Textures
creature details
My first sketch was somewhat incomplete, as I initially struggled to determine what form would best suit a marine creature. At first, I considered placing it in shallow waters near the coast rather than in the deep ocean. I must admit that I had already been captivated by aquatic creatures, which made creating something that lives underwater feel like an excellent and somewhat familiar choice. In my initial sketches, I wanted to incorporate skeletal elements, and transparency was already in consideration, though I hadn’t yet found the main silhouette. My initial idea was to combine fish with worm or other organism details to create a hybrid that would resemble some mysterious creature.
First sketches and concepts
Later, while deriving from the main silhouettes I liked, I decided to create something similar to a combination of octopus and squid. This led to the development of both the story and reasoning behind why certain elements were so appealing. I particularly liked the curved forms and the concept of bubbles growing from the organism, which I naturally decided would become eyes. You can see some influence from “Subnautica,” the though primarily just in having an octopus-like protagonist with multiple eyes like “Crabsquid” by Fox3D (https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/crabsquid-8ac29bdaef8247378127907dfc614341).
Final sketch and fist sketch of creature
Research Phase
My creature primarily consists of a hybrid between octopus and squid, with the key difference being that it has only four legs protected by armor similar to that found on crustaceans. This is an invertebrate found deep in the untouched Mariana Trench. In my narrative, humans have recently discovered ways to explore the deepest ocean locations, including the Mariana Trench. However, the ocean has become even more dangerous, as submarines are actively hunted by an ancient invertebrate perfectly adapted to hunting curious prey.
Due to the immense ocean pressure, its body consists of a watery, organic gas bubble surrounded by jellyfish-like eyes that primarily serve to confuse prey. While these eyes function as visual organs, they’re mainly used as decoys.
I began studying more aquatic animals, focusing on how the main parts of this creature would be transparent. Considering that the creature lives deep underwater near volcanic vents, it would use luminescent elements to attract prey. The most fascinating aspect is that given how unexplored the ocean remains, such an organism could potentially exist.
Eyes: Octopi and other invertebrates have slightly different eye structures.
Source: Their eyes are primarily designed to detect blue light and nothing more, so they don’t need excellent vision, just enough to spot prey. Most deep-sea animals lack color vision, having a single blue-sensitive visual pigment because: 1) as you go deeper in the ocean, all colors disappear except blue, and 2) most bioluminescence is blue.
Source: Light organs, or photophores, function like headlights. When the eyes turn inward to focus directly ahead, the light organs provide sufficient illumination for the squid to see its prey in darkness. But there are some species that actually can see color
Therefore, it would be theoretically possible to develop mimicry eyes that imitate multiple different animals simultaneously. These structures could serve dual purposes: functioning as lures to attract prey while also operating as rudimentary visual organs. Although such eyes would likely have poor vision compared to typical eyes, an organism could potentially possess multiple sets of these specialized mimicry eyes, each serving different functions or mimicking different species.
Beak: The main weapon of this lost lineage creature is its large beak, which opens with hinges and is incredibly hard. Squid beaks are known to be remarkably strong and durable—perfect for my cephalopod, which could slice through a metal submarine hull. The Humboldt squid’s beak, for instance, is two inches long and incredibly hard, stiff, and tough, making it harder to deform than virtually all known metals and polymers.
Bioluminescence and Skin Texture: Squid texture differs from octopi, which can change skin texture. Squids change skin color more through their chromatophores, and their skin is somewhat rubber-like in texture.
Source: Bioluminescence is common among squid. It is estimated that two-thirds of all squid genera include bioluminescent species. Light organs, or photophores, can be found nearly anywhere on the body of a squid. The most common places are the eye (ocular photophores), mantle, head and arms, internal organs (visceral photophores), funnel, and tentacles.
Bioluminescence is a fascinating feature found in squids and various fish species. These organisms primarily use it for communication and luring prey, but it also serves as a mechanism for blending into their environment.
Source: Squids exhibit different types of bioluminescence, which typically functions through specialized cells in their skin. However, bioluminescent animals aren’t limited to squids—many deep-sea creatures possess this ability, including comb jellies (which, despite their name, are not actually jellyfish).
Comb jellies acquire their bioluminescence from consuming crustaceans that contain the chemical coelenterazine. While their bioluminescent effect is similar to that of other organisms, it appears more delicate and can produce a rainbow-like appearance. It’s worth noting that this rainbow effect may be enhanced or more visible when viewed through a camera lens rather than with the naked eye.
