We once again partnered up with League of Legends for their Spirit Blossom Lo-Fi album. This time, we were responsible for all character animations, turning the static splash arts into seamless looping animations.
Our goal was to preserve the original splash arts' identity and visual integrity, adding subtle yet impactful motion without compromising the illustrated style. Each character was animated individually, with careful attention to timing, mood, and detail, ensuring a cohesive and immersive visual experience across all loops.
RESEARCH AND REFERENCES
This stage focused on gathering and analyzing the client’s references, along with existing animation examples, to define the visual direction, motion language, and technical constraints.
We explored inspirations for particle effects, lighting, and movement to ensure consistency with the project’s aesthetic and the League of Legends visual universe.
BREAKDOWN
We needed to adapt and animate the Spirit Blossom splash arts, transforming originally static artworks into pieces designed for motion and digital use. Since the artworks were not originally created with animation in mind, had extremely high resolutions (10k), and existed in multiple versions of the same PSD, we developed a careful process of organization, cleanup, and optimization before any motion work could begin.
To make the animations possible without compromising visual quality, we went through a technical and artistic adaptation process, with the support of freelance illustrators, who helped reconstruct layers, adjust elements, and refine details that needed to work properly in motion.
VFX
RIG
During the rigging tests, we explored different approaches. Eventually, we chose Bao Bones, as it provided better mesh control, a more practical setup, and a consistent visual result for this type of artwork.
In parallel, we developed rigs using Spine as an alternative approach, expanding the technical possibilities within the project pipeline.
THE RESULTS
Beyond expectations, the final delivery received extremely positive feedback, leading to the animations also being featured in the League of Legends client, running in seamless loops.
Beyond expectations, the final delivery received extremely positive feedback, leading to the animations also being featured in the League of Legends client, running in seamless loops.
CREDITS
Client: Riot Games
Client: Riot Games
Game: League of Legends
Produced by Histeria!
Head Producer: Leandro Rizzardi
Producer: Leticia Suguimoto
Lead Motion: Álvaro Rodrigues, Igor Lopes
Motion Design Coordinator: Wendell Rubio
Motion: Gustavo Porto, Ismael Klipp, Lucas Gallo, Pedro Fiúza, Vinicius Ricardo, Bryan Polak
Breakup and repainting: Leonardo Serafim
