Roberto Esparza

Since the beginning of my 3D journey, I was always interested in Rigging. My first big achievement (2 years ago) was finishing my first advanced facial rig, with Shape Keys, of a fan-made model of Hiccup (of the movie "How to train your dragon" by Dreamworks Animation), that doesn't represent the quality of work I can deliver today, but was an important part of my growth in 3D knowledge. After that, I worked on more character Rigs that allowed me to make a complete system for a character based on the movie "Soul" by Pixar Animation, with a Joint based facial Rig. And more recently, for the Annie and Matt fan project (created by Eliely Silva and Alfredo Ponce de la Cruz) I worked on a Rig for one of the protagonists, with facial deformations with bendy bones, IK/FK system for limbs (with switch) and spine, and a tail armature, with which I worked on my latest animation.

Trying to find some passive income, I decided to sell different 3D objects in the platform Turbosquid. It was a great experience, not for the amount of models I could post, but for everything I learned while working with them. I started with a vest collection, with three versions, all ready for cloth simulation, as shown in the display video for the platform. The jacket vest was the most interesting to work in. I wanted it to have a zipper that could work alongside the cloth simulation, following the movement of the fabric, without having individual deformation on each dent. It was a challenge that helped me to develop a workflow for emties tracking, that would be later useful to translate Motion Caption information to a Rig. Another product I thought would be interesting to sell, was a Digital wig collection, with 4 hairstyles, ready to be applied to any model (through shrinkwrap), with a simplified color changing system. I didn't continue making objects for selling, but I'm s...

Some time ago I came across an animation series project called Annie and Matt, created by Eliely Silva and Alfredo Ponce de la Cruz. I found the concept to be really interesting and the character designs quite appealing, so I decided to make a 3D version of the two protagonists. Matt and Annie concepts I created for modeling For the design and model of Matt, the biggest challenge was finding a way of creating interesting shapes and textures to get the 2D charm in the three-dimentional format. The colors of the jacket looked great in the original concept art (by @barbara_rodoodle ), but the texture in 3D seemed plain. Therefore, I decided to add a pattern related to the Day of the Dead (since Matt is a ghost in a Mexican show). Sewing patterns for Modeling The face of both characters had different stages. Each one was closer to the appeal I wanted them to have, until I got the final version, capturing the charm of the 2D designs, with all the advantages of 3D.  Finally, I worked on ...

 For a short movie project, I worked on the creation of David, a gloomy kid with a sorrowful past. For the design, I wanted him to look innocent and tired. His big ears and eyes helped to give him a childish look, while his marks (a trace of his dark past) and messy hair showed how badly life had treated him. After finishing the first version of the model, I felt like the face didn't have the appeal the 2D concept had. So I decided to tweak the proportions, and refine some details, to get the final version of David, ready for production.