Comb jelly and firefly squid bioluminescence
Narrative Background
This creature represents a lost lineage among cephalopods—a prehistoric Jurassic-era species. Evolving in the Mariana Trench, this lineage hid in deep cave systems. Over time, its outer shell fell away, leaving only the prehistoric beak and crab-like segmented armor protecting the creature’s tentacles. Living where light rarely penetrates, its body became transparent, with luminescent spots developing around the skin to attract prey like lures.
Its main ability is changing the color patterns of its transparent body, camouflaging among rocky environments and underwater volcanic smoke. Initially, this creature preyed on whales and other large animals, but human research submarines with their gleaming metal began attracting this predator.
The predator inhabits the Hadal zone near Challenger Deep. Its first human encounter occurred on January 23, 1960, when Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended in the submarine Trieste into the Mariana Trench. What’s rarely mentioned is that something very large pursued them. Since then, several expeditions with sufficient technology to reach the Mariana Trench have searched for this lost species. It lurks in the obscure, dark valleys, consuming whatever it can catch.
Mariana trench environment: hydrothermal vents
Sources:
http://earthlife.net/squid-anatomy/
https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/expedition-feature/19biolum-background-vision/
https://tonmo.com/articles/beautiful-bioluminescence-in-cephalopods.89/
https://www.aquarium.co.za/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-giant-squids
The most challenging part is always the beginning, finding the main forms for this creature. Using my sketch, I marked out simple primary geometric shapes. Since this was an unusual form, I couldn’t use the precise anatomy examples provided by our professor, but I took the fundamental basis and built from scientific diagrams, also drawing from other natural forms and selecting what appealed to me.
The most difficult aspect was creating proper mesh topology, as the initial form was quite organic. While symmetry made it easier to add good topology, I used advice from topology guide blogs, primarily to understand proper loop cut placement.
Creature blocking and new topology in Blender
Since the character was built with symmetrical geometry, the next challenge was deforming the geometry to better match my character sketch. I used the warp tool to deform the main joint forms, and with move tools, I re-positioned eyes and growths.
I then created the first details for the armor. Since I had to significantly deform the geometry, I grouped both the armor and creature anatomy together. I modeled the armor after crab shells with sharp protrusions—it seemed appropriate that a creature consisting mainly of soft tissue would need special protection from attackers.
I created custom brushes for sucker shapes with alpha channels, and similarly for the eyes. All details were referenced from real-world examples. The most challenging aspects were the asymmetrical details, as I had to modify the eyes slightly. I designed the eyes to be easier to texture later.
My main focus was on the overall silhouette, ensuring it was easily readable. This meant removing some details and adding others to make the form more streamlined and expressive.
The challenge I faced was creating transparent material that wouldn’t look like glass but rather like organic skin of a marine creature, as seen in glass squids and similar species. My main goal was to show this as organic material.
I used multiple layers to achieve this effect, primarily following the materials shown in class and tutorials on properly adding transparency. I added surface defects to show the creature’s age and wear.
For the eyes, I used emissive properties, while coloring the pupils with transparency effects. Since various colors can be seen through squid skin with spots visible on top, I wanted to combine this with bioluminescence as seen in firefly squids.
The idea was to create small spots across the entire surface. Since squid skin changes texture, I added slight height to some spots. It seemed appropriate that the spots would be scattered across the skin without much order, imitating krill or countless eyes rather than a uniform pattern, to further confuse prey.
For the legs, I chose a reddish-brown color reminiscent of crab legs, though not too bright since such colors have little significance at these depths. I added light effects to make the spikes appear sharper, while also wanting the armor to create balance, so I made them opaque.
Substance painters textured creature and details
I created everything in Unreal Engine, inspired by the Mariana Trench and other deep-sea photographs. I noticed that as water reaches deeper levels, colors begin to fade and merge together. I applied this theory to create the underwater atmosphere.
Deep see environment
I used principles from tutorials “Uncover the secret to creating Underwater lighting in UE5” by Karim abou shousha ( https://youtu.be/xgQLe7iASO0?si=W9l0pXzhIvPqN1dd )
on properly showing light and simulating lens effects very deep underwater. I primarily took general principles to follow when creating underwater environments. Also took some inspiration from this creator: “Unreal Engine Deep Sea Test (Made by someone with barely any experience)” by manshoety ( https://youtu.be/N8-yaSFZHm4?si=pbwln3EisuDLnb8G )
While I wanted my creature to be more visible, I reduced camera bloom and post-process values. I didn’t want to obscure the assets from the Deep Elder Caves environment pack by Oleksandr Sychov. ( https://www.fab.com/listings/1c5fb915-5e6e-483d-bfaa-d6813c130b47 ) I mainly used rocks and mushrooms to create the surroundings, accomplishing the rest with planes and textures.
