On the workbench

Chicago Bears WOLF LAKE
Hype Reel

Work in progressHype animation · Character puppet

Spec concept · Chicago Bears

A North American short-faced bear, extinct for about 10,000 years, rebuilt as a character puppet for a Chicago Bears Indiana hype animation.

Short-faced bear puppet rearing and roaring on a rocky Arctic shoreline, icebergs and a glacier wall behind — Environment test · Arctic shoreline

Look target

Natural-history realism.

Built as if it came off a wildlife-documentary VFX pipeline: the fur, weight and weather of Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, carried into a Chicago Bears Indiana hype piece. Along the shores of Glacier Lake Chicago The short faced bear once roamed.

Anatomy study

Muscle, bone, scale.

Skull

Built to bite.

The skull as its own asset: sculpted bone, then painted with pitting, cracks, cavity grime and polished enamel, and lit for close-up shots.

Turnaround · Puppet reference

Short-faced bear puppet, front view, standing and roaring — 01 · Front

Short-faced bear puppet, side view, standing — 02 · Side

Short-faced bear puppet, back view, standing — 03 · Back

Short-faced bear puppet mid-stride, side view, jaws open — 04 · Walking pass

Movement

Long legs. Heavy stride.

A walking pass on neutral grey to set the gait, weight transfer and head carriage before anything is animated.

Head studies · Sculpt and mouth

Short-faced bear head, three-quarter view, roaring — 05 · Three-quarter

Short-faced bear head, front view, full roar — 06 · Front roar

Short-faced bear head, back view, fur direction — 07 · Back · fur flow

Planned pipeline

From fossil to footage.

01ReferenceFossil proportions · living bear motion
02ConceptMidjourney · Nano Banana 2 · Magnific
03SculptZBrush · head, hands, claws
04GroomFur, clumping, wet and wind passes
05RigMaya · muscle, jaw, skin slide
06AnimateKeyframe on real performance reference
07World + weatherUnreal · scanned terrain · snow and breath
08Light + finishLong-lens wildlife camera · render · comp

Head study · Three-quarter roar

Project notes

The short nosed bear.

The puppet is Arctodus simus, the North American short-faced bear, one of the largest land carnivores of the last Ice Age. The story in development is headed toward Prehistoric Planet style animation: a documentary camera, real weight, real weather.

On the workbench

FormProportion, weight, and silhouette.

MovementPhysicality and the rhythm of the character.

StoryDiscovering the situations this character belongs in.

Spec work, made independently for the Chicago Bears. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Chicago Bears or the NFL. Team marks belong to their owners.