Winter 2025 Demo Reel

Breakdown:

0:05 - Phoebe Facial Rig; using python to help speed up repetitive aspects of rigging, I created Phoebe’s fully articulated facial rig from scratch, adding blendshapes on top to bring her expressions fully to life. Her facial rig features automation processes such as mouth corners and cheeks pinching in as the jaw opens, and each nostril curling as a side of the lip snarls.

0:12 - Open Mind, Open Heart Thesis Film; a clip showing off Phoebe’s rig in use from my senior thesis film, Open Mind, Open Heart. In addition to all of the character textures, I worked on all of the environment textures as well. I also am responsible for all animation and compositing throughout the film.

0:16 - Phoebe Rig; once again using python to help speed up repetitive aspects of rigging, Phoebe’s body has IK/FK capability on her limbs and a spine that can squash and stretch. Her sweater uses blendshapes to create folds at the bend of her arms and her skirt is rigged using three ribbon rig setups that can work in tandem.

0:25 - Joint Chain Switch Automator; created with Python, this code allows the user to create a switch on the controller of the user’s choice that smoothly switches the selected join chain’s “parent” between two other join chains of the user’s choice (Armadillo Model by Lesley Marroquin)

0:33 - Intrepid Thesis Film; I was responsible for all animation, including the earrings and spear. I checked in with the director for blocking, spline, secondary animation, and polish, making adjustments according to his direction. (Character Rig/Model and Environment by Ausar Johnson)

0:39 - Dynamic Hair Rig; utilizing Maya’s nHair physics, Liza’s ponytail and two side strands each have their own switches to smoothly turn on and off their own simulation, as well as switch between IK and FK controls. The hair dynamics can be further adjusted with controllers that can be animated. Each controller also has an attribute to easily adjust the start curve attraction for each hair strand and the ponytail.

0:51 - Ice Skate Axel Loop Animation; I was responsible for animation. As a past figure skater of 13 years, I used multiple reference videos throughout the animation process to make sure the center of gravity and torso movement were accurate. [Body Mechanics Rig by Joe Daniels]

0:56 - Seagull Rig; this seagull rig uses surfaces and UV pins to allow control over areas of feathers for the animator to be able to manipulate. The rig features controls that allow for an automatic wing fold. The seagull has IK/FK capabilities on its legs, and an FK chain down its tail. [Seagull Model by Cara Fulton)

Music - Swingin’ Spathiphyllums by Mort Garson