Breakdown

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0:03

"Timmy" Rig and Model

Character for mobile game Paradise Fortune Casino, in which I did the entire 3D model, texture and rig.

Rig was created using mGear. Animation by Adam Gimes.

 

0:09

"Generic Bipedal" Rig Pipeline

On Paradise, I took over rigging from an outsourcer and developed the "Generic Bipedal" pipeline, in which characters share a basic mGear rig.

This sped up animation production as the most common animations (idle, walking, talking) only needed to be animated once and then modified to fit the character's personality, and rig references could even be swapped in the same Maya file.

 

0:21

Bird Rigs and Models

I modeled, textured and rigged these birds for Paradise. The "Generic Bird" mGear rig pipeline could also share animations despite major differences in size and shape: the big-billed Toucan can use the same animations as a small-beaked Turaco.

Tucking the wings of the bird was a unique challenge that required a pre-set animation and a corrective blendshape.

The bird rig's beak could be easily opened, and its tail feathers curled, through the use of Set Driven Keys on an offset group. This lets animators still animate the controls separately.

 

0:35

Wyatt Rig and Props

In addition to Wyatt's rig, I also rigged his props. This included a fishing pole, which could flex to communicate weight from a catch, and the reel contained a parent space for IK.

 

0:46

Charlie Rig and Props

In addition to Charlie's rig, I rigged his selfie stick. It's able to telescope out by separating the middle geometry, adding a scale to it, and then pinning the phone to the end of the telescoping rod.

 

0:50

Simon Rig and Props

In addition to Simon's rig, I rigged his book and camera prop. The camera wasn't intended to be used directly, so animators just needed a way for the camera to react to physics. (I also modeled and textured the camera!)

 

0:56

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl mGear Rigs

I rigged half the base roster of console title Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl using mGear. They presented many unique challenges, such as Aang's overlapping clothes and expandable staff seen at 1:04. (Mikey animation by Ricardo Vinhas)

 

1:09

"Game Grumps" Rigs

I created a freelance animated short for Youtube channel Game Grumps. The 2D-like rigs had very basic controls due to a tight 6 week deadline, but I'm proud of some of the features I managed to include.

The viseme picker is actually quite simple: The mouths are set up in an image sequence, and each mouth is associated with a number. The Y-axis is open to close and single digits (0 to 3), while the X-axis determines the shape and is double digits (10, 20, 30). The numbers are then added together to determine the final mouth shape, such as "mouth_041.png"

A small squash and stretch is added to the mouth to add to the effect.

 

1:15

"Doodley" Rig and Model

Doodley is the avatar I use on my 600k+ Youtube channel. He has a fairly simple rig, so I highlighted his squash and stretch control that allows me to add a bit more life to his animation.

 

1:20

"Gimberly" Rig and Model

Gimberly is a character used for demonstrations on the Doodley Youtube channel. Her rig is mostly the standard mGear rig, but with a custom face rig and dynamic hair setup. Her ponytail uses Maya dynamics and animates automatically, but can be switched for manual controls.