Anim Renderer Tool - Apex Legends
Tools: Python, Maya
Problem
Rendering animations each time was tricky. There are many buttons, settings, variables you have to tweak and edit to get the desired result.
Solution
Create an intuitive interface for animators to use that simplifies the process of rendering animations.
Output Result Example
Focusing on the Pain Points
To make decisions about extinguishing the fires the animators face, its important to understand what the fuel to the fire is.
What is the fuel to the fire?
The fuel was that there are too many settings.
Take the most common/important settings that animators want to use and add them to the tool.
How do you eliminate options without taking control from the animators? Sync the animation renderer tool to the Maya default render settings so that the users so that users can use Maya's render settings to adjust the more niche settings.
Referencing Custom Lighting Setups
Animators want the ability to easily add lighting setups to their animations.
The tool gives the ability for animators to reference lighting setups from a dropdown. It also has an option to create a new lighting setup from selection.
Integrating the Tool into the Animator Workflow
Introducing tools as a part of a new workflow is difficult because of existing artist habits. How do we overcome that?
I had to find dedicated customers (animators) to test out my tool. Through this, I gained valuable feedback and learned more about the animators' workflow. Using this information, I could make iterations to my tool to better fit their habits, bringing in more animators to use the tool.