Week Summary - BA3a Week 9 (Reading Week)

3D Model Project

I've been polishing up more of the sculpting this week, really trying to work on strong, sculptural, Leyendecker-style folds. It took me a few tries to get the folds around the legs looking how I wanted to; even with references the cut I've chosen for the trousers isn't particularly a standard one and required some thought to get to a place I was happy with.

I also finished up work on the hair and the hood and added some detail to the torso; I used masking for this section and the extrusion tool to keep the depth consistent, as well as the morph target tool to bring it back in places where needed. I've added some placeholder joints to the arms for now to come back to later.

I also worked a little more on the coat - trying to figure out how to approach the insets is still something of a problem for me and I've been trying out several methods to see which is most effective and easiest to do.

Modelling

Adding more of the muscles this week, adductor groups and hamstrings. I had some trouble with getting some of the wax to stay on so we'll see how the model fares over the next week and whether I'll have to make any fixes.

TIGA session

I used this material cube (coral) as a way to experiment with how to create some depth quickly and easily. In this instance I used four base layers, working in greyscale, with layer styles to give each layer some depth, followed by a gradient map and then a multiply layer to give the cube some more dimension. The overall effect is one I'm unsure of; I think it perhaps works at a glance, but could do with more painting to really look convincing. At the current moment, I think it looks a little flat and I'm not very happy with the physicality of it.

The second part of the task was a concept painting, once again using alchemy for initial composition and then moving into photoshop.

I think I fell into a similar pattern as I have previously, using too much noise in my initial thumbnails. While I tried to simplify the composition afterwards and I think it has a decent foundation, I also think I need a lot more practise in the area. In general, I feel the values here are very muddy, and the image overall lacks depth, I'm not really at all happy with it and I think I could do a lot better. I may try to repaint this at some point in the future to make some improvements with a fresh eye - I think the piece has some interesting light sources, and could have potential given a rework.

Personal Work

I've also been part of a multiple animator project recently, working on a short piece of animation to appear as part of a larger video. I've been working on it on and off for the last month or so, and while I've dipped in and out of animation projects in the past, this is the first that I've attempted in any kind of colour and to music rather than a dialogue track. I'm reasonably happy with the overall result, though I would have liked to try something a little more complex and in something more than flat colour. It comes closer to an animatic than a real piece of animation, but I worked out some ways of making it feel lively without being incredibly smooth, just by adding some slight bounce to the character movement.

Week Summary - BA3a Week 8

3D Model Project 

This week was our update presentation, in particular we talked about how best to convey the inhuman aspects of the character, things like potentially using ball-jointed doll style joints at the arms and incorporating seams into the design. I don't want to make the character too robotic, aiming more for a slight sense of otherness, but I agree that the arm area needs some reworking and I could push the supernatural elements more, though I think this is something that will come out with some texturing.

I worked on creating depth in the coat this week, starting by separating off the crossed sections and reconstructing it from there.

Here I duplicated the model, transformed and flipped the normals, and retopologised from there.  

I then repositioned and bridged the sections together. I really like the look of this so far, even though it's been a little awkward to construct. I'm learning more about how to approach character modelling with every section of this I complete, and I think that maybe the next time I attempt something like this I might try to use Marvellous Designer and diversify my programme use now that I'm more familiar with Zbrush and have a better understanding of the basics. 

I also made some minor edits to the figure such as making the eyes separate objects.

Wax model

No wax modelling session this week.

Tasks

This week's task was an analysis task looking at image composition and in particular how to create depth. I think especially after my thoughts on last week's task this was a really good thing to look at for me.

Below are my initial thumbnails for the task; I worked more on making them simpler this time around, and on using less random patterns and trusting my own judgement with regards to shape and flow. I still used some random elements to keep my ideas fresh, but I think too much noise in my thumbnails has been a problem for me up until now and I want to address that.

I used a gouache brush to give the image some texture while still maintaining some hard edges and solid shapes, working first in greyscale and then moving into colour once I was happy with the base values. I placed the light source behind the gate to suggest hope and the feeling of returning home, with one boat turned towards the horizon and one away to create some tension in the image. 

I focused a lot on leading lines towards the focal point of the gate, and I think the way the eye is lead around the image is pretty close to what I was aiming for, though it could probably be slightly tighter in places.

To add colour, I used a combination of gradient maps and overlay layers, which I realise now may have made the colours a little muddy and dark in places. I feel like I need to rethink my approach here somehow, perhaps by starting in colour to begin with without working in greyscale first and using an adjustment layer to check the values.

As for the final piece, I feel like the sky could potentially be more saturated and the colours more considered as a whole, and the whole piece could do with being more polished, but the foundation is there and I think I got a good level of work done given the timeframe. It's a huge improvement from my last environment piece, I think, and while I think there could be slightly more depth (the archway in the background could be pushed further back for one) I feel like it fits the brief much better and overall is a fairly effective piece.

