Realistic Human 3D Character Rigging

I’m building a game that calls for a fully-realized, realistic human & some animal characters like horse. I already have concept art and size references; what I need now is an experienced 3D artist who can take those references all the way from high-quality modeling through to a clean, game-ready rig and a first batch of animations.

Scope of work
• Model a realistic human, animal (full body, clothing and basic props) suitable for current-gen engines. Can use automated 3d modelling & texturing from my 2d ready to 3d artwork.
• Create an efficient, deformation-friendly skeleton with clear naming and controllers. Facial rigging for expressions is required.
• Texture and bake all maps (albedo, normal, roughness, AO) so the asset drops straight into Unreal or Unity without rework.
• Produce the following animation set:
– Movement: idle, walk, run, sprint, and jump (take-off, in-air, land) as looping cycles that can embeded to game engines like UE5.
– Optional: Emotional expressions: happy, sad and angry, each as a short loop or keyed pose sequence.
• Export clean FBX files plus your native scene files for any future tweaks.

Acceptance criteria
The model must import into Unreal 5 with zero errors, hit 60 fps on a mid-range GPU, and blend seamlessly between the movement cycles and the three facial expression clips.

If this matches your skill set, let’s talk timeline and any additional libraries or plugins you’d like to use.

Update:
1 - UE5 Mannequin animation retargeting, 3rd person RPG.
2 - The 2d artworks are in A-pose so it is good for getting automated 3d model with texture from AI automation tools like Meshy or Hunyuang. Just refine them.
3- The amount of characters a plenty. Please minimize the scope of work so you can take as much character as possible with best price.

Look at sample attachment 2d.