Muscle - Rigging

I decided to get some research on the muscles of the arm and the shoulder as I put to add those to the mesh.

The diagram above helped me understand where the biceps and triceps connect to which bones. 

The diagram above helped me understand where the Deltoid connects to. 

Facial Animation & Rigging

In this blog, I will write about my research on Gorillas and facial expressions. I did some research on how they express themselves. Most of the expression comes from the brow and the mouth, so it was key that the main area of focus. ]

In my research I found that when gorillas are not playful, they have a serious look, the brow a little lower than normal and no smile. The image to the left is an example of that. I did some research on the different expressions of gorillas. But I also did research on human expressions as some maybe be similar. 






I tried to get an angry one that didn't have his wide open, kind of before that. The brows are low and pushed together, the mouth is lower at the sides and high in the middle.

Rigging - Zombie

After having a quick go with the weight and learning how to use it. I started with the foot and I found fairly easy, I smoothed out the mesh using the range of motion and the weight tools.

The images below are some screenshots of the most extreme poses for the foot.

I tried to make the make the mesh seem realistic as possible, however being my first time skinning anything, I had a shaky start. Using the video tutorials I was about to get a rough idea how it should look and I went on from there.

I had the most problems with the back of the knee. I started to make a massive gap where the back of the knee was, I was later told it shouldn't look like that, it should crease, like clothes do in reality. I started to edit the gap, firstly trying to make it so it was only a tiny gap but still it didn't look real.

So I tried again with more success, the crease looks a lot more realistic and I was happy with it. Some of the mesh does overlap but I think it makes it look more believable. 

I finished the whole leg and there was no tearing or vertices having weights they shouldn't, as this was a problem in the early stages, I later learned that I should block all the vertices to the bones that would have majority of the control, this made it easier to blend between bones later, especially with the fingers. 

Another problem I had was the torso, I had ridges of the mesh and it looked highly unrealistic and had a lot of tearing. However I was able to using the symmetry modifier to get rid of the shirt hanging out his pants, so I could later use the mirror mode on the skin modifier to copy the weighting from one side. 

I had a go at the shoulder, I wanted to create a smooth bend from the neck to the shoulder after looking at myself as I did the motion, I noticed that shoulder keeps its bulge and i wanted to try and keep that as much as possible while keeping the flow.

 Another problem, I came across was the crotch area, I tried several different methods and weighting to get so it looked half decent, but it difficult to get it be affected by both legs and the hips. I couldn't figure out how much weight each vertices. After a few tries, I used some blending and seemed to work. Both is the nearly finished version, the back needed a bit more work.



After working on the muscle and facial rig, I have learnt an easier way to skin a mesh, using the paint tool. Using this tool and the weight tool, I was able to fix the tearing in the muscle rig and create great line-flow. 

Breakdown of VFX

Okay, this is a breakdown of my VFX project. While the scene is simple, there are many layers and several different effects and simulations. Firstly I started with a blue screen shot of myself, acting. Admittedly, not the best actor the shot was good. Below is the video i took. 

After I imported the file into After Effects, so my first step was to remove all the background in the shot to keep only the actor. I used the effect called Keylight. Afterwards i was left with all the blue removed from the scene, however the left hand side had some leftover background, I simply added a mask to remove all the leftover parts and I was left with this. 

Meanwhile, I was in Maya creating the scene in which my character would inhabit, I wanted a particle simulation for my clouds and a static, textured snowy hills. Firstly I started the snow, I created a NURBS plane and then using the vertex control and i started mold the landscape. I wanted the far end to be higher up, as if the actor was climbing a hill. After I was happy with the shape, I went online to find a shader that reflected the kind of snow I wanted. I found one, however I wasn't able to recreate the particle effect of the sparkles in the snow, but I was happy with the final product. 

Next was the clouds. I wanted clouds that moved and changes as clouds do. So I looked online to find some tutorials on how to make realistic clouds. Using the 3D container as a Starting point, I used the brush tool to create the clouds, leaving spaces in the clouds to create that realistic, however I don't think they were clear in the final one. But I am happy with it, below is the final version. 

Now back to the blue screen footage, I added the snow to the scene, lined it up with the actor, I precomposed the snow and added a gaussian blur to give the horizon a less definable line. This provided with the base for my scene. Later, I added the cloud simulation at the beginning of the scene. 

Next, I want 3 more effects to give a blizzard effect. Firstly I need a heavy mist that moves with the wind. I used a effect called fractal noise and scale it up to 600% which created a smoke like effect. I also added an evolution to made it change shape as it moved, like real mist/smoke. Then I copied the layer 3 times and changed the Z position to create different sized and shaped mist to create a 3D effect, I then tinted it a dark blue to give a cold feel. I also needed snow falling from the sky. I used a particle simulator in After Effects to create the effect. Using a large 3D box and a camera was able to make it look like the snowflakes where falling in the foreground and background. 

Next I copied the whole effect and removed the tint, then I masked all the places where the snow on the ground was. This was remove the need for a background and makes it look like a snow storm where the visibility is reduced. Finally I needed snow falling from the sky. I used a particle simulator in After Effects to create the effect. 

This is the complete break down.

Branding and Final Character Design

Development of Logo and Branding

Firstly, I started to develop the logo that represents myself. I named myself Glasswood, after one of the places I have developed in my early work. So when I started to think of early designs, I wanted something with the theme of geometry. So I did some early designs in illustrator. 

Above are the two designs I created. I decided originally to make a tree shape to be related to the wood part of the name. Out of the two designs, the left was more appealing, it was simple and could be coloured to look 3D. After testing a few colour palettes I decided with 3 different shades of green and brown.

I also tried a white and a black outline to the logo, while it started to look reasonably well, it didn't look professional. After looking at the white outline, I decided to have no outline and have pure blocks of colour. 

Looking at the design above, its simple and easily recognisable. Its slightly shaded to give a hint of a 3D. I was happy with this design, but after a few months, I developed my techniques in illustrator and redesigned the logo. Keeping the original design in mind, I wanted something simple, connected and related to the name, Glasswood. As well as being geometric. I decided to have a half and half logo, one half a tree, referring to the wood and half a wine glass referring to the glass part of the name. Additionally, I wanted it give it more definition, so I added gradients to the blocks of colour. 

This is my final design, it follows my brief I gave myself, each side is easily recognisable. 

Now, to the development of the logo for my movie, originally called Paladin but later changed to Paragon. So I wanted a shield to be included in the logo, so I had few early designs. 

The first design, the left one, I went for a sci-fi look, but it looked too rectangular, but I like the shield being the centerpiece. So I started a different design, this one I added a half moon below the shield to give it that holy look, associated with paladin but it didn't fit the new name Paragon. However I liked the detail inside the shield, but it seems boring around the shield, it doesn't stand out. 

 After the two designs, I started to develop more detail into the design. I added a sword to symbolise power and attack. I added and tried a different shield design and detail inside. The new design for the shield was better, being curved at the bottom. I also liked the sword being plunged behind the shield. The next design, I tried to implement all these designs into a sci-fi theme but it didn't fit. So I decided to stick with a traditional style. 

This the final draft for the logo, only a few changes have occurred towards to the final design. This is design is elegant, it also symbolise power but also protection, with the sword and shield. The wings symbolise freedom, Paragon fight to protect the freedom of the common man. Next, I decided on the colours. I went for a red cross on the shield and a different shades of grey with blue highlights. The finished design is smooth, it has definition 

Finished Room