Lan's blog

Throughout my projects at CSM, I have experimented with rigging different creatures with different styles and technical requirements.

During this process, I realised that I am particularly good at observing how animals move, analysing the logic behind their motion, and translating those observations into rigging systems and controls. Rather than simply copying movement, I enjoy understanding why movement happens and how different body structures influence the way a character moves.

（Rigging Different Creature Types）

For example, birds fold and unfold their wings in a very different way from how frogs jump or insects flap their wings. Behind each movement is a set of patterns and rules that can be observed and understood. Rigging allows me to turn those observations into tools that animators can use. I find this process very rewarding because it combines artistic observation with technical problem-solving. In many ways, it feels similar to the way I approached design problems during my industrial design studies.

At the same time, my graduation project helped me realise how much I enjoy character animation itself. While working on character performances, I often spent a lot of time thinking about timing, weight, and small details in movement. What interests me most is not simply making a character move, but understanding why a character moves in a particular way.

For example, when animating a character interacting with a heavy object, I would often think about how force travels through the body, how weight shifts from one leg to another, and how different parts of the body react to the action. I found myself enjoying the process of analysing movement just as much as creating the animation itself.

（In Unit 3 project, weight Transfer Between the Character, Hands and Box）

Because of this, I gradually realised that my interest in animation and rigging comes from a similar place. Whether I am designing a character performance or building a rig, I am essentially trying to understand how movement works. Animation focuses on expressing a character through movement, while rigging focuses on creating the systems that make that movement possible. Both require observation, analysis, and an understanding of motion.

Through my studies, I realised that I am interested not only in animation itself, but also in the mechanics behind movement. I enjoy breaking down complex motion into understandable systems and rebuilding them into something that can be used in production.

After graduation, I plan to return to China and pursue opportunities in the games industry. Whether I eventually work as a Character Animator or a Rigging Artist, I hope to continue developing both my artistic and technical skills. Looking back on my journey from industrial design to 3D modelling, animation, and rigging, I feel that I have gradually found a direction that genuinely suits both my interests and strengths.

(Current CV and Professional Profile)

After joining CSM, all of my animation projects were created in 3D. More importantly, rather than repeating skills I had already learned, I tried to use each project as an opportunity to explore new techniques, workflows, and creative approaches. Looking back on this year, I realise that every project represented a different stage of learning and experimentation.

In the Lip Sync project, I experimented with non-human character rigging for both facial and body animation, as well as fur simulation, for the first time. This project introduced me to the more technical side of character production.

(Lip Sync project)

In the one-minute LIAF project, I experimented with complex Geometry Nodes systems to create growing plants and different procedural materials for vegetation.

(Plants created with Geometry Nodes for the LIAF project)

I also explored rigging a variety of animals, including dragonflies, butterflies, frogs, and birds. Each creature required a different approach. For example, the frog rig focused on stretch and squash to create a sense of elasticity during jumps, while the dragonfly and butterfly rigs relied on automatic wing-flapping systems. Among them, the bird rig was by far the most challenging.

(Bird rig)

The bird rig not only involved feather physics but also required a system that could control the complex motion of the wings opening and folding while allowing the feathers to follow naturally. Through these rigging experiments, I gradually realised that different movement styles often come directly from an animal’s physical structure. Understanding the relationship between structure and movement became one of the aspects of animation that interested me the most.

(Facial expression tests)

In my personal one-minute animation project, I began exploring stylised character acting and facial expressions. Most of my previous animations had aimed for a relatively realistic style, but by this stage I had become much more comfortable with the animation workflow, allowing me to spend more time experimenting with style and storytelling.

(Screenshots from my personal one-minute animation)

This dog was also based on my own dog. Compared with the dog character I created for the Lip Sync project, both the visual design and the quality of the performance had improved significantly.

Beyond character acting, I spent a lot of time thinking about how camera language and storyboards communicate information to the audience. In many ways, my industrial design background still influences how I approach animation. Rather than focusing only on personal expression, I often think about the audience’s experience. Can the audience understand the story clearly? Do the transitions between shots feel natural? Is the information being communicated effectively? These questions have become an important part of my creative process.

In my graduation project, I was introduced to a production pipeline that was much closer to professional industry workflows, and I also used Unreal Engine 5 for animation production for the first time.

