Festival Pixelatl 2026 Official Selection: "Lo hablamos después de comer"

Pixelatl Festival 2026 "Eso que nos une" Official Selection A claymation style animated GIF made entirely in Blender, selected as one of only 10 pieces for Pixelatl’s “Eso que nos une” GIF competition. Official Selection, Pixelatl Festival 2026: Pixelatl is one of Latin America’s most important animation and creative industry festivals. Its committee selected just ten animated pieces from the open call to animators and creatives, and mine will be showcased this year on screens at the festival in Zapopan (Nov 7 and 8) and Guadalajara (Nov 10 to 14). The brief: Create an animated GIF of at least 7 seconds inspired by a sentence from the Pixelatl 2026 Manifesto, closing with the manifesto phrase and the #LaResistencia hashtag. My answer: “Generosidad para enfrentar al odio” (Generosity to face hatred). A short, warm story about a fisherman who lands a big catch and, instead of keeping it, shares it with two cats that fight over hunger. It is told with handmade clay charm and comic timing, and the fight that breaks out over the fish makes the final act of generosity. My role: Concept, animation, rigging, modeling, sculpting, shading, lighting, rendering, and editing. Solo production. Pipeline & tools: Blender: modeling, sculpting, rigging, animation, shading, hair, and rendering DaVinci Resolve: final edit Style & technical approach Claymation look: animated “on twos” using F-Curve step modifiers, combined with a Deform modifier that makes meshes wobble like real clay Custom materials: handcrafted plasticine and clay shaders with believable surface imperfections Custom rigs: empties for general movement, with armatures only where needed (the character’s hands and the cats’ tails) Fishing line system: hand animated shape keys with constraints so the bobber and the fish follow the line Fish gag: a fish built from two meshes split by a Boolean, each driven by its own empty, so the cat can divide it in half. The catch and hand off moment is animated through constraint influence Fight cloud: a sculpted mesh with a hair particle system for a fluffy, cotton cartoon brawl Facial animation: one shared texture for eyes and mouth, animated by switching UVs for fast, efficient expressions What this project showcases Recognition at a major animation festival Strong technical art skills: rigging, constraints, shape keys, particle hair, and optimization Stylized look development and a distinctive visual identity Character animation, comedy timing, and storytelling in a very short format The ability to deliver a polished piece alone, from concept to final edit What I learned Constraints as animation tools: Animating constraint influence let me hand objects between characters and sell the story beat cleanly. Efficiency through simple systems: Empties, shared textures, and UV faces kept the scene light and fast to iterate on. Imperfection sells the look: Stepped timing, deform noise, and clay materials are what made it feel handmade. Designing for a brief: Turning a manifesto sentence into a complete, readable story in a short GIF format. Why it matters Being one of only ten pieces chosen by Pixelatl’s committee shows that my work stands out for both its artistry and its technical craft. It also shows I can take an idea, build the tools it needs, and deliver finished work that connects with an audience.