Robot Battle
The short.
Animation playblast with the rigs still in progress, showing the IK setup in grey, rig handles in blue, and spline handles in red.
A character-driven animated short made for a 3D modelling course, inspired by early mecha series like Gundam Wing and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Since the project ran over one semester, robotic characters were a deliberate choice: easier to animate than anything organic. Once animation started, simplified the camera angles and environment to keep the focus on movement.
The rigs were the interesting part: simple but mechanically accurate. The arms and legs use inverse kinematics with extra handles for parts like the shoulder plates; the monster's tail is a spline with several handles for full control over curve and twist.