(Scene Modelling and animation shots that I was responsible for)

From creating PBR assets and using facial capture technology to managing animation assets through Unreal Engine Sequences, the project helped me understand that animation is not only about creating individual shots. It is also part of a larger production pipeline that requires collaboration, organisation, and communication between different departments. These experiences gave me a much clearer understanding of how animation is produced in a professional environment.

Looking back at these projects, I realised that I have consistently tried to challenge myself with new skills and techniques. From character rigging and fur simulation to Geometry Nodes, animal rigging, stylised performance, and Unreal Engine workflows, I gradually developed a broader and more complete understanding of animation production.

Rather than focusing on mastering a single piece of software, I prefer to use different projects as opportunities to expand my skill set and explore new areas of interest. For me, learning animation is not about following a fixed workflow. It is about continuously experimenting, discovering new approaches, and understanding how different techniques, styles, and production methods work together.

At the beginning, I never imagined that I would become an animator.

My undergraduate degree was in Production Design and Manufacturing. Although the word “Design” was part of the course title, most of the content focused on engineering, manufacturing, and product development rather than artistic creation. However, it was during this period that I first came into contact with 3D software.

(Industrial design work)

At first, I treated 3D modelling as a hobby and spent my spare time learning ZBrush.

(Early ZBrush Studies and Progress)

Before that, I had always enjoyed drawing. Since primary school, I would often fill the margins of notebooks and pieces of scrap paper with sketches and doodles. However, I knew that I did not have the level of skill or training needed to become a professional illustrator. Although I enjoyed creating things, it was difficult for me to imagine drawing as a future career.

(drawings and sketches)

After discovering ZBrush, I began to see a new possibility. I realised that even without strong drawing skills, there was still another way for me to create art, and that was through 3D.

For me, 3D software felt almost like a crutch.

In traditional drawing, even when I understood concepts such as composition, colour, and visual design, I often struggled when facing a blank page. In 3D software, however, everything could be broken down into parts that I could understand and control: lighting, materials, colour, space, and camera work. Every element felt clear and manageable.

This way of creating work fascinated me and made me seriously consider, for the first time, the possibility of working in a 3D-related field in the future.

After graduating, I worked briefly at an industrial design company, where I was involved in IP character design, packaging design, and advertising-related projects. Although this experience gave me a better understanding of visual communication and commercial design workflows, it also helped me realise that I was not particularly interested in product design or graphic design itself.

As a result, I began learning animation in my spare time while preparing a portfolio for postgraduate applications.

My first 3D animation was simply a moving donut.

(Sweet Adventure)

At that time, I knew almost nothing about character animation. I had no experience with rigging or performance, so I started with basic keyframe animation exercises.

Later, I created my first character-based animation project.

(Event Horizon Crossing)

Looking back now, the project had many problems, but it was the first time I attempted a complete animation production. To avoid dealing with facial rigging and facial performance, I even made the main character an astronaut wearing a helmet.

However, this project introduced me to many areas that I found exciting, including particle effects, explosion simulations, stylised materials, realistic environments, and camera composition.

Animation was no longer just about making objects move. It became a medium that could combine different technical skills with artistic expression.

After that, I created my third portfolio project.

(Sweet or Not)

This was my first attempt at a more complete character performance animation. The project included body acting, facial expressions, lip sync, character interaction, voice acting, and storytelling. It followed a much more standard animation workflow than anything I had done before.

Although these projects now look quite rough to me, they document my journey of learning animation from scratch. More importantly, they helped me gradually identify the direction I wanted to pursue in the future.

Looking back, I do not think I suddenly switched from industrial design to animation. Instead, it was a gradual process of learning, experimenting, and discovering what interested me most.

My industrial design background helped me develop an understanding of form, structure, and three-dimensional space. My experience in commercial design introduced me to collaborative workflows and real-world projects. Animation, however, was the first field that allowed me to combine technology, art, and storytelling together.

These experiences eventually led me to apply for CSM and to seriously consider animation as my future career path.

When it comes to roles, my target positions are rigger or 3D modeler.

A rigger’s job is relatively complex. Besides pure rigging work, it’s sometimes combined with motion capture tasks. A large number of realistic or semi-realistic game companies use motion capture to improve animation production efficiency.

