"Bouncy + Grabber + Gem Hunt" is my 1st Major 3D Animation of 2024, completed on March 4th. The short film's premise is simplified as follows: two robots discovering a gem in a cave and retrieving it. It's educative purpose was to learn how to use the "Redshift" rendering software instead of "Arnold", as well to control models with advanced rigs in Maya. I was provided with the models of the Robots as well as the terrain and cave topology of the scene. However some alterations were made to the wheeled robot's design- replacing its original fleshy eye with a robotic one. This was done to make the scan scene more readable for the viewer and also remove any uncanniness (the fleshy eye made me uncomfortable). One aspect that required great care was the animation itself- in part due to the "anatomy" of the robots. Because the crane robot, "Grabber", had wheels rather than legs, I had to alter the angling of the wheels whenever I wanted it to change direction, just as I would with a car. "Bouncy's" problem was different, being a uniped; as such I had to account for its top-heaviness whenever it hopped. I also attempted to use each robot's quirks as an opportunity to showcase emotion and "human-esque" ticks. Grabber clinking his claw before picking up the gem is analogous to when a human might wiggle their fingers before picking up something up- building anticipation for the viewer. Bouncy bounces with glee when Grabber leaves the cave with the crystal, implying a hierarchy where Bouncy is subservient to Grabber and looks up to it. Ultimately, it was an exercise in pantomime- to give personality and charm- "humanity"- to the robots without a definitive voice or face. On a technical level things were also complex. For instance, to achieve the desired 1st Person perspective shots I had to attach a camera and light onto Grabber's model via constrains so that when it wheeled forward, so did the camera, while still being able to change its orientation to "look" around. The preset Redshift was also a hassle to work with due to its reliance on specified textures that could not be edited after-the-fact. A plus relating to it however was a faster render time, but I found it to be a sufficient alternative rather than the new norm for me. Once the animation was finished and rendered out as exr files, they were imported into Adobe Premiere Pro as an animation sequence, where final adjustments would occur. One such adjustment was the incorporation of audio. Sound effects were obtained either from Youtube (recorded with Audacity) or from the files of various Call of Duty titles (with the use of the extractor Greyhound). The overarching music used in the production was a free royalty song called "Dawn" by Arnito. With sound added alongside the footage, the animation was processed out as an MP4 file. It was finished.…"Bouncy + Grabber + Gem Hunt" is my 1st Major 3D Animation of 2024, completed on March 4th. The short film's premise is simplified as follows: two robots discovering a gem in a cave and retrieving it. It's educative purpose was to learn how to use the "Redshift" rendering software instead of "Arnold", as well to control models with advanced rigs in Maya. I was provided with the models of the Robots as well as the terrain and cave topology of the scene. However some alterations were made to the wheeled robot's design- replacing its original fleshy eye with a robotic one. This was done to make the scan scene more readable for the viewer and also remove any uncanniness (the fleshy eye made me uncomfortable). One aspect that required great care was the animation itself- in part due to the "anatomy" of the robots. Because the crane robot, "Grabber", had wheels rather than legs, I had to alter the angling of the wheels whenever I wanted it to change direction, just as I would with a car. "Bouncy's" problem was different, being a uniped; as such I had to account for its top-heaviness whenever it hopped. I also attempted to use each robot's quirks as an opportunity to showcase emotion and "human-esque" ticks. Grabber clinking his claw before picking up the gem is analogous to when a human might wiggle their fingers before picking up something up- building anticipation for the viewer. Bouncy bounces with glee when Grabber leaves the cave with the crystal, implying a hierarchy where Bouncy is subservient to Grabber and looks up to it. Ultimately, it was an exercise in pantomime- to give personality and charm- "humanity"- to the robots without a definitive voice or face. On a technical level things were also complex. For instance, to achieve the desired 1st Person perspective shots I had to attach a camera and light onto Grabber's model via constrains so that when it wheeled forward, so did the camera, while still being able to change its orientation to "look" around. The preset Redshift was also a hassle to work with due to its reliance on specified textures that could not be edited after-the-fact. A plus relating to it however was a faster render time, but I found it to be a sufficient alternative rather than the new norm for me. Once the animation was finished and rendered out as exr files, they were imported into Adobe Premiere Pro as an animation sequence, where final adjustments would occur. One such adjustment was the incorporation of audio. Sound effects were obtained either from Youtube (recorded with Audacity) or from the files of various Call of Duty titles (with the use of the extractor Greyhound). The overarching music used in the production was a free royalty song called "Dawn" by Arnito. With sound added alongside the footage, the animation was processed out as an MP4 file. It was finished.

