Ronnie Leah, BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester.

 Today I completed the test texturing for my Cyberpunk character in order to show the direction I want to take my project in leading into Major.  I knew from my texture map for the Cyberpunk character, that I mainly wanted to experiment with its textures once it was actually in the software. This meant I could add wear and tear to the metal in different ways to get different results of the character. Below is a compilation of some of the ideas I was able to explore in the substance. I really like how the character's eye is glowing and you can see parts of the glowing effect through the mouth and ears. I feel it adds an extra level of deadliness and emphases it is a machine   Below I have uploaded the images for a better look at them. I started by texturing the character with clean materials in order to see what it looked like rendered. I then slowly added more and more wear to the character to see what effects it had on his look. I think it might be a cool idea to sl...

 Today I rendered out images of my characters in order to show off the final models. I'm really pleased with how they turned out and feel I did a good job of transferring my ideas from 2D to 3D for both models. At the beginning of the project, I did not feel confident in modelling a full character on my own, let alone doing two. However I learnt a lot through trial and error while I made the first version of the Samurai as well as through tutorials and watching video's online. I gained a lot of confidence with modelling the Samurai through the research I did surrounding the construction of the armour. This helped me a lot to visualize how to put the model together and as soon as I had a basic block-out of the character I was easily able to build it up from there. I was then able to take what I learnt from the modelling of the Samurai and apply it to the cyberpunk character.  Out of the two the Samurai is my favourite as I really like the attention to detail on his outfit. On m...

 Today I added the additional accessories to the Samurai, finalizing the model. After experimenting with the test model, I now know that the character is usable for the animation as it can be effectively rigged and skinned.  Overall I am happy with the final look for the character and I am excited to continue developing him in the texturing process, which I will do in Major. I am proud that I was able to complete the character to the same level of detail as the drawing. My favourite part  of the model is the back of the armour. I like how everything connects up, which I was able to understand through my research of Samurai armour.  The method in which I create the character, by building the armour up in layers, makes a lot more sense to me as I was originally trying to create the character by making everything from a single layer. I now understand that the easiest way to create a model is by applying real life logic to how you construct it in 3D. 

Today I decided to complete the test model for the cyberpunk character. Below is the progress I had made on the character so far, however I remember being confused about how I was going to connect the model together. After completing the Samurai however I felt a lot more confident with modelling this character.  When it came to the characters legs, I decided to thicken them up in order to enable them to bend when rigged. I also moved the knees outwards so that they could bend properly.  Overall I am happy with the top half of the character. I didn't want to to add too much detail to the model as it is a test model. I feel the legs will look better when the model goes through the texturing process. My main goal was to make sure all of the elements work together when rigged so that I can return to the character and add in any additional details. 

 Today I decided to return to modelling the Samurai's head. I added the back of the head by extruding up the back and then connecting it through the front. I had to add in an additional edge loop running through the head so that there was enough geometry. I then shuffled around the vertex's and used the relax tool until the model was smooth and matched my drawing.  Now that my character the back of his head I then referred back to one of the videos I used when previously trying to model my characters head. The video covers how to model a human ear, and although it is far too detailed to fit my model, I used the steps as reference until I was happy to finish the ear my own way.  Video Link:  Head Modeling Tutorial Part2 | Learn Maya At first I was unsure if I was even able to use this tutorial as my model does not have as many edge loops as the one in the video, however I thought it was worth a shot as I've never had to model an ear before. Fortunately I was able to u...