KNB217 Digital Creatures

@josephconachan9454233

25 posts

References

Cheparev, A. [Alex Cheparev]. (2016, June, 25). Zbrush to Maya to Zbrush - Retopologu and UVing with Quad Draw. Retrieved From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7YqK-E1l6c&t=1172s

Demigod Games. (2014). Greek Minotaur. Retrived from http://www.demigodgames.net/greek-minotaur/

Orinoco. (2013). Human Head Topology. Retrieved from https://blenderartists.org/t/edge-loops-and-topology/589196/8

Simmer, P. (2013). Hurloon Minotaur. Retrieved from https://www.deviantart.com/jackal0ftrades/art/Hurloon-Minotaur-261690828

Staff, A. G. (2017). The Last Tasmanian Tiger 1936 [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2017/07/fossilised-tasmanian-tiger-footprints-discovered-on-kangaroo-island/

Zagrobelna, M. (2018). How to draw Disney Animals. Retrieved from https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-draw-disney-animals--cms-31651

Over the course of the assessment, I created two digital creatures. One stylized native Australian animal, achieved through the form of Terry the Tasmanian Tiger, and one mythical hybrid creature in the form of Borris the Minotaur.

Over the course of the assignment, an area that I was proud of was the initial high polly sculpt of Borris, which was done in Mudbox. Having never used the program before, I was very happy with the way the model turned out and the level of detail I managed to achieve.

Areas that I am lacking in and could use further development is my ability to UV map and unwrap. If I can improve in these areas, the quality of my textures when applied to the final models will improve.

A short video showcasing Borris the Minotaur.

A short video showcasing Terry the Tasmanian Tiger.

The final rendered turnaround for Borris the Minotaur. This turnaround is to showcase the model of Borris the Minotaur, with full lighting textures and normals applies.

Over the course of creating Borris, some areas that I feel could have used some improvement is the edge loops for animation. Another area of my own personal development and would improve the overall look of the model is my UV mapping and ability to unwrap a mesh. this would have led to better seams on the mesh and potentially a little less stretching in places.

The Final rendered turnaround of Terry the Tasmanian Tiger. This turnaround is to showcase the model of Terry the Tasmanian Tiger, with full lighting textures and normals applies.

Looking back some of the areas that I could have improved in, was the unwrapping of this model, especially around the head region of the model. I possibly could have sculpted the head and facial region a little better so as to make the final model appear more stylised.

After completing all of these steps, I went back repeated the same process for Terry. UV unwringing his mesh, creating a texture and normal map and setting up the lighting rig in preparation for rendering.

Progressing toward the end of Borris’ pipeline, the next step was to create lighting for rendering the character turn around. I decided to go with a standard three point set up, utilising a mixture of warm and cool lights, adjusting the radius, fall off of each camera to attempting to prevent sharp shadows from occurring.

An Initial test of the texture map and normal map applied Borris’ mesh

Following the retopology of Borris, the next stage in his pipeline line was to unwrap him so that he could be textured and have a normal map applied.

While topologizing Borris, I was trying to keep in mind the relevant edge loops required for character animation. I used a number of reference images so that I could ensure that I was getting the relevant loops correct. Such as the one above (Orinoco, 2013).

In this tutorial I will go over my Retopology and UVing workflow from ZBrush to Maya and back to ZBrush. Retopologizing in Maya is much faster and easier tha...

The next stage in Borris’ creation was to retopologies the sculpted high poly mesh, back into a low poly. For some extra help with this stage, I turned to YouTube for some tutorials on this process. One of the best tutorials being Zbrush to Maya to Zbrush - Retopology and UVing with Quad Draw (Cheparev, 2016) as it is very in depth in this process.

After completing the initial low poly mesh, I took my character Borris over to Autodesk Mudbox, where I could define features in the mesh such as muscle structure and facial features. This helps to give Borris a little more realism and depth.

One thing you may notice is the change in the meshes pose, having gone from his arms rested at his side, to T-posing. This is to improve the display of the character for the final turnaround piece.

Overall, I am quite happy with the way the mesh turned out in Mudbox being the first time I have used the program. There are still areas I could improve on, but that will come with practice and use of the program.

This is the initial low poly mesh for Borris, which is ready to imported to Mudbox for sculpting. areas that I had difficulty with when creating this mesh were the hands. I probably could have used with more focus on researching and referencing this part of the body so that flows more naturally with the body.

My initial sketch of my minotaur character Borris. The idea of this sketch was to give my character overly large muscle features, and exaggerate the male form of his human side, whilst maintaining the characters anger and ominous presence.

From there, I sketched the back and side views of the character to provide me with a rough turnaround. I will say that my skills with a pencil are not the best, but the sketches were enough to provide me with an essential outline of Borris, and allowed me to get my proportions.

I Wanted to develop a minotaur character with an exaggerated muscle structure. giving off a powerful and menacing presence. I started looking at pre-existing 3D models to get reference and inspiration for my own character.

Image: (Demigod Games, 2014)

For the mythical hybrid creature, I decided to go with the concept of a minotaur. As a big fan of fantasy, I was really excited for this. The shape and size of a minotaur allows you to create a character that can either be realistic in its size and proportions, or exaggerate them to the extreme.

Image: Simmer, 2013

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