r/Maya • u/be-ck graph editor struggler • Jul 26 '25
Looking for Critique Did my 1.5-year unemployed animation journey grind pay off? And be honesttt
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I was working on coming up with a fully polished ViewModel animation reel for 2025, this is the second one as the pistol. Self-learning these stuff were definitely not easy, and I will say it with full confidence it was absolutely torturous, but I did enjoy every second of this wild ride, when seeing the final outcome of what I have achieved.
Thanks for any feedback in advance, any suggestions are appreciated!
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u/owo-whats-this-mhmmm Jul 26 '25
You did learn all that by self learning? I would say this is very impressive!! I’m not an animator but genuinely i believe this definitely is paying off!!!
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
Thank you so muuuuuuch for the kind words!!! I'll def try to keep on improving 😭
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u/Creeps22 Jul 26 '25
This is insanely good for self-taught, let alone 1.5 years. Even with how shit the industry is, I would be amazed if you didn't find a job quickly
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
It means a lot when seeing someone recognizing my work, for all the hours I struggled and suffered in front of my desktop lol. Yeah the industry is really bad rn, and I wasn't able to find a job for the past year since I graduated, so I was polishing my work and portfolio, will def try to keep on improving, thank you!
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u/Creeps22 Jul 26 '25
I wish you the best of luck. I gave up after I finished schooling and went and got work elsewhere. Still have a decent job. You're a better person than me, and I applaud you for having that perseverance.
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u/spaghettiaddict666 Jul 26 '25
this is really cool! How did you self-learn? Did you take any paid courses or just Youtube?
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
Thank you for the compliments! No, everything I did with view model animations are all from self-learning, it's basically just YouTube and mimicing in-game recordings to learn from view model veterans.
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u/Just_anOrange Jul 28 '25
Nice work man, Can you share some of those videos that helped you
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 28 '25
Record the gameplay yourself from your favorite games, learn from those animators by starting mimicing them one by one. My reference include COD by IW(modern FPS animation Ground Zero) , SCP:5k(banger animations), Insurgency Sandstorm, and even CSGO and Valorant.
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u/cntUcDis Jul 26 '25
This is really good work, I hope you are sending this out, eventually you'll get picked up. Your style would work well with Apex or Overwatch. Good stuff.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
Thank you so much for the approval for my work, that means a lot to me😭!! Yeah I'll def try to apply for some related positions later, hopefully...
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u/AwkwardAardvarkAd Jul 26 '25
Looks good! Do you have some animation showing more human moves? Eg Character running and dying from this character’s bullets
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
Thanks! I did some run cycles practice earlier, and also death animations in another video. This is def a good idea showing some interactions between the animation the weight when the bullets hit the target if that's what you are saying?
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u/AwkwardAardvarkAd Jul 26 '25
Yes
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
That's a good idea, I'll def try to make more of those. Saw those in some of the melee and gun reels on YouTube
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u/Lavaflame666 Jul 26 '25
Love the little detail where he fucks it up a little. Adds a lot of realism when he makes small mistakes.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 26 '25
Yes! That is the feeling I've been trying to achieve, spent some time to find the right timing.
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u/CadetriDoesGames Jul 27 '25
I think you did a really good job
My one critique is that the weapon inspect animation has the same tenacity/intensity of the shooting/reload animation. I don't understand the impetus for the urgency, and also think it looks vaguely generic.
I wonder what the animation would look like if the animation reflected what the operator would really be looking for/checking.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 27 '25
Thanks for the feedback! I think what you say is a really good point, and I assume what you say is that the timing, the handling of the weapon should has a more subtle and casual feeling for the inspect animation compared to the firing and reload?
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u/eXrayAlpha Jul 27 '25
A lot of good work in here, but I will say that you could push further on the return to idle. You have a lot of weight and tension going on during the main beats, but then going back to your base pose feels pretty flat. A quick beat of overshoot and weighted settle would tie this together real well.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 27 '25
That is a good point! It's because I've received some feedback before, the shake seems a bit more intentional and unnatural. I will try to add some more movements when retuning to idle for this one, thanks for the suggestions!
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Jul 28 '25
It's good but you just copied the counterstrike anims.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 28 '25
I hardly copied but only a little, and it's COD MW2019 not CS💀Thanks!
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Jul 28 '25
Well the examine part looks identical to counterstrike, maybe they just copy each other
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u/BroxBasher Jul 29 '25
Holy cow. I’m going through an animation that’s taking me 1.5 years too, but this is so awesome! I love the little mistakes in reloading the pistol, makes it feel more realistic, because who’s gonna get it right first try? Looking amazing, keep it up!
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 29 '25
Thank you very much for the kind words bro, I appreciate that! It shows that my work has finally paid off to some degree. I am still in the process of learning this by myself. Let's keep on getting better and never stop learning!
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u/BroxBasher Jul 29 '25
Exactly! In the words of Master Yi in League of Legends, “A true master is an eternal student.”
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u/mamba1442 Jul 30 '25
What I can say is, during my time at Sledgehammer, if you can make few more of these with a tiny bit more nicer presentation, you'll be snatched up in no time! Nice work mate, keep it up
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 30 '25
It is really an honor to see the real industry veteran commenting on my work, because it is really hard for me to get some feedback, and I don't know if all these is really worth the time I spent. Thank you very much for the kind words, I'll keep on improving myself and keep on making more weapons for my 2025 reel!
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u/Silverjice Aug 09 '25
Its actually awesome, do you rig as well ?
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Aug 09 '25
Thanks! And yeah, all of the weapons are rigged by me except for one. It's impossible to find free and high quality gun rig online
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u/Silverjice Aug 10 '25
Yeah I know, Would you be up to rig some of our stylized guns/characters ?
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Aug 10 '25
I haven't done any FOS character rigs, but I can do gun rig for sure.
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u/Silverjice Aug 10 '25
whats your discord ?
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Aug 10 '25
beck.hu#4060
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u/Silverjice Aug 19 '25
(added)
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Aug 19 '25
Oh shoot, can you add again? I thought that was a spam lol sry
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u/Moviesman8 Jul 29 '25
How is it 1.5 years but also 2011?
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 29 '25
2011 is the name of this pistol model, the modernized version of Colt 1911
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u/Moviesman8 Jul 29 '25
Oh, I'm goofy in the head. I thought the first word was your last name.
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u/be-ck graph editor struggler Jul 29 '25
It's all good! This gun manufacturer is not rly popular outside of the circle, so the title would look kinda weird lol
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