kaitlin yu
3d animator
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i’m a 3d animator.
☆ yukaitlin@gmail.com
☆ resume
VFX ANIMATION REEL
SHOT BREAKDOWN
1. BUSH'S BEANS — I animated Duke's muzzle! This is just one of the campaigns I worked on. Just a fun little intro.
2. ONE PIECE LIVE ACTION — As a long-time One Piece anime/manga fan, getting a chance to work on this live action remake was a dream come true! I worked in a hybrid environment with a large group of very talented animators, and leads in NYC and London directed our animation. Oda, the manga artist and writer himself, commented on my apple-eating shot that we made Chopper adorable! It was an interesting challenge to make Chopper as expressive as the manga and also as realistic and grounded as the live-action actors in the scene.
3. FREE RANGE VFX ANIMATION — an animation test I did while completing a mentorship at Free Range VFX. The audio is pulled from an existing Ngena advertisement, and the rig is Free Range VFX's. I grew so much as an animator from this experience!
4. FRAMESTORE — GEICO "EARPHONES" — I animated almost this entire spot, which was a tough but rewarding challenge. I got caught watching weed-trimming ASMR as I animated...
5. HIFI 3D — BRIGHTSPEED "KIDS," "RELIABLE," AND "SNOWBALL" — It's such a privilege to return to a character a few times, and Ray is such a charming character to work with! His big tusks make lipsync a challenge, but as an animator, it's always fun to troubleshoot complex rigs and character designs.
STYLIZED ANIMATION REEL
SHOT BREAKDOWN
1. "TWIN SPARKS" — I animated a shot for the senior thesis, Twin Sparks (2023), created by Ollie Yao and Heather Yun.
2. HORNET — INTERN TEST — Took the Kroger rigs for a spin during my internship! This test helped prove my animation skills, and afterwards, I could throw animation in alongside my generalist tasks.
3. SHATTERED GLASS FILM — CRICKET WIRELESS "SAUNA" — One of the funniest spots I've worked on! I worked with the other animators to ensure performance continuity was maintained from shot to shot.
4. HORNET — KROGER "CUISINE EXCHANGE" — I contributed modeling, shading, posing, and animation work on this spot!
5. HORNET — KROGER "STORELESS HOLIDAY" — Animated these shots and worked with the other animator to make sure the shots hooked up!
6. HORNET — MCDONALD'S "HAPPY MEAL UNO" — I animated four shots in the second half of this fun spot!
7. ODD — BUBLY “BURST” — A fun break from characters, the challenge here was to invoke dance, personality, and funk from cans and bottles alone (and cameras!).
8. HOPR — GOOGLE "FLIP I/O" — I was responsible for previs and animation for this spot, which promotes the launch of Google's online card game, Flip I/O.
OTHER WORK
Worked on these fun short films at Psyop. More to come!
more 3D work
UNREAL ENGINE PREVIS/CINEMATIC FOR
LIGHTWORQ
I created this previs/cinematic project entirely in Unreal Engine for Lightworq. This was my first time working in Unreal Engine.
Typically, I focus on character animation, but this time, I wanted to focus on storytelling through cinematography, layout, and lighting/environment — with minimal character animation.
I rigged props, created shaders, animated Metahumans using the Sequencer, created environments with Kitbash3D, lit shots using Lumen, and familiarized myself with the in-engine post-processing tools.
I had a lot of fun playing with camera angles, lenses, animation, and editing directly in Unreal. I made an animatic ahead of the previs, but I also used sequence nesting in Unreal to experiment with shot pacing in real time.
I wanted to capture the feeling of navigating through New York City – witnessing moments in time and vignettes of human connection. 🛹
“SHATTERED” —
SENIOR THESIS
“Shattered” is a 3D-animated short film directed by Kaitlin Yu, Nelson Mai, and Tiantian Zhang.
It was produced at the School of Visual Arts in the 3D Animation and Visual Effects program and completed in May 2022.
Awards include:
- NYC ACM SIGGRAPH MetroCAF 2022 Selection
- ASIFA-East Film Festival Selection
- Aakruti-My Creation International Film Festival Quarter-Finalist
- ASIFA-Hollywood AEF Student Animation Showcase Selection
- SVA Student Choice Award
- SVA Alumni Scholarship Award
- ASIFA-Hollywood AEF Student Scholarship Recipient
- Ma-Yi Theater Grant Recipient
See more behind-the-scenes details here.
BLENDER GREASEPENCIL IN 3D SPACE EXPLORATION
I've always been inspired by 2D animated movies and TV shows, so I used my first project in Blender to push myself to consider how I can merge 2D and 3D techniques.
The first project is a candy tin of Sakuma drops from the Studio Ghibli movie "Grave of the Fireflies.” The second project is inspired by Fruit Chan's "Made in Hong Kong."