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 remembered the

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 appear as if t

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 otherwis

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