3d AnimatorSound DesignerVideo Editor

Elegy of Light: I Am Kira

"Elegy of Light: I Am Kira" is my 4th and final VFX film of 2023, completed on May 1st 2023. Its purpose was to educate myself on features of Adobe After Effects through a motion typography video- using text with VFX and visual language to accent a prevailing dialogue. For my video I decided to choose Light Yagami's speech from the "Death Note" anime's final episode: "New World". In Light Yagami's revelation as Kira, he attempts to use pathos in conjunction with logical and statistical talking points to rationalize himself and positions as a mass-murderer of criminals and hindrances to his plans. For such a grim subject, I utilized color theories well. Much of the video includes white text against black, ominously, with red text on important words because red is eye-catching and distressing as the color of blood. Occasionally colors would have a contextual purpose, like orange, black and white being used when discussing crime rates (prison jumpsuits). Other times, it would be symbolic, such as with the use of sunrises to symbolize "hope" and sunsets a "bleakness" for the future. The video's iconography can reference controversial reality to relate to the content. The image of the Twin Towers came from the manga, its purpose left ambiguous. I saw it as a representation of humanity but wanted to leave it ambiguous too. It can be interpreted as a reference to the looming threat of Kira before disaster or the perverted "help" Kira brings to rebuild society to spite criminals, as the Twin Towers might've been in a literal sense. The latter coincides with the use of Nazi coloration and the vague swastika fans (present in the warehouse), to show Light's authoritarian, genocidal goals and rhetoric. Movement and timing was a centerpiece for the project, not merely to sync with the audio but to match its energy. The speed that the texts materialize into view and circumvent the page is as frantic as the speech by the end, while in the beginning the visuals are much more modest. The most dynamic on that front would probably be near the ending when text for "(WHO) ELSE COULD'VE DONE IT?!" shifts from horizontal to vertical orientation to form the cross of a gravestone. I also experimented with graphic art in the film, creating "trace" drawings with simplified colors, of Light Yagami, the Death Note itself and the gallows that Light Yagami makes Naomi Misora walk to in Episode 7. For this I would place the image I wanted to redraw in Photoshop, use the Magic Wand and Quick Select tools on parts of its form and fill them in on a new layer with limited colors. Among these is, most ambitiously, a man falling through a ceiling window. The animation is a scene from the show (replaying in the speech); frame-by-frame I traced the silhouette of the man in Photoshop and imported the images into After Effects as a PNG sequence. Then, I oriented the window the man would crash through into a side-perspective, to hold the viewer's suspense further till he does.…"Elegy of Light: I Am Kira" is my 4th and final VFX film of 2023, completed on May 1st 2023. Its purpose was to educate myself on features of Adobe After Effects through a motion typography video- using text with VFX and visual language to accent a prevailing dialogue. For my video I decided to choose Light Yagami's speech from the "Death Note" anime's final episode: "New World". In Light Yagami's revelation as Kira, he attempts to use pathos in conjunction with logical and statistical talking points to rationalize himself and positions as a mass-murderer of criminals and hindrances to his plans. For such a grim subject, I utilized color theories well. Much of the video includes white text against black, ominously, with red text on important words because red is eye-catching and distressing as the color of blood. Occasionally colors would have a contextual purpose, like orange, black and white being used when discussing crime rates (prison jumpsuits). Other times, it would be symbolic, such as with the use of sunrises to symbolize "hope" and sunsets a "bleakness" for the future. The video's iconography can reference controversial reality to relate to the content. The image of the Twin Towers came from the manga, its purpose left ambiguous. I saw it as a representation of humanity but wanted to leave it ambiguous too. It can be interpreted as a reference to the looming threat of Kira before disaster or the perverted "help" Kira brings to rebuild society to spite criminals, as the Twin Towers might've been in a literal sense. The latter coincides with the use of Nazi coloration and the vague swastika fans (present in the warehouse), to show Light's authoritarian, genocidal goals and rhetoric. Movement and timing was a centerpiece for the project, not merely to sync with the audio but to match its energy. The speed that the texts materialize into view and circumvent the page is as frantic as the speech by the end, while in the beginning the visuals are much more modest. The most dynamic on that front would probably be near the ending when text for "(WHO) ELSE COULD'VE DONE IT?!" shifts from horizontal to vertical orientation to form the cross of a gravestone. I also experimented with graphic art in the film, creating "trace" drawings with simplified colors, of Light Yagami, the Death Note itself and the gallows that Light Yagami makes Naomi Misora walk to in Episode 7. For this I would place the image I wanted to redraw in Photoshop, use the Magic Wand and Quick Select tools on parts of its form and fill them in on a new layer with limited colors. Among these is, most ambitiously, a man falling through a ceiling window. The animation is a scene from the show (replaying in the speech); frame-by-frame I traced the silhouette of the man in Photoshop and imported the images into After Effects as a PNG sequence. Then, I oriented the window the man would crash through into a side-perspective, to hold the viewer's suspense further till he does.

