Emily Maradiaga's 3D Animation 2023-2024

Spooky Stories Emily

Bringing the Character to Life

Right when I was given the animation prompt I knew that I wanted to create a story based on my younger, scary stories obsessed self. I initially designed my character and then created a character painting to fully envision her. I then created orthographic views to figure out proportions. After, I then made material callouts to further explore texture opportunities.

I was then able to jump into 3D programs. I initially started modeling my character in Zbrush and then transitioned into Maya for retopologizing and UV unwrapping. Maya was also used for rigging through Advanced Skeleton.  I then textured the entire character using Adobe Substance Painter. In order to bring more life to her I utilized Ncloth in the pants and Xgen for the hair and fuzzy socks.

Emote Test

In order to gain more familiarity with my character to really understand who she is I worked on a shorter animation exploring different emotional changes. This allowed for me to get a better understanding for the rig as well. Also, I really wanted to add a spooky mood to the piece. I played around with atmosphere for the flashlight beam and fog effects done through Nuke. 

S'more Scary Stories Animation

My final animation was focused on Lip Sync. I was really inspired by my love for scary stories as a kid. I wanted to be the storyteller in this animation and provided my character with all the necessary tools: a flashlight and fire (for ambiance and scary good face distortion), a s'more monster prop (to jump-scare all listeners and provide a tasty treat), and a scary lakeside setting that had something menacing hiding in the shadows. 

I modeled the environment using Autodesk Maya and textured using Adobe Substance Painter. I was able to fully bring the environment to life through the use of Nuke. I added in fog effects using a noise node with movement in the x axis and z axis. I was able to bring more dimension to the lights through using a glow node.

The fog ghost played a super important role in the piece which required extra effort to make his appearance seamless. I added a ramp and blur to a noise node so that as the ghost had risen it would be more solid at the top and blend in with the fog at the bottom.

Priscilla Character Model

Priscilla's character came about from my love of the movie Phantom of the Opera. This over the top opera singer was first explored through character designs and a character painting.  Then I worked on creating an orthographic to assist with character modeling. 

I started modeling her in ZBrush for the initial character sculpt. I then brought her into 3D Coat where I retopologized her mesh. Then I brought Priscilla into Maya where I added more modeling details and then rigged her using Advanced Skeleton. Her elaborate hair was achieved through the use of Xgen. 

Thank you for looking at my work, I hope you enjoyed!