iAnimate Student Spotlight - Abby Chavis

Abby Chavis is currently a 3D character animator student, and she is excited about turning her ideas into something that people can relate to. Stories are how we shape our world, and she loves learning the process of uncovering what it takes to bring the story to life when animating a scene. In her experience as an animator and teammate, Abby thinks collaborating with others makes this a rewarding experience. Abby can’t wait to see where this journey takes her!

Abby was impressed with the student reels coming from iAnimate and wanted to do work that was both appealing and technically strong work like she was seeing. Before Abby enrolled, she was drowning in her workflow and felt stuck.

“Since I started taking these workshops at iAnimate, I've learned how to plan a shot and successfully express my ideas! Studying principles, references, and workflow in the early workshops is helping me hone in on the creative and storytelling side of things now. As a result, I'm doing better work than I've ever done before and am excited to continue learning!”

Abby took the following Feature Animation here at iAnimate:

• Feature Animation 2 with Alexis Wanneroy - Fortiche Production
• Feature Animation 3 with Angie Jones - Spicey Cricket Animation

Abby is so passionate about doing all her iAnimate assignments. She plays with her creative mind and puts all the ideas on paper before starting her work. Abby thinks that Ideas can be so hard to come up with when you’re a student. It helps her carry a notebook around and write any idea (no matter how ridiculous) and workshop them with other animators when trying to make a reel piece. Here’s Abby’s creative process she does in her iAnimate assignments:

1. If an idea has promise, I draw it or lay it out in Maya to understand visually where I’m going with it.
2. After showing it for more feedback, I shoot my reference to set my intention for the shot and draw over it to clarify the expression and gestures.
3. When it’s time for blocking, I love having fun with poses, expressions, and timing while seeing the shot come together for the first time.

After breakdowns, notes, and polish, Abby is always surprised at how much different but better the shot turns out after all the collaboration of her instructors and other students.

Abby learned a lot from iAnimate, and she realized that you can still learn animation even without experience. With the help of the program and instructors, you can achieve your animation goals. To discover her strengths and lean on them! Abby loves to write, and she is driven to carry out ideas. Abby enjoys the process the most, from collaboration and planning to animation and polish, along with all of the challenges that come with it! Abby is determined to set goals and see them through when she has a vision.

You can reach Abby via:

Q&A with Abby Chavis

iAnimate: What do you think of your online Instructor(s), and how did they help you?

Abby: I started iAnimate in workshop 2 with Alexi Wanneroy in the spring of 2020. Before that class, I had never heard of a "workflow" and had no idea how to build a shot. The workshop was a game-changer in solidifying principles, understanding how to shoot and interpret references, and learning how to build a workflow. Alexi is an incredible instructor in breaking down these concepts and making them understandable to newbie students. In July of 2021, I took workshop 3 with Angie Jones, who was a blast! Angie is great at helping students flesh out their ideas, so they're readable to an audience. By the end, I got to show my technical and storytelling improvement with my new and more appealing shots!

iAnimate: How did iAnimate help you to evolve as a character animator?

Abby: Learning that you have to love yourself enough to plan has changed everything! Honestly, I'm not a person who can wing it and succeed. Planning has taken a lot of stress out of animating because I know I have some process to lean on. This includes the basic planning of a shot, like blocking and body mechanics. But also the emotional things like acting choices, hitting emotional beats and staging. The visual choices I'm making and the reasons behind them.

“Learning to plan has made me a reliable animator in the sense of time management and meeting deadlines and made me more confident that I'll produce quality work.”

iAnimate: What kind of animator do you consider yourself after taking your workshop?

Abby: Someone who will go out of my comfort zone. In this workshop, I took risks and allowed myself to mess up if I didn't. Then I wasn't going to learn as much as I could've. I don't always want to rely on things I know work. Being a student means making mistakes, and it's an essential part of the process! I'm glad I tried new workflows, took idea suggestions, and challenged myself because it made me better. “With the tools that I've learned from iAnimate, I feel much more confident in starting the industry!”

iAnimate: What kind of animation project do you want to work on?

Abby: Feature films have always excited and inspired me! Before I started learning animation, I used to watch behind-the-scenes filmmaking videos online and was fascinated by the process of it all. I think movies are a great way to bring people together and comment on our world. I'm so excited to collaborate with a team on projects that inspire others one day!