Animation Student Spotlight: Discover Erik Balka’s journey, workflow, and passion for creating polished, dynamic animations at iAnimate.

“I was able to learn a lot about animation and the workflow within the gaming scene.”

From Vienna to Virtual Worlds: Meet iAnimate Student Erik Balka

For as long as he can remember, Erik Balka has been captivated by the magic of bringing fantasy to life. After graduating in Game Art & 3D Animation in Vienna, he knew his journey was only just beginning. Determined to refine his craft, Erik enrolled in iAnimate’s G2 Game Animation workshop — a decision driven by the chance to learn directly from industry veterans like Kevin Rucker (Blizzard, Riot Games) and collaborate with equally passionate peers.

“The reason I chose iAnimate was because it allowed me to directly work with professional artists from various well-known companies.”

With a vision to create animations that make audiences fall in love with every project he touches, Erik is steadily building the skills and mindset to break into the professional world of game animation.

“iAnimate also gave me the opportunity to surround myself with other very passionate animators, making the whole course even more enjoyable and helpful.“ 

Student Animation Journey

Erik took the Game Animation Workshop at iAnimate:

Game Animation Workshop

• Game Animation Workshop 2

with Game Animation instructors:

• Kevin Rucker - Blizzard Entertainment

Erik’s Creative Process: From Idea to Polished Animation

When Erik first began animating, his workflow was loose and unstructured. But through iAnimate’s guidance — and valuable feedback from his instructor — he developed an efficient, repeatable process that turns ideas into high-quality, polished animations.

It all begins with planning, the cornerstone of Erik’s approach. He starts by gathering references — whether it’s photos, film clips, or even videos of himself acting out the movement. “It’s very common for animators to film themselves,” he says. “It gives you a clear understanding of the motion you’re trying to create.”

With references in hand, Erik identifies the key poses — the most expressive frames that define the action. He also gathers any technical information he needs, like attack distances for a combat animation, and adds simple placeholder assets to mimic the environment or props.

From there, Erik builds the animation pose by pose, using his key poses to lock in the timing and spacing. Once the core movement feels right, he refines the work by adding in-betweens, improving silhouettes, and adjusting poses for clarity.

Finally, he shifts focus to details — subtle hair movements, finger positioning, clothing adjustments, and secondary assets that bring the animation to life. The result: a finished piece that feels intentional, dynamic, and ready to impress.

“Since I was under the guidance of an animator with 20 years of experience, who worked on games like God of War and League of Legends. Through him, I was able to learn a lot about animation and the workflow within the gaming scene. This course gave me a good overview of what awaits me in the professional world.”

You can reach Erik via:

Student Spotlight Q&A with Animator Anthony Alves

iAnimate: What do you think of your Online Animation Instructor(s), and how do they help you?

Erik: My instructor Kevin Rucker is just amazing. During the classes he has always been very positive, supportive and extremely good at animation. Through him my skills in 3D animation skyrocketed. One of my main issues was I did not have the knowledge of how professional animators do their work, making me unsure what functions to use and how to properly prepare my projects for games. With his help I can confidently say animation has never been this easy. He showed on what I should mainly focus on when animating and how to correctly approach a project from beginning to end.

Also I was thought on various aspects I have to be aware of when animating. For example, especially in game animation the amount of frames plays a huge role. An quick and light attack is expected to hit the enemy withing 8-12 frames, while a heavy attack can take almost double the amount of time.
Kevin also showed us several tricks to improve our workflow. With his knowledge I am now able to animate a lot faster by creating a good amount of shortcuts and i have an easier time fixing typical animation errors allowing me to avoid major setbacks.

iAnimate: How did iAnimate help you to evolve your animation skills as a character animator?

Erik: Compared to portfolio before iAnimate, now my animations are cleaner, properly game ready, better timing, better spacing and created a lot quicker. Overall this course improved my skills in every aspect.

Compared to my old workflow and portfolio, I am now able to properly find and correctly use references, create animations perfectly ready for games and finish projects in good pace instead of struggling and having multiple setbacks.

Overall from my experience I can only say that I highly recommend this course to anyone. If you are a complete beginner or someone whose starting to get into the professional field, iAnimate will most definetly improve your skills by a lot. Just being able to work with professional senior animators like Kevin Rucker can have a massive impact on your 3D animation skills.

iAnimate: What kind of animator do you consider after taking your student workshop's?

Erik: With guidance from a professional animator who has worked for a long time and worked on well knows titles, I can say that yes, I am industry ready. I was shown what to expect in a professional setting and aligned my 3D animation skills to proper game studio workflows.

iAnimate: What kind of project do you want to work on?

Erik: I want to work in the gaming scene, especially at a studio like Riot Games. Working at a studio like Riot, whose games and lore I already know and love, would be an ideal fit for my skills and passion.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Game Art & 3D Animation, which has given me a strong understanding of the full production pipeline, including modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation.