Jungle Jim Character - Modeling/Texturing/Animation

----- Overview -----
I was responsible for the Modeling, Texturing, and majority of Animation work completed for the character "Jim" in my game "Jungle Jim". I was not responsible for the concept of the character design or the rigging of the character model.
Concept Art - Ashtyn Carns (https://www.artstation.com/ashyr)
Concept Art - Annie Lin(https://www.artstation.com/artwork/rJQom6)
Character Rig - Cooper Crawford (https://www.artstation.com/cooperc376)
Jim was modeled gradually over the course of 2 months, textured in 2 weeks, and animated with 35 animations over the course of 1 month. The intended output was Unreal Engine, so I was able to utilize Unreal Engine's built-in animation tools to bring Jim to life in-engine. I used mostly Blend Space and IK Rig techniques to add immersive details to the animations.

----- Design -----
For his animations, I had to consider the intent of the design. Jim has a lot of unique movements in the game that play rapidly during gameplay. I needed to create animations that quickly show the player what Jim is doing, while also keeping tabs on the amount of screen space Jim should be taking up during the animation sequence. The animations also need to show player details about their state: for example, for Jim's "Kick Flip" attack, he is unable to wall slide for a short duration after. To show this in animation, I made Jim remain in a cannonball pose for the exact duration after his flip. This signals to the player that Jim is not ready to reach out and grab the wall yet.

---Personal Thoughts---
This was my first time modeling, texturing, and animating a character. I feel it was a success! The modeling was the most difficult part, but I was able to create topology that properly deformed while staying in our intended poly count constraints. Texturing was tricky at times, but I was able to use procedural texturing to get my intended effects! I tried several variations for the fur and clothing before settling on the final result after getting some feedback from my peers. I thought animating the character would be more difficult than it ended up being- but it was my first time animating a character so I had no experience to base my expectations on. Each finished animation would take anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on complexity. After awhile, I began to utilize squash and stretch techniques in some animations to give Jim a more cartoony feel to his movement. This small change made so many of his animations come to life! In Unreal, I also learned Animation Retargeting, Animation Blend Spaces, Animation Montages, and IK Rigging techniques to make the animations function as intended in game. When Jim runs, he will lean side to side as the player turns their joystick. This captures the momentum of the game-feel and displays it through the character!