Deep Elder Caves environment and asset pack by Oleksandr Sychov.
Import Issues: I encountered a major problem importing proper translucency from baked Substance Painter files, resulting in incorrect glitches and Z-fighting. I had to recreate the mesh with separate armor and body parts, baking at both standard and very high resolutions. Then I separately applied the created textures from Substance Painter to each part, adding multiply and mixing translucent texture with the main base color.
Posing: For posing, I imported the creature into Blender and used the sculpting pose tool to adjust leg movement. I wanted to avoid complex rigging or techniques that would consume time, so I used a simpler method.
I added subtle lighting and effects like smoke to simulate underwater thermal vents, and added particles slightly visible in the camera. I also used available dust and smoke clouds from the Elder Cave environment to create a more realistic setting reminiscent of the deep ocean floor.
The final product turned out well, in my opinion. I used post-process values to add subtle camera effects, making it appear as though the creature is deep underwater. I increased the emission amount for the skin spots and eyes.
Throughout this process, I learned numerous new techniques—creating textures in Substance Painter, properly retopologizing characters, using loop cuts, and creating topology that’s both clean and functional for animation or games.
I also explored particle systems that I’ll use in my thesis project. These particles helped create visible underwater particulates.
For future projects, I would:
This module taught me extensive use of Substance Painter and Blender’s sculpting tools. I learned to understand good topology and create custom tools and brushes. I became familiar with ZBrush, though the navigation system takes adjustment when using multiple programs. I also better understand how Unreal Engine handles textures and meshes.
The class assignments were interesting. I completed all initially, but each week became more challenging as time progressed and I focused more on character creation.
Overall, I gained substantial knowledge from these lectures, making me much more confident in modeling complex forms, knowing I can always create new geometry on top of them. The final result differs somewhat from the initial sketch, but I’d say it became even more interesting.
Run Cycle
2D animation
Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to depict the 2D run as well as the 3D one because I didn’t have enough time. The shapes didn’t work out for me; I focused more on the 3D assignment rather than 2D. I used Toon Boom Harmony, which, like the previous time, was difficult to learn—possibly because Toon Boom Harmony differs slightly from Krita both because it uses vector graphics and because I hadn’t worked with 2D animation on such a large scale. However, I understood the basics of the movement, and here too I used the main pose chart for the run cycle offered by The Animator’s Survival Kit.
Animation in Toon Boom Harmony running cycle.
Running animation in Harmony with out reference image in background, cat heads was note for walking cycle in 2D animation, how head moves
3D animation
For the run cycle, I used 20 frames, as in Rachel’s video.
The run cycle wasn’t as difficult. This time I followed Rachel’s example a bit, although I used more examples of running people that I found online. I wanted my character to run fast, so I looked for examples where the running isn’t in a sporty style. However, it was difficult to find at first, though I eventually did. Mostly, the hands are placed in fists, but I wanted to add a bit of personality to my character, so the palms and fingers are sometimes open. I looked at Rachel’s example for how to initially set up the movement and frame timing, but then I followed the examples I found more closely, along with Preston Blair’s example with the main poses. I improvised a bit with the hair movement. Initially, the hair animation was too exaggerated, and not just the hair—the hip and body movement and rotation were also slightly overdone. After Alec’s comments, I toned down the activity with the hair a bit and looked for references for hair animation. I also reduced the exaggerated rotation with the body because it looked like Rain was leaning too far. In my opinion, I managed to depict the run well.
Reference research
I encountered the fact that when searching for examples, the run differs slightly depending on speed. I wanted my character to be running away from something or escaping so the movement would be more natural and could be used in a scene. I used several references both for studying hair movement—how hair moves when a woman runs. I found a good example where the run changes with running speed, how the stride length changes, and how the body and torso rotate slightly as the running speed increases.
reference for hair motion and running (“Run reference”, by Animation references)
Reference for hair motion (“Woman Running –Animation reference”, by Animation References)
Running speed reference YouTube short (“What Different Paces Look Like”, by Ollie R-K)
Running with motion
After fixing the hair, I copied the animation and placed it into a new action animation to start creating the jump and run animation. Before that, I copied the run and applied cyclic animation with repeat with offset on the X location to follow the cyclical run forward. Previously, I couldn’t have imagined that this process could be automated. Initially, I tried to calculate the step distance manually, copying the animation multiple times, but this was a much better way to solve it than doing it manually.
