It's been a few years since I've done 3D animation. In college, I learned 3D in a software called Maya, but a different software, Cinema4D, has become the norm for motion design, so I needed to stay up to date and learn it .
When practicing 3D, people often say to first start by making something mechanical, like a clock or a microwave, and then something organic, like a flower. That's how I thought of this short animation, which I first did in a more "realistic" style:
I'm not usually keen on working in 3D because a lot of 3D work you see is photo realistic, and I'm not too interested in that, but I do really like the possibility of meshing 3D with 2D. That's what I did in the version below. By using a parallel camera and changing the textures, I was able to flatten the model and make it look a bit more 2D.
Below is a comparison between the normal perspective camera (left) and the parallel camera (right). The parallel camera creates a forced perspective effect, which I find to be more appealing.
I also created most of the sound effects by recording myself using the toaster. It was much faster than having to scroll through long lists of SFX on various websites, so I'll try doing my own foley design more in the future.