ANIM2001 CG Character Production Logs

Session Review Returning to the nomad model, once more before I could proceed further with the uv mapping tutorial series. I had to continue adjusting the anatomy of the nomad. Firstly by removing large sections of the neck anatomy in order to pull the neck forward and remove the square lined jaw as shown in (Figure 1). Figure 1 Moreover, I have made a third attempt to attach the ear to the head, this time consisting of extruding a face outwards first before fusing he ear to the head. This applied a more realistic appearance and made it easier to rotate and further adjust the ear. In addition, I have begun the creation of a new foot because the existing one the nomad has looks terrible along the heel of his foot when smoothing is applied to the model. However, despite being incredibly satisfied with the new model (Figure 2) , I still need to take the time and get experience with uv mapping the nomad and I need to discover whether I need to combine all of the assets of t...

Session Review Before preparing to skin and UV map my nomadic character, I have continued to edit and refine remaining assets such as the ear and armour.  In particular, I returned to my first model of the ear (Figure 1) and simply ignored the tutorial I originally followed for the ear model. Figure 1 This decision increased the production of the ear model and it became easier edit the ear mesh. Such as pulling faces of the ear outwards in order to create definition and depth. Furthermore, it was hilarious to learn the suggested UV mapping guide was the same person I referred to while I constructed the nomads body.  Moreover, I had to create a new set of armour (Figure 2A,B) and adjust the mesh in order to fit the new build of the nomad character. Figure 2.a Figure 2.b Towards the end of the session, I began to prepare to create the feathers that cover the nomads shoulder amour. Furthermore, as I browsed the internet for a guide, I soon rememb...

Session Review Removing the dotted lines by un ticking an option box Continuing from last nights session, after the forums on cg society failed to solve my issue with dotted lines appearing on the smoothed out nomad body. I instead discovered how to fix the issue myself and it was simply right clicking on the model, then selecting the model name under the right click options and un ticking the box "display sub divisions" under the "Smooth Mesh" tab. Shaping the shoulders Furthermore, I continued to clean up loose ends and clean up the file further by giving names to the numerous duplicated limbs and cloned bodies, The reason for this is the duplicates that still have use, will be given relevant names in order for them to be reconcilable. Purging visible triangular geometry Moreover, the nomad's anatomy was improved further by apply additional muscle definition such as applying curved shoulders and converting as much hidden triangular fac...

Session Review Continuing issue of dotted lines on smoothed model Proceeding from the previous session, I started right where I left of and merged my new head model. To the rest of the body mesh and it was a tedious task indeed. For,I had to insert new edge loops on the the lower section of the neck in order to appropriately snap the lines on the new head model because if I ignored the additional edge loops and merged the head to the body it would not fuse it self cleanly to the neck. Furthermore, I browsed the internet shortly afterwards to discover why my model had dotted lines covering the model when smoothing was applied to the model. I soon located an answer on cg society and thankfully one person had ther nerve to ask on the site's forums. Converting faces of ear into quads However, the method they suggested was simply changing the display of the edges and did nothing to fix the issue of my model having dotted lines covering the face of the mesh.  I beli...

Session Review Forging the armour with the extrusion tool Proceeding from the previou  session,  further adjustments were applied to the  newly formed neck, I returned to adjust the shape of the head because I released the head itself was flawed in its design and needed additional edge loops as well as more curved edges. So I consulted a image of a low poly male head after browsing the internet, which was ineradicable useful since I could compare the topology of the image with my own model and edit the nomads head accordingly. Moreover, I proceeded to delete edges that did not form a flowing edge around the shape of the nomads head and now I realize I need to insert more edges in the neck in order for the lines of the model are not cut off and disconnected. Additionally, I applied more detail to the nomads mask and armour, extruding faces of the shoulder pads in order to apply a layer of thickness and creating more indents in the mask to make it ...

Session Review Nomad's neck currently looks similar to Lurtz (right) Continuing from yesterday evening, I proceeded to browse for concept art of SWTOR; Knights of the Fallen Empire and observe the detail of their models and how the composition of the final art renderings, in particular, the model of one of the main characters Valkorian. I studied the detail of the Valkorian model and compared its features and anatomy to my won model, in particular, the detail of his facial features since several class members and the lecturer have commented on making the head more organic and less square and carved looking in appearance. Similar anatomy desired for Nomad like the character Arcann Considering the level of detail of the SWTOR 3d models, I returned to Maya to extrude the neck of my Nomad and shape and mould the head until I achieved a slender neck similar to the Arcann head bust and my own neck. However, after extruding the necvk the results were more muscular ...

