Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a 3D action/adventure third person game that follows the adventures of Kena, a young Spirit Guide. She travels to an abandoned village, struggling to uncover the secrets of this forgotten community hidden in an overgrown forest where wandering spirits are trapped.

I assisted on the game for a year and a half. My primary objective was assisting with animations of Kena, the other human spirits, as well as enemies and props, for both cinematics and game animations.

Despite my title being 3D Animator, some of the other tasks I attended to included: 

• rigging props for both cinematic and in-game cutscenes
• pre-visualization for cutscenes in both Maya's and Unreal Engine's respective sequencers
• integration of various assets from Maya and Photoshop to Unreal Engine, ranging from static meshes to fully rigged characters
• brainstorming and creating pose ideas for NPCs, such as Beni, Saiya, Zajuro, and Hana, and implementing final poses and animated loops
• creating mouthflaps/dialogue animations for all speaking characters in game
• working with and helped other contracted animators learn the pipeline
• populating the world with NPCs, such as Rot and Villagers, and events, such as Spirit Mail and Memory Keys
• integrating Rot Hats, worked with designers to make sure hats were set up throughout the game, and manipulating onto their heads
• playtesting and fixing bugs

Kena Cinematic Animation Reel

Music: Rusu's Council by Theophany

Kena Game Animation Reel

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Rot Hats

I integrated all rot hats and maneuvered them to fit all hats and masks of different shapes and sizes in Unreal to fit on their heads. I also went through and set up their data tables and activation keys.

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Villagers

I brainstormed pose and animations ideas for reusable villager models and plugged those in for these Spirit Mail cutscenes. Some villagers also populate the town after you've delivered the mail, returning to what were once daily activities.