3D Animation Demo Reel | Freshman Year
My journey from hobbyist to newbie student to animating-for-short-film in less than a year.
3D Animation Demo Reel | Freshman Year
It feels like I just got here!
Hello! My name is Kailey. I'm a freshman at SCAD studying 3D animation. In my first eight months at SCAD, I jump-started my major curriculum and became the second freshman to be accepted into SCAD Animation Studios. It's been a fantastic and challenging learning experience, but, before I tell you more about my journey, please take a look at my reel!
Demo Reel
My animation journey didn't begin at SCAD. Like many others, my passion sparked in my childhood. With the help of some fantastic teachers, I was able to get hands-on experience with 3D animation from an early age. I started learning Maya when I was 14 years old. The shot in my reel with Link and Zelda was for a short film I directed in high school called Taken for Granite. I loved getting to focus on facial expressions with that one. By the time I graduated high school, I had a solid grasp of the basics and was eager to push that even further.
I found my next challenge at SCAD, and more specifically...
SCAD Animation Studios
I was accepted into SCAD Animation Studios before I even took my first animation class at SCAD. Talk about being thrown in the deep end.
I remember exiting the welcome Zoom call for The Last Dungeon and gushing about how awesome it was that they are making a film in Unreal Engine... and I'm animating for it. I knew of Animation Studios' prestige and high expectations, so I had doubts about my own abilities. However, I gave each challenge my all and gained so much from it. Take a look at the breakdown of my process for one of my shots in the film!
Shot Breakdown
From better understanding a traditional pipeline and the dallies process to learning how to animate those pesky hands, I learned a lot as an individual animator through Animation Studios. This was supplemented by my other animation coursework at the time, such as the flip and walk animations on my reel, where I focused on body mechanics and polishing animation respectively.
After my shots for The Last Dungeon were finalized, I was brought onto the tech side of things to handle animation ingestion from Maya into Unreal Engine. In addition to learning UE and specifically, its sequencer, my new position required more collaborative skills. Organization and professional communication were critical to efficient troubleshooting and problem-solving.
I'm so grateful to have been a part of this project, and I look forward to the next one!
So... what am I up to now?
I'm wrapping up finals at SCAD, specifically my Core Principles in 3D Animation final, which you'll find a work in progress for below. After that, I'm gonna use my summer to animate for fun! I want to make some exciting, high-energy stuff for my reel. Maybe even some dance animation!!
Rig credits: (in order of appearance)
The Last Dungeon Characters - SCAD Animation Studios
Stewart - Animation Mentor
Ultimate Bony - Ugur Ulvi Yetiskin
Link and Zelda - Christoph Schoch
Backpack - Austin Ruch
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