Session Review Proceeding from yesterdays session, I created additional armour pieces such as the shin pads and gauntlets. Creating the shin pads was fairly simple since it was just the shins of the nomad copied and its vertices re positioned in order to cover his knee and give the illusion it serves a practical purpose as well as an aesthetic one. Moreover, working on the ear was by far the most tedious piece of anatomy I have had to work on since the photo realistic ear I was creating consisted of a web of edge loops and trying ot make sure each line made a square face was a pain to routinely inspect. In addition, I decide to make an intrusion on the side of the face and then proceed to create a serie sof air vented gills. I then proceeded to create a doughnut and scale it util it resembled a insulation tube. I have also begun trying out different material types and currently the blinn material seems suitable for a metallic texture. Furtheermore, I have also begun adjusting t...

Session Review During tonight's evening session, I simply applied additional edge loops on top at the top and back of the head in order to give the head a smoother curved structure and slowly metamorphism s the head from a squared rock like a statue into an organic and curved head. In addition, I am pleased with the work I have applied to the nomad's mask as well. In order to create the wonderful tip of the mask I have finally used my own nomad illustration as a reference for the mask and in addition, the lips have been fused together and when I pulled the lips inwards. Making further adjustments to the mask model After realizing this with the mask m, The tip of the lips was also pulled to further shape and thicken the outer rim of the lips along with the mouth. Moreover, something worth keeping a record of, is during this session I accidentally hid the main menu bar in Maya only to discover that Ctrl, M hides the main menu bar which is incredibly useful ot...

Session Review Creating the sharp edges for the canine teeth Continuing from where I left off yesterday evening, I have found the creation of the gums surprisingly rather easy straightforward, which is excellent since it was simply just a pipe shape that is cut in half. However, during Ryan Kittleson's instructions for the row o teeth instead of creating an instance of duplicated teeth, I created a copy of my tooth and hid them using the layer system in order for me to shape the two canine teeth. For if I tried shaping the front teeth as fangs all the teeth would be affected since they are duplicated as instances. Furthermore, it was interesting to learn during the  smoothing of the teeth I had to create additional edge loops both vertically and horizontally along the edges of the teeth cubes in order to make the teeth appear as curved squares instead of looking like pebbles when smoothing is applied. Moreover, Kittleson instructed to make the gums the parent object to...

Session Review A comparison of the Nomads current head development. After combining the main body together last Thursday, I was determined to finish the creation of the ears since I found the production for the ears very tedious after following three ear tutorials both by Ryan Kittleson. However, I eventually returned to Kitlesons tutorial on lynda.com which was much simpler box modelling an ear and allot more detailed then the box modelled ear in the 3ds max tutorial.] Furthermore, applying additional edge loops to the head was fun since, the characters face began to form a more recognizable human male structure especially in the jawline and cheekbone areas. Moreover, I had to apply additional edge loops to the ear I created since I was not satisfied with he cartoon look of the ar and I had to apply more edge loops in the corner of the box and try and craft the box ear into a more complex piece of geometry. References https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcYrUHRIqsE ...

Session Review Continuing from yesterdays session, I have created the eye sockets using the same techniques I followed to shape the mouth hole. Furthermore, I simply adjust the anatomy of the nomad body further by pulling in vertices along the chest area to create further muscle definition and make it look less weak and wimpy. Moreover, after following Ryans tutorial where he creates the box for the ear, i had to return to following the 3ds max tutorial and follow the steps to shape the ear In addition, duplicated the head I had so far and combined it with the African shaped head. References http://st.depositphotos.com/2036511/1987/i/950/depositphotos_19872483-Male-human-anatomy-and-muscles.jpg http://www.harvard-wm.org/organ-in-the-human-body-heart/heart-human-cryo-staining/ https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/MayaLT/files/Combining-separating-and-splitting-Combine-polygon-meshes-htm.html By Sebastian Jones...

Session Review  Throughout, this short session, U proceeded yo follow Ryans Lynda tutorial on how to make a head tutorial dn it was boring however after persevering snd getting on with production by creating the belt by duplicating he torso snd deleting the faces until only the waist mesh remained. `However, I had to use my custom split polygon tool nd th cut tool in order to create the box around the mouth as Ryan instructed. In addition, I had to import the same male head reference image I used to create the same loy poly head for the 3ds max tutorial in order to make sure I create geometry in its appropriate areas. In order to create the opening for the mouth, I consulted a colleague and they demonstrated I needed to create a second box around the mouth box in order to shape the lips, which was accomplished with a combination of tools found under Mesh Tools. The mouth was then extruded inwards on the left viewport three times and the third...

