Interview with Julien Seren: Changing Your Life, One Pose at a Time to Become an Animator

Julien didn’t follow the traditional path. And yet, he made it.

After 15 years in communication, nearly 40 years old, and no formal training in animation, he now animates on Ravenswatch at Passtech Games.

No miracle, no shortcut. Just fierce determination and a method built step by step.

For two years, Julien juggled his job as a copywriter with his animation training: evening classes, personalized coaching, auditing art history lectures at the Sorbonne, then iAnimate.

Every evening, every weekend, he studied, tested, and started over.

What stands out is his way of working: curious, resourceful, persistent. He didn’t just animate , he sought to understand, improve, and go further.

This interview is for anyone who thinks it’s “too late” or that they “don’t have the right background.”

Tell us about your path into animation : how did it all begin?

My path is quite unconventional: I didn’t come from an animation school or a video game curriculum. I first had a career of over fifteen years in communication as a copywriter.

That job involves defining a brand’s universe and storytelling, imagining communication concepts, mechanics and content that foster interaction with the audience, and writing messages that make people smile, think, or react (often using wordplay).

It’s a very stimulating job creatively, but also quite unstable. And above all, I felt I was underusing certain skills. So in 2019, I decided to reset everything with a proper skills assessment. Not the kind where you tick three boxes and they tell you “your future is in accounting,” no , a deep exploration. And all signs pointed to 3D animation.

First, because I’ve always had a knack for learning software, even the most complex ones. Back in my communication studies, I taught myself Flash to create a fully animated website, discovering keyframes and interpolation by accident.

Then came my encounter with Richard Williams. That hit me hard: his way of talking about character animation mesmerized me. It seemed magical, obvious, almost natural. And then there was my sporty side (rugby, swimming): I was already spending time analyzing every movement and posture to improve efficiency… and avoid unnecessary bruises.

And of course, video games. Impossible to ignore. I grew up with a controller in hand since the NES and its first Mario Bros / Duck Hunt cartridge. Contributing to a game was a childhood dream I’d never dared pursue.

The question of training remained. I couldn’t go back to school , I had to keep working and finding gigs to pay the bills.

Luckily, I met Vanessa, who agreed to mentor me in her spare time. Together, we built a roadmap inspired by Animation Mentor: bouncing ball, body mechanics, quadruped, lip sync, interactions… A true progressive learning path that helped me acquire all the fundamentals of character animation step by step.

In parallel, I did my own research , books and videos on the topics we covered , attended art history lectures at the Sorbonne as an auditor to strengthen my image composition skills, and took a few drawing classes to better understand lines and silhouettes. The goal was to build a core foundation as complete as a traditional curriculum, but through an alternative route.

And today, after spending over two years with the Passtech Games team on Ravenswatch, I feel I’ve finally found the right balance between technique, creativity, and artistic depth — while bringing to life a passion that’s been with me all along.

Ravenswatch - Roméo

What’s your favorite animation software and why? Any plugins or scripts that save you time?

I spent quite a bit of time on Maya during my training. But today, Blender is my daily tool. Recently, I had the chance to revisit Maya during a workshop, which allowed me to compare the two again.

Conclusion: Blender has several tools I’ve integrated into my workflow that I couldn’t find in Maya, such as:

• The Dopesheet, which I really missed (it’s underused in Maya… UI, anyone?)

• The toggle orthographic view, accessible with a single click , though I ended up hacking an equivalent in Maya.

• And the hyper-customizable interface, which adapts to my workflow and each step of my process.

The only thing I miss a bit is a good Overlapper to save time. For everything else, there’s even a free equivalent to animBot!

How do you organize your animation files? Any specific naming conventions or methods?

I’m going to praise Blender again (I swear I’m trying to be objective), but its NLA tracks system is just super practical.

Basically, all my animations are grouped in a single file, one after the other (I think Maya has a similar system with anim clips via the time editor).

It’s really handy not to get lost in 15 folders named “combo_final_v2_def.”

Everything is accessible in one click, and I can keep a global view of the project that’s always up to date.

What’s your favorite part of the job? Attacks, movement, creative or technical aspects?

What I love about my work is the richness of the animation process. Every step has its value, and the variety of assets and movements to create in a video game keeps things exciting.

But if there’s one moment I particularly enjoy, it’s the posing research at the beginning. That’s where it all starts: with ten or fifteen poses, you can already sketch the soul of a character , how they stand, their quirks, their temperament…

This almost foundational step lets me set the tone for every animation that follows, whether it’s a preview, a walk, or an attack.

Planche de posing -Julien Seren- Ravenswatch

How does collaboration with game designers work in your team? Who decides what?

Working in a small indie studio offers a setup that’s both flexible and collaborative. Game designers present their intentions and the gameplay mechanics of the characters directly. They sometimes share references to illustrate their ideas, but everything stays open to discussion when a better alternative emerges.

Back-and-forth between design, animation, and programming happens quickly to prototype and find the right balance between gameplay vision, constraints, and the studio’s artistic ambition. But in the end, it’s the game director who makes the final call.

Ravenswatch

With over 2 years of gameplay animation experience, you’ve gone through an intense learning phase. What skills or habits helped you progress most recently?

The studio’s demands pushed me to improve quickly in several areas:

First, speed. You need to deliver fast (sometimes very fast!) believable animations to serve as placeholders. With just a few poses, designers should already be able to test and iterate on their ideas , long before proper blocking begins.

Then, technique. I’ve learned a lot about rigging and skinning, which I adapt and evolve based on each character’s needs, because that’s part of the animator’s role here.

But the real challenge was getting comfortable with the game engine and certain gameplay concepts, so I could speak the same language as my teammates. I’ve developed habits to integrate, systematize, and test animations directly in-engine.

Even if a programmer hasn’t set up the system yet, I can hack together a minimum setup to test my anim in-game.

Ravenswatch Romeo

If you had to share a few tips with someone just starting out, what would you say?

It’s always a bit tricky to feel legit giving advice with my relatively young experience in gameplay animation. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that nothing is set in stone , everything is possible.

Yes, it sounds like an Instagram quote (cue sunset background…), but it’s true! The most important thing is to listen to yourself and not stay stuck in a situation that doesn’t suit you.

If I had to redo my training, I might spend more time exploring different animation styles. Not just the basics and classic exercises, but also very different styles (e.g., cartoon vs. naturalistic), to refine artistic accuracy.

Oh, and one last thing (promise, I’ll stop after this): feed yourself with all kinds of workflows, even the weird ones. They’re valuable tools, and some might save you from a dead end one day.

Julien could have never taken the leap.

At nearly 40, with no animation school or portfolio, he could’ve told himself it was too late. He could’ve stayed in a job that didn’t fulfill him, or given up after his first failed bouncing balls.

But he chose to build , patiently.

For two years, he led a double life: copywriter by day, aspiring animator by night.

He put everything in place to learn, test, and try again. Over and over.

What inspires in his journey is his work ethic and methodology: accepting iterations, hacking solutions when needed, learning to speak the language of animators and of the engine.

Today, he animates on Ravenswatch and keeps evolving.

His message is clear: age, background, and lack of diploma aren’t obstacles.

Passion, method, and hard work open every door.

If you’d like to learn more about Julien, check out his LinkedIn profile : https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienseren3danimation/

and his ArtStation portfolio : https://www.artstation.com/julienanimfolio