3D Animation · Original Character · 2026

Aster

Final animation, Aster

Meet Aster Aster is a cat who's obsessed with space and aliens but has never actually been to space. Their whole room is telescopes and posters and a little green alien that goes everywhere with them.

Concept sketch of Aster's attic bedroom: skylight, telescope, glow stars, UFO posters and a green alien plush on the bed
Room concept. The final one changed a lot from this.
Full body render of Aster
Full body render.
Five expressions of Aster: surprised, annoyed, disgusted, neutral and smiling
Expression tests. Getting the range out of the face rig.

Building Aster

Aster had to go from a design on paper to something I could actually pose and act with, so I modelled and textured them and built the rig myself. Most of the fiddly work went into the face, since the whole character reads through the eyes and the ears and I wanted enough control there to hold a real expression.
  • Responsible for: all aspects
  • Modelling, rigging, animation: Maya
  • Texturing: Substance Painter, Photoshop
  • Render: Arnold
Maya viewport showing Aster's rig controls next to the Arnold render
The rig in Maya, next to what comes out of Arnold.

Animation

First I drew the acting in 2D to find the timing.

Then the same shot, animated on the rig.

Working it out in 2D first meant I could throw away bad ideas quickly, before doing the 3D pose test. Aster is a pretty bouncy character, so most of the work after that was keeping that energy without making them feel weightless.

Walk from A to B