Floating character / PERSONAL EXPLORATION
A little lighter than air.
An image-mesh study in weight, softness, and the small movements that make a character feel alive.
ANIMATION BY
Piyush KachaMY ROLE
Character animation · Image mesh · Motion design
Image mesh
Deformation technique
Continuous
Floating motion
Personal
Character animation study
BEHIND THE MOTION
Making still artwork feel alive.
I wanted this character to feel suspended in the air, with a softness that carries through the whole pose. I used Rive’s image mesh to deform the artwork, then built the floating motion around it. The study focuses on animation and mesh work.
The motion lives inside the image.
A mesh gives an image points that can move independently. That lets the artwork bend and change shape as the character floats, adding movement within the pose as well as across the screen. It is a useful way to bring texture and illustrated detail into character animation.
A loop with room to breathe.
The continuous movement is the point of this experiment: a character you can spend a moment with, without a button to press or a task to complete. It is another side of my Rive practice, alongside the state-driven interfaces and product animations in this portfolio.
For the developers: animation handoff details
The original 2244 × 3000 artboard is Final_Floating_Character. State Machine 1 plays the character loop without inputs or data binding. Grid covers use a compressed still captured from the original animation. The 1.4 MB Rive export is requested only on this case-study page as the demo approaches the viewport; playback pauses offscreen or in a hidden tab. Reduced-motion visitors can choose when to play.
| Animation | Artboard | State machine / view model | Controls / timelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floating character | Final_Floating_Character | State Machine 1 | Internal interaction / autoplay |
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