Character Completion

Final Weeks

For the last few weeks I worked on completing the character's detail, armor, and texturing. Unfortunately, due to technical issues, my character never animated and made it into the other game project that I was working on or got rendered in proper lighting. Below are some screenshots of my final stages of work in Maya and Mudbox on the character, as well as some final screenshots of the completed character model.

Screenshots:

Mesh - Run Cycle Animation

Progress Summary Week 10

This week, I used the HumanIK tool to put a control rig on my character. After inserting the control rig, I animated a run cycle in Maya by setting animation key frames. After the key frames were set, the graph editor for animations was used to smooth out the movements of each joint in the animation. After the movements looked clean and the animation looked smooth and realistic, the animation was baked out and saved as an FBX and then sent to the programmers to import into Unity for gameplay testing. For the next progress summary, I intend to put the mesh in Mudbox to clean it up a bit and then detail the character into a proper human form. Below is my progress in the stage completion list and some screenshots of the work I did in Maya this past week for animating the character.

Stage 1 - complete modeled basic mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 2 - Insert a skeleton into the mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 3 - Skin and rig the mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 4 - Animate a basic run cycle for the mesh for game testing ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 5 - Mudbox the mesh to clean it up

Stage 6 - Detail the character with exact human form

Stage 7 - Texture the character

Stage 8 - Light and render character in Maya

Stage 9 - Insert fully detailed and animated character into the final game product


Screenshots of Progress:

Mesh - Skeleton, Skinned, Rigged

Progress Summary Weeks 6-9

Since this is the first time I am modeling a character, I am still figuring out the best way to progress through each stage and reassessing what should be done in each week. After posting the last set of stages, I decided to change and add some stages. Below is the revised stage list. In these past few weeks I inserted a skeleton into my mesh, skinned it, and used paint weight controls to rig it. I am now prepared to use the Human IK tool and proceed to animating the walk and run cycles. The stages for completion will proceed as listed below:

Stage 1 - complete modeled basic mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 2 - Insert a skeleton into the mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 3 - Skin and rig the mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 4 - Animate a basic walk/run cycle for the mesh for game testing

Stage 5 - Mudbox the mesh to clean it up

Stage 6 - Detail the character with exact human form

Stage 7 - Texture the character

Stage 8 - Light and render character in Maya

Stage 9 - Insert fully detailed and animated character into the final game product


Screenshots of Progress:

Combined Mesh (Pre-Mudbox)

Progress Summary Weeks 3-5

I decided for these past few weeks to just steam roll through the rest of the character's basic mesh. I think that it is more important to show the character in each stage of completion, rather than showing each completed body part. In these past couple of weeks I added the lower torso, legs, feet, arms, and hands to my character. After modeling each body part individually on one side of the body, I sewed all of the parts together. Then I proceeded to mirror the geometry and sew both halves of the body together to form a completed mesh. The next step is to sculpt the character in Mudbox to clean it up a bit. Below are the images of the first completed stage of the mesh before it gets cleaned up in Mudbox. My next milestones will be as follows:

Stage 1 - complete modeled basic mesh ----> (COMPLETE)

Stage 2 - Mudbox the mesh to clean it up

Stage 3 - Insert a skeleton into the mesh

Stage 4 - Skin, Rig, and animate a basic walk/run cycle for the mesh for game testing

Stage 5 - detail the character with exact human form

Stage 6 - texture the character

Stage 7 - light and render character in Maya

Stage 8 - Insert fully detailed and animated character into the final game product


Screenshots of Progress:

Character Mesh: The Upper Torso

Progress Summary Week 2:

This week, I continued to build my character and created the upper torso. This is the next piece that is going to be added to my whole basic character mesh. Below, are the screenshots of the basic upper torso shape that I built in Maya. The next step is to build the lower torso in Maya for next week's progress summary.

Screenshots of My Progress:

Character Mesh: The Head

Progress Summary Week 1:

To start off the model of my character, I am making a basic human figure mesh in Autodesk Maya. I am going to build this figure in pieces. I decided to start with the head. Below, are the screenshots of the basic head shape that I built in Maya. The next step is to build the upper torso in Maya for next week's progress summary.


Screenshots of My Progress:

Character Model Research

Character Brainstorm

This is the brainstorm that I have conducted for a character I am going to 3D model. I want to create a female heroine who looks like a true warrior. I want her to look sexy and deadly at the same time. Women are often stereotyped as weak and frail in the real world, so I would like to contradict this stereotype with the design of my character.

• (Inspiration from "Game of War: Fire Age")

• female, warrior/heroine

• medieval/roman style blends

• weapon of choice: sword or axe

• body type: curvy with small waist

• hair: long, brunette, wavy

• attire: light amounts of armor, head piece, chest plate, armored boots, one arm fully armored, cape, short dress, promiscuous/provocative

• eyes: blue

• makeup: heavy eyeliner, deep color eyeshadow, smoky eye

• eyebrows: average size

• muscle tone: smaller arms with extreme muscle definition, powerful and muscular legs

Character Research Links/Images

Below, you will find all of my research images that I would like to base certain features of my character on when I 3D model her. The text that is in bold above each image is what part of each image that I am going to reference to or incorporate into the modeling of my character. The text that is below each image is the link to the original source pages where I retrieved the images from for this blog post.

(skirt style, but metal)

http://cedar-and-willow.blogspot.com/2012/07/misses-america-and-wonder-women-golden.html

(glove style)

http://www.a2armory.com/meknarga.html

(chest plate, one arm/shoulder armor) 

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/78344-help-in-making-roman-centurian-set/

(leg armor, but metal)

http://www.clicket.com/Products/Adult-Roman-Armor-Set-Costume~44115.html

(chainmail necklace)

http://www.finechainmailjewelry.com/baroque-chainmail-necklace.html 

(headpiece)

http://www.sblades.com/ID-R20.php 

(armored underwear)

http://sconce-gacrux.blogspot.com/2012/03/since-you-asked-can-you-have-sex-in.html 

(cape style)

This is a screen shot, from my cell phone, of my hero for my account in "Game of War: Fire Age" (all credit goes to "Machine Zone" who are the creators of the game and created the hero avatars)

(long brown wavy hair)

http://www.wigsuperdeal.com/capless-mixed-hair-long-wavy-chestnut-brown-hair-wigs.html 

(makeup/eye style)

http://www.thestyleaisle.com/beauty/tips-irresistible-smokey-blue-eyes/ 

(eyebrows)

http://www.drdayan.com/blog/2013/03/29/grooming-tips-for-eyebrows/ 

(abs, arm definition)

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/womens-body-bible.html 

(leg definition)

http://www.griercooper.com/?tag=alvin-ailey-dancers 

(axe body style, detail on the blade)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~morrisrh/axes.html 

(criss cross pattern on axe handle)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~morrisrh/axes.html