Character project I'm working on

So to keep myself busy while job hunting, I built a simple character.

It took a few steps to get there, obviously, so where to start. I wanted to replicate the artist Christopher Zito's style of the kobold creature, so I did a style study to get a feel of how things should move and expressions I should try and hit.

Then I went about doing a character turnaround to try and keep some consistent form, as well as understand what things should look like.

From there it's down to some modeling,

A bit of ZBrush work,

A splash(whole heap) of rigging,

plus a lot of pose testing,

and we get the video at the top. I'm still doing a few tests here and there, but mostly as I go. For now, have this blocking test I'm slowly working on.

Things in Brief

Not much to say for this side of things, as everything I've built is still behind NDAs. However, I can at least show a proper update to the creature Parker

This one is a bit old, but he's been fully modeled out, textured, and primed for rigging. I changed the posture of the model. While I was working, a coworker suggested I pose it out like Pixar did with the bears from Brave, since the bears also went from bipedal to quadrupedal. Hopefully, it will prove easier to setup this way. Still need to work out a few things for this guy, like how the front face's mouth will articulate and how to set up the threading thats supposed to go along the jaw.

Simple Smear/Multi Arm Script release

Its been done for a spell, but I'll make note of it here as well. I've completed a first generation release of the script. It can currently be found over on the tea time animation site. The script is based on the demonstration C. J. Crow gave, as seen below.


As it would be inconvenient to animate a group, I had the script create a control instead and allows for it to be placed withing the rig's hierarchy with little fuss.

It can be run multiple times and prevents the usage of the same name, though no numerical values are given to the names, as that is still outside my breadth of skills at this time. I haven't had a chance to utilize it in my own animations, but I was testing it out on one iteration of a 'La Noria' rig I have set aside. Its not a simple rig, so having it work there meant it should be able to work on most rigs.

Arm Smear Script production update

So what I haven't mentioned at this time is that I am currently writing out a small script. It's purpose is to create a sort of smear shape for a character's limbs akin to 2d animation's smear frames.

In its most recent state, the script can be run on its own, running the individual segments and creating the smear. However, in its UI form, there is a problem. Currently, while the UI does still work fine, it cannot be run multiple times without creating some excess components. I'm currently working to remove this issue and allow for multiple smears to be attached without drastically increasing the file size.

Bringing to light some things in the dark

A bit annoyed that I hadn't posted this here, but now is as good a time as any to post this. I was fortunate enough to work on this project, updating the various character rigs and a few props with new deformers and added control systems. It feels like the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to appear and gain in intensity. Soon we'll all get to see the wondrous horrors that this film contains.

La Noria Teaser from Carlos Baena on Vimeo.


La Noria Teaser from Carlos Baena on Vimeo.

While the main campaign is over, you cans still grab some of the rewards, which are pretty cool.

La Noria Indiegogo Page.

Thats all for now.

Cheers!

Parker update

Just some adjustments to the face region. Wanted to define the divot of the faux jaw up front, as well as adding in the ear. Also got the tail in place with a few spans so it can fold and curl. Add to it a slight modification to the back feet, and some slimming of the shoulder width, and that about sums up the work of the week.

Progress 02-05-2015

Got most of the face roughed out and built the hooves/hands. Need to detail the tail fin area and rework the edge flow along the length of the body.