Cheryl Briggs, MFA
Education
M.F.A. in Computer Art : 3D Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design (2001)
Employment
I am a Professor of Animation, Level Design, and Motion Capture Engineer, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. I came to UCF in Fall of 2009 as founding faculty of Character Animation and served as Area Coordinator from 2014-2022. I was founding faculty of the Animation and Visual Effects program and served as Program Director from 2016-2022. Prior to UCF, I taught as Professor of Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design from 2001 to 2009 where I was Mocap Engineer for the Animation Department since 2005. There, I developed and taught a graduate level animation course focusing on the use of motion capture in film and games.
I received my MFA in Computer Art: 3D Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2001. I have published several single-authored books and is an Autodesk Certified Professional and an Autodesk Certified Instructor in Maya since 2005. As an award-winning animation producer and director, my students have been featured in animation festivals worldwide, and many have gone on to work within the film, television, and video game industries at studios such as Dreamworks, Disney, PIXAR, Blue Sky, ILM, MPC, R&H, DD, Blizzard, Epic, and Hi-Rez. . You can find a portfolio of professional work and student work here www.cherylcreates.com
I am currently on the Board of Directors for the Animation Hall of Fame, the Education Committee for ACM-SIGGRAPH, and is an active member of the Visual Effects Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, Women in Animation, and the Society for Animation Studies.
My favorite animated quote:
Dory: [singing] Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim.
Bio
Bonjour mes amis. Comment ça va? I am a native of New Orleans and proud to bring my Cajun and Creole heritage with me wherever I go by cooking up a gumbo and making pralines for all, happily sharing "Joie de Vivre" with the world!
My favorite quotes about my hometown city:
"Be a New Orleanian. Wherever you are." - DirtyCoast.com
"We dance when there is no music. We drink at funerals. We talk too much, and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of those who don't." - Chris Rose
"She is a New Orleans girl, and New Orleans girls never live anywhere else and even if they do, they always come back. That's just the way it is. This is where she belongs. End of discussion." - Chris Rose
“America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.” - Tennessee Williams