Motion Graphic DesignerPhotoshop EditorSound DesignerVisual Effects Artist

Knight Scare: Cavern Hideout

"Knight Scare: Cavern Hideout" is the 2nd Major 3D Maya Animation of 2024 I was involved in, completed on 5/1/2024. As a group effort, three were involved: June Poston, Josh Wilson and myself- Ben Robinson. The initial concept birthed from June: A female knight spooked by scarecrow that is revealed to be alive after all. She also sketched out rough and clean 9-panel storyboards, so we'd head 1/3 each; by the end of the picture we didn't end up that way 1 to 1. For instance, Josh decided to scrap the walk off-screen, replacing it with dramatic zooms as the knight turns to find the scarecrow alive. Scene designations as follows were- myself as 1-3 (The Walk Up), June 4-6 (The Poke) and Josh 7-9 (The Looting)- yet I'd edit things outside my scene related to body animation, timing and the like. A big focus was on the "Female Knight" rig, originating elsewhere but unfinished. Josh primarily painted the skin-weights of the model for movement; I too helped by adding movement controls that weren't present at first- for her hair, eyebrows and equipment. The integral tweak to the model, for me, was the incorporation of facial animation. The original's 3D face was too primitive; hence my decision to animate the Knight's expressions using 2D animation via the software Clip Studio Paint. What I would do is draw and animate each frame for the face, time it to coincide with the 3D animation and export it as a PNG sequence- to import it into the Maya scene as a texture on the model's face in hybrid fashion, like Zelda's OOT. For this, timing was impeccable, not only to have enough frames but to accurately convey the type of feeling for each scene. Timing incongruency could cause her to make an expression that doesn't match the action or its length- tainting gags or drama. Another aspect I headed is set design. While many of the models used were imported from elsewhere (including that of the trees), the cavern and forest topology was not; also, many of their textures were custom-applied from online. Lighting tricks were used for ambient light, lightning and lantern glow (made of 3 lights), in junction with moody rain. Finally, each scene was exported as EXRs and imported into Premiere Pro where they would be combined with filters, SFX, the Knight's voice and music. My approach for the cartoon's sound design was to create a haunting atmosphere that doesn't take itself too seriously. This is met with natural ambiance and suspenseful scores strung throughout, juxtaposed with goofy SFX to notify when it parodies its own genre. All SFX originated from Call of Duty or Youtube, with the 2 music bites being "Terrified" by Hubert Clifford & "Smoldering Fury" (C) by Trevor Duncan In conclusion, while being different parts of production to varying degrees, we collaborated as a team for innovative and experimental animation- using 3D (and 2D) animation techniques to tell a simple story with funny gags and an intriguing atmosphere that is, above all, entertaining.…"Knight Scare: Cavern Hideout" is the 2nd Major 3D Maya Animation of 2024 I was involved in, completed on 5/1/2024. As a group effort, three were involved: June Poston, Josh Wilson and myself- Ben Robinson. The initial concept birthed from June: A female knight spooked by scarecrow that is revealed to be alive after all. She also sketched out rough and clean 9-panel storyboards, so we'd head 1/3 each; by the end of the picture we didn't end up that way 1 to 1. For instance, Josh decided to scrap the walk off-screen, replacing it with dramatic zooms as the knight turns to find the scarecrow alive. Scene designations as follows were- myself as 1-3 (The Walk Up), June 4-6 (The Poke) and Josh 7-9 (The Looting)- yet I'd edit things outside my scene related to body animation, timing and the like. A big focus was on the "Female Knight" rig, originating elsewhere but unfinished. Josh primarily painted the skin-weights of the model for movement; I too helped by adding movement controls that weren't present at first- for her hair, eyebrows and equipment. The integral tweak to the model, for me, was the incorporation of facial animation. The original's 3D face was too primitive; hence my decision to animate the Knight's expressions using 2D animation via the software Clip Studio Paint. What I would do is draw and animate each frame for the face, time it to coincide with the 3D animation and export it as a PNG sequence- to import it into the Maya scene as a texture on the model's face in hybrid fashion, like Zelda's OOT. For this, timing was impeccable, not only to have enough frames but to accurately convey the type of feeling for each scene. Timing incongruency could cause her to make an expression that doesn't match the action or its length- tainting gags or drama. Another aspect I headed is set design. While many of the models used were imported from elsewhere (including that of the trees), the cavern and forest topology was not; also, many of their textures were custom-applied from online. Lighting tricks were used for ambient light, lightning and lantern glow (made of 3 lights), in junction with moody rain. Finally, each scene was exported as EXRs and imported into Premiere Pro where they would be combined with filters, SFX, the Knight's voice and music. My approach for the cartoon's sound design was to create a haunting atmosphere that doesn't take itself too seriously. This is met with natural ambiance and suspenseful scores strung throughout, juxtaposed with goofy SFX to notify when it parodies its own genre. All SFX originated from Call of Duty or Youtube, with the 2 music bites being "Terrified" by Hubert Clifford & "Smoldering Fury" (C) by Trevor Duncan In conclusion, while being different parts of production to varying degrees, we collaborated as a team for innovative and experimental animation- using 3D (and 2D) animation techniques to tell a simple story with funny gags and an intriguing atmosphere that is, above all, entertaining.

