The Production Process

The journey began with storyboarding and animatics, mapping out Coco’s narrative arc and ensuring a smooth flow between her struggles and triumphs. We then transitioned into 3D production, where our team designed, rigged, and animated characters and environments:

• Designing (Concept & Modeling): our artists began with concept sketches to set the style and personality of the characters and environments. These are then built as 3D meshes. High-resolution sculpts add detail, while retopology ensures the models are optimized for animation.
• Rigging (Making Models Movable): here a digital skeleton with joints gets added to the models. Control handles make animation easier, while advanced setups for limbs, facial rigs, and dynamic rigs (cloth, tails, etc.) allow for expressive and realistic movement.
• Animation (Bringing to Life): this is where we block key poses, refine them into smooth motion, and add secondary details like hair, cloth, or breathing. Environments and effects (rain, smoke, particles) are animated too. Physics tools help with natural dynamics, and the final polish ensures timing, weight, and emotion feel convincing.

Coco was modelled with a balance of realism and charm: large, expressive eyes and warm gestures made her instantly relatable to young viewers. Expressive keyframe animation captured her joy, frustration, and determination, while subtle secondary animations enriched the world around her. The pacing was refined to hold attention while maintaining clarity of message, ensuring both entertainment value and educational impact.

Concept Development

The concept drew inspiration from universal childhood experiences, wanting something special and learning it takes patience and effort to achieve it. Choosing a bunny as the central character kept the story playful and lighthearted, while the mother’s presence reinforced themes of guidance and encouragement.

Colour and symbolism were used intentionally: soft pastels conveyed warmth and optimism, vibrant tones highlighted Coco’s aspirations, and the visual of an empty jar gradually filling with coins became a clear metaphor for the saving process. These design choices not only made the story approachable but also ensured its lesson felt natural and memorable.

Technical Aspects

To ensure smooth rendering without compromising quality, we optimised 3D assets, textures, and lighting setups.

• Rendering Efficiency: render settings were fine-tuned for efficiency, and test renders were run throughout production to balance speed with high fidelity. Where possible, render layers and pass streamlined compositing, saving time without losing visual detail.
• Lighting, Shading & Effects:lighting and shading were developed to support the animation’s warm, family-friendly tone. Physically accurate shaders added depth, while custom stylised materials maintained a playful aesthetic. Particle effects, such as dust motes, sparkles, and environmental touches, were simulated carefully to feel natural within the world.
• Revision Workflow: once the initial draft was shared, we collaborated closely with the client, incorporating their input in a systematic revision process. This method kept the project on track, ensured all adjustments were addressed thoughtfully, and maintained the client’s involvement until the final version was fully approved.

From the outset, we designed for multiple platforms. Aspect ratios were adapted for desktop, mobile, social, and broadcast, with careful re-framing to preserve composition across 16:9, 1:1, and 9:16 formats. Compression settings were optimised to ensure smooth playback on everything from classroom projectors to smartphones.

Artistic Design

The artistic direction aimed to make the story world warm, safe, and inspiring. Coco’s design was deliberately soft and approachable, embodying innocence and determination. Her environment was filled with inviting colours, playful textures, and subtle details that made it feel alive while still supporting the narrative. Lighting was used to enhance emotional beats: soft glows for moments of hope, warmer tones for scenes of guidance, and brighter highlights for the final reward.

Rendering and Post-Production

High-resolution renders were completed in Full HD and 4K, ensuring the animation was suitable for broadcast, streaming, and social platforms. In post-production, render passes were composed for maximum control, with colour correction applied to ensure brand consistency and readability. Final polish included depth of field, motion blur, subtle glows, and synchronisation of sound and visuals.

Sound design added richness to the experience. Light, playful music reinforced the story’s optimism, while sound effects, coins clinking, footsteps, the rustle of a jar filling, made the story tactile and immersive.

The Final Impact

The final animation captured both the joy of storytelling and the importance of financial literacy. By merging whimsical design with educational content, Coco’s journey gave children a relatable role model and parents a valuable teaching tool. For Financial Fitness Bunny, the project demonstrated how 3D animation can turn abstract concepts like saving and planning into stories that inspire, entertain, and educate.

We are a leading video production company in Johannesburg and have one of the top learner management systems in South Africa.
We specialise in Video Production, Photography, Graphic Design, eLearning Development, Web Design, Animation and Creative Consultation. | info@oliverkarstel.co.za | www.oliverkarstel.co.za | IG.com/oliverkarstel