A Theorist Media and Lunar X project about a girl named Taylor trying to solve a mystery. Below are the behind-the-scenes on how the project was developed.

Character Design

I was responsible for creating the design for the adorable, yet chaotic character named Cheeks. After a few rounds to test out a mixture of patterns and designs, we ultimately locked in on the character that we all know for LoreFi.

3D Environment Artist

Almost all of the elements within Taylor's Room were created in Blender. Any elements that involved clues that had to be rearranged was done during post-production after the initial room set-up was complete.

Animation Development

Chill / Study

Since Taylor was created by puppet rigging and not frame-by-frame animation, the overall time consumption was setting up the rig and ensuring that each part worked within Clip Studio Paint. Once the rigging is complete, any loop animation tasks can be done and completed on time before any deadline.

Cheeks, the hamster, was animated by using a combination of puppet rigging and frame-by-frame animation.

C/S Taylor Mouse Movement Normal

C/S Taylor Mouse Movement Concerned

C/S Taylor Mouse Movement Normal

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C/S Taylor Window Look Normal

C/S Taylor Window Look Concerned

C/S Taylor Window Look Normal

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C/S Taylor Leaning Back In Chair Concerned

C/S Taylor Leaning Back In Chair Normal

C/S Taylor Leaning Back In Chair Concerned

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CS Taylor Keyboard Resting Concerned

CS Taylor Keyboard Resting Normal

CS Taylor Keyboard Resting Concerned

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C/S Taylor Keyboard Typing WIP #1

C/S Taylor Keyboard Typing Normal

C/S Taylor Keyboard Typing Concerned

C/S Taylor Keyboard Typing WIP #1

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C/S Taylor Corkboard Look WIP #2

C/S Taylor Corkboard Look WIP #1

C/S Taylor Corkboard Look Concerned

C/S Taylor Corkboard Look WIP #2

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C/S Cheeks Eating Carrot Normal

C/S Cheeks Eating Carrot (Eyes Closed)

C/S Cheeks Eating Carrot (Abrupt Pause)

C/S Cheeks Eating Carrot Normal

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C/S Cheeks Munching

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C/S Cheeks Heading To Hamster Wheel WIP #1

C/S Cheeks Heading To Hamster Wheel WIP #2

C/S Cheeks Heading To Hamster Wheel (FINAL)

C/S Cheeks Heading To Hamster Wheel WIP #1

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C/S Cheeks At Hamster Wheel (Normal Version)

C/S Cheeks At Hamster Wheel (Fail Version WIP #1)

C/S Cheeks At Hamster Wheel (Fail Version)

C/S Cheeks At Hamster Wheel (Normal Version)

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C/S Cheeks Exiting Hamster Wheel WIP #1

C/S Cheeks Exiting Hamster Wheel (FINAL)

C/S Cheeks Exiting Hamster Wheel WIP #1

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Along with 2D animation, 3D animation was also applied when Cheeks is interacting with the hamster wheel. The wheel had to be rendered in parts via Blender in order to layer the overall scene smoothly.

This method was also applied to the Gaming / Corner whenever Cheeks enters the scene.

Sleep / Relax

S/R Cheeks Falling Down WIP #1

S/R Cheeks Falling Down (FINAL)

S/R Cheeks Falling Down WIP #1

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S/R Cheeks Scratching WIP #1

S/R Cheeks Scratching (FINAL)

S/R Cheeks Scratching WIP #1

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S/R Cheeks Sleeping WIP #1

S/R Cheeks Sleeping WIP #2

S/R Cheeks Sleeping (FINAL)

S/R Cheeks Sleeping WIP #1

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Due to splitting tasks, I worked on animating Cheeks for the Sleep / Relax livestream. The 2D animation was done in Clip Studio Paint by using the frame-by-frame method. This was also applied to the Gaming / Corner livestream.

Gaming / Corner

G/C Cheeks Entering Room WIP #1

G/C Cheeks Entering Room WIP #2

G/C Cheeks Entering Room (FINAL)

G/C Cheeks Entering Room WIP #1

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G/C Cheeks Stare At TV (FINAL Version B)

G/C Cheeks Stare At TV WIP #1

G/C Cheeks Stare At TV (FINAL Version A)

G/C Cheeks Stare At TV (FINAL Version B)

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G/C Cheeks Exiting Room WIP #1

G/C Cheeks Exiting Room WIP #2

G/C Cheeks Exiting Room (FINAL)

G/C Cheeks Exiting Room WIP #1

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G/C Cheeks TV Head Tilt WIP #1

G/C Cheeks TV Head Tilt (FINAL)

G/C Cheeks TV Head Tilt WIP #1

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G/C Cheeks Turn to Taylor

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G/C Cheeks Win Reaction WIP #1

G/C Cheeks Win Reaction (FINAL

G/C Cheeks Lose Reaction (FINAL)

G/C Cheeks Win Reaction WIP #1

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Similar to the Sleep / Relax livestream, I primarily worked on 2D and 3D loop animations for Cheeks. Since animating a hamster ball in 2D would ultimately cost time, animating in Blender was overall an experimental process that became a success afterward.

The method for combining 2D and 3D was then applied to the hamster wheel for the Chill / Study livestream.