Keep Wildlife Wild (workflow)
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (2021)
.jpg)
.jpg)
In storyboards 1-2, following feedback from the wildlife biologists, I revised the outdoor road scene to make it more reflective of local environments. The change emphasized the theme of coexistence, shifting the focus from a state park setting to a more relatable, community-oriented landscape.
Storyboard
This was the first project I worked on for WDFW, focusing on "Wildlife Awareness." Below, I'll detail the process and thought behind each step to provide a better understanding of the project.
Team Collaboration: We held multiple meetings with communication consultants and wildlife biologists to discuss the video. After these discussions, we decided to keep the video length to one minute for optimal sharing on social media. Once the topic and text were provided, I began developing the storyboard and character designs.
Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop.
In storyboards 2-3, I removed the bear fighting shot after realizing that it could give the wrong impression. I felt it would be more effective to focus on human-related issues, highlighting the importance of responsible behavior rather than sensationalizing wildlife conflict.
.jpg)
The final storyboard is clear and simplified, consisting of two parts. It begins with a cheerful opening featuring digital drawings of animals within mock-up Instagram frames. The video then transitions to real animal videos or photos, creating a contrast that shifts the tone and grabs the audience's attention.
Character design
After adjusting her age, the character appears more formal.
Initially, I designed the character as a little kid. However, after considering the main audience the video targets, I decided to make her older to better resonate with the viewers.
Character animation
This step is more technical, but it's my favorite part—setting up the puppet (main character) in Adobe Character Animator to bring her to life and give her personality!
Compared to other animations I've created, this one is more advanced. I used features I hadn't tried before in Adobe Character Animator, such as cycle layers for hand and arm movements, pupil control, and jaw movement. Additionally, I did a frame-by-frame traditional drawing for the arm transition.
After importing the audio (thanks to a fantastic colleague for the voice-over), I manually adjusted the lip-sync to ensure the character spoke naturally and fluidly. Then, I focused on animating one behavior at a time, moving through each part of her body (torso → pupils → eyebrows → hair → facial expression triggers → arms → hands).
Once the puppet setup was complete, the most challenging part of the animation was finished, and it was time to bring her into Adobe After Effects for the background animation.
I edited this video under a tight deadline, completing it within just two business days. The raw footage consisted of over 40 separate clips (totaling 40 GB), which I condensed into one final video file of 700 MB.
The most time-consuming part of the editing process was reducing heavy background noise, such as wind and birds. Additionally, since the narrator was fishing between light and shade from morning to noon, the sunray changed periodically. I manually adjusted the lighting bit by bit to ensure the color tone remained bright and consistent throughout the video.
Bass fishing on Black Lake with Samuel Porter
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (2021)
Animal illustrations
I started drawing cartoon animals based on the storyboard, taking into account the advice from wildlife biologists to pair certain animals with specific locations in Washington.
Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop.
I really enjoyed this part of the process, especially with my favorite 80s city pop music playing in the background. Unlike the highly focused work involved in puppet rigging, which requires my full concentration without distractions, this phase felt more relaxed and cozy.
It was a funny moment when I accidentally drew the Vancouver bridge from Canada. After consulting with my manager, I corrected it to depict the I-5 bridge in Washington. I’m happy with the final result; I think the new bridge illustration turned out much better than the initial one!
(Deer) I-5 Bridge, Vancouver, WA
(Cougar and Turkey) Spokane, WA
(Bear) Greater Seattle, WA
(Bobcat) Bremerton, WA
For the second version of the elk, I realized that the first one I drew was actually a moose! I didn’t know the difference between a moose and an elk until one of our biologists pointed it out. He mentioned that, technically, there are no moose in Wenatchee. So, I revised the character and changed her face back to that of an elk.
(Elk) Wenatchee, WA
Video effects and editing
This phase is the "put them all together" part in Adobe After Effects. I focused on keeping everything animated as much as possible—this included the WDFW logo, the Washington map, animal illustrations, video frames, search bar, and text elements.
In Adobe Premiere Pro, I added sound effects and made the final cut. I also used Adobe Audition to reduce background noise in the audio before importing it into Premiere.
I was getting so excited at this point because I knew the project was nearly finished. I couldn't stop searching for the perfect background music, even when I was lying in bed! After finalizing the sound effects and shortening the video, it was done!
