Unit 11: Major Project - Adult Barnabas Model Complete

Hello Everyone,

As I said over at the Polydoodle blog welcome to posting format Mark 2 which is code for a change of blog posting. This will mean that over on my personal blog I will now be doing my full length (fully boring) posts while over on the Polydoodle Blog I will be posting images with minimal text, this is likely due to my waffling ha-ha. Nah its just to make the studio blog more professional which I can relate too, I doubt anyone reads my random ranting on these blogs anyway. I only wish it had happened a couple of posts back so I could do my entire Major this way (people know that I am a total stickler about harmony DOH).

Anyway this post is about the Adult Barnabas as I have finally completed the model so we can get cracking on the rigging Phase. After this post I will probably be MIA for a week or so while I get these bad boys rigged. I don't want a multitude of posts distracting me I am just simply going to record a time lapse so you can see the entire journey (like the videos of me creating Barnabas, Benjamin, etc.) I am prioritizing the development of this project over the little bits for now but should there be time once I have everything rigged I will sit down and knock up the little extras that I love ha-ha.

Anyway lets get down to the post at hand here shall we...

The image above shows a couple of turntable render passes of the Barnabas model and I am pretty satisfied with the result. Apologies if they are not very clear I had to redact it in size a little so it wouldn't invade the page and break my safe 500 pixel width post layout. I know this post will probably be criticized for being wasteful but I cannot help it I love my text with images dammit. Anyway back to the work at hand, the render passes as you no doubt have guessed are shaded, UV and wire showing the texture placement, geometry alignment and overall look of the finished model.

The next image is yes you guessed it moving Barnabas into ZBrush for a post model play. I generally do this with all of my models as it gives me a chance to see how the model and UV maps are working. This is what leads me into doing a bit of test poly-painting one of which I have posted at the bottom of this post. Its just nice to see how the model looks with a bit of color, you have to bear in mind up until this point I only ever see the model in grey or grid textures which look funny. The key reason for doing this is to make sure there is no stretching on the UV maps, if its really bad you have to go back and fix it.


The video above is a subdivision and poly-count investigation into the workings of Barnabas and Benjamin on the same scene at different subdivision levels. This is handy for knowing the limitations of a scene for render and/or scene functionality. I tend to try not to push the sub divisions of a character too high as it makes Maya more sluggish and can take ages to rig, UV and render. Its usually best if you rig and UV and scale the sub divides by 1 if at all. In my opinion its best to keep it to the lowest until you are rendering, even then you can use Mental Ray to simulate the divide why keeping the view port low.

Last but not least a little poly-paint test within ZBrush to identify any stretching on the Barnabas model surface. From the tests I am pleased to say that everything seems to be evening out quite well. The UV's cover the model quite nicely and there is *drum roll* NO STRETCHING YIPPEE! There have been a couple of discussions about the texture style of the final model but that is entirely up to the texturing team of Sammy and Chrissie. Of course I will put in my two cents. Anyway all in all this model is looking pretty nice from all angles now the next step is RIGGING!

Well this is my first post returning my massive content to my main blog. Over the next few weeks I will be solely rigging so as I mentioned in the opener you will not be hearing much from me but I will update you when I am ready with a flurry of goodies. As much as it pains me to post primarily image content over on the Polydoodle Blog It does make sense that we keep the blog as professional as possible and hearing me rant over my personal feats across walls of text can get tiring. Anyway I think that is me, I will post our audio logs for the past 3 weeks on the Polydoodle blog a little later. Ill see you all in the funny pages!

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Unit 11: Major Project - Adult Barnabas UV Maps

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (31/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the ZUV maps for "& Son's" first Adult character Barnabas Badgersworth. Please check out our blog to see the complete UV map in all its glory. For the video below I decided to make a little tutorial while showcasing Barnabas's ZUV's so sorry if it drags on a little! Anyway please enjoy!


EXTRACT

"The Video above shows the ZUV tiles for the Adult Barnabas, in the case of this video I thought I would provide a little introduction into Bringing models into ZBrush from Maya. I used this to lead on to viewing your ZUV's in ZBrush. Its a very basic process and those that know how to do it will say "why bother" but I guess I thought it would be good for the newbies who have never used the program before. I also use this to showcase the Barnabas models ZUV's everything else is just a little extra so I can break away from the standard ZUV video template."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 11: Major Project - Barnabas 2D Turnarounds to 3D

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (01/31/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the 3d Modelling journey I had creating Adult Barnabas Badgersworth. The entire video spans the length of 4 days but there were a couple of extras thrown in for good measure. All in all the model came together quite nicely I hope you enjoy! P.S. The video is recorded on a time lapse interval of 10 seconds so excuse the speed.


