Categories: Feature

Step by Step: Freddy Arenas

I apologize in advance for the feelings of insecurity and inadequacy that may arise when appreciating Freddy’s work or watching his process. Freddy Arenas is that mythical unicorn we all hear so much about. From art and creative direction to illustration, animation, and 3D, Freddy seemingly does it all (he can skate, too!) and has had the opportunity over the years to influence many studios such as Brand New School and Buck.

After making the rounds in NYC, you can now find Freddy as a member of the Brooklyn-based Pencil Factory, where he is focusing on his personal practice and directorial work.

One thing that has always stood out about Freddy is his fundamental love for learning and making new things. In this case, Freddy has been using some of his downtime to work on his 3D character animation skills. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to record his process so that we all can learn with him.

Please, sit back and enjoy one of the best there is at work!

Editor’s note: As you may know, this series is an experiment for us. It’s a simple idea that we’re letting evolve as needed. One thing that soon became apparent with Step by Step is the limitations we are facing with time and what can be produced in a single sitting or two-hour stint. For this profile, we’ve experimented with speeding up the process as well as breaking down the piece into its three main stages.

Part 2: Modeling

Part 3: Rigging & Animation

Playback

If you care to watch the videos at a faster rate than x2, go to the video on Youtube, open your Javascript Console in Chrome and type:

“$(‘.video-stream’).playbackRate = X”

Simply replace “X” with the speed you care to watch at.

Submissions

If you would like to be involved, have comments, or would like to request an artist for a Step by Step feature, please email us at: stepbystep@dev.motionographer.com

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Joe Donaldson

Joe Donaldson is a director, designer, and animator who worked on Motionograpgher from 2014-2020. Previously, he was an art director at Buck. Over the past decade, he's lived and worked in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles and has directed work for clients such as Apple, Google, Instagram, The New York Times, Unicef, Etsy, and The New Yorker. In addition to his creative work, in 2018 he started Holdframe. He's now working as a professor at Ringling College of Art and Design and when not teaching he can be found spending time with his family or out running.