How Spider-Verse Broke The Rules of 3D Animation

I analyzed "Spider-Verse" frame by frame to explain some of the innovative techniques that shaped this franchise's unique style.
Learn how the animators translated hand-drawn 2D techniques into the 3D world, creating impactful action scenes and a vibrant, comic book-inspired universe. This video serves as a guide to understanding these transformative techniques, offering inspiration for your own animation projects and illustrating how "Spider-Verse" is ushering in a revolution in the animation medium.
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[@NoTheRobot]

You asked for it! Here's my video about The LEGO Movie and how it changed everything about 3D animation -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXWml5Wpapt1q7M

[@Monotone_Fallen]

nice

[@c00lio_362]

cool

[@AzureTactical]

ok

[@AzureTactical]

@@Monotone_Fallenyease very nice

[@reubenhaitsma2522]

nice! wheres the bad guys video??

[@emilywoow]

"The lego movie walked so that spiderverse could fly." So poetic, wisest words i've ever heard.

[@NoTheRobot]

It’s criminally overlooked

[@katzelol]

i think the peanuts movie participated in this newer animation style too

[@NoTheRobot]

YES I love the peanuts movie

[@dignelberrt]

@@NoTheRobot should've said swing

[@etahnbltond]

Bro I remember watching the Lego movie like 20 times 7 years ago

[@youtubewontletme]

I really thank Spiderverse not just for existing, but for being inspiring Dreamworks to do the same. Puss in boots last wish is an amazing movie not just by the story, but because of the animation style that takes after spiderverse

[@NoTheRobot]

Sony really opened the floodgates for unique animation styles

[@BisonGaming3334]

Paramount is doing the same thing for the new TMNT movie

[@carlzumbahlen4125]

I thought I was crazy when I first noticed the style was similar

[@LHollan]

@@NoTheRobotjust like Sony did in the first Spider-Man theatrical movie ever back in 2002, they revolutionised the market for ever and they are doing now again with SpiderVerse

[@Veauxlamode]

I love how Hobie was animated differently for multiple parts of his character just because he’s a rebel, but it kinda also ties back into his line of “I don’t believe in consistency.” Edit: Holy cow, 2k ppl agree with me. That is very coolio :)

[@aldybarrack6522]

so hobie is consistently inconsistence?

[@jamesandthgff123]

Or it's the style of his universe

[@Veauxlamode]

@@aldybarrack6522 He played himself…

[@vinlyght]

@@jamesandthgff123have you seen the movie

[@jamesandthgff123]

@@vinlyght I've seen it, his color doesn't mean he's a rebel 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀☠️💀💀💀☠️💀☠️💀☠️💀☠️💀☠️💀☠️

[@arkekkers]

3D animation studios: Noooo, you can’t just break the rules of 3D animation, it won’t look as good or as smooth. Sony animators: Nah, imma do my own thing.

[@NoTheRobot]

Isn’t it wild that the movie before ITSV was the Emoji Movie?

[@RichardServello]

One of the directors said that’s why he wanted to work with Sony. They just don’t care about rules.

[@traviscunningham7062]

@@NoTheRobot actually it was The Star.

[@peterparker9954]

Now spiderverse 2 made more money than every Disney animation/Pixar film since covid

[@localblackman427]

It's so cool that they weren't breaking the rules just to break them. It was intentional. Like Miles being animated at 12fps vs 24fps like the other spidermen symbolizing he hasn't fully become Spiderman yet. And of course with Hobie being on 3/4 (sometimes) because he's a non conformist. Like all of that isn't just breaking rules for fun but adding another layer of the character beyond just the image of the character. It's 4D at this point

[@jewmin7810]

Also the original form of the spot still has his reference lines drawn to symbolize how he hasn’t reached his full potential as a character

[@NoTheRobot]

Exactly!

[@AnxiousAbstractifier]

also i love how spot still has the skeleton on him, the sticks and stones, lines and circles, foundation of art

[@NoTheRobot]

Such a great hint at what form he would ultimately take

[@nept2nian_productions]

Yeah, he looks like an actual unfinished sketch

[@scrappedmetal]

honestly obsessed with your decision to put the fact that you worked on the bad guys in the middle of the video, a lot of art youtubers tend to frontload their videos with their industry experience if they have it. also i'd love to see a video talking about the lego movie! definitely underrated when it comes to 3d animated films breaking the typical style conventions, i was convinced it was mostly stop motion until i actually met a guy who worked on it haha

[@NoTheRobot]

Haha thanks! Yeah theres honestly so much to talk about Lego Movie and how it impacted animation, despite the fact it never even got nominated for an Oscar

[@Nobodyshere1105]

@@NoTheRobot LEGO movie review...?

