Working more on the sculpt of my model.

 After having the basic shape, I decide to dynamesh the head and the neck area to start adding more details to them but also keeping in mind not to go overboard with it, since afterward, I will have to attach everything to the body. I do want to work with multiple subdivision levels, and that requires Zremeshing everything, so lots of details will be lost anyway. 

I started by extracting the ears and adding volume to the mouth area. After that, using Dam Standard, I  contoured the shapes better.

With this out of the way, I moved on to refining everything and started adding detail to every feature one by one.

Regarding the body, I dynameshed some of the parts and looking at some anatomy references I made more adjustments using the move tool.

There is still a long way to go, but I like how this is turning out. The thing that needs definitely fixing is the posture, that being extremely obvious from the side view. 

Week 20- Nude Figure on Black Paper

Drawing on black paper with white charcoal was something new to me as well.

There is a certain technique that you need to approach in order to have a successful outcome. Working on this was really challenging though since I had to basically think in reverse. I was not adding shadows anymore, I was drawing highlights.

Even with Teodora explaining that to us, I still managed to sink myself into the old workflow, making measurements and having made a sketch first. I also added too much material, pressing too hard on the paper, which ended up ruining everything since now the black paper was filled with dust. 

With all that in mind, I decided to not try to save the old drawing, and moved on to making anew one. 

This time around, I have also taken a look at the tutorial provided on blackboard, which went more into detail about the process. 

With all that information in mind, I started working on the drawing. This time around, I did not make a sketch of the drawing, I just started adding the highlight straight away starting from one single feature, for example, the thigh, and moved my way up and down from it. as in the shading technique, I decided to use circular motions, pressing very gently against the paper, and minimize the pressure while moving into the darker spots, in order to get a smooth transition. 

After getting the main features done, I moved on to the ones closer to the floor, and also decided to add some light to it, so that she did not look like she was floating into nothingness. I really tried to get as much detail in as I could, such as small highlights at the tip of the toes, etc...

I let some areas blend in with the background as Teodora suggested, and that made the drawing stand out significantly, giving it a realistic look. While working, I also made sure to turn the drawing every now and then vertical, so that I would check that the proportions were correct. 

I am extremely happy with how this turned out, I was honestly not expecting myself to be able to embrace this technique. I will definitely make some more drawings with this. 

For this drawing I have used a white charcoal pencil.

Making the blockout of my Character

 Having the previous experience with my Husky, I already knew how to approach the blockout. Starting with the head, which was a sphere, to cylinders and spheres for the body. I tried using them in concordance with the distinct parts that make up our bodies.

I took those parts and started altering the shape with the move tool to achieve a more accurate form to one of a human body. For the hand I also decided to use a cube for the base, trying to imitate the process from last year when we did the gladiator in max.

After that, I decided to start working a bit more on the head. After looking at how other people approach this process, and looking at some tutorials, the main advice that I kept seeing was to work at a very low poly level at the start of the sculpting, since the face has very specific planes that would be hard to achieve while working on a high poly mesh

I also made sure to keep a reference of my face model on the side during the entire process, from multiple angles, so that I start working on the resemblance from the start. 

Small changes to the design of the character and finalising the concept

 After choosing my third iteration I decided to send it to the group chat and hear their thoughts. 

They were very happy with the design, but they pointed out that the alien area would be a quite warm one, and that my character's outfit would make her feel very warm. With that in mind, I have made some adjustments and also took this occasion to choose a face model for my character, ending up choosing my sister. 

Thinking about the theme, I have incorporated lots of sharp edges into the clothes, which suggest the toughness of the character. For the weapons, I decided to choose double machetes, since my character would engage mainly in close combat. Having the design done, I can finally move to the modeling stage. 

Sculpting the character and environment in Zbrush

 Having the previous experience with the vehicle and knowing how much having the 3d model helped me, I decided to do the same thing for this term's projects. Since then, I have gotten way more experienced with using Zbrush, so I decided to work with it instead of 3ds Max. 

By doing this, I had the opportunity to work and the front and back views at the same time, which spared me a bunch of time and effort. I also managed to wrap up the storyline, making my bat-like character a creature that escaped hell and came here on Earth, where is being hunted by a skilled monster hunter. Having this information, I was able to incorporate gameplay elements into my environment, having places to rappel and swing from, the protagonist being equipped with a grapple. 

The original scale of my sculpt was quite small, and after some feedback from my professors, I decided to triple it in size, having more space for my creature to fly around through.

Taking what I already had, I made a blueprint of the extended environment and started modifying it in Zbrush. I also decided to add run-down bridges and intact ones as well as a traversal element. Storywise, those elements have found their place in the cave way before it was inhabited by the creature, being built by humans, the cave being a shortcut through the mountains. The crystals that I added inside of the rock formation are actually the source of energy that is making the creature strong enough to resist being pulled back into hell. destroying them resulting in its disappearance. As in where it actually lives, it has used the already existing holes in the rocks to build nests. 

Sculpting the creature was an intuitive process. I have used the same approaches as for the characters that I have made for my 3d programming class. I started with a block out made up of primitive shapes, dynameshed everything together, and then started sculpting. 

After some further feedback, I decided to alter its posture, making it lean more towards the front for a scarier look. At this stage, I have also fixed the smiling mouth, added some teeth, and lowered the brow bones to give it a scarier look.

After some more time sculpting while looking at actual references from real-life creatures, I decided to end this stage and move on to the photo bashing. 