2d Animator3d AnimatorCharacter RiggerSound DesignerVideo Editor

Swamp of Death: The One

"Swamp of Death: The One" was my first major VFX film of 2023, created on March 1st 2023 (with slight revisions in March 6th of the next year, to add a camera blur). The films formal intent is to introduce myself into the abilities of Adobe After Effects; to segment a flat image, arrange the pieces into a three-dimensional space, and stretch parts of them with pins to create "puppet" interpolation. It would be sort of like "2.5D animation". The setting of the film involves that of the zombies map "Shi No Numa" from Treyarch's "Call of Duty: World At War"; in it, the desolate swamplands of Imperial Japan have been overran by the undead. To bring the setting to life, I first took screenshots of the game on PC, taking multiple pictures of the map's scenery. Then, in Photoshop, I would make multiple duplicates of the image onto separate layers, masking sections depending on how close they were to the POV. I would also import character, skybox or object image files from the internet or screenshots into the photoshop file. After doing so, I opened up Adobe After Effects and imported the photoshop file inside, positioning the separated layers in the 3D space depending on their distance from the camera placed in the scene. Sometimes, a layer might have been masked too much or little- in that case I would edit the layer some more in photoshop and it would update. (Tree branches were the hardest to separate cleanly.) Translative and rotative movement was then added to the camera and the scene layers, in order to give the illusion of a changing POV. To accentuate the effect, the farther back the layers were from the internal camera, the less they would move. Now some more complex movements needed to be implemented: the rustling of tree branches, swinging of zipline rope, flapping of the ravens, the shambling of the undead... These were accomplished using the aforementioned puppet technology, pinning the limbs and head of a zombie, for example, to simulate them looking around and walking through keyframes. In addition, sometimes I would have certain layers follow the path of a certain pin-point, such as the muzzle flash on Nikolai Belinski's gun. Now that the animation itself was completed, it was time to compile my work. I rendered out the frames as a PNG Sequence to import into Premiere Pro. There I could implement the finishing touches of screen filters as well as audio. The audio included in the piece primarily includes sound effects mostly extracted from the original game, with some like the crow sounds recorded from Youtube via the software "Audacity". The music that underpins the film is an instrumental version of "The One" by Kevin Sherwood, which plays in an easter egg from the map. With the video exported, the process was complete. To summarize: the softwares used in the making of this video were Audacity and Adobe's Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects.…"Swamp of Death: The One" was my first major VFX film of 2023, created on March 1st 2023 (with slight revisions in March 6th of the next year, to add a camera blur). The films formal intent is to introduce myself into the abilities of Adobe After Effects; to segment a flat image, arrange the pieces into a three-dimensional space, and stretch parts of them with pins to create "puppet" interpolation. It would be sort of like "2.5D animation". The setting of the film involves that of the zombies map "Shi No Numa" from Treyarch's "Call of Duty: World At War"; in it, the desolate swamplands of Imperial Japan have been overran by the undead. To bring the setting to life, I first took screenshots of the game on PC, taking multiple pictures of the map's scenery. Then, in Photoshop, I would make multiple duplicates of the image onto separate layers, masking sections depending on how close they were to the POV. I would also import character, skybox or object image files from the internet or screenshots into the photoshop file. After doing so, I opened up Adobe After Effects and imported the photoshop file inside, positioning the separated layers in the 3D space depending on their distance from the camera placed in the scene. Sometimes, a layer might have been masked too much or little- in that case I would edit the layer some more in photoshop and it would update. (Tree branches were the hardest to separate cleanly.) Translative and rotative movement was then added to the camera and the scene layers, in order to give the illusion of a changing POV. To accentuate the effect, the farther back the layers were from the internal camera, the less they would move. Now some more complex movements needed to be implemented: the rustling of tree branches, swinging of zipline rope, flapping of the ravens, the shambling of the undead... These were accomplished using the aforementioned puppet technology, pinning the limbs and head of a zombie, for example, to simulate them looking around and walking through keyframes. In addition, sometimes I would have certain layers follow the path of a certain pin-point, such as the muzzle flash on Nikolai Belinski's gun. Now that the animation itself was completed, it was time to compile my work. I rendered out the frames as a PNG Sequence to import into Premiere Pro. There I could implement the finishing touches of screen filters as well as audio. The audio included in the piece primarily includes sound effects mostly extracted from the original game, with some like the crow sounds recorded from Youtube via the software "Audacity". The music that underpins the film is an instrumental version of "The One" by Kevin Sherwood, which plays in an easter egg from the map. With the video exported, the process was complete. To summarize: the softwares used in the making of this video were Audacity and Adobe's Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects.