EXTRACT

"The video above is another time lapse video this time of the Barnabas model development. The duration of creating this one was much less mainly because there was no ZBrush trial and error. I defiantly learnt a hard lesson there I will never do it that way round again unless the two become more intertwined. Anyway the video above is over the course of 4 Days in which I created the character. I started him and got little bits and pieces done here and there but it just felt simpler to settle the entire duration. I made the chaptered segments more about the parts of the model then the duration."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - & Son Polydoodle Submission

& Son 3D Model Compilation	& Son Animatic Mk2

& Son Art Of Document

Unit 10: Minor Project - & Son Stitch Demo Reels

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to submit these as personal reels, Sammy has a retexturing job going on so that means these ones will not be used... That being said I spent time doing them so I'd like to keep them as my personal Reels... I will post them up on my individual online submission for the Minor Project. Along side everything else. Anyway no waffling for this post. Check em out!



Hope they were mildly entertaining, okay I think I can say that I am free from the burden of worrying about turnarounds. I'm gonna take today off, tomorrow Ill continue modelling Barnabas.

Over & Out,
xXStItChXx

Unit 10: Minor Project - Young Barnabas 3D Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (08/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the prodigy Young Barnabas  Badgersworth's expression sheets in 3D form! These are render composites from the awesome ZBrush render engine. I have to say I do like the contrast between Benjamin and Young Barnabas's expression sheets... Its refreshing to see the difference between characters. Check them both out at our studio blog :)

 

EXTRACT

"The final image of this Unit from my side of things are Young Barnabas's expression sheets lined up for your critique. Despite my dire need for the dark I actually found myself liking the happy face on Young Barnabas. I guess by this point I had filled my inner dark need by knocking up the Darker Young Barnabas Weta concept. If I had time I would try to do all of the expression sheets on my 2D drawn concepts but 6 will have to do for the moment. Maybe one day in the future if I'm feeling bored ill have a bit more of a play... That's not a promise though!"

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Young Barnabas Conceptual Composit Weta

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (08/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the talented Young Barnabas as a result of multiple render passes from ZBrush. I composited the character within ZBrush and used the render passes to make the image you see below. The character was poly-painted and posed before being thrown into photoshop for a blending mode session. Gotta love it.

 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows the end result of the composited layers. Its the only time on this brief where I have totally indulged my darker tones and it will probably be the only time when Chrissie and Sammy see him ha-ha. That being said I really do like the way he looks in this concept. I didn't actually do bad with the posing although there are some areas which still bother me... I wont point those out you are just going to have to guess... I really do love making these concepts using my models they are so satisfying to me."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin Textured Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (07/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the textured version of Young Barnabas Badgersworth with a couple of light passes in the scene. The textures are subject to change but for now I thought I would take a stab. You should also bear in mind these do not have occlusion. Check out the blog ;)

 

EXTRACT

"The animated gif above shows a quick render turnaround of Young Barnabas Badgersworth. The lighting in the scene is a bit strong on the blue front but I like the shadow vs. light values so I kept it in from the prior textured Benjamin turns. I am quite lucky that these eyes are not the final eyes as we are using nurbs. The painting is quite big for the eye and the iris is quite tiny. I also don't think its sitting in the middle of the eye so that's quite a big problem. My most proud feature of this paint job has to be the jacket... Much better shade then Benjamin's."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin 3D Expression Sheets

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (06/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the child star Benjamin Badgersworth's expression sheets in 3D form! The renders were created with ZBrush's multi-pass rendering engine and composited in Photoshop. These are 6 expressions inspired from the original 12 expressions I made a few weeks back. Please enjoy!

 

EXTRACT

"Last but not least I thought I would line the renders up just in case people get a little tired of trying to narrow down an expression from the animated gif above. I have also listed the expressions names just in case people wanted to know what expression they relate to. You can refer back to Benjamin's expressions and see if you can link any of these images to those. You can find the old post here! I think the sad expression is the only new one here but I did try to build it on another expression it just wound up looking more sad."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin Conceptual Composit Weta

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (06/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the child star Benjamin Badgersworth as a result of multiple render passes from ZBrush. I posed the character within ZBrush and created the render passes individually. These were then combined in Photoshop using blending modes. I removed the background and added my own paper textured one with a gradient.

 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows the end result of this process, there are numerous layers that went into the creation of this image. They were blended together within Photoshop using blending modes and opacity. A number of FX controls were also applied as well as hue and saturation adjustments to change shadow tones. I dialled quite a few layers down to get this concept to where I was happy. The problem with doing these passes is when you first sit down to sort them out you don't know where to start. You have quite a few layers and you can only find the right combination by test after test."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Young Barnabas Model Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (06/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows 3 rendered views of our little Young Barnabas Badgersworth. This is only 1 of our main characters so more will follow shortly! I cannot wait to see all of them together in a scene. Woop Woop!

 

EXTRACT

"The image above is my typical 3 pass system for animated pre-production gifs. The scene itself was lit with 2 ambient lights with the ambient shade turned right down. The wire pass of course is the only one which doesn't use light but contours to render the polygon edges. I'm sure all of my colleagues at UCA know that by now already, still I like to sound clever :) I edit these turns in after effects before firing them across to Photoshop to get them into the animated gif format. There has been an improvement in their exporting functionality gifs used to lag much more. "

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Young Barnabas UV Maps

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (05/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the ZUV maps for "& Son's" child  character Young Barnabas Badgersworth. Please check out our blog to see the complete UV map in all its glory. I hope the narrative on this video makes the idea a little clearer to everyone watching! Anyway please enjoy!


