A 90-second 3D animated short about a young astronaut who finds a funny intruder on board his spaceship, written, directed and animated from start to finish.
The challenge
A small spaceship, a lone astronaut and an unexpected guest. The goal was a short, character-driven comedy where the timing of the animation carries the story, with every element built by a single artist.
The approach
Characters, spaceship and set were all made from scratch. The astronaut was sculpted in ZBrush, then modelled and rigged in Maya with a full facial rig and blend shapes, and textured in Substance. The spaceship started from my own front and side drawings, and was modelled and UV-mapped in Maya before texturing in Substance. The film was edited in Premiere.
You can also watch the 3D backstage of the film on YouTube.
The result
A finished 3D short where character design, rigging and animation work together to land the comedy, plus a fully textured hero prop built from concept drawings.
Breakdown
05 ASSETSCharacters, rigs and a spaceship.
The astronaut and his ship were designed and built for the film: a full body and facial rig to carry the performance, and a hero spaceship modelled from my own concept drawings.
- 01DesignFront & side drawings
- 02SculptZBrush
- 03Model & UVMaya
- 04Rig & blend shapesMaya
- 05TextureSubstance
- 06AnimateMaya
- 07EditPremiere
WireframeRender
WireframeRender
Stills
01 FRAMES
Credits
- CLIENT
- ANIMATION SHORT
- 3D GENERALIST, ANIMATOR
- A. ERBA