1. Bird

I collaborated on the thesis film of a graduate student in my department, Thomas Ellsworth, and created the rig for his bird character. I was given the model, but added the feathers. This project challenged me to study bird anatomy and create a system that would allow the wings to fold up in the correct manner.

2. Snake

The snake was modeled, rigged, and animated by me for my undergraduate thesis film. I used a z-spine set up to create more natural deformation and motion. This rig has two identical spines that run parallel to each other. The main spine takes its rotation from the position of the z-spine it points at.

3. Fish

The fish was also a part of my peers' thesis film that I collaborated on. I worked closely with the animators to receive feedback on each version of my rig. I created a z-spine that would have more accurate deformation and motion. The character also transforms into a flying fish. I created the mesh transform through a combination of blend shapes and matching transforms between two sets of joint joints. This allows for the animator to continue keyframing the wing and fin, without using individual blendshapes.

4. Ladybug

This character was the main focus of my undergraduate thesis film. His character needed the capability to walk, talk, and fly. I created scalable wings that tuck under the shell, as well as over 25 blendshapes of phonemes for his facial expressions. His speech pattern was a combination of blendshapes and a jaw joint. I also used motion capture on this project. I worked with my voice actor to create facial capture data that I was able to then use as a strong base for my speech animation. I brought the data into Motionbuilder where I was able to map the jaw bone and blendshapes to be driven by my actors motion.

5. Crabs

These crabs were my first rigging project completed in Maya. I modeled, rigged, and animated them. Each leg had four joints which made the IK systems a little more difficult to set up. I overcame this by using two IK handles on each leg. Each leg also had a pole vector so that I could orient the legs more properly during the walk cycle.

6. Frog

This character was also a part of my thesis film. His legs were a great challenge for me to overcome and taught me a lot about the best way for a character to be modeled before rigging. I created a scalable tongue for this character and many blendshapes to capture his emotion. I modeled, rigged, and animated this character.

7. Lila

This biped was a collaboration between my fellow classmate, Cleo Somohano, and I. The character was a part of her thesis film, so she modeled and animated the character and I created the rig for her. The facial expressions and hand movements of this character were the main focus, as the character is sitting for much of the film. Cleo and I worked closely to reach the final version that was best for her to animate.

Highlights

I studied filmmaking at The Ohio State University, I focused my coursework on 3D computer animation, working within Maya, Unreal Engine, and Motionbuilder. I also completed fine arts courses and computer science work to grow my creative and problem solving skills.

Skills

Autodesk Maya, Unreal Engine, Python Scripting, Motionbuilder, Nuke Studio