Session Review Refining the Nomad's foot Continuing from Tuesday's session, I am applying further muscle definition to the Maya ninja model and cleaning up the topology of the 3ds max model. In addition, I continued to apply additional edge loops to the foot and used a male shoe reference in order to shape the feet of my model. Moreover, when I apply to smooth to the model as noticed today and last weeks class session the majority of the models heal is gone as it is smoothed. So in order to remedy that, I simply created more edges along the heel and pulled the vertices outwards to the right. Finally, I have copied the hand from the 3ds max model and simply snapped the vertices to the ninja's arm. ... Reference https://image.freepik.com/free-icon/human-shoes-footprints-shape_318-38220.png By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Both models anatomy is starting to look satisfactory During yesterdays days morning session, I simply edited and cleaned up my original 3ds max model that was imported into Maya 2015 and considering my lecturer Jaime's demonstration of how the original model's shoulder was not modelled with rigging in mind which it wasn't. In addition, I have also successfully imported my current 3ds max head into Maya 2015 and strangely despite saving it as an fbx file like my other imports such as the original 3ds max male body it did not triangulate the geometry of the head. Furthermore, I applied more muscle mass to the Maya ninja model and used the original 3ds max male model as a reference. By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Continuing from yesterday’s session, I have finally finished the nose instructions in the 3ds max tutorial; however, I have noticed while following the tutorial instructions I have created a few creating triangular faces.  So I will have to consult the Lynda character tutorial by Ryan Kittleson and see his methods of creating the head. If not I will simply clean up the topology of the head and make sure each face is a quad (square). Furthermore, I selected the second vertice on the bottom nose edge and selected a tool in 3ds max named Chamfer, which made a face a four-sided face out of that selected vertice. By Sebastian Jones

Cleaning up more rouge vertices Session Review During yesterdays session, I continued my production of the low poly head and the reference illustration needed to increase the contrast of my reference images by forty since the illustration was to faint once I zoomed in and worked on areas such as the nose. Furthermore, I had to connect the three vertices located at the bottom of the nasal septum and connect them. Since the middle vertice, I inserted strangely created a mesh line in perspective view. In addition, after cleaning up rouge vertices, I pulled back the cheek vertice and it certainly made a difference because my viewports, in particular, the left viewport started to match the tutorial images. After editing the model I finally learned that the image in the tutorial instruction the instructor simply positioned the camera to look upward. By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Returning to the nomads main body I certainly find creating arms using a cylinder to be much more efficient and easier. The reason being is since I can simply apply edge loops for each muscle area and scale the edges accordingly in order to match the reference illustration. In addition, I learned of two useful tools the first being "Freeze Selection" under the Modifier tab and this tool prevents the object from being edited any further. The second tool I learned is how to adjust and move the pivot point by holding or pressing D and then moving the pivot point accordingly. .... By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Checking each view port in order to make sure geometry is smooth and clean. Returning to the human head I created at the start of September, I have decided to simply finish what I have already created and the instructions are simple to follow so once I have created and edited the low poly head in 3ds max it will be saved as a n FBX file ready for import in Maya 2015. Moreover, during this evenings session I have re adjusted the vertices and toggled out of the front view port in order to use my own common sense and observe whether the vertices along the head were evenly positioned and matched the front reference image without destroying the geometry such as the last I worked on step four of the tutorial. Furthermore, I decided to skip creating the neck in the 3ds max head tutorial because in the Lynda tutorial and ninja turmoil I am both following they simply just merge the head to the torso and as I tested last Tuesday in class as I merged the feet to the le...

Session Review Returning to the classroom I have had a tedious time trying to fix the topology of the foot I created yesterday. Despite the shape of the foot having a natural appearance some of the vertices were caving into each other and I have frustratingly create it several times. After spending some time deleting rouge double vertices on the foot, I concluded its creation by creating the toes. Moreover, my lecturer applied a greater clean up by stating I could use the merge vertex to fuse the rouge vertices into one in order to clean up the topology. Furthermore, in order to fill the hole of my foot the lecturer simply selected the Fill Hole tool under the Mesh tab. I have also considered taking different limbs from my 3ds max model and fusing it to this current model. By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Connecting both ends using the  Append to Polygon tool During this afternoon session I learned a new trick as I continued to fix my characters box crotch if you select a vertice in vertex mode and hold the V key on your keyboard and drag it to another vertex using the move tool on the model then both vertices will align correctly. Furthermore I learned that the maya equivalent to the bridge tool from 3d studio max is called the Append to Polygon Tool which consists of you selecting the one edge of the model and clicking on the another edge to create a polygon that connects them together in this case. Extruding the legs for the character was interesting since I also discovered in order to straighten the extruded edges make sure the edge of the object is selected and use your scale tool and pull the green box until it touches the cyan box and continue doing that until the edge appears to be straight. Shaping the feet Overall I have learned allot of new...

