Favian Beltran
Senior Motion Editor | Senior Gameplay Animator | Performance Capture TD
Orange County, California contact@beltranimation.com (619) 957-5913
Senior Motion Editor & Performance Capture TD with 15+ years in feature film and AAA games. Expert in performance capture, optical body/face tracking, and tool-driven pipelines delivering polished, on-model performances at scale. Skilled in Maya, MotionBuilder, Unity, Unreal Engine, and Python/MEL scripting, bridging creative direction and technical execution. Known for building tools, SOPs, and mentoring teams to raise quality and efficiency. Career credits include the Avatar sequels, The Last of Us, God of War, Uncharted, and Star Wars.
Summary of Qualifications
Performance Capture and Motion Editing: End-to-end expertise in tracking, cleaning, retargeting, and hand-key polish for cinematic and in-game deliveries.
Tools, Pipelines, and Documentation: Developed team tooling and standards; authored tutorials and SOPs to drive consistency, speed, and quality.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Partnered with directors, supervisors, and software engineers to align creative intent with technical feasibility.
Technical Skills
Motion Capture: Nuance, Identify, Blade, Diva, Cortex, PeelSolve, ShapeWrap
Animation: Maya, MotionBuilder
Programming and Scripting: Python (Junior), TCL (Junior), MEL (Intermediate)
Game Engines: Unity, Unreal Engine
AI / Tools: ComfyUI, KlingAi, Claude Code
Experience
Lightstorm Entertainment – Los Angeles, California June 2018 – June 2025
Motion Edit Senior Artist/Technical Director (October 2023 – June 2025)
Senior motion edit and pipeline role supporting performance capture on Avatar productions; owned tools, conventions, and team enablement.
• Tools and Pipeline: Developed and maintained Motion Edit tooling and pipeline conventions to standardize high-volume deliveries.
• R&D Collaboration: Partnered with software engineering and show leadership to scope and ship production-ready utilities.
• Quality Review: Performed lead-level reviews of assigned takes to ensure animation quality, continuity, and on-model performance.
• Training and Enablement: Authored tutorials and coached artists on pipeline conventions, tool usage, and best practices.
• Retargeting Maps: Built robust retargeting maps for characters, creatures, and props to improve solve stability and fidelity.
• Hand-Key and Final Polish: Delivered hand-keyed assets and world-class performance capture refinements under tight timelines.
• External Team Leadership: Led and mentored a distributed animation team in New Zealand; provided notes, approvals, and quality gates for all external animation entering the pipeline.
Senior Motion Editor (June 2018 – October 2023)
Delivered high-quality motion edit for director and supervisor notes across body and weapon animation.
• Hand-Key Execution: Translated creative notes into precise character and weapon animation.
• Optical Capture: Tracked, cleaned, and retargeted optical body data across dry and wet stages
• Documentation: Produced clear process documentation aligned to show conventions for repeatable results
Sony Interactive Entertainment – San Diego, California January 2015 – June 2018
Lead Face Technical Artist
Led facial re-mesh pipeline and collaborated with R to optimize tooling for throughput and quality.
• FACS Pipeline Ownership: Supervised scan alignment and cleanup; transferred scan data to final topology.
• Standards and SOPs: Authored documentation and metrics to keep actors within time and budget constraints.
• Tooling Partnership: Worked with R on UI and tooling improvements to streamline re-mesh processes.
• Team Development: Coached team members on new techniques and pipeline updates.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America – San Diego, California August 2012 – January 2015
Motion Capture Specialist
Delivered cinematic and in-game solves; built rigs and performed body and face data cleanup.
• Solve Delivery: Produced high-quality cinematic and gameplay solves to spec and schedule.
• Rigging for Retarget: Built mocap-ready rigs to improve downstream retarget stability.
• Face and Body Tracking: Tracked, cleaned, and retargeted raw capture data.
• Team Onboarding: Trained new hires on solve pipeline and conventions.
Icon Group – San Diego, California January 2011 – August 2012
Lead Animator / Motion Capture Specialist
Owned animation integration and pipeline development for Unity-based projects.
• In-Engine Integration: Integrated full body animations and assets into Unity.
• Pipeline Development: Partnered with engineers to define animation pipeline standards.
• Gameplay Animation: Produced high-quality in-game body animation for production.
Sony Computer Entertainment of America – San Diego, California June 2010 – August 2010
Motion Capture Specialist
Short-term role focused on solves, retarget rigs, and peer QC.
• Solve and Retarget: Delivered reliable solve data and retarget rigs.
• Peer Review: Performed peer-to-peer QC to maintain show standards.
Beltranimation.com – San Diego, California May 2010 – April 2015
Freelance 3D Animator / Generalist
Provided end-to-end 3D and VFX services for multiple clients under budget and ahead of schedule.
• Client Delivery: Produced production-ready animation, VFX, and editorial outputs
• Budget and Schedule: Consistently met budgets and accelerated timelines
ImageMovers Digital / Walt Disney Company – Playa Vista, California February 2008 – May 2010
Motion Capture Tracker / Solver
Tracked, cleaned, and delivered high-fidelity face and body data for lead characters.
• Solve Quality: Delivered superior solve data suitable for hero characters.
• Pre-Vis Assembly: Built previz scenes to accelerate downstream layout.
• Hand-Key Augmentation: Performed targeted hand-key for select shots.
Icon Group – San Diego, California January 2005 – February 2008
Animator / Generalist
Supported cinematic cut scenes and supervised mocap shoots and calibration.
• Cinematics: Produced high-quality body and face animation for cut scenes.
• Shoot Supervision: Ran mocap shoots and system calibration.
• 3D Generalist: Delivered modeling, texturing, lighting, and rendering per scene.
Platt College – San Diego, California July 2004 – July 2007
Advanced 3D Animation Instructor
Developed advanced Maya and MotionBuilder curriculum and real-world production exercises.
• Curriculum Development: Built advanced coursework for animation and mocap.
• Instruction: Guided students through production-style assignments.
Teacher’s Assistant – 3D Department
Supported instruction in modeling, texturing, rigging, and hand-key animation.
• Classroom Support: Assisted with demos, critiques, and technical troubleshooting.
Education & Certifications
Platt College San Diego
Bachelor of Science, 3D Animation
Platt College San Diego
Associate of Applied Science, Multimedia
Certifications
Measurand Inc – Specialized training for Shapewrap motion capture system
Workshop – Quadruped Rigging and Animation (Platt College San Diego)
Film & Game Credits
Film (credited)
Avatar: Fire & Ash (2025)
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009)
Games (credited)
The Last of Us Part II (2020)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
Death Stranding (2019)
Days Gone (2019)
Spider-Man (2018)
God of War (2018)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016)
Killing Floor 2 (2016)
MLB ’15: The Show (2015)
H1Z1 (2015)
The Order: 1886 (2015)
MLB ’14: The Show (2014)
Infamous: Second Son (2014)
The Last of Us: Left Behind (2013)
The Last of Us (2013)
Knack (2013)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (2013)
MLB ’13: The Show (2013)
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2012)
Uncharted: Golden Abyss (2012)
Uncharted 3 (2011)
Uncredited
Film/TV: Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014), Yellow Submarine Test (2011)
Games/Broadcast: Ghost of Tsushima (2020), MLB Network: Quick Pitch (2014)