Model 4: Rigging

For this task, I have to rig an object and start to animate it. Rigging is something I have gone over a little in class but for this task, I had to make a skeleton which is something I have never done before. To start off, I made a cylinder and there is a tool in the Animation tab called Skeleton. I choose that and then Joint tool. What this allowed me to do is to start to make 'joints' for my skeleton.

I could then 'draw' the joints for the skeleton and after that and shift selecting the bottom of the joints and the cylinder, going to Skin and then Bind Skin, Smooth Bind to get something like this:

I could then rotate them and get something like this:

I then made the skeleton of the fish by using the method before, following the tutorial I was using.
When I had to bind the skin, I had to make some changes in the options for it so the joints effect only what is the closest to them instead of anything else that is around it.
I see what gets effected by doing a test animation. I select one part of the body, set a key frame at 1 then move it, set one at 6 then copy and paste the first frame to 9. I do this for 10, 16, 19, 20, 26 and 29 for the Fin, Dorsal Fin and then the Tail so I can see the skin deformation and then get to fine tuning it.

 

 

 I can sort out the skin for the fish by using many different tools in Edit Smooth Skin (under Skin) and the one I am going to use for this is: Paint Skin Weights. What that does is allows me to select parts of my joints and see what the deformation is and change them if I need to.

Once that has been done, I can start to animate the actual fish and not have any deformation.
I finally got to finishing the animation and I got this:

Model 3: Props

This post is long over due because I forgot to add it but for this one, I was tasked to create and model different objects and then texture them using different methods. For this I have done small props, some chairs, a table and also a gas pump!

First came the small tools. These were difficult for me because it was my first time trying to model small props and keeping everything in proption and thinking ahead of how tall to make certain polygonal objects and what ones to make and in what order would be best.

It was also my first introduction into using Maya for texturing as I was using 3DS Max for the same thing at college. It was fairly similar and cannot decide which one I prefer more. Out of all the props that I had made, the prybar was the hardest because of its curves and how it had to be modelled. I made a couple of mistakes while I done it but I tried my best to stick to the tutorial and the reference I had for it. There are parts missing from these such as the notes I had taken to make them but I have them saved so I can see them at any time so if I ever get confused I can look at them for a reference.

Untextured Models

The texture sheet I had made to use for this

After the small props, I moved onto furniture and this proved to be a problem especially on the rounded chair because I was new to using some of the tools that I had to use and I made a few mistakes while doing it but in the same case as the prybar, I carried on and got the end result and I am also pleased with how it came out considering the problems I faced.

Lastly was the gas pump which on its own gave me quite some trouble but that was only the new method of texturing I was using called .psd networks which is very handy and useful for making changes to a texture and then quickly updating it in Maya and having more than one colour on a texture sheet and choosing what later the model will show.

Layer Nine: The Anatomy

For this task, we were told to work on the anatomy of the human body, ideally the skeleton so I sat down and though to myself, the head is a good place to start. I worked from there, down to the pelvis then I worked from the shoulders to the feet (the limbs being the last bit I done here).
It wasn't that troubling with the drawing but trying to name all the different bones were a definite challenge because I had to break apart the bones from the ligaments because currently, the bones and their joints were the most important parts.

Overall I am very pleased with how this came out and the biggest help that I had was the following:

Peck, S. (1951) Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist[online] http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kTathH_rVI8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed on 26.11.14)

http://www.innerbody.com/image/skelfov.html (Accessed on 26.11.14)

Layer Eight: TANK!

So, for this task, I was told I needed to create a tank or armoured vehicle using two point perspective. There are many times where I thought of doing a 'walker' like vehicle but after checking the brief, I sat back and wondered what else I could to.

I first started to search world war two tanks because those where the first that came to my head. Being someone who likes the history of WW2, this was going to be my theme. From tanks, I moved onto armoured trains and then half-tracks, mostly German ones because I like how they looked.

Above are the mood boards that I had put together to try and hlp me get a feel for the vehicle I was drawing, how it was going to look and how I should do it on the paper using this type of perspective which I am not yet used to and very rarely use it. Below are two drafts of what I have drawn and then then the final piece.

The first one is a half-track kind of vehicle. I could not get the wheels right at the front so I opted out the front wheels and then put in another track. The curved plate is to help it get through things like snow and for also crushing small objects in its way.

I am not overly pleased with it because it was hard to get the perpective right with the kind of vehicle it is.
The second one is my favourite and is what I used for the final piece. It is an armoured train with a turret on the top, the rest of the train going into the distance. This one didn't have 'tracks' like a tank but instead had wheels that of course, went on train tracks. The slits in the sides of the carriages are for troops to shoot out of and behind the turret are two MG Nests (one on either side). It's like a moving fortress all on its own.

To the sides of the main gun there are two smaller guns which are more faster firing but not as powerful or there might be the option to make them magnetic and all the way along so I can make a rail-gun. I could also change the top of the gun to make it more pose-able so I can have an artillery style gun to shoot large shells far distances.

I took these views into consideration and this is what I have for the final piece:

Layer Seven: Environment Speedpaint

during my lunch break today, I started to work on just messing around with different brushes and seeing what they do and I started to work on a hill for something, doing everything on a whim. 

Here is the first piece, second and then followed by the final:

Model 2: Animation

Today our task was to animate a turret. First we had to rig it by making a Parent/Child relationship of all the parts of the turret then start to animate it. We learnt how to work on the hierarchy bit by bit for the work and this is the finished one:

Here you can see the finished one where everything is grouped in a set order, working from the base of the turret to the tip, working logically and thinking ahead of how things would work in relation to other pieces.

After that, we had to reset the transformations so it makes the animation much easier. We done that by selecting everything, going to Modify and then Freeze Transformation. Once we had done that, we 'locked' certain things of the turret so they could only be modified on certain axis.

We then had to animate the turret bit by bit. First starting off with the turret, then the pivots of the guns and then the guns themselves and in the end, I got something like this:

Layer Six: Insectoid

For this particular task, I was give two weeks to design an insectoid character; part human, part insect. At first, I wasn't too sure on how to go about it such as what insect to do and how to make the character look so what I had done was go with one of the first insects that came to my head. A Praying Mantis.

Overall, I am very pleased with this outcome and there are several things that I would like to improve on and one of them is that my work never seems to look tidy in a sense so what I need to work on is tidying up my work as I go to make it look neater and more presentable.

What I have just noticed in the final image is the right eye. That needs some work on it; its angling and position.