Today we’d like to introduce you to Xiyue (Yammy) Sun.
Hi Xiyue (Yammy), can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
During my childhood, I enjoyed watching a lot of anime and cartoons and spent a considerable amount of time drawing. However, I never considered pursuing it as a career. When I joined college, I was undecided about what major to pursue. In my freshman year, I attended a UCLA animation workshop during the summer to explore my interests. It was there that I realized my potential as an animator. Witnessing my drawings come to life was an exhilarating experience, and I received positive feedback for the stories I created during the camp. This motivated me to pursue a career as an animator. Subsequently, in my sophomore year, I spent time preparing my portfolio and applying to art schools. I was fortunate to receive an acceptance letter from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I focused mainly on 2D animation and learned how to express myself creatively. However, I felt the need to enhance my professional skills and hence applied to the graduate program at Savannah College of Art and Design to study 3D animation. My time at Savannah allowed me to experiment with different areas of animation, such as character animation, modeling, and texturing. This experience proved to be invaluable in my later career.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
To be honest, it is not an overly difficult path for me as I receive immense support from my family, and my peers and professors provide valuable feedback on my work. However, most of the challenges I face come from within. When I made the switch from 2D to 3D animation, I found it challenging to adapt to the software Maya. Unlike the hand-drawn frames in 2D, even small errors in 3D such as body balance, weight transfer, or lack of ease in and out can be easily noticed, making the animation appear unnatural. This caused me to initially struggle with the transition and I had to work slowly to get better at animating in 3D. However, after practicing for some time, I discovered the graph editor, which is an excellent tool for easing the animation. I watched a lot of slow-motion videos to improve my understanding of body mechanics. I also learned that in 3D, I can use shape changes to make up for the exaggeration of 2D by adding extra geometries or tweaking scales and shapes. This 3D experience has also helped me improve my 2D animation skills as I now pay more attention to the character’s silhouette, dynamic poses, and balance.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a junior 3D animator, my focus is on character animation, and I enjoy delving into the unique personalities and performances of each character. In my line of work, I often deal with cycles and game combat animation, despite not being an avid fighter myself. To compensate for this, I watch numerous video references to study the various patterns and styles of combat moves, and I also download and play combat games like Sifu and Absolver to better understand the timing of attacks and dodges.
While my primary expertise lies in 3D animation, I have also taken on rigging tasks for my company, despite only having basic knowledge from my fundamental rigging class in school. To learn how to set up joints, paint weights, and use plugins to speed up the process, I turned to YouTube tutorials. The result was a successful rig that is still in use today.
Additionally, my texturing skills have been instrumental in my work, thanks to the skills I developed during my graduate thesis animation, which included lighting, composing, and texturing. I have become proficient in using Substance Painter with procedural maps, and I have used this expertise to texture most of the assets for our company’s character, AVA’s modules, which have received positive feedback from our community for their appealing colors and aesthetics.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of my fondest childhood memories is spending Friday nights sitting next to my dad and watching him play video games after a long week at boarding school. It was during those nights that I was first introduced to the world of video games, as I watched my dad play a variety of games, including RPGs, real-time strategy games, puzzle games, FPS games, and more.
Whenever I didn’t understand something that was happening in the game, my dad would patiently explain it to me, which only deepened my fascination with the virtual world. Looking back, I believe that this sweet memory was the starting point of my connection to the gaming industry and played a significant role in shaping who I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: xiyuesun.net
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/xiyue-sun-yammy
Image Credits
AVA Module Preview – Property of Jadu AR Inc. AVA fighting scene – Property of Jadu AR Inc. Ruben Fro for the particle FX and composition BloomBorne – Property of Jadu AR Inc. Ruben Fro for the particle FX and composition Corgi – Douglas The Corgi Rig by Brandon Schaal Cartoony Cat – Mr. Buttons Rig by Bloomsbury Companion Website 2D Tiger Fx – “Master” by Xiyue (Yammy) Sun 2D Rotoscope – Original “Trial” by EGU-SPLOSION, animated by Xiyue (Yammy) Sun
