptures.

I found that the least complex approach to creating a robot that mimics the stride of a legged animal is to utilize a mechanism called the klann linkage. It's a simple system comprised of a crank, a leg, two leg rockers, and a series of pivot hinges.

The challenge for this project was basing the construction on real-world designs while factoring in the limitations of C4D's dynamics system. I often ran into designs that would collapse under the weight of the components, or designs where the robot would wander in circles.

The final design was cemented after adding spring suspension to each of the eight legs. This stabilized the structure, which allowed the unit to walk in a straight line while preventing hard-hitting impacts that oftentimes broke C4D's dynamics system.

Mecha Ascent began as an exercise with Cinema 4D's dynamics system, which contains numerous tools to create physically accurate simulations. Playing with the rigid body dynamics and hinges, I realized that the toolset in C4D exists to create something not unlike the mechanisms that power the strandbeest sculptures.

I found that the least complex approach to creating a robot that mimics the stride of a legged animal is to utilize a mechanism called the klann linkage. It's a simple system comprised of a crank, a leg, two leg rockers, and a series of pivot hinges.

The challenge for this project was basing the construction on real-world designs while factoring in the limitations of C4D's dynamics system. I often ran into designs that would collapse under the weight of the components, or designs where the robot would wander in circles.

The final design was cemented after adding spring suspension to each of the eight legs. This stabilized the structure, which allowed the unit to walk in a straight line while preventing hard-hitting impacts that oftentimes broke C4D's dynamics system.

Mecha Ascent began as an exercise with Cinema 4D's dynamics system, which contains numerous tools to create physically accurate simulations. Playing with the rigid body dynamics and hinges, I realized that the toolset in C4D exists to create something not unlike the mechanisms that power the strandbeest sculptures.

I found that the least complex approach to creating a robot that mimics the stride of a legged animal is to utilize a mechanism called the klann linkage. It's a simple system comprised of a crank, a leg, two leg rockers, and a series of pivot hinges.

The challenge for this project was basing the construction on real-world designs while factoring in the limitations of C4D's dynamics system. I often ran into designs that would collapse under the weight of the components, or designs where the robot would wander in circles.

The final design was cemented after adding spring suspension to each of the eight legs. This stabilized the structure, which allowed the unit to walk in a straight line while preventing hard-hitting impacts that oftentimes broke C4D's dynamics system.

Project files

Project Files

Project files

Project files

Project files

If you're interested in checking out the working files for Mecha Ascent, head over to Holdframe to download them for free!

Holdframe is an amazing resource for designers -- if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and download some projects from some of the most talented designers in the community!

If you're interested in checking out the working files for this project, head over to Holdframe to download them for free!

Holdframe is an amazing resource for designers -- if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and download some projects from some of the most talented designers in the community!

If you're interested in checking out the working files for this project, head over to Holdframe to download them for free!

Holdframe is an amazing resource for designers -- if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and download some projects from some of the most talented designers in the community!

If you're interested in checking out the working files for this project, head over to Holdframe to download them for free!

Holdframe is an amazing resource for designers -- if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and download some projects from some of the most talented designers in the community!

If you're interested in checking out the working files for this project, head over to Holdframe to download them for free!

Holdframe is an amazing resource for designers -- if you haven't already, do yourself a favour and download some projects from some of the most talented designers in the community!

More work

More work

More work

More work

More work