Meet Sophia B Marcus!
Sophia B Marcus has an innate talent for creating illustrious animations and the technical skills to rig any model and fill it full of life! She has a zealous passion for her trade that is best captured in her own words, below….
How did you get into game development?
I think the earliest I ever considered game dev was back in elementary school, when I used the Cartoon Network level designer for Ben 10 Alien Force. After that, I used software like RPG Maker, then built things from scratch, and finally moved on to Unity when I was in middle school.
Were my games amazing? Nope. But did I have fun? Absolutely! I definitely got super into it once coming to college where I sought people out to form a dev team, Sunburst Studio. We spent the first two years learning the tricks of the trade and eventually published our own game on Steam: Sliptime Sleuth.
What do you do here at HakJak Studios, and what do you love most about it?
Animation–particularly game animation–has always been a cool challenge to tackle because of how variable things are compared to film. The fact that you can’t hide anything like you can in film forces me to really think about things methodically and cleverly.
I enjoy figuring out what sorts of animations and rigs would be necessary for the task at hand and learning how to work within the confines and limitations of a game via joint limit, or figuring out how to add life into a character and give them a loveable appeal with the right combination of emotable joints.
What are your favorite hobbies?
In my free time, I like making big robot rigs and making them punch other big robots or monsters. It’s a lovely exercise for learning mechanical rigging, while also living out my childhood fantasies.
Outside of my computer, I generally enjoy playing bass guitar… not to a professional level… just enough to sort of strum along to some songs when I feel like vibing.
Recently I’ve gotten into customizing arcade fight sticks and I’m looking forward to attending more local tournaments, once it’s safe to do so.
Fun Facts?
I was the Gingerbread Man in my elementary school play–truly the peak of my illustrious acting career!
I own two lightsabers.
My dog steals my socks and slippers.
We’re honored to be working with you–welcome to the team Sophia!
Sophia in a Nutshell
Voluntarily chose rigging as a profession for some reason
Makes big robots in my spare time
Plays bass guitar and fighting games
Robbed of an Oscar for their performance as the Gingerbread man
May or may not be a Jedi, who’s to say