AnimatorSound DesignerVideo EditorVisual Effects Artist

Earthbound In Real Life

"Earthbound IRL" is a Visual FX short film created by I alone, Benjamin Robinson, on April 4th 2023. Its formal purpose was to use Adobe After FX to practice combining 2d Graphics with live action footage in a 3D space, to create the illusion that they are part of the footage. However, the appeal aims to immerse characters from the RPG video game "Earthbound" and its Japanese sequel Mother 3" into the real world, interacting with it believably with lighting, technical effects and animation tricks. The first thing I had to do is obtain the footage itself; I borrowed a camera and recorded places around Johnson City close to my college (ETSU). I made sure to get more footage than needed, just in case, recording many streets, signs and stores. After transferring the camera videos to the computer, the next step was to obtain the 2D graphics that I would want to implement. To attain the highest quality for each of the sprites' pixels I recreated some of the turn-around poses using a free application called "Piskel", and exported them as PNG files. With the animation "cels" and footage in my possession and then moved to an After FX project file, I had to set up the tracking for the graphics that allows them to move as the camera in the footage moves. For that I had to use Motion Tracking technology built into the program to create keyframes onto a null (blank slate) and then linked the graphics so they follow the null tracker. However, I took it one step further, to create the animation of the characters. I gave each individual sprite cel its own layer and would hide or show each movement frame when it needed to be shown. Furthermore, each character cel had corresponding layer copies that would further immerse them into the scene: one being a shadow (filled black, tilted backwards and touching the feet), another being the light source (filled bright yellow, partly faded) and body shading (same but filled black). Each of these layers would have keyframes (spatial positions) built onto that of the hull it's tracking so that the characters could move across the screen view but still have the camera shake. This was one among multiple complications I ran into; I would find creative solutions for them all. For instance, to account for the character Lucas running behind a column in Scene 3, I had to mask parts of the animation layers. Another problem I ran into was tracking a point when the camera went off-screen. I got around it by copying the keyframes one track-session created and pasted them before that of the second, after the object to be detected was offscreen. Once the animation was sufficient, each frame of the edited footage was exported out of After FX and imported into Adobe Premiere Pro. There I could add screen filters and shapes to make a final shot with a camera polaroid, SFX, peaceful background ambience and the music "Buy Something Will Ya" from the original Nintendo game. Audacity was used to record all sounds, through Youtube.…"Earthbound IRL" is a Visual FX short film created by I alone, Benjamin Robinson, on April 4th 2023. Its formal purpose was to use Adobe After FX to practice combining 2d Graphics with live action footage in a 3D space, to create the illusion that they are part of the footage. However, the appeal aims to immerse characters from the RPG video game "Earthbound" and its Japanese sequel Mother 3" into the real world, interacting with it believably with lighting, technical effects and animation tricks. The first thing I had to do is obtain the footage itself; I borrowed a camera and recorded places around Johnson City close to my college (ETSU). I made sure to get more footage than needed, just in case, recording many streets, signs and stores. After transferring the camera videos to the computer, the next step was to obtain the 2D graphics that I would want to implement. To attain the highest quality for each of the sprites' pixels I recreated some of the turn-around poses using a free application called "Piskel", and exported them as PNG files. With the animation "cels" and footage in my possession and then moved to an After FX project file, I had to set up the tracking for the graphics that allows them to move as the camera in the footage moves. For that I had to use Motion Tracking technology built into the program to create keyframes onto a null (blank slate) and then linked the graphics so