2D Character Rigging & Animation Specialist Needed

We are looking for an experienced female 2D Character Rigger & Animator to transform an existing, fully designed 2D cartoon character into a fully rigged, expressive, and interactive animated character.

The character design is already finalized and approved. The task is to prepare the existing artwork for animation, build a complete rigging system, and develop natural movements, facial expressions, and speech synchronization.

The original character design, proportions, colors, facial features, and visual style must remain unchanged.

Scope of Work

1. Character Preparation

* Review and organize existing character artwork.
* Separate character components into independent, animation-ready layers.
* Reconstruct hidden or missing parts required for natural movement.
* Prepare movable facial features, hands, fingers, arms, legs, and body components.

2. Character Rigging

* Create a complete 2D skeletal rig.
* Set up joints, bones, pivots, and deformation controls.
* Enable independent movement of the head, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, fingers, and torso.
* Ensure smooth, natural movement without visual distortion.

3. Facial Animation

* Natural blinking and independent eye movements.
* Eyebrow movements and facial expressions.
* Mouth movements and different speaking shapes.
* Expressions including smiling, thinking, listening, excitement, encouragement, and surprise.
* Smooth transitions between facial expressions.

4. Lip Sync & Speech Animation

* Create mouth shapes (visemes) for speech synchronization.
* Support Arabic speech and natural mouth movement.
* Enable dynamic lip-sync animation based on audio input.
* Allow facial expressions and gestures to run simultaneously with speech.

5. Body Movements & Gestures

* Natural idle movements and breathing.
* Head turning, tilting, and nodding.
* Hand gestures for explaining and pointing.
* Waving, welcoming, and encouraging gestures.
* Natural arm, wrist, and finger movements.
* Smooth transitions between movements.

6. Interactive Animation

* Create reusable animation states, including:
* Idle
* Speaking
* Listening
* Thinking
* Explaining
* Pointing
* Encouraging
* Celebrating
* Enable animations to be triggered programmatically in real time.
* Allow multiple animation layers to operate simultaneously.
* Ensure smooth transitions without restarting or interrupting unrelated movements.

7. Export & Technical Delivery

* Provide fully editable rigged character source files.
* Export animation assets in formats compatible with web applications.
* Optimize assets for smooth real-time performance.
* Provide reusable animation sequences and controls.
* Deliver organized files and technical documentation for developer integration.

Once you confirm that you meet the above requirements and provide relevant examples of your previous work, the existing character artwork and necessary project files will be shared with you for review\. Further technical details and deliverables will be discussed before proceeding with the project.