[@Corstessia3110]

I think it´s cool, that the sketches of Miguel are shown pretty often, like the circles and lines in his face. As an artist, this detail always makes me smile

[@paxtonl1330]

I loved the sketch likes on the Spot especially, his design in general was great

[@segevstormlord3713]

One thing that truly shows the masterful nature of the work on Spider-Verse is that, despite all the "messy" elements - the smear frames, the choppier animation, the way Hobie is animated in that eye-searing and distracting way, etc. - Spider-Verse is imminently followable. I can tell what's going on and follow the action at all times. Compare to the first Transformers movie, where these grey CGI machines were taken into closeup on shakeycam to the point that it's impossible to tell WHAT is going on. It must have been an enormous amount of work to get something with this much "busy-ness" on screen, this much stylization and this many things that normally are cheats to make up for a lack of smoothness but are instead done deliberately here in order to make this movie as easy to watch and tell what is going on as it is.

[@RichardServello]

A little more inside (I worked on comp on spiderverse) the example smear frame you used that was lines on his feet were all hand drawn and added in later. There are also major distorted frames for smears as well. (see miles slamming the door when he leaves Ms Webers office). Also, lighting was basically non-existent. Miles and Gwen had basic lighting, but it was all done in layers in comp. It was basically a giant moving coloring book.

[@zloidooraque0]

that's kinda what he said.. except lightning thing. cool inside rly

[@zloidooraque0]

i consider that movie best thing i've ever seen. pure eyegasm lol

[@bennyboy125]

Makes me think about how art used to be to make something almost photoreal and then we had surrealism that broke those conventions … great video guy

[@Subpar1O1]

I love how Hobie was animated. I didn't think much of it during the movie when I watched it for the first time, but he was done perfectly. Literally every part of his character bleeds into the way he's animated, as he literally never conforms to an animation style, as he never looks the same in two frames thanks to the effects around him, all his moving parts like his limbs or jacket move at different framerates, and how he looks like he just doesn't fit in, like they cut him out of a punk art piece and just glued him into the movie. It makes his "I don't believe in consistency" line work on multiple levels

[@Patchesbutnah]

I absolutely love how Hobie gets his own animation rules. My favorite is definitely the whole “any of these rules are breakable at any Tim because he ‘doesn’t believe in consistency’,” which honestly so cool. I also like how when Hobie wrote the letter to Gwen that was attached to the watch he made, his handwriting shifted from uppercase to lowercase consistently for the same reason.

[@grapeicies]

Pleeeeease talk about the bad guys work flow. I’d love to hear about the rules you guys set for yourselves and how the first Spiderverse movie changed the conversation of developing the movie

[@NoTheRobot]

Oh there’s definitely a lot to talk about there!😁

[@tahreesuh]

I can never be more thankful to Spiderverse for pushing the boundaries on what animation could and should be.

[@thenostalgicguy46]

4:22. Oh man, as a software engineer, I can totally relate. Sometimes we have multiple meetings just to decide whether or not we should change the colour of a button from blue to red.

[@NoTheRobot]

ISNT IT THE BEST😫

[@Mr_Taco520]

Spiderverse didn't break the rules, they made them far better.

[@SanchoDaMEME]

Across the spiderverse was so amazing, that it finally made me put pen on paper and start drawing again! I hadn’t seen the first one so I was just mesmerized the entire time!

[@NoTheRobot]

That’s so great to hear!! 🤘

[@AntsTheaterCorner2698]

Give them the Oscar already.

[@jukesdtj656]

Going for photo-realism in the medium of animation was always something that felt silly to me, like people were missing the point. I am so glad for this new modern age of creativity and innovation, and I can't wait for the rules to be broken over and over again so that they can be reinvented and interpreted by so many people so many times that the branching paths of all of it make a universe of animation that we can look at and be amazed by for generations to come.

[@Kennmnny]

PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE LEGO MOVIE

[@myheartwillstopinjoy8142]

I don't watch superhero movies, but my friend pushed me into watching the 2 spiderverse movies and I'm so glad I listened to him. As an artist, I'm so grateful to exist in a time where such art exists.

[@NoTheRobot]

Btw if you like my No 🧢, you can purchase one on my website! All proceeds go towards funding my VR animation project 😁-> zopstudios.com/zopshop/p/no-hat-unisex-flat-bill-hat

[@aaiden_Blade]

no cap

[@Justininurmum]

You should make one with the robot eyes or one dark red one to match your logo cause when someone wears it they’ll be like “that’s notherobot merch”

[@NoTheRobot]

@@Justininurmum Ha it's actually black in my pfp but the bloom effect makes it look red.