Take Papergames’ “Love and Deepspace”（《恋与深空》）as an example. The rigger’s job expands from simple skeleton creation to things like: cleaning, optimizing and fixing mocap data; adapting mocap data to characters with different proportions; combining physics simulation with mocap; and so on. Riggers also need to work closely with the motion capture tech team, animators, tech artists, and other roles to keep the whole production pipeline running smoothly.

Compared with traditional 3D game animation, mocap-based animation is actually even more troublesome, because after using mocap, the animations still need a final round of polishing and fixes. For a game of that scale, every single step is tedious to a level that’s hard to imagine. On the plus side, though, the team size, budget, equipment and other resources are also relatively abundant.

In comparison, a modeler’s job is simpler, but the competition is also fiercer, because modeling is the most basic, lowest-barrier role in 3D. If I look at it from the perspective of how hard it is to get a job, similar roles like level designer or environment artist might actually fit me better.

That said, a modeler’s work is not limited to 3D game studios. Many visual novel studios, 2D game teams, and even film and advertising companies all use 3D to help build scenes.

Aside from these two directions, I might also consider combining my undergraduate major with my future career. My bachelor’s degree was in industrial design, so from that angle, working in the advertising department of a product design company would be a great fit for me. I’m very familiar with how to present and promote products, and I’ve basically already mastered the 3D skills needed to make product promo videos.

That’s roughly how I’m thinking about my target roles.

Reference

Character Rigger Job Description: Salary, Skills & Career Paths

《恋与深空》首次深度技术分享：这可能是叠纸最「掏心掏肺」的一次

After deciding on a general career direction, the next very practical question is: where should I start my career?

Right now, my plan is to go back to Shenzhen for work after graduation.

First of all, Shenzhen has a series of support policies for fresh graduates, including things like entrepreneurship, housing, and household registration. From the perspective of someone who has lived in many different cities, I feel Shenzhen is a very young and energetic place. China’s biggest game company, Tencent, also has its headquarters there.

Of course, besides Tencent, the Nanshan District of Shenzhen is home to all kinds of big and small game studios. I hope that in such a place, close to the core of the industry, I can quickly absorb mature development experience and make the transition from student to professional.

Working at a small company is also appealing in its own way, but my first choice is still Tencent. In recent years, Tencent has been pushing the “Bamboo Shoot Program” (“春笋计划”), setting up lots of small studios to incubate innovative projects. Joining one of these teams is my goal.

Their recent game “Lili’s Tiny Kingdom”（《粒粒的小人国》）has a style I’m very good at. I could work in that kind of team as a 3D modeler or animator.

“Lili’s Tiny Kingdom”

Besides “Lili’s Tiny Kingdom”, many other Chinese companies have released PVs for similar 3D casual games this year, which was a pleasant surprise for me. Before this, realistic “next-gen” style was generally the mainstream in China. I even spent some time learning ZBrush sculpting because of that. Fortunately, now I have more options that better fit my strengths.

Between realism and full-on cartoon style, there’s another company whose style I really like: Papergames (叠纸).

“Infinity Nikki”

Papergames’ “Infinity Nikki” was developed using UE5, which I’m familiar with. Also, their environment artist positions are among the few that explicitly welcome Blender users. If we only talk about software, Papergames is probably the company that best matches my skill set.

That’s roughly how I’m thinking about cities and companies for my future job.

Reference

12 Measures to Support Employment and Entrepreneurship for Hong Kong and Macao Youth in Qianhai – 深圳市前海深港现代服务业合作区管理局网站

According to the news, Tencent plans to formulate a “spring bamboo shoot plan” and will increase the incubation of vertical games – laitimes

《粒粒的小人国》官方网站-小人国生活模拟治愈新作

Infinity Nikki Official Website – Side by side, the world unfolds in beauty

Working on 3D games has always been my goal.

At the beginning, my dream was to join an indie game team. To move toward that, I once took part in a GameJam and teamed up with four classmates to form a temporary dev team. Our goal was to make a rough game demo within 24 hours.

Although the atmosphere at first was great, things unfortunately didn’t go very smoothly. The biggest problem was that we overestimated how much work we could finish in 24 hours. We gave our game a huge worldbuilding setup and an overly long timeline, so in the end the game we made could barely express what we originally had in mind.

