Melissa Fuss | Technical Animator
Melissa Fuss | Technical Animator
Zenimax Online Studios, Hunt Valley MD
Senior Technical Artist, March 2025 - present
Senior Rigger, June 2024 - March 2025
Helped maintain Python and Maya APR tool pipelines for character setup, asset naming, and skin weighting.
Created a skinning toolset in Python with PyQt.
Projects included:
Unannounced MMORPG.
Arkane Studios, Austin TX
Senior Technical Animator, March 2022 - June 2024
Technical Animator, March 2018 - March 2022
Character, weapon, and prop rigging in Maya, and subsequent asset setup in Unreal Engine 4 (post process blueprints that implement animation dynamics, rigidbodies, cloth simulation, and/or corrective shapes).
Helped maintain Python and Maya API tool pipelines for animation, tech anim, and weapon modeling teams.
Created a Maya Python plug-in that gave the animators a field of view slider on the camera that behaved the same as the FOV slider in UE4.
Created a python batch animation export script that allowed the animators to search for animation source files, select and export several in one session.
Took over our FaceFx dialogue facial animation pipeline and added localization support as well as refined how we processed non-speech VO lines.
Started developing a corrective shape pipeline that adapted Epic’s Pose Wrangler plugin for Maya to work with our own (future)pipeline.
Projects included:
Redfall, unreleased Redfall DLC.
Liquid Development, Portland OR
Technical Animator, June 2016 - March 2018
Character, vehicle, and prop rigging in Maya and 3DS Max.
Created Python tools to assist in rigging, animation, and exporting to engines.
UE4 and Unity integration including scripting, animation trees, vehicle setup, and physics setup.
Clients/Projects included:
Disney Interactive Star Wars Commander, Machine Zone Mobile Strike promo, Promo VR experiences for LEGO, Honda, Acura, and the Alien franchise, Actiongram Hololens, Digital Domain The Monkey King.
Self-Employed
Freelance Technical Artist, December 2015 - March 2018
Asset rigging and some animation in Maya and 3DS Max for Unity and UE4 projects.
Clients/Projects included:
Giant Sparrow What Remains of Edith Finch, Liquid Development (HBO Westworld VR, Farm Story 2).
1st Playable Productions, Troy NY
3D Artist, May 2012 - December 2015
Asset creation for Nintendo DS/3DS, Leapfrog LeapPad, iOS, and Android. Included rigging and animating 2D and 3D assets in Adobe Flash and 3DS Max .
Creating scripts to automate pipelines in 3DS MaxScript, Python, and Windows batch scripting.
Performed as lead artist on several titles, managing the art schedule, coordinating with producers and clients, and overseeing the general look and feel of a project.
Clients included:
Disney Mobile (iOS, Android), Cartoon Network (Nintendo DS/3DS), Nickelodeon(Nintendo DS/3DS), Sanrio (Leapfrog LeapPad), Sony Pictures (Nintendo DS/3DS), IARPA.
ActionXL/Blanket Fort Games, Ithaca NY
3D Artist, June 2008 - November 2011
3D modeling, texturing, rigging, animating and exporting for PC games.
Performed as lead artist, coordinating schedules with the other artists, general art direction on titles and working with producers and clients.
FIRST Robotics
Mentor - 2012-2015
Worked with high school students to produce animated short films.
Rochester Institute of Technology - BFA, Film and Animation
Monroe Community College - AAS, Commercial Art
SUNY Brockport - BS, Math and Computer Science