Animating Emotional Transitions in Maya

Character Animation Techniques with Chris Kirshbaum

Learn how to animate a character undergoing an emotional transition, from how it affects the character’s body and physics to translating it into effective visual storytelling on the screen. This 2-hour workshop by Chris Kirshbaum is intended for animators of all levels, from beginners just starting their animation journey and students putting together their first demo reel to seasoned animation veterans who are looking for a refresher on one of the core aspects of what professional animators do.

This detailed workshop focuses on Maya, specifically using the Graph Editor, Maya’s workspace interface, and the Playblast Function for checking results. Chris also delves into some light scripting throughout the workflow. The concepts taught are from the point of view of working on feature animation films but can be applied to any professional or personal creative project. By completing this workshop, artists should gain a good sense of how to make a complete animation shot for their demo reel. The rigs used in this workshop are from Pro Rigs. A collection of Chris’s playblasts is included with this workshop for further study.