Faculty and Staff

Cheryl Briggs, M.F.A.

• Associate Professor
• Cheryl.Briggs@ucf.edu
• 407-235-3611
• Office Hours: Summer 2021 Office Hours: by appointment
• Campus Location: OTC5189
• View CV
• View personal website

Cheryl Briggs (formerly Cabrera) is an award winning animated short film director and has advised and guided aspiring animators, game artists, and visual effects artists for 20 years. Since 2009, Cheryl has been teaching all aspects of production in the Character Animation specialization in the School of Visual Arts and Design at the University of Central Florida.  She also taught as Professor of Animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design from 2001 to 2009. Cheryl is currently on the Board of Directors for the Animation Hall of Fame is a member of SIGGRAPH, ASIFA-Hollywood, Women in Animation, Women in Film and Television, and the Society for Animation Studies.

Cheryl is also an Autodesk Certified Professional and an Autodesk Certified Instructor in Maya; Author of An Essential Introduction to Maya Character Rigging (2021 CRC Press, 2008 Focal Press), Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios (2013, Focal Press), and Animating Short Stories: Narrative Techniques and Visual Design (2019, Bloomsbury Academic).

Cheryl holds a B.A. and M.Ed. in Education and an M.F.A. in Computer Art with a specialization in 3D Animation. She is a digital artist and animator that blends the lines between digital imagery and the traditional painting medium. She has participated is numerous group and solo exhibitions in the US and her works are featured is several private collections. Her award-winning students have been featured in animation festivals worldwide, and many have gone on to work within the entertainment industry.

Education

• M.F.A. in Computer Art : 3D Animation from Savannah College of Art and Design (2001)

Research Interests

• animation
• rigging for animation
• character animation
• animation production 
• animation filmmaking
• motion capture
• animation history
• narrative storytelling
• visual storytelling
• digital storytelling

Recent Research Activities

The Animator's Oral History Project 

Selected Publications

Books

• Briggs, C. (2021). Essential Introduction to Maya Character Rigging (2nd ed.). Boca Raton and Oxford.: CRC Press.

• Briggs, C. (2019). Animating Short Stories: Narrative techniques and visual design. London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN: 978-1350103924
• Cabrera, C. (2013). Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios. Burlington: Focal Press.  224 pgs. ISBN: 978-024082102
• Cabrera, C. (2008). An Essential introduction to Maya Character Rigging.  Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. 408 pgs. ISBN: 978-0240520827

Awards

2021 CAH Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award 

2020 Research Incentive Award

2018 CAH Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award 

2017 Teaching Incentive Program Award

Activities

• Program Director for the Emerging Media MFA - Animation and Visual Effects Track
• Area Coordinator for the Emerging Media BFA - Character Animation Track
• Motion Capture Engineer for FIEA 
• Directing Faculty Advisor for 2021 Cohort films, Forget-Me-Not and Symfaunic, 2020 Cohort films Delivery and Stick to Manual, 2017 Cohort films, Dreamweaver and Cuddlefish; 2011 Cohort films, Mustache Mayhem and Squeaky Business 
• Faculty Advisor for the UCF Art Club

Committees:

• UCF Graduate Program Review and Awards
• Chair SVAD Emerging Media Character Animation Portfolio
• SVAD P&T Committee

Courses

• Spring 2022
• Fall 2021
• Summer 2021
• Spring 2021
• Fall 2020
• Summer 2020