Ready, Fire, Aim! Creating Game Animation in Restraint

Abstract

Just like other artistic disciplines, animators are tasked with bringing characters to life through movement, whether for personal or professional motives. Games are a diverse field that sees a wide range of animation needs, but there lie consistent threads that lead to the success of a video games movements aesthetically and functionally. For aspiring animators there remains one consistent question: what does it mean and entail to create animation in the highly competitive game industry? This culminating experience paper aims to discuss the similarities and differences between student and professional work to highlight the importance and what it entails to work within creative restraints to create quality gameplay animation on demand. By analyzing animations, game development, and personal experience animating in different roles and scenarios, this paper seeks to highlight studio workflows, challenges, and steps to see to the success of an animation while adhering to quality and creative standards