who are you even???
Hello! I’m Esther (she/her), your favorite animator collaborator :)
Since 2012, I’ve worked across a diverse range of project scales, team sizes, and art styles, and I’ve spent my career working both as a gameplay animator and team lead.
Whether working in an animator or leadership role, I constantly found myself wishing I had a trusted senior animation partner who could hop in real quick during busier, transitionary times.
I treasure the community, joy, and relief that games can offer people. So I created Your Animator Collaborator as a way to be that quick assist for other developers. I want more of these valuable games to make it out into the world! And without burning out the creatives building those games.
As your collaborator, I will provide a helping hand when your hands are full, and support you in your journey of making your game (basically, I’m here to help you Make The Fun Thing while minimizing the Not-Fun Things).
Making a game? I’d love to collaborate with you!
gameplay Anim sample
Some of the gameplay animations, combat + traversal prototyping, and animation direction I contributed as Creature Animation Supervisor on Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
WHY AN ANIMATor COLLABORATOR?
(yay, i’m so glad you asked!)
beyond animations
I’m an animator by trade, but I operate with a technical, cross-discipline mindset and experience.
As someone who constantly navigates both the gameplay and the character pipelines, my gameplay skillset extends beyond just authoring animations. If you need support in the iteration process from concept art to playable character, or from paper design to feature complete - I’m here for you!
TIMELY and flexible
I’m a senior developer that can hop in just when you need it and frolic away when you’re all good.
Whether you planned to do animations at a specific time, or you unexpectedly needed more help - I’m able to ramp up quickly, assist exactly where you need assistance, and— when you’re ready— enthusiastically cheer from the sidelines as a friendly supporter.
director on the go
I can problem-solve for you at a high-level while I build the game with you at the ground level.
I’ve hired and managed teams, directed projects, integrated outsource artists, organized motion-capture shoots, designed combat behavior archetypes, created production roadmaps, among other things! I can build at the ground level while supporting you at a high level.
animation SHOWREEL
A broad compilation of some of my favorite animations.
experience
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Humanoid and creature animations
Cartoony stylized to realistic animation style
Maya, Blender, Motionbuilder, 3DS Max (but I’m most comfortable in Maya + Blender)
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It’s important to me that gameplay animators are empowered to at least import and test their own work in game, as that not only lets us work within player context, but also removes the animation bottleneck to our other gameplay teammates.
EA proprietary (Frostbite and ANT), Unreal 5
Implementing and iterating animations in game
Animation state flows, additives, layers, blend-spaces, locomotion
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My entire career has always been spent in active, day-to-day collaboration with gameplay design teammates. Examples include:
Designing animation personalities to highlight gameplay cues to players
Finding a balance between responsiveness and animation time
Co-designing core combat suites, hit reactions, and traversal metrics
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At EA, Hi-Rez, Bioware, Possibility Space, and continuing on with my clients’ studios, I partnered with my (wonderful) teammates to improve workflows such as:
The roundtrip between animation software to the game engine
Animation authoring and export tools
Cross-discipline character work
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In a leadership capacity, I partnered heavily with production and fellow discipline leaders to do higher level work such as:
Translate project goals into tangible work and timelines
Create animation tracking methods to share across design, vfx, and audio
Design healthy iteration practices across the character and gameplay pipeline
Adjust scope to on-going production context changes
the goalS, the values, AND the vibes
GOALS
Actively support diverse dev teams and unique games
Custom animation work is accessible to developers with limited animation resources
More meaningful games finish production, so that more meaningful games can reach the people who need them
VALUES
Approach with curiosity and inclusivity
Creative work without the creative burn-out
Contextual, proactive problem-solving
Compassionate accountability
VIBES
Cheerfully analytical
Practical creativity
Probably too enthusiastic about karaoke and my cat (demon) Mo-Mo