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Benjamin Fichet

Senior Rigging & Technical Artist for animated series and feature films. Ten years across animated series and feature films — as rigging artist, lead, supervisor and tools developer. Since childhood I’ve been drawn to art, math and tech at once; rigging is where they meet, so I never had to choose. That path has taken me from France to Canada and now Spain, and I’m happy to move again for the right project.

Status:
  • Last update: 09-2026
    Site rebuilt, resume updated
  • Currently based in: Madrid, Spain
  • Working at: Skydance Animation
  • Position: Senior Rigging Artist — rigging development
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Demoreel

v168 · run 001 · July 2024

Projects
Studio
Blue Eye Samurai - Season 2 Netflix Animated series Senior Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2024-12 → 2025-03 France ▣ 6
Part of the team that converted the season 1 character rigs, built in 3ds Max, to the studio's mGear-based Maya setup for season 2 — largely by hand, body and facial, keeping the complex human characters compatible and fast.
Techs: Rig conversion 3ds Max → Maya, Character rigs, Facial rigs, Maya, 3ds Max, Python
Description: Netflix animated series, season 2. Mizu, a mixed-race samurai, on a quest for vengeance in 17th-century Japan.
Project page
Thelma the Unicorn Netflix feature Feature film Senior Rigging Artist Mikros Animation 2020-04 → 2022-06 Canada ▣ 6
Mostly quadruped rigs — Otis, Danny, Reggie and others — plus props, and some rig pipeline development in Python for the studio's in-house rigging system.
Techs: Quadruped rigs, Facial rigs, Props rigs, Rigging tools, Maya, Python, In-house rigging system, ngSkinTools
Description: 3D animated feature. Thelma, a small-town pony, turns into a unicorn and chases her dream of becoming a music ...
Project page
Tom Sawyer Cyber Group Studios, France Télévisions Animated series Rigging Supervisor + Lead Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2018-07 → 2019-07 Canada ▣ 6
Lead and supervisor on the show's rigging: led character and prop rigs through preproduction, then supervised the team — rig reviews, validations, retakes, MaxScript tools for pipeline and automation, coordination between Angoulême and Montréal.
Techs: Character rigs, Facial rigs, Props rigs, Rigging tools, Rig validation, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series. A modern take on Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn's adventures along the Mississippi, full of humo...
Project page
Runes Canal+ Animated series Rigging Supervisor + Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2019-04 → 2019-12 Canada ▣ 1
Mostly rigged assets myself — characters and props — while staying rigging supervisor in Montréal: validations, fixes, and support for the animation team.
Techs: Character rigs, Facial rigs, Props rigs, Rig validation, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series. An epic medieval-fantasy adventure: young heroes wielding magical runes against mythical c...
Project page
Splat & Seymour TF1 Animated series Rigging Developer + Rigging Supervisor Blue Spirit Studio 2019-04 → 2019-12 Canada ▣ 8
Mostly developed Ksper, the autorig the show was rigged with, while staying rigging supervisor when needed: supported the Montréal animation team on the rigs made in France.
Techs: Autorig, Ksper Framework, Rig validation, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series for kids, adapted from Rob Scotton's Splat the Cat books, broadcast as Splat & Harry. Splat...
Project page
Gigantosaurus - Season 3 Disney Junior Animated series Lead Props Rigger Blue Spirit Studio 2019-04 → 2019-12 Canada ▣ 6
Led props rigging: built and validated the rigs for environment assets — rocks, plants, accessories — and backed a former colleague on set validations.
Techs: Props rigs, Rig validation, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series for kids. Four young dinosaurs and Gigantosaurus in fun, prehistoric adventures.
Project page
Ksper Framework in-house autorig Autorig framework Rigging Developer Blue Spirit Studio 2019-04 → 2019-12 Canada
Re-implemented a proof of concept into a stable, modular autorig system for character rigging. Wrote a small C# compiler for MaxScript that let the framework inject MaxScript or Python at chosen points.
Techs: Autorig, MaxScript, C#, Python, 3ds Max
Description: Blue Spirit's in-house rigging and animation framework for 3ds Max: a modular autorig, taken from proof of con...
Project page
Arthur and the Children of the Round Table Canal+ Animated series Lead Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2017-12 → 2018-05 France ▣ 4
Led a large rigging team. Complex rigs for humans and creatures — horses, dragons, griffins, bats, boars — plus MaxScript tools and patches. Reviewed rigs, ran validations and retakes, kept the Angoulême and Montréal animation teams aligned on what the rigs could do.
Techs: Character rigs, Creature rigs, Facial rigs, Props rigs, Rigging tools, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series rendered in 4K. An epic comedy following young Arthur and his friends in a magical medieval...
Project page
Our Pirates Next Door Cyber Group Studios, France Télévisions Animated series Co-Lead Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2017-02 → 2017-12 France ▣ 6
