ANIM2001 CG Character Production Logs

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...

Session Review Continuing from the previous sessions, I sought to make my characters clothing and other affections as functional as possible making each line or shape have a purpose for being besides just looking good to both the audience (class) and myself. Moreover, I read an article from the magazine 3D Artist and this issue was dedicated to character design and  I found satisfaction and slight surprise when the artists follow similar patterns and working processes to myself... By Sebastian Jones

Session Review Previously during the yesterdays afternoon session,  I  continued with applying more source images of tribal masks; however, unlike previous mood boards, I sought to add more source material as I could and fill the page. Current version of the mood board Furthermore, as my mood board began to grow I began to have a clearer vision of my characters appearance. In addition, I also continued to create a robed sash in Maya by simply extruding a rectangle and adjusting the vertices and edges until it resembled a convincing robe. With the smoothing applied the model looked excellent and resembled robes from games such as Jedi Knight academy Knights of the Old Republic. However, despite the fact my character will look good with a robe and sash , I will continue to refer to my military and tribal outfits and create a broader range of appearance s for my character. By Sebastian Jones