3D Animation & Visual Effects grad Bartek Kujbida took part in what is easily this year’s most anticipated video game – Halo 3, which hits shelves at midnight tonight. As a Character Animator at Montréal 3D character animation and visual effects house damnfx, which was tapped to do some character animation for in-game cinematics, Bartek had a hand in the finale of the blockbuster first-person shooter trilogy.

Working with Maya scenes and layouts provided by Bungie and their Cinematics Director, CJ Cowan, Bartek and the rest of the animation team took the animation of the characters from blocking through to final animation under the direction of Cowan and damnfx Animation Director Emilio Ghorayeb.

Bartek writes in to tell us, “I was responsible for trying to create genuine and memorable performances by characters such as the legendary Master Chief and Cortana, which you’ll see in between gameplay. I was also flown out to Bungie twice. While there, I got the opportunity to see how Bungie creates this behemoth and also the chance to work with some of the most fun and talented people in the industry.”

His career since graduation has mostly been in film, and he’s credited on movies like Night at the Museum and Blades of Glory. Still, for a 3D animator, the two media go hand-in-hand. “Coming out of VFS, I was mainly interested in film work, but now with the advanced game technology, the artistic gap between games and film is getting closer than ever – and this is one of those games that any animator would love to work on.”

“I have always been a gamer,” he says. “Since the Commodore64 era, I’ve been playing video games whenever I can. I must admit that I’m mainly a PC gamer, but the one console game that had me hooked was definitely Halo, so I even got a copy to play on my PC. Rarely do I get sucked into a console game, but Halo 3 will definitely have my attention… and not just because I had a part in it!”

“I never would have imagined I’d get to work together with Bungie on this project, so I’m thrilled to have had a part in bringing the characters in Halo 3 to life, and to have worked with such a talented animation team!”