Final running cycle animation
Walk Cycle with Personality
The walk cycle with personality was a different approach. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to animate anything in 2D, but I used my own work and completed the assignment during the lecture by filming a walk with emotion or personality. We worked in a group and tried out various animations we could perform. From five options, I chose the two best personality emotions: grumpy and sneak movements, and sketched the main key poses in my notebook.
For the personality, I used a video created during class. I particularly liked the movements that one of my classmates performed. It seemed fun to try the sneak emotion and how the movement differs. This time I didn’t look at Rachel’s example; however, I used some examples from animations I found online just to understand how the arms move. Mostly this example: https://lik365v1.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/7365-sneak-walk-cycle/
Alec said that the leg movements and steps were good, but I needed to add a bit more arm movement because otherwise the motion looks robotic. Analyzing my classmate’s walk, I noticed that his arms and head didn’t move much, so I used my own filmed video. Honestly, understanding and depicting the arm movement for the sneak personality took the most time.
Sneak personality walk reference
Since I initially didn’t like the first personality, I also used another personality walk that we created during the lecture, but after Alec’s comment, the movement wasn’t animated as well and the personality was also difficult to read from the animation. Additionally, the legs and arms moved strangely. Moreover, while animating, I noticed that the forward leg moved inward. In the end, I decided not to submit it, and also due to lack of time, I didn’t continue this animation cycle.
personality walk references reenacted in lecture
Grumpy animation in 3D
I corrected the personality’s arms several times because although the step was quite understandable, good, and unique for the sneak emotion, I didn’t like the arms. I filmed myself, but that didn’t help at first, mainly because I couldn’t get into the sneak role, so I searched for examples. Finally, after a long search and studying the poses from my own filmed emotion, I solved the arm movement. I used the SyncSketch website to more easily break down the motion.
Arm study breakdown in SyncSketch
Final Walk Cycle with Personality: Sneak
Regular Walk Cycle
This was my first animation in this course. Although I had created walk cycle animations before, here I learned the fundamentals and how to better place keyframes and develop a sense of timing.
For the walk animation, I used 32 frames, which I divided in half, so the middle pose of the animation was at frame 16.
2D animation
I completed my first animation using an improved walk cycle. It was challenging because I wasn’t accustomed to 2D animation, and I was also working with a new program. This was my first time using Toon Boom Harmony, which was quite complex, and it was difficult to get used to the viewport and different controls. I didn’t have much prior experience creating animation in 2D, so it was an interesting experience, though I didn’t expect to feel satisfied after completing the first animation. Because of my limited 2D experience, the shape animation wasn’t the best quality. Additionally, drawing the first frame took me much longer than it did for my other coursemates.
2D animation in Harmony
After that, I watched tutorials on how to add rotation and secondary motion to characters. I chose cat ears and a tail for my character because they seemed appropriate. However, I encountered difficulty animating them at the correct angle. To better understand, I looked for examples of cat ears and how they’re drawn on animated characters. What helped most was when I drew guide points on the body to understand how the head rotates correctly—only then could I figure out the proper angle for the ears.
syncsketch notes on 2D animation
I must say that the tail didn’t go much better, even though I followed the video examples that Aodhan had provided. My tail moved more on its own rather than following the walking motion. At that point, Aodhan advised me to focus more on 3D animation instead, so I didn’t fix my animation, since I’m personally stronger with 3D applications and 3D animation.
3D animation
For the character to animate, I used the provided materials from the CloudRig Rain character. Previously, I had animated using Blender’s built-in Rigify addon, but at that time I had to create my own character and handle both the armature parenting and weight painting, which involved a lot of trial and error. However, I was relieved that here I already had an available character with pre-made weights and a rig system that was easier to move and pose.
Using Rachel’s example, I started animating from her video series. Since this was my first animation here, I used the basic foundations but didn’t extensively search for other examples. I also used Blair’s example and some walk cycle references, though I improvised a bit with the arms. I liked how the hands changes rotation and how the fingers slightly shift position as if from momentum. However, the main thing this helped me finally understand was timing—I animated up to frame 32 and learned how to properly divide the key poses, such as the contact pose and the passing pose. Because of this, I finally began to understand how to properly animate a cycle. While my 3D animation turned out reasonably okay, I would definitely pay more attention to reference searching for my next animation cycles.