Photos from Game Playtests

After that experience, I realized just how much work it takes to make a game. It was far beyond what I had imagined at first. I could of course consider switching to 2D or text-based games, but it’s obvious those directions don’t really match the skills I’ve been developing over the years.

After that, I wanted to dig deeper into the actual pipeline of making a 3D game. During the GameJam, I was only in charge of art, and didn’t really get to understand the production side, especially programming. So a few months ago, I tried teaching myself UE5.

This round of learning focused on the art-related parts of game development: modeling, making textures, unwrapping UVs, rigging characters, creating collision bodies, making environment animations, and so on.

Screen recording of the game I made

The learning process was really fun, and I ended up with a pretty good final result. But it also helped me understand even more clearly how hard it is to make a 3D game all on your own. Because of that, I probably won’t consider becoming a independent game developer. Even if I form my own team one day, my first concern will be whether the game can actually be finished. Overly complex worldbuilding and overly long game’s playthrough are things I’ll definitely try to avoid.

All in all, after graduation I still plan to prioritize joining a big game company and becoming a “small screw” in a giant machine. A lot of people have told me that working on this kind of production line is boring, because individual creativity isn’t valued that much. But to me, there are plenty of people with good ideas, and the bigger a project gets, the harder it is to take every single person’s ideas into account. That kind of trade-off feels reasonable to me.

That’s roughly how my career goals have shifted over time.

In my previous experience as a 2D creator, I learned many composition principles, but after becoming a 3D animator, I initially thought I had to learn everything from the beginning. However, during this CGI class exercise, I experimented with applying 2D composition principles to 3D creation and saw positive results. This process was highly inspiring and had an impact on my future direction. Therefore, I want to use this blog to document some of my thoughts during the creative process.

Creating a Sense of Space

At the beginning, it’s important to establish the general placement and spatial relationships of the objects.

In 2D composition, we often use overlapping objects to create a sense of space. I applied the same method here, using the stairs as a foreground element to enhance the sense of depth. At the same time, the stairs help link the first and second floors, preventing them from feeling disconnected. I applied the same method to the design of the floor and cabinets on the second floor, modelling them in an ‘L’ shape to strengthen the connection between the left and right walls.

Enriching the Composition of Shapes

In 2D, we often use the three elements—points, lines, and planes—to enrich the composition of shapes. I added the stair railing as a line to guide the viewer’s gaze and enhance the rhythm of the scene.

Small objects like books and bottles serve as points, adding detail to the scene, while the walls and floor function as planes, distinguishing different areas and expressing the stability of the space.

In addition to points, lines, and planes, it’s also important to consider enriching the shapes of objects by using different forms such as triangles, circles, and squares. For example, the desk is composed entirely of square shapes, so I designed streamlined legs for the chair to add variety to the composition.

Adjustments

In terms of color, I applied the 6:3:1 rule from 2D composition: 60% brown as the base color, 30% green as the secondary color, and 10% highly saturated red, orange, and purple as accent colors. For materials, I added various metallic decorations to enhance the distinction of textures.

When adding scene details, I also paid attention to the contrast between simplicity and complexity to highlight the cauldron as the focal point of the composition. When there are too many details around the cauldron (such as books and bottles), adding more details to it would overwhelm it. So, I made the cauldron the ‘simpler’ element, allowing the surrounding ‘complex’ details to contrast it.

Finally, I used lighting to emphasize the cauldron as the focal point.

Summary

This was an attempt to apply the 2D knowledge I had previously learned, and it has been very inspiring for me personally. At the same time, this logical approach to constructing a scene is replicable, meaning I can use the same way of thinking, rather than simply relying on inspiration, for my future creations. I can also build on this foundation to refine my process and develop my own style. Therefore, this has been a very important experiment for me.

2^nd Year student: Jiwon Ahn

This 3D animation project is themed around dance. In this experience, I was mainly responsible for two parts:

1. Testing the simulation of fabric movement.
2. Rigging the character’s skeleton and creating facial expressions.

Fabric Motion Simulation Test

This is the character design provided by the senior.