EXTRACT

"The video above shows the ZUV tiles of my UV mapping this is again just another way to check what elements of your UV map reflect their geometry. Its a nice little touch by Pixologic (the inventors of ZBrush) but I like the hurdles. I also like to have any excuse possible to go into ZBrush (a concept which threw me off a little bit for this unit) but I have learnt my lesson. I threw in a little narration over the top of this video as the last one felt a little dry. I felt it was handy to explain my actions a little as I went and did them."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Young Barnabas 2D Turnarounds to 3D

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (05/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the 3d Modelling journey I had creating Young Barnabas Badgersworth. The video briefly shows me changing various details on the Benjamin Badgersworth model to turn it into the Young Barnabas Model. This was done using ZBrush, the model was brought back into Maya after for mesh cleanup and UV adjustment.


EXTRACT

"The video above demonstrates the end transformation for Benjamin to Young Barnabas. This was done mostly with ZBrush as it required gradual movement of key anatomical details. These has to be considered as did the facial features. This model probably would have been easier if I wasn't messing around with the hat so much but there we are. I will probably ask Alan for some advice on hair should I feel the need to return to it one last time before rigging. In the video I demonstrate the differences between the characters as the finale."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin Textured Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (03/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows the textured version of Benjamin Badgersworth with a couple of light passes. I created a front and front close pass. This is to subject to change slightly in the future. The rest of the info is on our blog!

 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows the textured Benjamin Badgersworth in turnaround with a couple of light passes. He is a bit shiny in places but I wanted to keep a little shine on the surface of the model. This is easily resolved by changing the material to a lambert. As far as the paintwork goes I decided to try to keep the tones in the texture weaker as our art style is kind of "flat" as it were. Its like I said though if the ladies want to change it they can feel free. I have no doubt that our main decisions where this is concerned will happen when we combine the environment with the characters."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin Model Complete

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (02/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The image below shows 3 rendered views of our little Benjamin Badgersworth. This is only 1 of our main characters so more will follow shortly! More details on this can be found over on our studio blog.

 

EXTRACT

"The image above shows 3 turnaround views of the Benjamin 3D model. The shaded view shows the model in its generic glory. The UV view shows the seem placement and the quality of the UV Mapping. The Wire view shows the flow of the geometry itself as well as the consistency of its edge flow. Its handy to see these views before seeing a model in its entirety, well I feel it does. It allows you to appreciate what the end result is when you consider everything that is going on underneath. I have started making a habit of doing this... it only helps ;)"

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin UV Maps

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (01/12/13) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the ZUV maps for "& Son's" chief character Benjamin Badgersworth. The complete UV map can be seen on our studio blog along with another couple of extras. I hope you enjoy the post!


EXTRACT

"One of the things I tend to do when UV mapping is throw some kind of texture on to see if the polygons on the model are working effectively with the texture. I usually throw on either a checker or a UV grid texture which can be found on google. In the image above I have shown my Benjamin model and have identified some of the more obvious front on seams. Myself and my business partner have a little game we play when looking at game models, we like to see if we can identify the locations of the seams... Geeky I know but I guess we don't care."

Read the full article here >>

Unit 10: Minor Project - Benjamin 2D Turnarounds to 3D

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (01/01/14) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows the 3d Modelling journey I had creating Benjamin Badgersworth. The entire video spans the length of 6 days of trial and error with ZBrushing and Maya. The good news is I got there in the end. The video is recorded on a time lapse interval of 10 seconds so excuse the speed.


EXTRACT

"The image above shows the original turnarounds I worked from with the wire of the model projected over the top. I corrected his podginess mostly as Sammy and Chrissie didn't want him to have a beer belly (which was in the original turnaround). I agreed though, it didn't look right on the side profile. The other misguided move was his hair which I made puffy like the turnaround but then the hair kept bleeding through the top of the hat. I ended up having to severely flatten the hair to make the hat rest on the sides of his head. This took a while to sort out... "

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Unit 10: Minor Project - Flesh to Final Turnarounds

Hello Everyone,

Here is a sample extract from my latest contribution (31/12/13) direct from Polydoodle Pictures Studio Blog. The video below shows my creative process for 2D character turnarounds. The video concludes with a time lapse construction of the turnaround for"Young Barnabas". This is only 1 of 4 characters, the completed sheets and construction is on our blog.


EXTRACT

"The image at the very top of this is the underline anatomy of the character Benjamin is slightly podgy but Sammy and Chrissie didn't have an overhanging Belly in mind so I overshot that one. Still they corrected me and I corrected the flaws in the final turnaround. You may notice some differences in Benjamin's facial features from the original. There were a couple of issues with the side profile which made the front not line up properly so I went in and fixed most of the problems. The colour was something I thought worked but the ladies will be texturing I think..."

Read the full article here >>