Final walk cycle animation
Run and jump Animation.
2D animation
The 2D jump animation turned out well for me. However, Aidan advised me to focus on 3D animation and complete 2D animation only as a lecture assignment. Nevertheless, I see progress—this time the animation was easier to understand in terms of both movement and form, but I know I still have a long way to go before I can animate in 2D. I also used Toon Boom Harmony this time.
2D jumping animation in Harmony.
3D animation
During the lecture, we had to watch and animate the main jump poses using constant interpolation to understand the most important poses. I used several examples and found one where the jump is quite powerful. I placed the main details, but I didn’t really enjoy animating in constant mode—maybe because you have to manually add more movement, which can create overly choppy animation. However, the main point was the experience, even though I prefer animating with curve interpolation. I hadn’t used the graph editor that much before, so this was a new experience in how to change curves. After adding both the main movements and details, I switched to the curve editor. I had to fix the arm rotation, but the main details looked good. However, after Alec’s notes, I had to add more movement and more details when converting the animation from constant interpolation to curves, so that Blender’s software would calculate it more correctly. For the jump, I used a good example I found on YouTube where the jump has larger movement. I used it more to add small details and include greater rotational motion in the arms, and to understand how to transition from a standing pose to the jump’s starting pose.
Jump animation using constant.
Jump in curve interpolation.
Reference video for jump animation (“Jumping reference”, Jose Legaspi.)
Running and jumping over the fence took the most time, considering that I had to combine two separate animations. Using Rachel’s attached tutorial as well as various samples taken from the internet, I realized that the given sports equipment wouldn’t work for me, so I made a simple metal fence and added a metal texture. Using compositing, I also added a camera with a rig system and added light objects, as well as inserted a standard PBR material for the asphalt ground, which gives texture to the ground. I animated the camera slightly so it moves along with the Rain character. I positioned the light objects so it would look like it’s happening at night. However, to better read the movement, I also made a render without the moving camera.
My idea was that my character would be running away from something, for example an angry dog or something else, so I chose an unusual object for Rain to jump over. Therefore, I chose warm lighting and a slightly bluish tone for the atmosphere, and created a metal chain-link fence.
Animation before the change
In the last lecture, Rachel advised me to change the shape and angle so that when jumping, Rain creates the correct geometry and so her body moves with the jump, leaning over slightly. After that, the animation became much more readable and natural.
Animation after change in body geometry rotation
I rendered the finished animation in EEVEE, and it turned out surprisingly well.
Reference research
For the actual jump movement, I used an example of how to jump from a video I found online. I thought this video was a perfect example of how the arms and legs move, so I used it, although I changed the arm direction slightly, taking into account that Rain has a lig
hter form and the angle when Rain’s body bends. In my opinion, I managed to create the movement quite well, although combining the two animations together wasn’t simple. Perhaps next time I’ll try using the NLA track editor to combine two animations together.
Jumping over the fence reference study, using the synksketch to sketch body mechanics and rotation. (video taken of reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/l1rx13/different_ways_of_hoping_over_a_fence/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button )
Problem using action editor.
A problem I couldn’t really solve was that sometimes movements were copied over to another action, which was quite annoying, and in the end I partially solved it by pushing down to the NLA tracks editor, although there’s probably another solution to this problem. Therefore, all animations in the final files are located in NLA tracks.
I finally found a solution: in the other animations, I need to insert keyframes for FK in the transition movement when the arm changes from IK to FK.
Conclusions
The main conclusion for animations is that for each animation I used a different frame count: 20 for running to make it easier to calculate; 32 frames for the first walk, which was a bit inconvenient to animate; and about 40 frames for the walk with personality because it has a larger step and slower speed of movement. I concluded that with each 2D animation attempt, I got better at shape consistency and I could draw one frame faster. I understood how to better place timing and learned a bit about the graph editor, but I’m still not that familiar with animation with curves, though the animation turned out better. I’ll probably need to practice more with the graph editor. I had worked with animation mixing before but not on such a large scale, so this was a good attempt. Overall, I believe I started to better understand timing and rotation during animation, as well as body movement, especially arm movement. I think my animations turned out reasonably okay, but I definitely need to learn more about studying references.