[@Adeply11]

Please do the bad guys. And if it’s possible to do on blender and tutorials if you can pls

[@crystalcactuis.w]

I left a comment. do it

[@vanimapermai]

I really hope more studios start braking the rules like this

[@plya0]

Great video! I'd love to hear about your work on The Bad Guys! Also, do you know anything about the production behind Puss In Boots? I love that movie's stylized animated as well :D

[@NoTheRobot]

I’d be happy to talk about my time at DWA! Yes I know a decent amount about PIB as a lot of artists from Bad Guys moved right into helping the PIB team wrap up production. Definitely a lot to talk about!

[@jjam1025]

Yeah would love to se that

[@mortal9994]

across the spiderverse is honestly one for my fav movies of all time and this further solidifies it

[@KruzSanchez]

I would LOVE a in depth bad guys video or anything else you've worked on. there is honestly not a lot of HIGH quality videos HIGHLY IN DEPTH about animation

[@NoTheRobot]

On it! 😁✌️

[@Ph4ntomHourGlass]

Honestly number three is the most important. We can make anything look like real life but then why not just make it live action. If we're going to make an animated movie it should utilise the fulll capability of animation and im glad to see that studios finally are...

[@entitypolyhedron]

The symbolism in Spiderverse’s animation is amazing

[@mihkelvarga1624]

when i started watching the first part where miles taps on his neck with pen i was like "hold up.. this is something new" the animations are amazing

[@NoTheRobot]

So subtle but instantly set the tone for the rest of the movie. Genius.

[@raydhen8840]

0:02 I love that this notion applies on anything in general. e.g. Good chef follows the recipe books, great chef understands when NOT to follow the recipes, altering stuff as simply as stirring the pan few minute longer or using alternative spices might end you up with better food than what cook book dictates.

[@nonechico]

the way they used colors to tell Gwen's story was so amazing

[@dfmanga]

Lower frame rate and smearing are the reasons why Dragon Ball Fighter Z (and other games by the same developers) looks so good

[@NoTheRobot]

There’s just something so handmade about it, it’s a reminder that there are artists behind the media we consume and not just algorithms

[@usercl3ev2pt1b]

Your video popped up on recommendations, binge watching all of them

[@chiara1650]

I absolutely love the style of the new Spider-Man movie(s). It’s so unique

[@luna_rose7604]

This is a really cool analysis! I'd love to hear more about your time in the industry :D

[@NoTheRobot]

Thank you! I’d be happy to share more 😁

[@artmanjohn2]

I just got a 3D Blu-Ray of Spiderman: Across the Spider-Verse. I actually had to order it from Asia, it's an Italian 3D Blu-Ray release. If any movie was meant to be seen in 3D it is this one! I can't imagine seeing it any other way, it's breathtaking! This movie was literally designed for 3D and I know it wasn't even in the theatres here in the US in 3D as far as I know! Anyways, love your channel.

[@joliepl7775]

this explanation made me appreciate the movie’s visual style even more. And i would totally watch a video hearing about your time working on Bad Guys!

[@aravindvinayakan]

THIS IS SO COOL! Instant subscribe, I'm about to binge everything you've ever uploaded!

[@minatoyoshida]

i love all the HowToTrainYourDragon included

[@Theintergalactic]

im new to your channel, ive seen some of your videos, and i think you have hade a good job! keep the good work up

[@jetstreamtheseawing7547]

I loved seeing the noticeable sketch lines on the Spot and the subtle ones for Miguel

[@yugrajsingh8490]

2:29 zesty ahh punch

[@worsttranslatorever7135]

not a clickbait, a really interesting video and you explained it very well and simple that I could understand you're cool man

[@WarpEnnn]

I think we need to say thank you to Alberto Mielgo for this changes in art styles of 3d and 2d animation

[@mysticeeye]

I noticed while watching the movie that Spot's sketch lines were visible from time to time, and i loved every moment of that

[@yaniv242]

Very cool video dude! Enjoyed it

[@edgars_animations9057]

I would love to see a video about your time working on the bad guys and getting to learn about the style of the film

[@NoTheRobot]

Can do! It’s fun to talk about it😁

[@KYotuA12]

the distortion made the second one possible😆

[@Jim_boe]

I personally love the style and liveliness of this new wave of 3d animation. What I hope to see in the future is more techniques commonly used in anime utilized by western media. Imagine the next superhero movie animated like it was done by Trigger lmao.