The animation involves many dance movements, and the character’s clothing is relatively loose. To better express the dynamic movement of the clothing during the dance, I decided to try using Marvelous Designer (MD) for fabric simulation to create more realistic physical effects.

I created a test animation in Blender and then imported the animated model into MD.

Then let MD simulate the fabric motion based on the animation, and imported the completed fabric simulation results back into Blender. The effect is as follows:

In this section, the main challenge is to address issues that can occur during MD’s simulation process, such as fabric slipping, flying wildly, and tearing. These problems can be solved using the following three methods:

1. Select a stiffer material in MD and increase the fabric’s friction.
2. Add a ‘solidify’ modifier in Blender to increase the fabric’s thickness.
3. Use a ‘mask’ modifier in Blender to hide the parts of the body covered by the clothing.

Character Rigging and Facial Expression Creation

The hair is rigged with physics effects, allowing it to sway automatically with the head’s movement, making it more natural and dynamic.

As for the facial expressions, here is the facial expressions design provided by the senior:

I added controllers to the facial rig to adjust the width and length of the facial features, making it easy to adjust both their position and shape at the same time.

By using the ‘Shrinkwrap’ modifier and ‘Track To’ constraint, the facial features can move freely without deforming.

Summary

I successfully met the senior’s requirements. Throughout this process, I learned Marvelous Designer (MD) and challenged myself with fabric simulation, something I had never tried before, achieving good results. This experience will also be valuable for my future projects.

At the same time, the facial rigging in this project was stylized and unconventional, but I was able to build the rig according to my senior’s requirements using the skills I had learned. The team was also satisfied with my results, and I am happy that, in my first team collaboration, I was able to make a contribution and play my part.

Soma Cube

Let’s start with a small colored cube.

The Soma Cube rendered by Gordon Romney in 1967 is considered the first rendering of a complex, manipulable, colored 3D virtual object.¹

Gordon Romney was David Evans’ first Ph.D. student in computer graphics, and David Evans was a pioneer in this field. David’s idea was to use raster scan technology (similar to that used in TVs) to generate realistic 3D images, and Gordon’s Soma Cube was created using this method.

However, this technology is very different from our modern 3D rendering methods. It essentially involved drawing each pixel one by one, rather than constructing 3D images by building points, lines, and surfaces like we do today. This brings us to the third person—Edwin Catmull.

The Birth of Points, Lines, and Surfaces

Edwin Catmull, also a student of David Evans, proposed an alternative way to generate 3D images.

This hand is taken from a computer-animated short film created by Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke. It shows the movement of the hand and is the first animated 3D object generated by a computer.²

As you can see, this hand is quite similar to modern 3D models. It is made up of a polygonal mesh, consisting of triangular faces and vertices. However, unlike today’s 3D software, this process involved creating a real model, drawing the triangular faces on it, scanning the coordinates of its each vertex, and inputting them into the computer to build the model.³

This project laid the foundation for 3D computer graphics and had a profound impact on the future of computer animation.

From Trials to Industry

By the 1980s, 3D rendering entered a period of rapid development and commercial application.

During this time, Pixar’s RenderMan rendering software and the use of ray tracing algorithms pushed the progress of rendering technology. RenderMan supported complex lighting calculations and became a core tool for animated films like Toy Story.⁴

RenderMan uses physical rules similar to those in the real world to simulate the behavior of light, such as reflection, refraction, scattering, and more. By simulating these physical phenomena, RenderMan is able to generate highly realistic images.

After that, with the launch of commercial software such as Maya and 3ds Max, 3D animation became more widely used across various industries.

Summary

From the history of 3D rendering development, we can see that the core of 3D rendering has always been based on ‘simulation’. Simulating the physical laws of reality within a computer has been a key focus in 3D rendering technology development.

Based on understanding the physical rules of the real world, technicians use more efficient methods to build similar physical environments in the computer, creating realistic 3D models. This concept is not just part of the past—it will continue to play an important role in future innovation and development.

Reference

1.First Rendering: A history of 3D rendering

2.The rise of 3D animation—a journey through its evolution

3.A Computer Animated Hand – Wikipedia

4.Milestones:The Development of RenderMan® for Photorealistic Graphics, 1981-1988 – ETHW

Welcome to myblog.arts. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!