As the exam assignment at the end of 2023, when Christmas was nearing. I had to create a 10-second Christmas greeting animation inside Autodesk Maya. Full body animation, facial expressions and lip sync were all mandatory elements that had to be in the final result. A character has to wish you a merry Christmas, while fooling around in a setting with the DAE (Digital Arts & Entertaintment) logo.
I chose to use a rig I became comfortable with througout the semester: The Lou rig. I recorded my own voice, did some pitch shifting and used that to come up with interesting movement. Aside from the voice over, I shot most of the reference material myself, while also recording reference with a fellow student.
With the reference made, I started animating in Maya, starting with the main poses and adding the details from there. This assignment was a challenge for me, as this was the first time I really studied feminine movement. At first, the character’s movements were too masculine, due to the fact I shot the first pieces of reference myself. This is why I asked for the help of a female student to help me shoot new reference.
In addition, this assignment was another lesson of using right timing and weight. It was this semester that I got an even better idea of how these 2 animation principles actually work. After the exam, I decided to continue working on this project, as this assignment felt like the perfect opportunity to improve my skills.
The rig does not belong to me:
Modeled by Dmitry Danilov www.artstation.com/dmitrodanilov
Rigged by Boris Klimov vimeo.com/boristheartist
