Mrinal Soni is a Creature Animator based in Jaipur, India. He is currently working at Hashbane Interactive on their highly anticipated video game, Instinction. With a professional animation career that began in 2019, he has honed his expertise in breathing life into characters and creatures, ensuring that each movement resonates with realism and impactful storytelling.
Beyond his primary role as an animator, he also delves into rigging and enjoys contributing to the animation community by sharing free rigs. This passion stems from a desire to support fellow animators and help them bring their creative visions to life. He believes in giving back to the community that inspires him and takes pride in creating resources that empower other artists.
With such a passion for animation and a drive to uplift the creative community, it’s easy to see why Mrinal is making waves in the animation industry. He recently sat down with The UpWrite Group for our Work Happy Spotlight. Enjoy!
What inspired you to pursue animation, and how did that initial passion evolve into a career?
I loved making sketches and drawings from an early age and have been quite a big fan of games, movies, and anime. When I got to know that we do have a degree course in animation, I immediately did some research and enrolled myself into one of the colleges. I decided to specialize in character animation in the final semester as I loved the process of breathing life into your characters and see them moving.
As a creature animator you bring dinosaurs and other subjects to life, can you remember the first creature you brought to life and what you learned from that experience?
The first creature animation I did was in the final semester of my college but I was still learning everything at that time, so the quality was not good. In January 2021, I joined the online “Creature Animation Workshop” and that was the game-changer for me. I got to learn a lot regarding creature animation and made a very high-quality elephant walk cycle during the workshop.
Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiuzq_EvIjg
I often see you hyping up and mentoring other animators, what does the mentoring process look like for you and what kind of feeling do you get when you see it “click” for a mentee?
I always try my best to help others whenever they reach out to me and have some doubts or need some feedback. I recently started mentoring others who wanted to get into creature animation and learn the basics. It definitely feels amazing when the student applies your feedback properly and you can see their progress and the shot getting better and better with each iteration. It’s always a treat to see the final piece from the student.
How do you maintain your creative energy and push the boundaries of your work when you are feeling less than motivated?
I personally feel that being consistent rewards you a lot whether you are motivated or not. Definitely there are times when you don’t have any motivation to work or feel low, but personally I try to somehow push myself to keep doing some exercise like some smaller piece of practice animation or watching shots from other animators which inspire you to do and learn more.
My recent practice shot – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bEqrOsfIpSg
What part of animation do you find most rewarding, and how does it impact you creatively?
For me the whole animation process is very intriguing. The initial blocking pass can sometimes make you doubt your skills but as the shot progresses with each pass and once you see the final polished version, It’s a wonderful feeling. Also, when other people be it animators or non animators praise your work, it definitely encourages you to push yourself and keep going.
How do you handle feedback or critiques, especially if it challenges your vision of an animation’s behavior or movement?
Getting critiques and feedback is one of the most important parts of animation. It’s always a good idea to take feedback from multiple persons as everyone has their own perception of seeing things but sometimes it’s not possible to implement every individual feedback. At that time we have to become a bit selective and decide which feedback would work best and can be implemented while keeping the original vision of the shot.
You are currently working on bringing dinosaurs to life in the upcoming game “Instinction,” can you tell me what a normal day looks like working as an animator for a videogame?
I consider myself very lucky that I got to animate for “Instinction.” I love animating dinosaurs. The team is very small and we have to keep track of everything ourselves, which makes you responsible for your work deadlines and quality. Usually in the beginning of the work day, I connect with our Lead Sanjay Singh regarding the ongoing and upcoming tasks. If there is any new shot that I have to start, then it usually begins with finding references. Once you are happy with the references, then you start animating.
Can you share a memorable moment from a project where everything just “clicked” and the animation felt lifelike?
I have to say working on the “Quetzalcoatlus” for the first time for “Instinction” was a challenge for both the rigger and myself. This creature has a membrane connected to both the arms and the legs and getting the membrane to deform properly and getting good shapes was very tricky. Once we figured out the best way to do this and managed to do a flying-to-landing animation, keeping the same quality as per other creatures, that definitely was an achievement.
What role does imagination play in creating realistic dinosaur movements, given that we don’t fully know how they moved?
We try to take as many references as possible for the major movements. For example, for the recent Compsognathus idle animation I made, I took references of the road runner bird and compiled them to get the timing and movements right. But sometimes it’s not possible to get references for some specific movement. At that time, we tend to record ourselves acting as a dinosaur and then try to implement the characteristics of the creature in the animation itself by exaggerating some stuff and changing timing of the movements too. So, it’s a mix of real footages and using your imagination to some extent.
How does collaboration with other artists, like riggers or art directors, elevate the final product?
Being an animator, we have to be in constant contact with the rigging department regarding what kind of controls we require, if we are able to achieve poses with the rig or not…the final rig definitely contributes to the quality of the animation we can achieve. Also, feedback from the Lead and Art Director are very important so that we don’t drift away from the right direction and the work aligns with the original vision of the project.
What advice would you give to those just beginning their careers and pursuing their passions, especially on handling setbacks and staying motivated through challenges?
I would say keep practicing in the field you are willing to specialize in. Everything might seem challenging at first. Patience and consistency are the keys to success. Keep working on your portfolio. Ask others for feedback since the community is very supportive. And grow your social network as much as possible.
When you were a kid, how would you have answered the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Would the kid version of yourself be happy with how your career turned out?
To be honest, I didn’t have any specific goal growing up, but I loved watching cartoons, playing video games, and making drawings. I am sure my kid version would be very happy and proud to see me working and be a part of something which I always admired since childhood.
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