[@itsSKR]

Really enjoyed your video man, great job! Also, I'd love to hear more about the lego movie and your time in the industry.

[@SandhraKP]

such a well made video! learnt so many new things from this.

[@mandoleg]

Telling you to make a video about The Lego Movie.

[@NoTheRobot]

Heck yeah🤘

[@kenjidoesstuff6347]

You should do one on Lord and Miller so I can here your thoughts on the Lego movie/Cloudy and how it affected Spider-Verse!

[@sasuke4104]

Don't ever stop okay this is literally the best channel i came across in a year 😃 please make videoes about animation industry and how it works

[@NoTheRobot]

Aw thank you, that’s kind of you to say! 🙏 I definitely will make more videos about the industry, there’s so much to discuss

[@researchinbreeder]

I think its interesting that something similar started a while ago in video games, though sadly with less adoption from the industry at large. Arc System Works made Guilty Gear Xrd (2014) and later Dragon Ball FighterZ (2018) using very similar principles of skipping in-between frames and forcing imperfections into the art and animation, specifically to evoke the feeling of traditional 2d anime. Dan from New Frame Plus has an excellent video on the topic, if you'd like to learn more.

[@stephanieferguson723]

Great video. Love spiderverse's styling. Abd yes please talk about bad guys!

[@linoylerer5346]

I need more videos like this

[@josfa3252]

This was realy informative and straight to the point, thats a sub from me!

[@revelare_xvii6269]

Imagine a movie centered around motorsports in this animation style.

[@vltornimate8765]

Hey man, i just met you trought youtube and well, i'm thinking about being an animator in the future, since i have some experiwnce animating (even tough all i do is 2d stickfigures fighting each other). Could tou make like, a video about your path to becoming a professional animator? Also, i loved this video format, and this video itself, i may keep watchibg more of you videos in the future

[@coffeemug8455]

The rules of animation Across the spiderverse: nah ima do my own thing

[@theboizee6606]

Beautiful video bro

[@jaydonishungry]

Well, this blew my mind and now you earned a sub

[@jonathanskinner7647]

For that second rule, the only example I can think of of another bit of media that uses this technique of smear and slowed down frames in Red vs Blue fight scenes in like season 7-10

[@hernandeztorresdaniel9559]

Amazing video!

[@woodyscorner8536]

Anything you talk about if it’s formatted like this, I will definitely listen lol

[@NoTheRobot]

😁🙏

[@littleanswers1370]

A little birdie once told me “imperfections in the digital world is the perfection in the real life world”

[@jungleblazers1249]

No wonder Spider Punk took 3 years to animate. Honestly, I'm glad the Spider-Verse films have evolved the animation industry. Realism was fun for a while, but got boring. Bring back stylization baby! Hopefully video games take a similar approach soon on their big titles. I know indie games can be stylized already.

[@AutumnTheAxalotl]

So the skipping of the inbetweens is like the arrows in princess mononoke? They weren’t drawn flying just hitting

[@chizhang2765]

So you're telling me Hobie Brown's frame rate is a math rock song?

[@NoTheRobot]

Lmao basically

[@aspillust]

my family laughs at me whenever i gush about the spiderverse movies and rarely take me seriously when i say it's a cinematic masterpiece, but i know i'm right. it's pure perfection and it's inspired me so much as an artist.

[@NoTheRobot]

Don't worry we all understand how great it is here ✌

[@BisonGaming3334]

3:07 Now the top text is something I didn't think I needed

[@Guns_andGoblins]

Absolutely love and am inspired by this

[@07-jodymohamed52]

Only 34 thousand dude your videos are so cool it deserves more subscribers

[@NoTheRobot]

Hey thanks so much!! I’m grateful for anyone who watches these videos haha. What other types of videos would you like to see?

[@Miju001]

Found this in my recommended and then you just drop that you worked on The Bad Guys lol. A video talking about your experience with it and a video talking about The Lego Movie both sound like really great ideas!

[@NoTheRobot]

Thanks for watching! Working on them now😁🤘

[@Miju001]

@@NoTheRobot Awesome!

[@tackyakiii]

YES PLEASE MAKE MORE ANIMATION REVIEWS RAGHHHH TRHIS IS SO INTERESTING!!!

[@NoTheRobot]

Thanks for watching!! I had a lot of fun making this so definitely more to come!

[@invisibleaccount9284]

Skipping the inbetweens on the punch is something straight out of game development. We call it juice. As a game dev that makes me so happy to see.