Co-led rigging for characters and props. Wrote MaxScript tools for automation, reviewed rigs, and handled the animation teams' rigging requests across Angoulême and Montréal.
Techs: Character rigs, Facial rigs, Props rigs, Rigging tools, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series for kids. Matilda, a young girl, and her pirate neighbors in humorous, swashbuckling advent...
Project page
Pachamama Netflix feature Feature film Props Rigger Blue Spirit Studio 2017-01 → 2017-02 France ▣ 1
Props rigs built to sit seamlessly in a hybrid 2D/3D feature.
Techs: Props rigs, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: Animated feature blending 2D and 3D, set in the Andes with a vibrant art style. Tepulpai, a young Inca boy, on...
Project page
Loopdidoo - Season 3 France 5 Animated series Junior Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2016-06 → 2017-01 France ▣ 2
Main rigger on the show: character rigs (Loopdidoo first) and props like toys, kept pipeline-compliant through MaxScript automation.
Techs: Character rigs, Props rigs, Rigging tools, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 3D animated series for kids, adapted from Alexis Nesme's comic Grabouillon. Loopdidoo, a playful dog, and Petu...
Project page
The Mysterious Cities of Gold - Season 3 TF1 Animated series Junior Rigging Artist Blue Spirit Studio 2016-01 → 2016-06 France ▣ 3
Character rigs, body and facial, for the returning cast.
Techs: Character rigs, Facial rigs, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: 2D/3D animated series, continuing the adventures of Esteban, Zia and Tao.
Project page
Zorro, the Chronicles Cyber Group Studios Animated series Junior Fix Animator & Rigger Blue Spirit Studio 2015-11 → 2016-04 France ▣ 1
Character animation and rigging fixes — with MaxScript on the side, to go faster. First production.
Techs: Fix animation, Fix rigging, 3ds Max, MaxScript
Description: Animated series produced by Cyber Group Studios, rigged and animated at Blue Spirit.
Project page
Personal
SP 3ds Max script encryption 3ds Max internals Reverse engineering Personal project Solo / Personal 2020-06 → 2022-06 Canada
Reverse-engineered the 3ds Max binaries to find the script-decryption code that ships hidden and blocked, then called it through a C++ class with a swapped vtable — no brute force. A way into low-level work; kept private.
Techs: Reverse engineering, x86/x64 assembly, C++, vtable hooking, 3ds Max, Debuggers
Description: Side project, and mostly a way into low-level work. No brute force on the encryption: the code that decrypts s...
Chapo: A decryptor for encrypted 3ds Max scripts that doesn't break the encryption — it borrows the code 3ds Max already ships, through a swapped vtable.
Project page
SP Symorph 3ds Max plugin Personal project Solo / Personal 2010-09 → 2011-06 France
Wrote a native 3ds Max plugin in C++ with the MaxSDK that mirrors morph targets properly — the first real dive into 3ds Max native development.
Techs: C++, MaxSDK, 3ds Max
Description: Started right after 3D school. 3ds Max had no built-in way to mirror morph targets (blendshapes), so artists r...
Chapo: A native 3ds Max plugin, written in C++ with the MaxSDK, that mirrors morph targets — something 3ds Max didn't do on its own.
Project page
SP Electronics & hardware hacking AVR, Arduino, soldering Hobbyist Solo / Personal 2006-01 → today
Microcontroller projects and board-level soldering, from small prototypes to modding consoles.
Techs: AVR, Arduino, Electronics, Soldering, Console modding
Description: Microcontrollers (AVR, Arduino) for small physical projects, and hardware hacking: console mods — an Xbox 360 ...
SP Reverse engineering & low-level x86/x64 assembly Hobbyist Solo / Personal 2006-01 → today
Assembly studied from x86 down to 8-bit chips; crackmes and debugging as a hobby.
Techs: x86/x64 assembly, Reverse engineering, Debuggers
Description: x86/x64 assembly and reverse engineering for the fun of it — crackmes, debugging, understanding how software w...
Education
SM Studio Mercier — École supérieure d'infographie 3D Diploma in 3D Animation Student Studio Mercier 2007-09 → 2010-06 France
Drawing preparatory year, then 3D animation and computer graphics: modeling, rigging, animation.
Techs: Drawing, Maya, 3ds Max
Description: Private 3D animation school, admitted on portfolio. A preparatory year in drawing, then the 3D program: modeli...
SM High school General education Student Studio Mercier 2004-09 → 2007-06 France
Sciences and drawing on the side — the portfolio that got me into Studio Mercier.
Description: General secondary education, then straight into 3D school.
S Programming Languages & tools Hobbyist Self-taught 2003-01 → today
Started as a kid, never stopped: from scripts to native code, from small utilities to full pipelines.
Techs: C, C++, Python, D, Perl, Ruby, TypeScript, C#
Description: Perl, Ruby, C and C++ early on; later D, Python, TypeScript, C#. Personal projects, tools, this site.
S Drawing & painting Lifelong practice Hobbyist Self-taught 2000-01 → today
Composition and color theory learned by practice, long before and alongside 3D.
Techs: Painting, Photoshop
Description: Painting and drawing since childhood — still what shapes how I look at composition and color.