Portfolio
1. Tulio - This is a face rig I created as part of AnimSchool's
Advanced Rigging course during the Winter 2022 term. I
originally modeled Tulio from The Road to El Dorado years ago
but I had trouble matching Tulio's unique proportions. For this
I revisited the model and then proceeded to create the face rig.
2. Brawl Stars - My first time working with Psyop was for two
Brawl Stars shorts in which I was responsible for the body rig
for the character Dynamike. This included joint placement,
painting skin weights, and sculpting correctives. I also rigged
his backpack and props.
3. Taako - This is an Overwatch style take on the character
Taako from The Adventure Zone. The rig features a joint based
face setup and standard overall features. There is an automated
collision system for places like the shawl that can be faded on
and off as desired. Taako's prop, an umbrella shield, features
three levels of control and a shield with the option to either
fold or pop in once the arms are fully extended.
4. MechCat - The mechanical cat rig was supplied to CGSociety
for a rigging challenge and I took it on as it wasn't a simple
translation in joint rotation to part movement. It has proven a
great challenge to get all of the correct movements working.
5. Rope Bridge - This bridge was built during the Props Rigging
course hosted by Rigging Dojo in June/July 2014. It features
multiple control points structured with an overall group for
each segment containing individual controls for each side of the
railing and the bridge surface. Each plank has a control and the
support ropes bend or stretch based on the distance between the
bridge surface and the railing. There is also a sliding control
for shifting the planks that uses proximity and falloff.
Artstation
About Me
Thanks for taking a look at my website to learn more about me.I'm a LA native that went to a small local college to get my B.A. in digital media and VFX. After graduating I realized that I enjoyed the technical yet artistic mix of character rigging so I began pursuing that on my own.
To do this, I explored online lessons pulling ideas as I went before putting different methods together to find out what worked for the constant problem solving involved in this field. This has included tutorials on Youtube and courses at Rigging Dojo and AnimSchool. I've also taken on projects for fun simply because they seemed like something that would challenge me such as the MechaCat in my reel.
Eventually I made the jump from freelance motion graphics to freelance character rigging. I've been able to work on fun commercials at Pysop and help with season 2 of Rugrats at Nickelodeon.
Then in Fall of 2022 I joined the HUB team at DreamWorks Animation TV full time as a character rigger where I've been able to help guide asset creation for an unannounced project while also problem solving issues as they arose.
Experience
DreamWorks Animation TV
Character Rigger - HUB
Nickelodeon Animation
Character Rigger - Freelance
Psyop
Character Rigger - Freelance
Skills
Character Rigging in Maya
Face rigging with joints and blendshapes
Scripting and tool creation with Python and MEL
Media creation with Adobe CC
Contact
If you would like to reach out, please send me an email at darrolm(at)gmail.comor message me through LinkedIn.
