Animating Mary, Mother of Jesus

RevelationMedia is actively designing characters and settings for the latest 3D-animated installment of iBIBLE, called Life of Christ. This series brings the story of the Gospels to life with Biblical accuracy, providing an immersive experience of Scripture for families worldwide. Watch the latest episodes today for free at www.i.BIBLE!

This week, learn about how our animation team created Mary, the humble woman chosen by God to be Jesus’ mother. The version of Mary pictured below has been featured in our special iBIBLE Christmas episode, The Real Story of Christmas, and iBIBLE Life of Christ Episodes 1–3.

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Mary’s costume is simple, plain, and practical. For her purification after Jesus’ birth, Mary offered either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, the sacrifice for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:22–24; Leviticus 12:8, ESV). Mary and Joseph were likely quite poor, and they were from the town of Nazareth, which appears to have carried a poor reputation (John 1:46). On the outside, she may not have seemed like much, but on the inside, she was a woman devoted to God, as she expressed in Luke 1:46–55.

Below are some reference images for Mary used by the animation team. Scholars believe many women would have worn veils that were quite long, as the images show, although shorter veils were not uncommon. However, long veils can be quite complicated to animate, and shorter veils are much simpler. While the animation team always strives for Biblical and historical accuracy, they must also account for practicality, so they chose to keep Mary’s veil more compact.

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The current version of Mary is fairly young, since the main iBIBLE episodes she features in are from around the time of Christ’s birth, when she was most likely only a teenager. The animation team has also begun production for an older version of Mary for later appearances, such as at Jesus’ crucifixion. An early version of that aging is shown below. Other changes such as grayed hair will follow as well.

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Thank you for your interest in iBIBLE, the world’s very first visual and interactive presentation of the Divine Narrative of Scripture. This past holiday season marks one year since the release of The Real Story of Christmas, and we look forward to a whole new year of creating quality Biblical content for people all over the world.

Your support enables RevelationMedia to create engaging media that fosters relationships with Jesus Christ. Check out iBIBLE Life of Christ, the latest installment of our animated presentation, at www.i.BIBLE!

Please also consider partnering with RevelationMedia to help us create high-quality Christian content and distribute it free of charge to the global missions community.

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