Session Review Creating the Split Polygon Tool in maya 2015 During this afternoons session I have finally begun to create the pelvis and legs for my character;however,in the tutorial the instructor created a custom toolkit and I could not find the Split Polygon Tool in maya 2015 so I browsed for advice and thankfully thanks to a quick guide and a litle bit of tampering I created a custom Split Polygon Tool This tool was essential in order to create the pelvis area and cut away the extruded cubed pelvis and  would be unusual for my character to have a box for a crotch. ............... References https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5wOI9aVTug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiTzJS4YLIY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5J6XzrInLc

Session Review Setting up both reference images in maya 2015. Proceeding from last night I tediously set up my nomad reference images in maya. I have made the choice to start a knew instead of editing my human mesh from the summer holiday because my lecturer Jaime commented that maya does not handle quads (triangular) geometry well compared to standard square faced geometry. However, I despite following the beany tutorial guide on setting up references images the Gi joe tutorial simply selected View> import and imported the designated source images into the scene. In addition, I loaded both the ninja and my own nomad reference images in using the import image method although created separate layer for each reference so I can turn one reference off as I model and use the tutorial ninja reference for accurate anatomy whereas my own image will be used for the armour and robes. NEXT TUESDAY FOLLOW LYNDA TUT 4-6-7 GET BODY DONE AND GET READY TO MAKE HEAD BY NEXT TUESDAY...

Session Review Nomad reference illustration by Sebastian Jones. Returning my nomadic character, I applied the final layers of detail to the 3d reference illustration; however, the dimensions of the image (size)  needed to be edited in photoshop in order to  refer to the size of the character modelling tutorials model size in case I should find issues during the production. In addition, during the character modelling tutorial, I learned of a useful function called Shelfs. This consists of creating a personal UI of various tools and functions within Maya and in order to add any desired tool you simply press Ctrl, Shift and hold on the left mouse button to add that tool on your shelf. However;, as I was editing the limbs of my image and realized to match the gi Joe Storm Shadow illustration editing the reference took far to long and was a pointless exercise since I will simply use the Storm Shadow tutorial reference and follow both the Lynda and youtube character modell...

Session Review During today's class session, my lecturer Jaime gave excellent advice on how I could create the feathers for my character's armour and it consisted of making a series of planes (geometry)  and then pasting a lambert feather texture as an alpha on to the plane. In addition, It was also worth knowing that Maya does not respond well to models that feature quad(triangular) faces... References https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=feather+transparency+map&espv=2&biw=1478&bih=921&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIsJ-Dst7QyAIVw1oaCh0fYACH#imgrc=hgu-sEHoEbNp4M%3A

Session Review Carrying over from yesterday afternoon, I have successfully achieved the intended design I had envisioned for this character. Deciding to create a sprite first and create more rough doodles was the right decision to make since I find both of this activities more creatively stimulating and this time I had decided to take my art references from star wars and Conan the Barbarian. Specifically, the elegant and intimidating  robes of the sith combined with an article I found their MMO game Age of Conan development log. Where they also took inspiration from African tribal culture. Earlier during the development I feared the feathers that a witch doctor and dancer wore would not give my character a intimating presence; however the concept art from Age of Conan proved me wrong since it looked both cultural beautiful and functional. Moreover, I looked back at my mood board and browsed for more images of kevlar armour. Since the athletic and practical appearance of t...

Session Review Considering my now deeper insight into the culture of the characters and developing personality, I decided to create a sprite while I gathered all of my reference images around it. The reason for me creating a sprite is simply because I have created sprites for a number of years. Furthermore, I prefer to either create sprites and roughly sketch my concepts before drawing the final reference art where I draw technically carefully thinking of the anatomy height, width and limb arrangement while layering the characters feature over one another. For example, I draw the geometric shapes first then apply human definition such as muscles. I then apply undergarments such as underwear or bodysuits. I then continue to layer each set of clothing or armour in the same fashion a human would get dressed. In addition, I found another useful character tutorial that demonstrated how to create a female cyborg from sketches to fully rendered figurine. This tutorial and...

