Character orthogonal drawings

Modeling in Maya

MODELING IN MAYA

-POCAHONTAS

-GORRILLA

(Picture 0) Extra unneeded faces

(Picture 1)

I had a go at re-modeling Pocahontas in Z-brush, but i found it quite difficult and i still didn't get the desired effect that i wanted. so i decided not to use the model and just texture in the fur that i wanted to create.

(Picture 2)

This is the final model that was ready for texturing.

(Picture 2/3)

On this model i used the sculpt geometry tool which made her look more round and better then square, the problem i had with this was that i didn't sculpt her in half and mirror her, so she isn't symmetrical, this was because the model i was using i had already mirrored her, and to go back would have taken too much time.

(Picture 4/5)

On this model i tried to add more polygons to help smooth her over a bit, but i think i added too many polygons as it was difficult when it came to texturing and binding the skin.

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The planes i used was the pictures of the model i had created with clay, it had the main idea i wanted to use so i saw not a lot of point in doing a orthographic drawing for this one.

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This was where i started the gorilla, i was extruding the faces to create him.

(Picture 8)

Here i was trying to make his head a better shape then just round, and give him more definition.

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This is the mesh of the Gorilla before i changed him to a more organic form.

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This is the final model i used for my gorilla, i used a tool called Sculpt Geometry tool which allowed me to pull him out and make him more round and a fatter gorilla, i feel he looks a lot better like this.

(Picture 11)

This Gorilla i began to rigg and use, however in my formative i was told he wasn't very organic so i then learnt a new tool in maya that would help this.

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I started to create a gorilla using the extrude tool to get a feel for how i was going to model him.

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I was unsure of how to start the modeling, but i used a maya book called Learning auto-desk maya 2008 to create a penguin, then applied the same principles to the model.

I found using Polygons rather than Nurbs was easier to use in the long run.

The reference books i used to help me model was that of MAYA Character Rigging, by Cheryl Cabrera, Character Modeling with Maya and Z-Brush, by Jason Patnode, and Learning autodesk Maya 2008. All helped me gain a bit of insight as to what i was supposed to be doing.

I had many problems when i was modelling, one of which was when I somehow doubled-up on my geometry and had more faces then i needed, I tried to delete the faces and match them up, how ever it was all up the arms and legs so instead i went back to an earlier model and re-started to model him, as i thought it would be quicker to solve the problem, i also didn't want any problems when i had to skin him.

I tended to smooth the whole mesh rather then sculpt the model until i found i could use the sculpt geometry tool. so in future i will only smooth once finished the model.

Pocahontas character designs

Final Design idea

Animation Idea

After i have created the models and rigged them i have to create a short piece of animation with them. For this i decided to make them interact together and make the little girl copy everything the gorilla does and then the gorilla gets confused.

The girl is behind glass in the zoo watching from outside the cage, and the gorilla is in its environment going about its buisness.

Models of clay

I made these models out of clay to understand some of the texturing to add to my final models to get them like clay to go with the brief.

It also help me to get a better understanding 3 dimensionally of the models to make it easier when using maya.

Gorilla Design ideas

Final idea,color ideas, The brown looks too bear- like.

Initial Sketches of Gorilla

Here are some drawings of gorillas i have done from life and photos.

Project Objectives

Within the brief i was set a number of points to cover within the project.

1: To concentrate on Two characters. I have Decided on Cornelius the gorilla and Pocahontas the small girl for the two characters. I have done some character designs and research to begin this.

2: Use one of the three major packages of Maya, Lightwave or Max. I have decided to go with maya as it is the one i know best but i still have much to learn within this software package.

3: The model must be of less than 100,000 polygons and be textured decently. For this i will create a simple model with a low polygon count, then i can take it into z-brush and make it more detailed. I need to look more into texturing models.

4: Support work for character designs, development drawings and character sheets with orthographic drawings of each character. For this i have done many sketches of the characters and have begun to do orthographic drawings of the characters in all positions to get a better picture of the final outcome.

5:Expressive animation sequences. I have done some research into how gorillas move including watching them at the zoo first hand, and watching videos on u tube. This i hope to incorperate into my animating, and get realistic movement.

Time Schedule

The Orange represents where i should be at in that week.

Unfortunately my plan didn't go as planned, as some things took me longer then anticipated, the rigging took me more than two weeks as the book i was using was wrong, with errors so i had to find out the problems and re-start certain parts. This meant that i only had a couple of days to be able to animate so the animation is not as good as it could have been.

Research into Small Girls for character designs

My main inspiration for the character design for the little girl Pocahontas Billiams was that of DIsney/Pixar's Monsters INC. : Boo. Her personality is that which i would like to get for the little girl i am designing. She will be bouncy and fun.