Button Bash

Experimental CG Series


Role – Design, Direction & Animation


Self Project



Animating Without Keyframes 

This personal series is a continued process on material development and animation in C4D using Redshift. I set out to explore simple scenes loosely based around control panels, sliders, buttons and dials that all had a life of their own. I wanted to create a piece that explored
motion with as little keyframing as possible.




Motion Breakdown


This piece was created at 12fps to mimic the feeling and physicality of traditional stop motion capture.

To achieve motion without keyframing I adopted a few different techniques. The most effective was applying noise shaders to drive specific parameters of the contraptions I had made. These shaders were then animated through speed and even looped in some cases for seamless transitions.

Adjusting the noise type, scale and speed created a range of motion and stacking the noise effectors added detail and unexpected results.


Project Stills

© Benjamin Nichols