gnet Agency partnered with Groove Jones and Crunchyroll to deliver an extraordinary activation for My Hero Academia. This collaboration involved adding an augmented reality (AR) effect to a custom-made statue featuring characters from the series, available on Crunchyroll, to transport fans into the world of My Hero Academia and enhance engagement with the franchise.
gnet commissioned artist Greg Aronowitz to sculpt a statue depicting the intense battle between All Might and All For One. My team at Groove Jones developed a unique AR experience that would complement the physical statue and give fans an interactive journey.
Being a fan of the show and anime as a whole, I knew that certain small details could really sell the anime look and feel. Things like variable low frame rates on 2D effects, and impact frames. These ideas were pitched to my team, approved, and implemented in animated texture atlases I inevitably created for the AR Experience.
With details like debris simulations, wind, lightning, smoke, action lines, and impact frames. The issue of optimizing the final AR Asset became a massive concern for our team. Using a unique workaround I was able to reduce the amount of draw calls by 98% from more than 200 to 5. This is unprecedented for such a complex animation and is now an integral part of my Motion Design workflow when working on AR Experiences.