Week Summary - BA3a Week 7

3D Model Project

I spent some time this week remodelling the shoes and coat in maya, using dress shoes as a reference. I felt that a hard surface approach was more appropriate here, although I had wanted this to be an entirely zbrush project, I'm willing to compromise for the sake of speed and for giving the model a better finish. More organic sections will still be done in zbrush but for surfaces like shoes I feel Maya is the more appropriate programme, though I still plan to add more details in zbrush.

I spent a lot of time cutting in the coat detail before realising I could have added it in Zbrush instead, but this method has given a good finish and I now know better for next time. 

Next I have to figure out how to approach the crossed sections/volume of the coat. I'm starting to see a lot of problems with translating my original design to 3D, and areas that I could have better considered, and this is an area that I will very much be trying to improve on in the future with my designs. For the moment, I will be moving ahead with the original, but I plan on taking careful note of issues that arise in order to avoid them in future.

In terms of timescale, I'm currently very behind where I would like to be, but I'm hoping I can catch up with a little extra effort. My minimum goal is still to have the high-poly model finished in the t-pose, and it's looking more like that will be the goal I'm aiming for over having the full diorama finished, but I still aim to get as far as I can.

Wax Model

I didn't quite finish adding fibula on this one, but I'm really happy with how this is looking. The process of building this is very interesting one and I'm learning a lot by constructing it piece by piece. I also attached the arm sections and it's starting to really come together.

I'm very excited to get to muscle sections of the model and build it up, I find the layering really interesting and I find it really helps me to remember the relevant shapes and groups when I can put them together like this and see them in three dimensions.

Tasks

This week's task was an exercise in creating a painting from a thumbnail, starting in alchemy and moving into photoshop. 

Personally, I really dislike how this turned out. I think it's a very flat image and ended up way too busy. While I like the colour scheme (I used a gradient map and painted over the top) I think I need to work on being looser in my approach and putting more thought into the depth of the image and into my base composition before I start painting. My favourite parts of this image are the looser parts, so that in particular is something I want to focus on.

I also think that the image probably doesn't entirely fit the brief, so in future I think I need to put a little more thought into the concept and narrative behind the image before starting.

That said, I still thinks it works well as a thumbnail image (below), so it may be an idea for me to work smaller for longer and then scale up the image once I'm ready.

Week Summary - BA3a Week 6

3D Model Project

I started this week on clothes for the model using a decimated export from zbrush. As the fabric is quite stiff and quite a complex shape, I thought modelling it as a hard surface would probably be the best approach for it, with details to be sculpted later. Below is the initial blockout.

Below is the base clothing combined with the zbrush model.

At this point, I asked for some feedback from a tutor, who advised me that I should probably remake the model from scratch. I was very hesitant to start over after the first model took so long, but agreed it could be cleaner and closer to my original concept. Before restarting, I took some time to do some more research, watching Blizzard's Zbrush summit and studying techniques from Danny Williams to get a better idea of how they approach the style as well as a few other videos.

I started again from the zsphere armature, adjusting the proportions to be much more exaggerated as in the original design (as seen below) and making sure the hands were solid enough not to cause an issue this time, and separating sections like the gloves, head, and feet for me to work on individually.

In terms of sculpting, I started using a lot more of the hard polish brush to give me the planar effect I'd been looking for, as well as making sure to keep the model at a low poly count for much longer than previously. 

I'm really pleased with how the face is looking, particularly the hard line over the cheeks lends a real mask-like feel. I think I'm very much getting the hang of the moulded look I was aiming for. In the model above, the eyes are part of the mask, but I'm considering whether it might be better to have separate sections for them, even though they don't have to move. Currently, I'm not too concerned with the back of the hair as it will be covered by the hood, but I think the front section has turned out really well; exactly the kind of style I was aiming for.

In terms of the overall shape, the hands are probably a little big, but I don't want to make them too small at this stage and risk having issues like I had with the previous model. I've found the 'move elastic' tool does a really good job of reshaping geometry without leaving obvious marks or deforming too much, so I'll probably look again at fixing this later when other sections are more finished.

I'll probably do more work on the clothing in maya before doing any zbrush work on it, but the ones I have will work as a guide for now, I'm reasonably happy with their base shapes.

Wax model

Working on the femurs and knee joint this week, it was a really interesting section to work on. I didn't realise just how complex the joint here was, and sculpting it was a lot of fun.

Tasks

This week's task was more material cubes, this time with a focus on subsurface scattering. This isn't something I'd ever really tried to paint before, so I found it a very steep learning curve.

Overall I really like how both of these came out. The inner glow effect was maybe lost a little on the pumpkin due to interference from external light source, but I think it shows through reasonably well on the top and right sides. If I did this exercise again, I would probably start with the internal light source instead of the external one like I did this time; I think that would bring the effect out more. I was also advised to change my light source again for this painting to make it more effective, and after doing the same thing last week I think this is an indicator that I need to better plan my compositions with regards to lighting.

The candle was surprisingly difficult to get right, I found the key was pushing the values and saturation in the right places. I had a fair amount of trouble with the upper part where the wax has melted, also. I knew I definitely wanted to break the edge up somewhere, but it took me a while to make it look believable.