Character rigger + vector illustrator. Sketches to animated puppets.

Rive character rigger + vector illustrator — sketches to animated puppets (ongoing) *Paid trial (one character, art + rig) | Opportunity for ongoing work* Summary We're building a product built around a cast of original animated characters who appear in short videos. The characters exist today as **sketches** — the designs are decided; what's missing is the finished artwork and the ability to move. That's this job, in two stages per character: first, **create clean vector artwork** (.ai/.eps/SVG) faithful to our sketches, drawn in separated parts ready for rigging; then **rig it** into a production-ready digital puppet our software can drive — automated mouth-sync from audio, gestures fired by code, idle life running underneath. Your work becomes the beating heart of every video the product ever makes. To be clear about the creative scope: this is **faithful finalisation, not concepting**. The sketches define who these characters are — their look, proportions and personality are fixed. You're bringing existing designs to a polished, consistent vector finish, then making them move. If you want to invent characters from scratch, this isn't it. If you love turning sketches into immaculate vector art and building clean, code-drivable rigs — this is a great seat, and it grows: more characters, new gestures, seasonal variants and ongoing animation work as the product scales. You'll work directly with the founder — fast feedback, no committees. An illustrator-plus-rigger pair or a small studio is welcome, as is one person with both skills. What you'll receive - Sketches for each character, front-facing, with colour notes - A one-page personality sheet per character (drives expression, gesture style and idle attitude) - The exact mouth-shape set and gesture list below - Two or three reference clips of the motion style we want Stage 1 deliverables — vector artwork, per character 1. Clean vector artwork faithful to the sketch: front-facing, consistent line weight and colour treatment across the whole cast. 2. Drawn **in separated, named parts** ready for rigging: body, head, brows, eyes/pupils, arms and hands (including any alternate hand poses needed for the gestures), plus the full mouth-shape set below as separate artwork. 3. Delivered as editable .ai/.eps source plus SVG part exports. 4. **Sign-off gate:** we approve the finished vector art for each character before any rigging begins. Stage 2 deliverables — the rig, per character 1. **The rig:** runtime file plus editable source (for Rive: the .riv and its editable file), with a clean, sensibly named hierarchy. 2. **Lip-sync mouth set:** 9–12 interchangeable mouth shapes (Rhubarb A–X or Preston Blair set), switchable instantly via a numeric input. 3. **Gestures, triggerable by name:** wave · point left · point right · think · celebrate · shrug · facepalm · write/gesture to a board · thumbs-up · confused head-tilt · one signature move from the personality sheet. 4. **Idle life:** breathing/sway loop + automatic blinking, always running. 5. **Emotion states:** neutral · happy · excited · confused · deadpan — switchable without interrupting speech. 6. **A state machine with documented inputs:** `mouth` (number), `gesture` (triggers), `emotion` (number), optional `lookX`/`lookY` — every name and value in a short README. 7. **A minimal test page** (for Rive: @rive-app/canvas) playing a timed mouth sequence and firing each gesture — proof code can control everything without opening the editor. 8. **A short screen-recorded walkthrough** of the file structure. Acceptance checks - Vector art reads as the same character as the sketch in a side-by-side comparison; clean paths, named layers, no stray points - Style is consistent across the cast — same line, colour and finish rules for every character - Rig runs in the tool's standard web runtime — no paid plugins, no hidden dependencies - Mouth swaps cleanly at speech pace (10+ swaps/second), no tearing or popping - Every input works exactly as documented; nothing that only works in editor preview - Runtime file under ~3 MB per character; all editable sources included - We can adjust artwork in the source later without breaking the rig Tools Vector art in Adobe Illustrator or equivalent (final delivery as .ai/.eps + SVG). Rigging in Rive preferred — our software drives Rive files directly, and Rive applicants will be prioritised. Spine or Live2D considered if every acceptance check still passes. Rendered video (e.g., After Effects output) is not a rig and won't be accepted. Process, budget and timeline - **Paid trial:** one character end-to-end — sketch to approved vector art to working rig — fixed price $[amount], reviewed against the checks above. - **Then:** the remaining cast at your agreed per-character rate, with the art sign-off gate repeated for each — and, if we work well together, ongoing art and animation work as the product grows. - Timeline: trial character within 10–14 days of receiving sketches (art proof for sign-off within the first week); remaining cast at a pace you propose. To apply Start your proposal with the word **PUPPET** so we know you've read this. Then: 1. Links to vector character artwork you've created from sketches or roughs, and to rigs you've built — playable .riv files or interactive demos preferred over showreel video. 2. In one or two lines: how do you set up a mouth-shape swap so external code can drive it frame-accurately? 3. Your fixed price for the trial character (art + rig), and how many characters of this spec you could deliver per week after approval. Generic proposals will be ignored. Rights The characters, sketches and all resulting artwork are our intellectual property. Work-for-hire; full IP assignment on payment; all source files delivered; nothing may be reused or displayed elsewhere without written permission.