Final Year Project

I decided to create a raygun in Maya so that my character can be posed with it. Here are some reference images i found that i like and will take inspiration from, i’ve also uploaded a work in progress Maya file of thr raygun.

Here are some screenshots showing the mesh that the spheres are creating at the moment, this is low poly as i dont want to increase the divisions level until im happy with it as ZBrush is known for having huge polygon counts when you increase the detail.Things that i can notice that are wrong is that the spheres are too big along the forearm and along the quadricep leg muscles of the character. Also the size of the character isn’t quite right yet.

Thought i would add some more screenshots of my ZBrush Character So far. The second image shows where i have adjusted the ZSpheres as they looked to be too small in the middle of the character as the Spheres when converted to a poly mesh normally go bigger in the size.

Still adjusting ZSpheres, link spheres and such, never used ZBrush or let alone ZSpheres before, so this a definite learning experiance, i feel that im getting past the excruciating learn curve of the user interface and keyboard shortcuts though.

Because of not using ZSpheres before im not sure how this body is going to turn out at the moment, so it could turn out completely wrong, but the beauty of these spheres is that adjusting their size will change the look of the mesh… or thats what it says on the Pixelogic website!

Started to build the hands, wanted to make them anatomically correct, using the spheres in the correct joint locations in the hand and wrist.Looks like a claw of sorts in the first image, however by the second it’s looking a lot better.

So i’ve carried on building the ZBrush sculpt for my character using ZSpheres, i must say that it feels very intuitive when using thr spheres but the overall experiance of using Pixelogics software is let down because of the poor control system. Below are some screenshots showing my current progress.

I also found through using ZBrush that you can change the material of your sculpt as your using it and it is adjusted in real time in the viewport, it’s been quite handy to change to other materials to better see the Spheres, you’ll see that i’ve changed from the basic material to this red reflective material that makes each link sphere (the spheres that go between other spheres) stand out more.

Here are some images of the basic body sculpt for my character. Im using Zbrush to build the mass which will then be shaped and tweaked to create the body shape. With ZBrush you build mass using ZSpehers, seen below, which can easily be created, modified and resized. These spheres that are linkeed together can then be built up and shaped to resemble the basic shape of the character. I decided to start building my character from the chest and not the usual root of the hips. In the second image you can see that i’ve started to use ZSpheres to create the arms from the chest.

Here are some sketches i have done after taking some pictures of my nephew, i’ve tried to capture some facial expressions in them but my drawing skills are a bit out of practice as you can probably tell.

I’ve taken some reference images of my nephew, unfortuneatly i only had my mobile phones camera at hand and not my DSLR, but they seem to have come out ok.

I’ve talked in previous posts about how i think that lighting is a very important aspect of CG work, but colour also plays a huge role. I’ve been watching a lot of Pixar films recently and noticed that colour is used to carry a story in a subtle but very effective way that sometimes goes unnoticed. I know that i have only just noticed how obvious it really is in some of Pixar’s films. Below is an image from one of the more recent Pixar projects, UP. You can see that just from the colour that the film starts off in the past, this is shown by the black and white scenes that are devoid of any colour. It then moves on to show soft colours, portraying childhood, innocence and happiness. Then you can see that the colours are muted and have a grey tone, to show that the happiness has gone. Now anyone who has seen the film will know that these colours match the storyline perfectly. It certainly has made me think about the colours i’m to use in my project.

The second illustrator that i have been looking into is Richard Bazeley. Richard Bazeley who has worked on many animated projects such as The Iron Giant, Pocohontus and one of my favorite films of all time, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In a similar way to Colin Stimpson i have been looking at his artwork to try and get a sense of how he poses his characters when he illustrates them. I’ve noticed that with varied posture and gestured stances it conveys different meanings. Some of his illustratibe work that i think best displays this i have included below. Also find the link to Richard’s website/portfolio below:

The image above shows such great character and i love how the rough outlines have been left intact, it certainly adds to the character, i haven’t done any illustration or drawing since i studied Art at school 10 years ago, but seeing how the rough work can still be useful and important it’s given me the confidence to not draw something and instantly throw it away because a single line is out of place.