Hi, I'm Woody Smith, a senior 3D animator with 27 years in the video game industry, specializing in character performance, rigging, and cinematic direction. I've led animation direction, built pipelines, mentored teams, and delivered both pre-rendered and real-time cinematics in Unity and Unreal Engine 5+. I excel at in-game animation implementation, UI motion graphics, and collaborating with engineering and design to bring gameplay to life.…

Woody Smith

Hi, I'm Woody Smith, a senior 3D animator with 27 years in the video game industry, specializing in character performance, rigging, and cinematic direction. I've led animation direction, built pipelines, mentored teams, and delivered both pre-rendered and real-time cinematics in Unity and Unreal Engine 5+. I excel at in-game animation implementation, UI motion graphics, and collaborating with engineering and design to bring gameplay to life.…

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Woody Smith, a senior 3D animator with 27 years in the video game industry, specializing in character performance, rigging, and cinematic direction.

I’ve led animation direction, built pipelines, mentored teams, and delivered both pre-rendered and real-time cinematics in Unity and Unreal Engine 5+. I excel at in-game animation implementation, UI motion graphics, and collaborating with engineering and design to bring gameplay to life.

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Language

English
Fluent

Work Experience

Animation Director at Wildcard Alliance
February 1, 2022 - February 1, 2026
Directed animation for an arena card battler, produced complete animation sets for 90+ unique characters across combat, idle, and cinematic states; revamped rigging/export pipeline with Advanced Skeleton 5.0+; designed rigs and skinning workflows for diverse creature types; created reusable setups; collaborated on previs and prototypes; produced motion graphics for UI and marketing; integrated animations in Unreal Engine 5+ and delivered real-time cinematics with live-ops support.
Senior Animator-3D Generalist at Bossfight Entertainment
February 1, 2020 - February 1, 2022
Partnered with designers to previsualize in-game experiences and prototype features; produced character and UI animations across multiple titles; created promotional content; implemented animation systems in-engine and collaborated with engineers to meet performance constraints; led pitch and prototyping for new concepts and IP extensions.
3D Generalist at Freelance Animator
February 1, 2012 - Present
Delivered pre-rendered cinematics and motion graphics for advertising and social campaigns; produced character animation for shipped titles; modeled and rendered assets for medical visualization; rigged and skinned characters; developed reusable rigging workflows; established animation pipelines for real-time engines and offline renderers; managed client expectations and schedules.
Adjunct Professor at Collin College
June 1, 2018 - September 1, 2018
Designed and taught storyboarding and animation fundamentals; developed curriculum and assignments; provided individualized feedback and mentorship to help students produce portfolio-ready work.
Adjunct Professor — Animation & Concept Development (graduate) at SMU – The Guildhall
February 1, 2014 - September 1, 2017
Taught graduate-level animation and concept development; created rigorous curriculum and hands-on exercises; mentored students and guided projects to industry-ready standards.
Senior Animator at Playful Studios
July 1, 2013 - February 1, 2020
Delivered cinematic and character animation across multiple shipped titles; created in-game cutscenes and pre-rendered video content; led IP development and previsualization; mentored junior artists to raise quality and consistency.
Senior Art Lead at Zynga Dallas
October 1, 2010 - June 1, 2013
Led animation and rigging; built a full avatar creation pipeline for Castleville; animated in-game characters and creatures; produced cinematic and promotional content; managed and mentored the animation team; developed motion graphics for marketing and product exploration.
Lead Animator at Bonfire Studios
August 1, 2009 - October 1, 2010
Led animation and rigging to realize character performances and polish; implemented rigs and pipelines to accelerate iteration; produced animations for 3D, 2D, and 2.5D; created motion graphics for UI and marketing; provided technical animation support across production.
Senior Animator at Ensemble Studios
October 1, 2006 - January 1, 2009
In-game cutscenes and character performances; contributed to Halo IP-based storytelling; collaborated with technical teams to ensure animation integration and runtime performance.
Lead Cinematic Artist at Paradigm Entertainment
October 1, 1999 - September 1, 2006
Ran the cinematic department; developed all in-house pre-rendered cutscenes; coordinated content development with outsourcing partners.

Education

BFA Computer Animation at Ringling College of Art and Design
August 1, 1995 - May 5, 1999
BFA at Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota
January 1, 1996 - January 1, 1999

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Gaming, Media & Entertainment, Software & Internet
    paper Wildcard

    Wildcard is an arena card battler full of amazing and unique creatures. As a champion, you bring your team into the arena with you and summon them to capture your opponents goal. It’s the best of sports and MOBA games rolled into one. See it in action at https://www.wildcardgame.com/

    The Full Trailer for the game can be seen here.

    paper Marvel Brand Reel

    I had the opportunity to make a dynamic reel to showcase the Marvel Icon branding for all of their properties. This reel showcased icons that had been provided, but all of the editing, VFX, and 2-D and 3-D animation were completed by me.

    The full sizzle reel can be viewed at:

    uniE608 Bossfight Entertainment - Promotional Reel
    This video was done for Bossfight Entertainment, now owned by Netflix. I used provided source assets and video captured scenes to create a reel that showcased the company and it's history. All assets were edited and composited in After Effects. video animator videoeditor motiongraphics promo sales…
    uniE621 My Vegas Bingo - Sizzle Reel
    This was created to market and promote My Vegas Bingo, a game that I worked in. I was responsible for all editing, motion graphics, compositing, and a majority of 2d and 3d graphics. The art team provided photoshop comps and source assets for use. Music and SFX were provided by the audio team. All assets were assembled and renders in Adobe After Effects, Maya, Redshift, Arnold, and Adobe Photoshop. branding videoeditor motiondesigner motiongrpahics animator editor 3d 2d reel…
    uniE608 Dr. Food Infogaphic Video
    This was for a medical client in California. I had a 1 week deadline and created all of the assets from scratch. Voice over and script were provided by the client. All of the animation and flow was completed in After Effects. video explainervideo animator videoeditor motiongraphics motiondesign freelance…