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Project Character Rigging
Project Character Rigging
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Modeling Block-In
Modeling Block-In
Joint-Based Rigging
Joint-Based Rigging
Animation
Animation
MuiEthan_GLMRigging_Contributions.mp4Robot Rig - Full Reel
Robot Rig - Full Reel
Guardian's Lament: May 2025 - Present (Senior Thesis Short Film)
A highly collaborative effort between all teams within our thesis pipeline, including Visual Development, Modeling, Rigging and Animation!
I worked alongside one of the visual development leads to help develop the 3D blocking process for the modeling team to start from
Soon after the model was finalized, I was tasked with developing the upper body of the robot, which included IKFK switching in arms and fingers, shoulder pauldron movement, elbow pinning, as well as a semi-2D eye per the design! As an animator, it also gave me insight on what we needed and preferred in a rig. I took team feedback as it was being developed and tested!
This was one of the two main characters of the short film that I am so happy to have been involved with its creation process. Not only did I further my technical skills with rigging in Maya, but this was also my firsthand experience with our team's 3D pipeline! It wouldn't end there, as I would soon join in an animate my rig!
Joint-Based Rigging
Joint-Based Rigging
Face Rigging
Face Rigging
Hair Dynamics
Hair Dynamics
Animation
Animation
MuiEthan_FREETHROW_RiggingContributions.mp4Sammy Rig - Full Reel
Sammy Rig - Full Reel
Jan 2026 - March 2026 (Live Interactive Art Installation)
This is a basketball themed video projection mapping project led by Professor Craig Hobbs, aimed at implementing talented 2D and 3D animation!
Worked alongside Content Development Leads, Story team and Animation team to create dynamic and engaging character animation shots for video projection.
I was tasked to convert a pre-existing Blender rig to become compatible for our Maya animators! I aimed to make sure it was most familiar to my peers by having the control set up to be as similar as possible to the M-Rigs by Ramon Arango.
Character Rig with IKFK switches, face rigging and dynamic hair systems
Rigged basketball hoop with dynamic net
Worked to troubleshoot technical issues with animation team
Blender Rig Link: https://threedeeone.gumroad.com/l/fitness-girl?layout=profile
Free Throw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freethrow_sj/
Main Takeaway: Building a character from the ground up requires you to go through multiple avenues in the 3D production pipeline. My favorite part is the problem solving aspect! It forces me to learn new things and further familiarize myself in the technical aspects and techniques of rigging in 3D. I just can't get enough of it!
Personal Projects
Personal Projects
ANI179_Rigging_SP25_EricMead_EthanMui_Audio.mp4Spiderman Rig
Spiderman Rig
This was the final results for a SJSU Rigging class taught by Professor Eric Mead! I rigged a 3D model of Spiderman by Mutican.
I would say this was my real ground up for a growing passion in building my own 3D characters!
Takeaway: Here I would learn the basic but very important fundamentals of manual rigging. This would include joint based skeleton, IKFK switching, as well as weight painting.
MuiEthan_SummerProject_MinecraftRig.mp4Minecraft Game Rig
Minecraft Game Rig
Tasked myself over a summer to build my own rig from the ground up
I chose a character from Minecraft as I believed a blocky character would be a simple challenge, but it was far from easy!
Takeaway: learned so much more from rigging, doing my own research and really familiarizing with many technical aspects of Maya, including the node editor and a bit of Python & MEL scripting!
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