🎨 When you animate for slot games, what guides your decision for how much movement a symbol or feature really needs?

🧠 For a slots game animator the most important rule to follow is understanding what style of animations the owners of the company want to see. Once the animator understands the mindset of the CEO he has to adjust his creativity to match and fit properly with the vision of his employer. The animator should not try to enforce his style of animation on the company, but rather readjust it to match it properly of the company’s style. For example, one company wants to see a lot of visual effects and less movement on the images while another company can be the exact opposite where you have to use a lot less visual effects but invest a lot more time in animating the images, drawn by the 2D Artists.

⚙️ What is the most challenging type of animation in slot games, and how do you approach solving it?

🧩 Animation challenges? It feels like I can write a Bible on this subject. Haha To answer the question shortly I can’t say there is a specific animation which is the most challenging one because each animation is unique in its own way and introduces certain challenges, which would not appear in a different animation task. If we had to choose between Engineering or Biology to pick which one is more challenging science we would not be able because both sciences are challenging in their own way. The same is with animations.

🎮 How do you design animations that keep players engaged without distracting them from the gameplay flow?

👀 This is a good question because animations of slot games have psychology behind them. The animator has to put himself in the shoes of the player. Basically, the animator has to understand what is important at the moment for the player and what is not important. For instance, let’s say the player lands three scatters and wins free spins. When this happens the scatter animation has to be more impactful compared to the background animation. If the background animation is more impactful than the scatter animation, then the player might get distracted and not realize he has won free spins.

💥 What techniques do you use to make small elements feel impactful, such as wins, bonuses, or feature triggers?

✨ There is a book called “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. The book is written by Richard Williams. This book teaches you the 12 principles of animation, which are the core techniques for creating realistic and appealing movement. There are also many tutorials online, which explain the 12 principles of animation. You need to follow these 12 principles in order to be successful in our field.

🚀 Are there any animation ideas or concepts you feel are underused in slots and deserve more experimentation?

💡Honestly, I feel like the whole animation field in the slots industry is underused and underrated. The most important thing is the game mechanics, after that is the 2D design and lastly it’s the animation, unfortunately. When I inspect and play the games of some of the major companies I see many different amateur mistakes in the animations. Despite the fact that the games are played by thousands of people from all over the world, animations are being approved with basic mistakes and there is no quality control. Many animators feel that they should not push their limits and try to achieve the highest quality because it won’t get the recognition it deserves. So, they lower their standards and don’t do their best to get their job done in a professional manner, which results in visible mistakes once the game is live. I absolutely believe the work of the animators deserves in general way more recognition than it currently does.

🛠️ What part of your workflow has improved the most with new tools or processes over the years?

🖥️ I would say the biggest improvement of my workflow is my knowledge of optimization. When I started creating animations I was focused only on the quality and did not take into consideration how a project can ruin the rendering performance if it becomes too heavy. Obviously, I learned this lesson the hard way. With time I got to understand what should be avoided and what can be done in another way that won’t make the animation heavy, but still look the way I want it.

🤝 How do you translate a game designer’s idea into actual motion that fits the theme and mood?

🎭 The best answer for this question is basically “communication”. There needs to clear and direct communication between me and my team. One person can’t get inside the head of another person and read his thoughts, so the only way to understand each other is through communication. Establishing meetings and brainstorming together is vital for the success of the company.

🌐 What is your view on iGamity and its effort to highlight creators and their work in the iGaming industry?

🔍 I’d like to say that I’m pleasantly surprised by iGamity. It was a pleasure for me to answer such interesting and important questions. This should be done more often in my opinion. This way we will find out new stories and get to know unique personalities.

📘 What advice would you give to animators who want to enter slot game animation or motion graphics?

⭐ Be passionate about your animations! Don’t do animations just for the sake of getting paid. Enjoy them and have fun while doing them. If you unlock your passion, your craft will be of high quality and people will be impressed by you. Therefore, you will be respected in our society.