If I'm being honest, I am truly happy with how these turned out, and I can't wait to move on with the next stages. Having the skills to do this in Zbrush has sped up the process considerably, and as a future artist, it is really important that I use everything that I have learned towards creating my projects.

Start of the group project

 After some brainstorming with my colleagues, we managed to make up the plot of our project. Thinking of the transition theme, the first thing that came to our minds was having a portal to another world. Thinking of the context of that, we decided to approach the idea of a secret organization that has its base hidden in an abandoned cathedral, and whose interest is researching abnormal topics, such as aliens. With that settled down, it was time to split the work and assign what everyone should do. The group was quite balanced, with 3 environment artists, 3 character ones,  myself included, and one tech artist.  Each environment artist ended up working on one area of the level, one working on the cathedral, one working on the secret lab that id hidden under the cathedral, and one on the alien world.  As for the characters, I decided to make a secret spy that works for the organization, military-trained, cold, and ready to bring the missions that she is part of to success. #

It is important that we all work together to keep the consistency of the project so that the characters don't feel out of place in regards to the environments, and so on. In order to do that, we have created a group folder on Pinterest, so that everyone could add to it references that they gather, while also making sure that they fit the general idea.

After some searching, I was able to find references that fitted my idea, so I gathered them and started working on some iterations. 

After doing some, I realized that I was already happy with one of the designs, more exactly the one in the top right corner, so I will send it to the group chat and see what my classmates say. 

Week 19- Focus on Anatomy

This week we had to produce a range of drawings with the full body from different poses. It was quite challenging since we did not have that much time allocated for every drawing, so I had to work fast,

The main focus for this task was getting the proportions and anatomy right, At first, I thought that I was going to struggle with that, but it came quite naturally to me. 

 

Because of the limited time, I was only able to make the general sketch, so afterward I went back to it and developed it further, polishing the shapes and fixing some previous mistakes. In order to attract attention to the muscle definitions, I have varied my line weight.

I also decided to add some shading, because I thought it would help accentuate the differences between the muscles.

The second one needed a bit more work regarding the shapes, having previously used many lines that varied in thickness, but not in a thought matter.

I decided to also add some shadows to help the final presentation of the study.

I am generally happy with those studies, but I think the second could have used some more work.

For this project i have used an HB, B, 2B and 3B pencil. 

Static meshes vs deforming annimated assets

 This topic is a very interesting one since creating those types of meshes requires totally different approaches. Having previous experience with both, I can easily pinpoint some differences.

When we think about static meshes, as it is stated in the name itself, they don't move. What does that mean for the mesh? Well, no topology. There is no certain way in which we have to place the polygons. The only factors that could take into consideration are the sizing on the UV sheet, which we want to keep as even as we could, and the level of detail that is required, having more dense geometry in the areas that need it. Having triangles present is not an issue, on the contrary, those could help us achieve some nice details, with a cheaper budget, their presence minimizing the poly count. 

For a moveable mesh, topology is everything. In order for the geometry to not break while it is being deformed, it is important to have loops going around these areas. Some very important areas are the joints, shoulders, and the face as a whole. Facial expressions are not an easy thing to animate, keeping in mind the complexity of the muscle structure, and also the multitude of ways it could deform. Triangles are a big no-no, having a high risk of deforming badly during an animation, There are some areas in which these would not cause such big problems, and those are in places that do not deform, such as the middle of the lower part of the leg, etc... 

These are two very different approaches that a 3D Artist has to take into consideration before starting any retop, or making of a 3d object. 

Week 18- Portrait in Cold and Warm Colours

Having the past experience with the colour portraits, I was excited to bring those together and make a portrait with both warm and cold tones. 

In order to do this, I remembered that a friend of mine had a picture of himself taken in a place with different light sources of different temperatures. So with that in mind, I decided to use it as a reference.

I quickly made the sketch, again, trying to break the previous patterns.

 

After that, I started shading the face, being very careful with the colors that I chose. In order to get them right, I had to analyze my reference in detail, and observe the exact shades and colours that were there.

I am very happy with the final result. It did end up looking a bit cartoonish, most likely because of the bigger eyes, but I like that. 

For this drawing, I have used a range of colour pencils.

Retoping and unwraping the Husky

 Doing the retopology involved lots of planning and research beforehand. 

For the head, I have tried to translate the topology that is usually used for human characters onto my dog, having loops around the eyes, mouth, and also the one that goes around the moth loop and up the nose.

The body was pretty much straightforward, Thing like the legs and chest area are just cylinders. For the joints, I had to do a little more research tho. I have taken a look at how the knees bent, which is the opposite direction in comparison to humans, acting more like elbows. These are also placed quite high up the leg. They also have another set of joints closer to the paws, that bend like regular knees. 

With that in mind, I  have started to place loops where the joints were going to deform, connecting the topology afterward. 

Since the geometry was all meeting at the paw, it ended up making it quite high poly, which led me to make some changes and also delete some loops.

The shoulder needed some attention as well, looking at examples of topology on Polycount. 

After some cleanup and evening out the topology, I can finally call it complete. 

I took advantage of the presence of the collar and split the unwrap under it. 

The retop of the saddle was quite straightforward. I tried to keep the geometry as even as I could, While also maintaining the shape of the objects.

I m quite happy with how the retop turned out. It took me a really long time to do and figure out though. Looking forward, I definitely need to find quicker and more effective ways to do it in the future.