Session Review Shaman King: Yoh and his guardian ghost Amidamaru This mornings peer review for my reference character image was met with expected responses and I agreed that based from the images I collected in session eleven it resulted in a generic armoured science fiction warrior that started to resemble the Yautja Predator character. Furthermore after beginning a simple character modelling tutorial on the educational website Lynda.com I had l noted down the procedures of setting the reference images in Maya which was highly valuable for when my I begin production of my own character. Moreover. after talking to a friend and actually expanding upon my character's background and thinking more of depending on the environment and lifestyle my character had it would highly determine the appearance of the character. I eventually settled for a nomadic tribal shaman and after noting down the key aspects I wanted to express with my designing redesigned a cultural rich  and mo...

Session Review Similar tribal body paint can be applied to the armour During today I have been frustrated that I could not begin the final 3d reference image early in the afternoon; however, I finally managed to draw the basic human anatomy. I always layer each piece of the character from the basic shapes that form the anatomy, to the human definition and then applying the bodysuit and finally armour and layered cloth and accessories. Furthermore, a desirable feature would be to have the boots of the character to possess boots shaped as sanded feet in order to give the character a futuristic sci-fi warrior. In addition, I had to browse for african tribal warriors in order to apply the tribal accessories in order to prevent my character from looking like a generic science fiction soldier. Moreover, the character is starting to resemble a totem although I am am aiming for my characters anatomy to have a hunters athletic build and his clothing to be tribal yet regal and refi...

Session Review Throughout this session, Chaos Maunder from Warhammer Age of Reckoning.  I have begun to contemplate on the 3d dimensional shape of the model and browsed at various 3d game models from games, mods and various other sources in order to observe how they have created the robes and armour. In addition, one of my main two sources for armour both iron man and the various spartan armours from the Halo game series. I mostly like the bodysuit underneath the armours and the shard or puzzle-like arrangement of the amour and how each piece of armour serves a functional purpose. However, In order to make sure the character does not possess a heavy science fiction influenced appearance. I browsed through numerous fantasy concepts art and one in particular that I always admired was the art from Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and different characters classes such as the blackguard featured a similar cone-shaped helmet as the African mask. Halo Reach: Noble Six Concept Ar...

Session Review Using my mood board to shape the features of the masks During this afternoon session, I have solved my question on how to add segments to an object, simply by creating a cube and then selecting "polyCube1" I then imputed the amount of elements I desired fir the objects Width, Height and Depth. Furthermore. I practised with the modelling tools by shaping the box into one of the African masks from my mood board as I had done with the Adas helmet from my session in 3d studio max. I have managed to mould the cube into the overall shape of the oval mask however, I need to refer to my 3ds max how to create a low poly head in order to create the human lips and eyes for the mask. References http://craftwhack.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/face1.jpg By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Editing human mesh in Maya 2015 During today's afternoon session I began to continue practising and learning more of Mayas Ui by editing my 3d studio max human mesh. I began to use the weld tool feature to finally fuse the hand to the wrist making my Frankenstein patchwork man together, Later during the evening, I began to sketch incredible new helmet design while I was on the train. Furthermore, these designs seemed to have influences of ancient Egyptian culture. References http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU/MayaLT/files/Combining-separating-and-splitting-Combine-polygon-meshes-htm.html By Sebasian Jones

Session Review Contemplating on the lecturer Jaime's advise on shaping the organic head in the same oval shape as the African tribal masks. I proceeded to sketch visions and concepts on paper and I thought of an ant similar to animated characters from the films "Bugs life" and "Antz". During today's session, I looked at characters from the manga and anime "Shaman King" in order to look at different spirits anatomy and designs in particular spirits such as the five elemental spirits because of their surreal bodies and patterns on their body. Moreover, I am eager to learn more about the Mayas interface because I desire to be at the same technical stage in Maya as I am in 3d studio max. In addition, I continued learning more about Maya 2015 interface and needed to know how to edit the number of segments (lines) on an object. The reason for this was in Maya when I create a polygon (shape) and when I model It's critical I learn how to set th...

Session Review Returning to the class I prepared to present my current progress with the CG characters designs and the lecturer Jaime was impressed with my thought process and tribal designs; however, he suggested shaping the characters organic head to fit the shape of the triangular tribal masks shape. Moreover, once I was directed to an educational tutorial website known as Lynda.com and similar to the website digital tutors you had to pay a monthly fee for its services. Furthermore, I finally received a solution to my issue of fusing vertices together in order to fuse objects together, I had to select the following Mesh Tools > Target Weld Toos. This was a progress blocking issue I had in 3ds max over the summer holiday in where I wanted to connect the hand model to the human model I created. Despite me learning the process in Maya I will need to learn how to apply the same technique in 3d studio max.  In addition, I will have until next week Tuesday to conclude a fin...