Get A Closer Look At This Expressive Stylized 3D Girl With Classic 2D Animation Look

This wonderful facial rig was developed for Hedera, the protagonist of the short film Cursed, created by a team of graduates from ESMA 3D. It served as the foundation for all the other character rigs in the project.

According to Marion Boitelle, responsible for the rigging, this rig combines joint-based controls with blendshapes. She also made use of the BlendShape Combination System plug-in, which proved helpful in building her setup. The rig incorporates ribbons, lattices, and clusters, allowing for a high level of facial expression and nuance.

The sculpting and texturing of the character were done by Ashe Daniel, and the original character concept art was created by Margaux Deculty.

"It was really fun to find ways to keep our 2D artistic direction and its sharpness while offering the most deformations possible", commented Marion.

Cursed is set in a magical world inspired by the golden era of 2D animation, and follows the journey of a devoted mother and her daughter, connected by love but confronted with an unavoidable fate. Check out the teaser:

Also, see more of Marion's rigging work in the demo reel below:

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