Animating First & Third-Person Shooter Attacks for Games by Brad Faucheux

Ready to make your game characters pack a serious punch? This workshop dives deep into the nitty-gritty of animating killer attack sequences for first and third-person shooters. You’ll get a front-row seat to a seasoned AAA animator’s workflow, learning how to take an idea from a rough concept all the way to a polished, game-ready animation.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Plan and research compelling character attack animations.
• Create strong, dynamic key poses that define character and action.
• Utilize animBot tools for efficient animation workflows.
• Master snappy timing and strategic pauses for engaging animations.
• Spline animations smoothly while preserving key pose integrity.
• Polish animations to AAA presentation standards for portfolios.
• Analyze and apply insights from existing professional animations.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic Maya knowledge, understanding of animation principles.
• Tools: Maya, Photoshop.
• Hardware: A computer capable of running Maya and Photoshop.

📝 Description

This workshop is your backstage pass to creating top-tier attack animations for games. Senior Cinematic Animator Brad Faucheux, with his extensive AAA experience, breaks down his entire professional workflow. You’ll go from initial research and character planning, through detailed blocking and splining, all the way to the final polish that makes animations pop. Brad emphasizes real-world studio practices, sharing invaluable tips and tricks he’s gathered over years of working on major titles. He demonstrates everything you need in Maya, and even shows how to leverage the animBot toolset for a smoother, faster process. Expect to learn about character traits, power posing, and the crucial timing and structure needed for game animation.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Intermediate to advanced character animators aiming to specialize in game animation, especially for first-person shooters.
• Artists with foundational Maya skills looking to learn professional AAA combat animation workflows.
• Game developers, indie animators, and students aspiring to create compelling attack sequences that meet industry standards.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Brad Faucheux is a seasoned professional animator with 15 years of experience spanning film, TV, VR, cinematics, and video games. He’s known for his creative flair and technical chops, honed at studios like Reel FX, Blizzard Entertainment (working on World of Warcraft, Overwatch), and currently at NetherRealm Studios for Mortal Kombat 1. Brad is passionate about continuous learning and brings that dedication to sharing his hard-won knowledge.

🏁 Final Result

• A portfolio-ready understanding of how to approach, critique, and execute professional attack animations for AAA games, demonstrated through the creation of both first and third-person attack sequences.