Best Friends Animal Society, with Saddington Baynes · Animation and rigging lead
Furry 4
For Best Friends Animal Society's campaign encouraging owners to neuter pets at four years old, I was animation and rigging lead on Furry 4 with the creative agency Saddington Baynes. I built a joint-based IK/FK rig that could be driven by motion capture of a dog or a cat, and animated the piece. It was very well received by the client and the agency.
- Client
- Best Friends Animal Society
- Studio
- Saddington Baynes
- Role
- Animation and rigging lead
- Tech
- Maya
The challenge
Best Friends Animal Society, the American animal organisation, ran a print and online campaign encouraging owners to neuter their pets at four years old. I worked with the creative agency Saddington Baynes, and the brief was to bring the number four to life with the characteristics of a cat and a dog, so it needed to move like a real animal rather than a graphic.
What I did
I was both the animation lead and the rigging lead, so I rigged the character and animated the piece.
- Joint-based IK/FK rig. A rig built on joints, with IK and FK controls, so the number could be posed and animated like an animal.
- Ready for motion capture. The rig was set up so motion capture of a dog or a cat could drive it, which made the animation feel as real as possible.
- Two coats. The same character appears with long ginger fur and with striped tabby fur, each with a red collar and name tag.
The outcome
The piece was very well received by the client and by Saddington Baynes.