[@ReiseLukas]

This makes me curious if 3d Animation can use such a technique could it be possible for Live action? I'm trying to picture a Live Action movie on 2s and 3s

[@NoTheRobot]

I haven’t seen it done before but it’s certainly possible!

[@LegorocketsAnimation]

How would that work? Would you have a 24fps camera, a 12fps, and an 8fps recording the same scene and then edit them together after recording? Also I think it would be a lot more jarring in live action since your eyes are used to around 24fps and that is what you would expect. Now I want to see someone at least try it.

[@lozzyr]

4:07 in the scene where Spot gets stuck inside himself with all the black holes you can see the guide lines on his shoulders and how the body is drawn on spot while he’s there i thought it was pretty cool honestly

[@delaneyelekes8660]

I feel Across the Spideverse does so much more than just break two or three rules, it has so many drastically different settings and creative shots and unique character design elements beyond Hobie that it's hard to even credit two or three details for making the game look as beautiful as it is.

[@NoTheRobot]

You're right! There's so much more I could talk about

[@LaurenWhatever]

This was great, and I’d love to hear about your time on The Bad Guys!

[@Robbity]

Please make that video about working on The Bad Guys. It’s one of my favorite animated movies ever, and I’d love to see more about how it was made.

[@NoTheRobot]

Workin on it!

[@Rasberrylil]

Id love to see you talk more about your time at the Bad Guys and also Lego Movie!!

[@teshtishtoshtesh3218]

Great video, and I agree, these are crucial for the industry. I'd love to hear anything you can say about working on The Bad Guys. Insider data is fascinating to me. I work in film, and have worked in games, so it's great to get into the details of how other people solved problems I might run into.

[@RubixKyuub]

Not bad. This video was short and straight to the point.

[@ViridianWoF]

for the in between frames bit, I once screen recorded that one scene where miles hugs his dad as spiderman after his fight with kingpin and there are like.. 3 frames? it made it so much funnier and cuter because it goes SO FAST with only one in between frame. they went all out on these movies istg

[@michaelortiz2652]

Respect, I never thought about these things. Interesting

[@celsyius]

wait but actually please make a video about The Bad Guys and the Lego Movie and your time at DreamWorks, I think that would be absolutely fascinating and I'm super interested to hear about all that!! Usually we only see discussion about PIxar/Disney, but I haven't really heard anyone talk in depth about some of the animating and animation work in DreamWorks and it seems like you have a lot of experience! I subbed, and can't wait to see more of your videos, they're super neat :D

[@Absolei]

Yeah! I'd love a video talking about your time working on The Bad Guys.

[@BingBangPoe]

This film (and _Into the Spider-Verse)_ just shows how powerful of a medium animation is. I'm absolutely adoring this new era of animation where they look back at the fundamentals of 2D animation and apply them to 3D; seeing squash & strech and smear frames in 3D animated films is pure joy. I truly hope this is a step in the right direction to change that Jurassic western mentality that "animations are for kids".

[@Aztonio]

2:46 This kind of technic was also used for Overwatch in-game character's animations ! The elongated shapes and silly deformed bodies to better convey movement, even in 60 fps style.

[@stonefreak5763]

just discovered you, you make great videos and I like the type of informations I get, thx man And yeah, pls make a The Lego Movie episode

[@NoTheRobot]

Hey thank you so much!! I just posted my Lego Movie video, I hope you enjoy it :)

[@SpammingY-pp2ru]

You should talk about the Peanuts movie! There are a few similar points, and I think it's also really cool!

[@soku330]

1:20 also called Blocking

[@BrownieX001]

Animation is a medium that has so much potential and tell completely unique stories that are just not possible with live action even with huge CGI budgets. Cyberpunk Edgerunners was another recent show that really pushed audio/video experience. Anime content in general has done different styles and you can really find something that appeals to you. Spiderverse 2 was really unique for superhero / hollywood movie. It has amazing soundtracks and VA work. The way the artists utilized colour and shapes to differentiate moods in scenes was something really wondering to experience on the big screen.

[@Rich_1]

This and Puss in Boots are one of my favourite animated movies cuz on the 3D style. I feel like I can relax in and watch it instead or trying to spot the bits that don’t look real

[@Logan-tinyplanetss]

my family and i love bad guys, a video talking about it would be super interesting!!! and lego movie is iconic forever im never tired of hearing about lego animations, stop motion or 3d graphics

[@rahmanmargerum5702]

Fantastic breakdown. I know nothing about 3d animation, but felt like an expert for 5 mins.

[@NoTheRobot]

Just posted a video about the lego movie!

[@MatheusFelipe2]

Make every video you hinted at in this one, thanks