3D VR Character Artist & Animator – Realistic, Custom Animations, Lip-Sync & Unity-Ready (.unitypackage)

Job ID: 40579855

Budget: $250 – $750 USD

Project Overview:
I am looking for an experienced 3D Character Artist and Animator to create a highly detailed, realistic 3D character model for a Virtual Reality (VR) project. There is a strong emphasis on lifelike animation andVR optimization. The asset must be fully rigged (body and face), feature a custom suite of expressive animations, and be packaged as a VR-friendly, ready-to-use asset for seamless integration into a Unity project.

What I Will Provide:
- A clear reference image of the desired character design.
- A base reference model to help guide the proportions and style.
- A detailed list of the specific animation sets required.

Scope of Work & Deliverables:
- 3D Modeling & VR Optimization: Create a realistic 3D character model based on the provided references. The model must be VR-friendly and optimized for performance—meaning clean topology, efficient draw calls, well-optimized texture maps so it runs smoothly in a VR environment without sacrificing visual realism.
- Body Rigging & High-Priority Animation: Provide a robust rig capable of smooth, realistic human movement. There is a heavy emphasis on quality animation for this role. You will need to create a custom set of animations to be discussed upon agreement, including:
-- Conversational movements: Talking with natural, expressive hand gestures and body language.
-- Locomotion & Posture: Natural walking cycles, sitting down, idle while sitting, and standing up.
- Facial Rigging & Blendshapes: The character must have complete facial rigging. This specifically needs to include eye animation (natural blinking cycles) and a full set of blendshapes (morph targets/visemes) perfectly set up and ready for lip-sync integration.
- Final Output: The final deliverable must be a clean, organized .unitypackage containing the model, materials, textures, rig, blendshapes, and the complete animation controller/clips, ready to be dropped straight into a Unity scene.

Required Skills & Experience:
- Proven experience in 3D character modeling and texturing (realistic style).
- Expert-level character animation skills, with a strong portfolio showing weight, timing, and natural human body language (especially acting/talking with hand gestures).
- Expertise in facial rigging, specifically creating blendshapes/visemes for lip-sync and eye tracking/blinking in real-time engines.
- Extensive experience with Unity (understanding of Unity materials, prefabs, the Animator controller system, and skinned mesh renderers).
- Ability to optimize topology and textures for real-time engine performance without sacrificing realistic details or deformation quality.