Unleash the Action – Crafting Stylized Fight Sequences by Joakim Riedinger

If your fight shots feel floaty or hard to read, this class fixes that. Joakim Riedinger walks you through the full process of building a stylized action sequence in Maya — from story and thumbnails to blocking, stylized timing, and final polish with 2D FX.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Plan a fight with clear story beats, stakes, and character motivation
• Stage action for readability with camera, composition, and silhouettes
• Thumbnail sequences and build strong lines of action
• Block fights with primitive passes, key poses, and stepped timing
• Add weight and punch with holds, smears, multiples, and animation on 2s
• Integrate stylized 2D FX, props, and sound for final polish

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of Maya navigation and keyframe animation, familiarity with animation principles
• Tools: Autodesk Maya (2022+ recommended), Animbot, Mars character rig by Ramon Arango (recommended, discount provided)
• Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU, 3-button mouse

📝 Description

Stylized action lives or dies on clarity. Anyone can throw two rigs at each other — the trick is making every hit read in a split second and land with feeling. Joakim starts there: what the fight is about, who wants what, and how that changes the way they move. You will break down real reference from film and anime, pick out rhythm and story beats, then thumbnail 6-12 key moments before you ever touch the graph editor.

From there it’s all practical Maya workflow. You block the whole sequence with a simple box first to lock pacing and spacing, then move to key poses that could work as posters — balance, contrapposto, asymmetry, the works. Blocking stays stepped so you can focus on extremes, anticipation, and overshoot without getting lost in splines. Then you add the stylized layer: blocking on 2s, frozen impacts, off-timed limbs, smear frames, and multiples for that extra snap.

The last push is what sells it as pro work. Joakim shares his own 2D FX rigs — speedlines, smoke, impact frames, explosions — plus a handheld cinematic camera rig and 15 props to dress the scene. You will clean up noise, keep one clear focus per shot, add eye darts and overlap, and cut to temp sound so the rhythm hits. By the end you don’t just have a cool clip, you have a repeatable method for planning, iterating, and getting feedback like a studio animator.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Animators who can pose and spline but struggle to make fights feel powerful and clear
• Intermediate to advanced Maya users who want AAA-style stylization, timing tricks, and FX integration for their reel

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Joakim Riedinger is a French animator and illustrator, currently Lead Animator at Fortiche Productions. Over 10+ years he has worked at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixomondo, Illumination Mac Guff, and The Mill on projects like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Arcane Season 2, House of the Dragon, and Minions.

His work is known for punchy shapes, strong rhythm, and expressive posing, fueled by a background in illustration and character design. He was an Annie Awards 2020 nominee for Best Character Animation in a Live Action Production, and his designs have been featured in Character Design Quarterly.

🏁 Final Result

• A fully polished, stylized fight animation shot with clear beats, dynamic cameras, and integrated 2D FX — ready for your portfolio and reels focused on stylized action.

📢 Guys, this is a Group Buy campaign, check the GBC forum thread to get access

You can find the course preview in the download section below.