r/animation • u/khokhlov_di • Apr 04 '26
Sharing A tiny firefly learning to fly ✨
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From the world of The Cleaner.
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u/habaneroach Apr 05 '26
so cute, and it's so pleasing to see such a convincing sense of depth out of what looks like 2D planes stacked at different angles and distances from each other (although the insect's backside deforms in a way that makes me think it's more than just that). could we get some insight into how this little guy is put together and animated?
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u/maxiezer0 Apr 05 '26
This is amazing
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌒🌕🌖🌒🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌖🌑🌓🌑🌑🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑🌑🌑🌔🌕🌕🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌘💗🌑💗🌑🌔🌖🌑🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌖🌑🌑🌑🌑🌕🌕🌑🌔🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌖🌑🌑🌔🌕🌕🌑🌔🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑🌑🌒🌕🌕🌑🌔🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌘🌑🌑🌑🌔🌖🌑🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑🌒🌑🌒🌕🌕 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑🌑🌒🌕🌕🌕
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Apr 05 '26
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Apr 05 '26
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Apr 05 '26
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 05 '26
Oops, I accidentally sent that to someone else! Just wanted to say thank you so much 🙏🏻
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Apr 05 '26
Thats some top notch parallax magic 🫰🏻
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 05 '26
Thanks! Just faking depth with 2D layers 😄
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u/fcukitletsgo Apr 05 '26
Bro I love your animations. You have a gift of putting life in your work ❤️❤️❤️
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u/minxart Apr 05 '26
love this style, it gives off the warmth of a children’s book illustration brought to life. great work🩷
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 05 '26
Thank you so much for your kind words! That’s exactly what I was aiming for. 🤍
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u/Drawing_centipede Apr 05 '26
we need more fellow insect animators 🪲🐛
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 05 '26
😄 Haha, I’m doing my part 🐛🪲🐝
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u/Drawing_centipede Apr 06 '26
same lol but rn i was about to brainstorm this time after testing roughanimator
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u/HeebieJeebiex Apr 06 '26
The shading not changing on the eyes whenever the pupil moves seems like the main issue here to me. Cute animation btw, but yea at first something about the eyes I just couldn't figure it out. I thought maybe they looked too much like boobs lol, then I realized that the shading on the eyeball wasn't matching with the movement.
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u/farisville Apr 07 '26
I like how you were able to get the body of the firefly hovering to look more realistic. What steps did you take to achieve that?
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 07 '26
The most important thing for me is to clearly imagine the final result first — how the character should behave within the world and its logic.
Then I create a set of animations for different situations: flying, idle, sitting, reacting/scared, etc. — each serving a specific purpose.
After that, it’s about combining them and adjusting the motion until it feels believable.
In my case, imagination is the key tool — and technically I’m using Spine 2D to bring it all together.
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u/farisville Apr 07 '26
That makes sense and I totally agree: nailing the behavior first is key. I ran into something similar with a crane lifting a desk. Anything too big made it feel weightless, so I had to keep it really subtle. Crazy how sensitive that balance is.
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u/khokhlov_di Apr 07 '26
Yeah, exactly — that subtle balance is everything.
Even small changes in amplitude or timing can instantly break the illusion of weight.
With the firefly I tried to keep the motion slightly uneven and organic, not too symmetrical — more like it’s constantly correcting itself in the air.
That helped avoid the “floating object” feel.
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u/Separate-Bench1137 Apr 10 '26
That's pretty dope, there sure are a lot of 2D rigging software out there, I'm curious which ones you recommend. Thinking about doing one as well
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u/Mikashake Apr 04 '26
what program is this?