they follow the null tracker. However, I took it one step further, to create the animation of the characters. I gave each individual sprite cel its own layer and would hide or show each movement frame when it needed to be shown. Furthermore, each character cel had corresponding layer copies that would further immerse them into the scene: one being a shadow (filled black, tilted backwards and touching the feet), another being the light source (filled bright yellow, partly faded) and body shading (same but filled black). Each of these layers would have keyframes (spatial positions) built onto that of the hull it's tracking so that the characters could move across the screen view but still have the camera shake. This was one among multiple complications I ran into; I would find creative solutions for them all. For instance, to account for the character Lucas running behind a column in Scene 3, I had to mask parts of the animation layers. Another problem I ran into was tracking a point when the camera went off-screen. I got around it by copying the keyframes one track-session created and pasted them before that of the second, after the object to be detected was offscreen. Once the animation was sufficient, each frame of the edited footage was exported out of After FX and imported into Adobe Premiere Pro. There I could add screen filters and shapes to make a final shot with a camera polaroid, SFX, peaceful background ambience and the music "Buy Something Will Ya" from the original Nintendo game. Audacity was used to record all sounds, through Youtube.

2d AnimatorCinematographerSound DesignerVisual Effects Artist

Acipolia Mecha Walk

The walk cycle for custom character "Acipolia" acted as my fourth major 3D animation of 2023. Completed on April 27th, 2023, its purpose was to practice the basics of character rigging (legs, torso and head) with the use of joints and paint weights, in addition to animating the rig to make a realistic walk cycle. The idea behind the robot's design was to appear like a dystopian sci-fi amalgamation of parts: both conventional components and makeshift ones. This contrast is achieved by the uniformity of the greens and sleek shine in its feet and torso, versus the rusted organic textures of the graffitied stop sign face and pelvic bone waist. The name of the robot, "Acipolia", has phonetic similarity to "Acapella", singing without instruments, which is how I would imagine the robot to speak. The robot was mostly modeled and textured by myself, in Autodesk Maya, the exception being the joints which were sampled. However the walk cycle itself was animated pose-to-pose, focusing much on body distribution of weight; the feet are portrayed as heavier and bulkier than the flat torso and head, which makes details like the curling of the "toe" more accentuated and easier to read, therefore satisfying. As usual, once rendered, the frames were compiled through Premiere Pro and scored with sound effects for the robot's feet as well as the relaxing background music "Titan Invasion" from Attack on Titan.…The walk cycle for custom character "Acipolia" acted as my fourth major 3D animation of 2023. Completed on April 27th, 2023, its purpose was to practice the basics of character rigging (legs, torso and head) with the use of joints and paint weights, in addition to animating the rig to make a realistic walk cycle. The idea behind the robot's design was to appear like a dystopian sci-fi amalgamation of parts: both conventional components and makeshift ones. This contrast is achieved by the uniformity of the greens and sleek shine in its feet and torso, versus the rusted organic textures of the graffitied stop sign face and pelvic bone waist. The name of the robot, "Acipolia", has phonetic similarity to "Acapella", singing without instruments, which is how I would imagine the robot to speak. The robot was mostly modeled and textured by myself, in Autodesk Maya, the exception being the joints which were sampled. However the walk cycle itself was animated pose-to-pose, focusing much on body distribution of weight; the feet are portrayed as heavier and bulkier than the flat torso and head, which makes details like the curling of the "toe" more accentuated and easier to read, therefore satisfying. As usual, once rendered, the frames were compiled through Premiere Pro and scored with sound effects for the robot's feet as well as the relaxing background music "Titan Invasion" from Attack on Titan.

