Animation Pet Cat for UI | dEmpire of Vampire

Project Overview:
This project showcases the organic biomechanics, behavioral patterns, and dark acting of a realistic cat companion tailored for a Vampire / Dark Fantasy setting. Optimized specifically for mobile UI screens, main lobbies, and interactive pet mechanics (such as Tamagotchi-style systems or gothic RPG interfaces), the goal was to achieve a cinematic performance close to the camera while maintaining rigid technical optimization.
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Every clip is 100% hand-keyed, focusing on precise weight distribution, natural skeletal constraints, and eerie, intelligent feline personality traits fit for a vampire's familiar.
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👥 Credits
Rigging, Skinning & Animation: Dzianis Mizhui
3d Character artist: Andrei Omelchenko
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Rigging & Level-Up Attachment Progression
• Rig System: Built a custom quadruped rig from scratch using Advanced Skeleton in Autodesk Maya.
• Modular Equipment System: The rig is engineered with specific socket/attachment joints to support a visual Level-Up Progression System. External asset meshes are dynamically equipped as wearable clothing/accessories based on player progression:
1. Level Upgrade 1 (Paws): Gothic Bracelets / Cuffs.
2. Level Upgrade 2 (Neck): Vampire Collar.
3. Level Upgrade 3 (Back): Functional Bat Wings.
• Mobile-Ready Performance: The skeleton hierarchy is strictly optimized for mobile game engines (Unity). It features a restricted bone count, zero joint scaling issues, and clean root bone orientation for low-overhead rendering.
• Skinning & Deformation: Fine-tuned joint weights (compliant with standard mobile bone-influence limits) to guarantee flawless deformation during complex poses like spinal bends and organic belly twists, ensuring no mesh clipping with any level of equipped items.
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Featured Interactive UI Animation List
• Sadness loop (Long Absence Reaction)
The cat stands up on its hind legs, looking directly into the screen with intense, pleading eyes, gently drooping its front paws in a mournful, gothic gesture.
• Idle Cat Hungry (Hunger Alert)
Sitting next to its empty bowl, the cat impatiently taps and scratches the edge of the plate with its front claw to demand its next meal, glaring at the player with fierce anticipation.
• Idle Cat Dirty (Gothic Clean-Up)
A looping animation for a post-battle or unkempt state. The cat intensively licks its dark fur to clean away stains, pausing occasionally to shake its head with aristocratic poise.
• Happy (Dark Playfulness / Reward)
The familiar playfully flops onto its back, rolling side to side, actively wagging its tail against the ground, and happily waving its paws in the air in a moment of pure, eerie joy.
• Idle UI loop (Lobby Awareness)
A calm but alert idle. The cat sits upright, turns its head left and right to inspect the surroundings for potential prey, licks its nose/fangs, and lifts a paw for a quick wash.
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Technical Specifications
• Software Used: Autodesk Maya (Animation & Rigging)
• Rig Base: Advanced Skeleton (Mobile-Optimized Quadruped Setup + Progression Sockets)
• Workflow: 100% Hand-Keyed (No Mocap data used)Target Specs: Lightweight bone architecture tailored for mobile game builds.