Emiko rig created for Talewise. Emiko is one of the most complex rigs I’ve ever created, largely due to the team wanting this puppet to have as many pre-built animations as possible. I utilized the replay function to its fullest potential, creating every permutation of facial expression imaginable with replays. I also created some pre-made walk and run cycles, and a jump animation that could be modified to work with any arm gesture or orientation. Everything about the design, from the range of arm gestures to the inner head draggers to facilitate head turns, is designed to make this rig animate as smoothly as possible.

This horse rig is one of many I created for “Unicorns: Break The Cage,” a short film I animated for Talewise. The horse doesn’t speak, but I needed to make a rig that was flexible and expressive. Character Animator is not really designed to work with quadrupeds, but after some troubleshooting, I figured out I could separate the legs into two groups, which would allow each to be animated simultaneously. The puppet rig also features triggers for facial expressions, as well as draggable eyebrows and pupils for additional expressions. All head and neck movement is controlled via motion capture, but this puppet relies heavily on its triggers and draggers for its full potential. A full breakdown of the project is available here.