How Spider-Verse Broke The Rules of 3D Animation

Summary

The video explains three ways Spider-Verse challenged conventional 3D animation by adapting techniques from 2D animation and comics.

1. Different frame rates for different characters

Traditional 3D animation often uses a new pose every frame, a technique known as animation “on ones.” The first Spider-Verse instead used animation on twos. Across the Spider-Verse gives Spider-Punk deliberately irregular timing: his character is animated on threes, his guitar on fours, and his jacket on threes with a one-frame offset. The rules can also be broken when doing so better expresses his nonconformist personality.

2. Skipping in-between frames

A typical animation workflow establishes key poses, adds breakdowns to define the movement, and fills in the in-between frames. Spider-Verse sometimes jumps directly between poses—for example, from winding up a punch to its impact—to make the action feel sharper.

Smear frames, such as extra drawn limbs or shapes, help guide the viewer’s eye between poses without showing the intervening motion.

3. Rejecting perfectionism

Rather than basing every movement and surface on real-world physics, the films draw on comic-book style and deliberately retain visual irregularities. For example, Miles Morales’s eye outline does not align with its color, evoking comic-book printing.

The video argues that committing to a distinctive style—and sometimes “fighting the computer” to achieve it—can push animation forward.

Techniques and Advice

• Learn animation conventions before choosing to break them.
• Use timing and frame rates to express a character’s personality.
• Establish key poses and breakdowns, but consider omitting in-betweens for stronger impact.
• Use smear frames to connect poses without conventional smooth motion.
• Embrace intentional imperfections when they serve the art direction.

Other References and Contributors

The video points to The Lego Movie as an earlier example of stylized animation and anticipates further experimentation in cinema and virtual reality.

Pierre is identified in the subtitles as the director of The Bad Guys. The unnamed narrator says they worked on The Bad Guys and are producing a 3D animation project for virtual reality.