Nostrils.

Added the nostrils to the dragon head.  I think it's coming a long pretty nice!  I'm trying to tidy up the mesh, well, genuinely clean anyway, which isn't so bad now.  I've learnt so much from second year, after my "ugly boy" fiasco.


Dragon WIP - Update 5 low poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


...and high poly version :)


Dragon WIP - Update 5 hi-poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


Need to make some teeth...  Maybe the next update.

Wire frame! YEAH!

Dragon WIP4 wireframe from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


Cool huh?

Got this little script off some guy on a forum, it generates a material you just apply to the mesh and it puts on a wireframe.  Not sure how it works but here's the code I found:


--wire 1.1 frame material by scrimski


meditMaterials[1] = Standardmaterial ()
meditMaterials[1].name = "WireMaterial"
meditMaterials[1].faceMap = true
meditMaterials[1].Glossiness = 0
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap = Gradient_Ramp ()
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.name = "WireDiffuse"
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.Gradient_Type=6


--flag color


meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.gradient_ramp.flag__1.color = [0,0,0]
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.gradient_ramp.flag__2.color = [255,255,255]
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.gradient_ramp.flag__3.color = [255,255,255]


--flag position


meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.gradient_ramp.flag__3.position =4


--tiling off
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.coordinates.U_Tile = false
meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap.coordinates.V_Tile = false


--selfillumination


meditMaterials[1].selfIllumMap = meditMaterials[1].diffuseMap
meditMaterials[1].selfIllumMapAmount = 90

Looks like they use a single block gradient and mess about with figures and such.  I don't get MAXScript.  But this is a nice way to learn.

Update Again on the Dragon Head. :)

So tweaks listed:

+ Mouth
+ Horns
+ Tiding up edges and loops around the mouth and eyes.

So here's the low poly and high poly.


Dragon WIP - Update 3 low poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.



Dragon WIP - Update 3 hi poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


And finally the mini update on top of the above tweaks, I tweaked the horns a little and added eye ball whites! :D


Dragon WIP - Upgrade 4 eyes from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


I'm hoping to set up a facial rig for this baby whilst I'm waiting for Joe and Aled's aliens to be modelled.  I can see I have a lot to do over the next few months of production, but I'm looking forward to them.

Update!

Dragon's got some eyes now.

Low poly and High poly. :)


Dragon WIP - Update 2 low poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.



Dragon WIP - Update 2 hi-poly from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.

Amazing Rockstar MoCap. Technology

Just stumble'd across an amazing find on the new Rockstar game coming early 2011 called "L.A. Noire".  It's animation is mainly on motion capture software and basically the evolution of games/film as we see it!

Check out the video below.

Video Games | L.A. Noire | Developer Diary: The Technology Behind Performance

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Should Be doing Work...

Although!  I was going to continue with hair and fur but I'd thought I'd take a small break from work.  I decided to do a mini character project for a close friend of mine.  She likes dragons!  So I decided to design her her own dragon.  Apologise now as the dragon is purely a cross between Pikachu and Toothless (no copyright infringement intended!) but it was fun to do regardless. :)

Here're a few turnaround models:

And a little coloured teaser!

And finally some WIP turnarounds.  Firstly the low poly:


Dragon head WIP (low-poly) from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


And finally the hi-poly!


Dragon head WIP (hi-poly) from Danie G.P. on Vimeo.


Cheers-y-pop Kiddos!
Modelling in 3dsMax, will probably do a facial rig set up in Maya.  I'll post up an ideas page for the facial control panel.   Toodles.

Stretchy bones in Maya.

Found a nice tutorial on Stretchy Bones in Maya.  At first it's a little scary to understand but it's basically talking about the use of the "Measure Tools" which yous pecify in using the "distance" tool, which basicaly shows you how far you distort the measured object, as well as including the use of expressions.  The expressions are a little tricky to get your head around but it's laid out as simply as it can be.

Click Me to Get to the Link

Also the final product is available to download at the bottom of the tutorial.  You can access the expressions used within the file also which is a nice finishing touch to the tutorial.  :)  I'm going to have a gander a little more with this probably tomorrow.

Fur Fur and More Fur!

Motion Builder project has finally ended.  Back onto pre-production work again, I decided to look into hair and fur.  Focusing on fur currently, I've got a few rendered previews to show.

First attempt with fur was to generate a "mock-up" of polar bear fur.  It's not perfect I'm aware of, but I thought it looked close enough to it.

And finally a lion/lioness fur test.  I feel this one is getting there, just need a bit more of a mess about with density/thickness.

Enjoy!  (enlarge for bigger images).