Heavenstrike Rivals Showreel
A small selection of the 80+ characters I animated for the mobile game Heavenstrike Rivals (Square Enix / Freak Fandango) during 2017.  All animated in Spine, each character animation set comprises: deploy, idle, attack, cast, deflect, weak, point, react / take damage, shout, throw, run, and for the last character, a special skill - 'self-sacrifice'.

 

Once the characters had been designed (by Isago Fukuda & Becca Kimber) and I'd received the asset PSDs from the outsourcers, I checked the PSDs and made any minor art adjustments, where necessary, to prepare the unit for animation.  After rigging the unit in Spine, I then focused my attention on creating a distinctive personality for each character - one might be light, delicate and kindly, another firey and impetuous, and another stoic and built like a brick dunny.  While all the units used established skeleton and animation templates, I ensured that the personalities I'd created for them were fully expressed in their animations.  That was the most fun, and the Player's Forums delighted in this fresh energy and care taken.

 

I'd discuss with our Game Designers and Producer any special skills or requirement and ascertain release dates, and check in with the rest of the team to ensure the animation looked great in-game, attending to any fixes, if required.
I also collaborated closely with our in-house Character Artist, Becca Kimber, reviewing design features to see how they'd work in animation, and, later, coming up with themes and visual cues or motifs, eventually assisting with aspects of the artwork pipeline as needed.