3d AnimatorCharacter DesignerCharacter RiggerSound DesignerVideo Editor

Youtube Scoop

"Youtube Scoop", also known as "Breakfast", was created on April 8th, 2023 and revised on March 15, 2024. It was my third major animation project of that year, under the purpose of introducing UV textures, bend-handle animation rigs and effect-related features such as emitters and caching. The premise of the cartoon is simple: A sentient spoon gets scared by a video on an Ipad and falls into a ceramic bowl. But the idea behind it has more meaning. It really came through as a nostalgic celebration of the Saturday and Sunday mornings I and many others from my generation spend watching silly and fun Youtube videos while eating breakfast, in the same vein that previous generations did the same in regards to television (which I can also relate). My aim was to create a homely aesthetic for the film, in a multitude of ways, such as having the faint sound of air conditioning immerse the viewer in the indoors setting, easter eggs with lego figures of a certain anime (which may hint at their owner)- all combined with the appropriate skybox to imitate the kind of lighting in a kitchen with the blinds closed on a cloudy day. As with the majority of my projects, it was created solo. The animation, textures, effects, sound design... all created or chosen by me. To be specific about some things I was not involved in, the Spongebob "Pibby" video on the Ipad that the spoon was watching was not edited by me. Rather, it was originally created by @blazingjuju: https://youtu.be/s_AI4QADjPM?feature=shared I merely exported the video as a png sequence through Adobe Premiere Pro, then set a flat plane's texture to the png sequence in Maya. The overall project, like many others, primarily utilized Maya (for the modeling and 3D animation), Audacity (to record and edit sound effects from Youtube and Call of Duty) and Adobe Premiere Pro (for final edits of footage and sound). However I also used Photoshop to create the UVs for the "Cinnamon Toast Crunch Minis" cereal box. Furthermore, in the revised cut the candle next to the Ipad is lit (as originally planned) and the spoon, when it falls, does not hover as if there was milk when there is none in the bowl.…"Youtube Scoop", also known as "Breakfast", was created on April 8th, 2023 and revised on March 15, 2024. It was my third major animation project of that year, under the purpose of introducing UV textures, bend-handle animation rigs and effect-related features such as emitters and caching. The premise of the cartoon is simple: A sentient spoon gets scared by a video on an Ipad and falls into a ceramic bowl. But the idea behind it has more meaning. It really came through as a nostalgic celebration of the Saturday and Sunday mornings I and many others from my generation spend watching silly and fun Youtube videos while eating breakfast, in the same vein that previous generations did the same in regards to television (which I can also relate). My aim was to create a homely aesthetic for the film, in a multitude of ways, such as having the faint sound of air conditioning immerse the viewer in the indoors setting, easter eggs with lego figures of a certain anime (which may hint at their owner)- all combined with the appropriate skybox to imitate the kind of lighting in a kitchen with the blinds closed on a cloudy day. As with the majority of my projects, it was created solo. The animation, textures, effects, sound design... all created or chosen by me. To be specific about some things I was not involved in, the Spongebob "Pibby" video on the Ipad that the spoon was watching was not edited by me. Rather, it was originally created by @blazingjuju: https://youtu.be/s_AI4QADjPM?feature=shared I merely exported the video as a png sequence through Adobe Premiere Pro, then set a flat plane's texture to the png sequence in Maya. The overall project, like many others, primarily utilized Maya (for the modeling and 3D animation), Audacity (to record and edit sound effects from Youtube and Call of Duty) and Adobe Premiere Pro (for final edits of footage and sound). However I also used Photoshop to create the UVs for the "Cinnamon Toast Crunch Minis" cereal box. Furthermore, in the revised cut the candle next to the Ipad is lit (as originally planned) and the spoon, when it falls, does not hover as if there was milk when there is none in the bowl.

