Kelpie Model fix

i got word back from the rigger that there is a slight issue with the model. some of the geometry is pulling to much when the character moves. so this week i have been spending a lot of time trying to fix it which is holding me up from getting the layouts finished. after numerous sending files of possible fixing the problem was finally solved after sitting down with the rig and being able to view it myself i know understand what the problem was and how to fix once and for all.

 

The fixed Leg the join between the leg and the character's body had to be moved further up.

2d water test

I have complete a 2d water splash to learn more about how water moves. i found this tutorial by  Kathleen Quaife very helpful http://flashfx.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/water

3D Layouts

 

I have been and currently working on the 3d layouts which is taking more time than expected. laying out and placing all the object does not take to long there are a few scene left that still need to be laid out but no one else seems keen to lend a hand i.e 3rd years to do the initial layout. What is taking the time is the 3d water trying to find settings that work for that scene and getting the movement to look good. the only way to see how it moves is to do a short render as the playblast/hardware buffer only shows wire frame and I cant tell if it is ok.




i have also set up some lighting using a basic 3pt set up. 2 spotlights and a point light were used.

2D+3D test

Testing out matching up 2d animation with the 3d. This didn't go so well as the boat oars can only move so far/much. the other problem was the 2d animation the characters arms were not moving/reaching up enough which resulted in the oars not entering the water. The theory to fix this  was to set keys of the boat row cycle and print them off to use as reference for the 2d animation.

fire update

Time to start putting this fire together after working with the particles to see which way to go about making the fire I decided that having a surface emitter would be the best method to create a ring of fire. However I have recently received advice that I should use Maya fluids as the movement is more realistic. Therefore I have been watching a lot of digital tutors for Maya fluid fire and DVDs from the library on fire.

Cam set up

 

 

I have been working on setting up a camera for the scenes. There is a main camera that will be used for the final renders. The secondary cam is constrained to the main camera and will follow it where ever it goes. the second cam is also aim constrained to the locator to always follow the movement of the locator. the locator will be parented to the boat to follow the boat's movement. this will allow for there to be a low quality render from the second cam in order for the 2d to be drawn from and then tracked and matched up with the final render from the main camera.

Kelpie Model Finished

 

 

 

so the kelpie model is finished finally

 

 

 

 

I might be running through some of this again but the kelpie was made out of cylinders  and shaped to match the character design and all the pieces joined together.

 

 

The next stage was to clean up the typology to reflect the direction of muscles in order for the model to be rigged.

 

 

 

Then it was a case of adding details and checking model to make sure it was ok. a lattice was applied in the final stage to reshape the model slightly so the top view would reflect that of a horse better.

The ears were made from nurb circles and then lofted together and connected to polygons. Having the ears as separate objects to the  main body of the character will allow for a lot more range of movement.

 Again added in the detail of the frog on the hoof even though it may never be seen

 The teeth have bottom and top jaw. the front teeth are individual as they are more likely to be noticed more. the back teeth are one shape as it saves time to do as on a horse those teeth really just form a shape and pattern that have to match up and through textures and bump mapping hopefully it will break up the shape to look more individual.

 

 

The eyes were made form polygons it has an outer shell that should be textured with a transparency to form the lens. the inner sphere is the eyeball with a hole in the middle and there is a plane inside of that to represent the pupil.

 

The nose had to be closed off as from some camera angles you could see to much of the inside of the head e.g back of the eyes and we were not sure how much of a problem it would be in the shots that we have. a gullet and roof of the mouth was also created as there was also the same issue of being able to see down the character's mouth at certain angles. 

 The last stage was to uv map the kelpie so it can be textured and rigged.

throughout this process if three was anything I was unsure of I would refer to anatomy of the horse as the character design is based upon a horse and still try to stick as close to the design as possible.