01DESIGN CHALLENGE
For this project, I wanted to create a short 3D character animation that showcases a character’s personality, weapon, and combat style.
Most of my previous animation work focused on human characters, so I wanted to challenge myself with a model that blends human and animal traits.
The goal was to create an animation that feels exaggerated, cute, and energetic, while also matching the style of in game character introduction animations.
Most of my previous animation work focused on human characters, so I wanted to challenge myself with a model that blends human and animal traits.
The goal was to create an animation that feels exaggerated, cute, and energetic, while also matching the style of in game character introduction animations.
02 RESEARCH AND MODEL SELECTION
I chose a character model from Zenless Zone Zero. The model was officially released and allowed for re creation, so there were no copyright concerns. Another important reason I selected this model was the high quality rigging, which made it suitable for 3D animation practice.
Since the character has both human and animal features, I had to pay attention to how the body language, weapon movement, and facial expression could work together to show her personality clearly.
03 Animatic
Before moving into 3D animation, I created a animatic to plan the overall timing, action, and camera movement.
At this stage, my focus was not on details, but on creating a clear structure for the animation.
I wanted the audience to quickly understand the character’s cute and exaggerated personality, while also seeing her weapon and combat style.
I also kept the duration close to in game character introduction animations, so the final piece would feel familiar within the game style.
I wanted the audience to quickly understand the character’s cute and exaggerated personality, while also seeing her weapon and combat style.
I also kept the duration close to in game character introduction animations, so the final piece would feel familiar within the game style.
04 animation passes
In the first animation pass, I completed the main blocking and camera movement.
This stage helped me test whether the action worked in 3D and whether the character’s performance matched the tone I wanted.
This stage helped me test whether the action worked in 3D and whether the character’s performance matched the tone I wanted.
After the first pass, I moved into the second pass and continued polishing the animation.
I focused on refining the motion, improving the timing, and making the character’s action feel more complete. After completing this version, I scheduled a meeting with faculty to discuss revision directions and receive feedback on how to push the animation further.
I focused on refining the motion, improving the timing, and making the character’s action feel more complete. After completing this version, I scheduled a meeting with faculty to discuss revision directions and receive feedback on how to push the animation further.
05 FEEDBACK
The main feedback I received was that the anticipation needed to be more exaggerated and noticeable.
Morgan explained that if the final pose forms a shape like “(”, the anticipation should move in the complete opposite direction, more like “)”. This helped me understand anticipation more clearly, especially how opposite movement can make the final action feel stronger and more readable.
Based on this feedback, I revised the final animation pass. I adjusted the poses and timing so the character’s movement had a clearer buildup before the main action.
Morgan explained that if the final pose forms a shape like “(”, the anticipation should move in the complete opposite direction, more like “)”. This helped me understand anticipation more clearly, especially how opposite movement can make the final action feel stronger and more readable.
Based on this feedback, I revised the final animation pass. I adjusted the poses and timing so the character’s movement had a clearer buildup before the main action.
06 FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a four week project, and I originally planned the schedule around that timeline. However, during the actual production process, I realized that character animation required more time than I expected.
In my previous internship, I mainly worked on storyboards, motion capture direction, and importing cleaned mocap data back into 3D software for camera work. This was my first time truly animating a character by myself and adjusting the movement step by step.
In my previous internship, I mainly worked on storyboards, motion capture direction, and importing cleaned mocap data back into 3D software for camera work. This was my first time truly animating a character by myself and adjusting the movement step by step.
After working on it directly, I realized that there are many details in character animation that require long term practice, especially timing, posing, anticipation, and how to make the movement feel clear and expressive. In the future, I would like to revisit this project and continue polishing the animation when I have more experience.