What we do best
At Cub, our superpower lies in finding efficient ways to create high-quality visuals—especially when it comes to character animation. We thrive on pushing creative boundaries while maintaining streamlined production processes.
Some of our favourite pieces that showcase this approach include the following.
Joysticks’nSliders
We use the Joysticks’n Sliders plugin to bring many of our characters to life in After Effects. Its intuitive interface and powerful efficiency allow us to rig and animate a wide range of characters—whether they’re complex and expressive or cute and cuddly. This tool enables us to create fluid, dynamic animations quickly, without compromising on quality.
We explored whether the technology would enable us to develop a frame-picking expression to seamlessly animate pre-rendered 3D frames within After Effects. By leveraging this approach, we aimed to blend the flexibility of 2D animation workflows with the visual depth of 3D-rendered assets, optimising both efficiency and creative control.
Expanding the rig
We set out to explore whether we could integrate ideas from our 3D rigs into a more conventional After Effects workflow—rigging the character’s limbs directly within the software. Our goal was to achieve full control over not just the head but also the torso and limbs using a pre-rendered approach.
To bring the character to life, we drew inspiration from comedian Dan Soder’s impersonation of 80s wrestling icon Macho Man Randy Savage. His unmistakable movements and speech patterns provided the perfect reference for crafting expressive and dynamic animation.
Here, you can see our early tests, where we combined simple cutout 2D limbs with a 3D torso. This hybrid approach allowed us to experiment with characterful movement and achieve surprisingly complex motion.
Build out
Building on this approach, we developed multiple frame pickers for the character’s limbs and linked them to the torso, allowing the entire body to function as a single, fully rigged character. With just four simple joystick controls, we could achieve fluid and intuitive movement.
This setup offers incredible flexibility—users can easily bake reflected textures, adjust lighting for different environments, and swap out limbs or joints to introduce variations, such as different hand gestures.
Beyond creative control, this technique drastically reduces animation and rendering time compared to fully 3D character animation. The result? A significant cut in production costs and timelines while still delivering high-quality, expressive motion.
Kitchen Chaos
We hope you enjoy the brilliant character created by the amazing Dan Soder and the character we created to bring the piece to life!
Voiced by Dan Soder
Animated by Cub Studio