3d Animator3d DesignerCharacter RiggerPhotoshop EditorSound DesignerVideo Editor

Nuclear Blunder

"Nuclear Blunder" is a short film created initially in late January to Early February in 2023, with its current revision performed on March 15th 2024. The entirety of "Nuclear Blunder" was created by me: the animation, video editing, modeling, sound design, rigging, effects, and more. Its intention was to showcase my abilities in visual storytelling and animation using a barebones concept: two vehicles traversing a bridge and interacting with one another in some way. From this seed, the film's story evolved: "At the mouth of a tunnel afore a riverside bridge, the distant sound of an engine purrs on... growing ever louder. At an instant, a blue pickup-truck zooms past with wanton haste, with an unstable package saddled behind. The determination for the driver's unknown mission blinds him from his errs. Simultaneously, in a stroke of cruel fate, a red car exits another identical tunnel on a hill surmounting the bridge on the opposite side. Gyrating the bend, the red car proceeds onto the overpass, its momentum condemning the driver to calamity to come. Time slows... heart racing... a sense of panic wells up, compelling one to enact primal instinct. As the volatile weapon smashes to the ground, as the pilot of the Ford 150 veers into the side railing, as all chance of escape has vanished... the one cooped in his Cooper defies all logic, bending the circumstances to his will. Sliding to circumvent the Ford, he rides the blast to his Heaven, above the arches and, miraculously, lands on its four wheels, skirting from the force. A somber tone is set, as the screen whitens and a choir of angels chime as the vehicle tips over- a fate of the soul left to mystery..." Maya was the application I used to model and animate the project, before using Adobe Premiere Pro to compile the sequence (Scenes 1-3) with sound effects and atmospheric filters. Furthermore the sound effects and music I used were obtained either from Youtube or the video game "Call of Duty World At War", with the sound files recorded or edited through the software "Audacity." The models of the cars were created based upon the Ford 150 and Cooper SE, and the model of the nuke was based upon "Fat Man" that was ejected over Nagasaki, Japan. Over a year after the films initial completion in 2023, fog and snow were incorporated into the film to accommodate my initial vision, as well as technical fixes, altered animations and an updated, but still relatively simple, rig system to animate easier while incorporating details such as rotating wheels.…"Nuclear Blunder" is a short film created initially in late January to Early February in 2023, with its current revision performed on March 15th 2024. The entirety of "Nuclear Blunder" was created by me: the animation, video editing, modeling, sound design, rigging, effects, and more. Its intention was to showcase my abilities in visual storytelling and animation using a barebones concept: two vehicles traversing a bridge and interacting with one another in some way. From this seed, the film's story evolved: "At the mouth of a tunnel afore a riverside bridge, the distant sound of an engine purrs on... growing ever louder. At an instant, a blue pickup-truck zooms past with wanton haste, with an unstable package saddled behind. The determination for the driver's unknown mission blinds him from his errs. Simultaneously, in a stroke of cruel fate, a red car exits another identical tunnel on a hill surmounting the bridge on the opposite side. Gyrating the bend, the red car proceeds onto the overpass, its momentum condemning the driver to calamity to come. Time slows... heart racing... a sense of panic wells up, compelling one to enact primal instinct. As the volatile weapon smashes to the ground, as the pilot of the Ford 150 veers into the side railing, as all chance of escape has vanished... the one cooped in his Cooper defies all logic, bending the circumstances to his will. Sliding to circumvent the Ford, he rides the blast to his Heaven, above the arches and, miraculously, lands on its four wheels, skirting from the force. A somber tone is set, as the screen whitens and a choir of angels chime as the vehicle tips over- a fate of the soul left to mystery..." Maya was the application I used to model and animate the project, before using Adobe Premiere Pro to compile the sequence (Scenes 1-3) with sound effects and atmospheric filters. Furthermore the sound effects and music I used were obtained either from Youtube or the video game "Call of Duty World At War", with the sound files recorded or edited through the software "Audacity." The models of the cars were created based upon the Ford 150 and Cooper SE, and the model of the nuke was based upon "Fat Man" that was ejected over Nagasaki, Japan. Over a year after the films initial completion in 2023, fog and snow were incorporated into the film to accommodate my initial vision, as well as technical fixes, altered animations and an updated, but still relatively simple, rig system to animate easier while incorporating details such as rotating wheels.

3d Animator3d DesignerCharacter RiggerSound DesignerVideo Editor

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