Join the Animation Crew with B-Girl Beatrix!

Animate the rhythm of your city.

Created by Konee Rok.

Are you missing people-watching and yearning to feel the rhythm of the city? Don’t fret, Adobe and Character Animator have you covered. Meet B-Girl Beatrix, street dancer extraordinaire, as she and her crew deliver all the right moves! Inspired by the train scene from the music video “The City” by DJ Aktive, Beatrix is an amazing multifaceted puppet and background. Along with her “b-boys,” she’s dancing, entertaining passengers, and gathering tips. She prefers being upside down — a perfect opportunity to move her feet into different poses or a headspin.

The B-Girl Beatrix Puppet and the music video were created by director, documentarian, and animator Konee Rok. He’s produced projects featuring Grammy-winning, Oscar-winning, and multi-platinum acts such as Kanye West, Common, Wu-Tang Clan, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rhymefest, and A Tribe Called Quest, just to name a few. Last year, he created 10 animated segments using an Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Character Animator workflow for the documentary “Beyond Driven: Lella Lombardi & the Women of Formula One” which premiered at Cannes_._

This year, using Adobe Character Animator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro, Konee completed the animated music video for “The City” in just two months. The video is filled with subtle references to various cities and references to the history of hip-hop. The song features multiple artists including DJ Aktive, Freeway, Common, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Bri Steves.

Regarding his use of Adobe Character Animator, Konee says, “When I first dabbled with Character Animator I wasn’t sure if it would complement my established Photoshop/Premiere animation workflow. Off a suggestion, I decided to try it in this project to see if I would find it useful. It turned out to be a deeper toolbox than I anticipated! I gained a lot by navigating through all the new options to enhance the movements of my characters. It became an asset to the quality and speed of the animation process. I’m glad I invested the time to learn something new, and it will be interesting to see how much further I can push these tools to bring more ideas to life in the future.”

B-Girl Beatrix is a street dancer in a train station. But this puppet is so much more. You can also use just the background and add any puppet of your choosing to the scene. Behind her, two b-boys dance to a drumbeat coming from a boom box. One of the guys is a spray paint artist too. As passengers go by, they leave tip money in a jar. This puppet comes with eight triggers. Start by pressing the 1 key, and watch the b-boys come to life. Press 3, and Beatrix does a headspin. Press 4 or 5, and watch her freeze in different positions. Press 7, and she positions herself for the crab walk. Then just move the left or right arrows to see her crabwalk back and forth. Press 8, and she returns to her preferred headstand. Try pressing combinations of triggers simultaneously to bring it all to life! Plus, Beatrix has automatic lip-sync, and her braids move as she moves.

Bring the rhythm of your city and your animations to life with your own crew and B-Girl Beatrix!

Resources:

Get B-Girl Beatrix and other free puppets here.

Learn more about The City video.

Add free sound fx: https://character.adobelanding.com/resources/

More fun free puppets at Okay Samurai’s page.