Sculpting my model on Blender
This week, I decided to get a start on my 3D model and as my Animated Narratives project is coming up soon, I felt that getting the sculpt done on Blender now would be better than later. Getting the sculpting progress out of the way will let me focus on my 30-second animation that will be due very soon. Moreover, this week was a very productive one as I did a huge chunk of my modelling as well as keeping up with class tutorials. I felt that I have learned a lot in the last couple of weeks, and this reflects in my improvement. Compared to the start of this module, my ability to sculpt has most definitely improved. Due to this, I plan to start the retopology and texturing in the next upcoming weeks, which will require a lot of focus and energy to get right.
The progress thus far
Forming shape using metaballs
Mesh conversion and further shaping using tools
Creating the fur using snake hook and grab tools
Adding more detail
Adding eyes, horns and hooves
Basic forming of the head armour
Blocking out the placement
Smoothing and fixing rough edges
Final Outcome
Exercise- Head Retopology
In addition to starting my model this week, I also did the head retopology exercise that was taught by our tutor, Henry. These recorded sessions were a huge help, as I am now aware of how to use this feature to retopologise my goat whenever it is transferred to Maya. The only difference is my goat isn’t symmetrical, meaning it will take longer in comparison- which isn’t much of an issue to me. Overall, this lesson has given me a lot more knowledge of the many things that Maya can be utilised for. I will definitely take what I have learned here as crucial for the process of 3D modelling, and will further use the techniques shown to aid me when I have to use retopology for my goat model.
Progress of head retopology
Lips
Mouth and lower nose area
Forming the whole face
… And the back of the head and ears
Mesh (UNSMOOTHED)
Final mesh
Sketching out areas of retopology
I thought that it would be really helpful to create a rough plan of how my retopology should look on my model, thus decided to quickly sketch this out on the blender model. Doing this would allow me to feel more confident and have a better sense of direction, making it easier and saves a lot more time if any errors with the model were to occur. Ultimately, I feel that these sketches are a decent prediction of how the retopology should look like on my model and I will further use these images as a reference whenever I integrate my model into Maya.
Side of the body
Back of body
Below torso
head area
Putting what I have learned into practice
Here, I have begun the retopology of my goat model and my progress till the present. Moreover, this was quite a challenge to do as my model wasn’t symmetrical, thus making it a much more long and tedious experience. I also had come across other issues with the retopology as there were some areas like the hooves, and underbelly where the pattern on the retopology didn’t match at all, and this proved to be a struggle to improve on. In the end up, the outcome was relatively decent for my first time properly putting what I know into practice. In the future, I will strive to get better in this area in order to make the quality of my models better in terms of quality and design. With the outcome itself, I did my best to follow along with the original plan in which I predicted how the retopology should look, and I feel as though this helped me a lot during this progress- this is something I will definitely think more about doing for future projects- planning is IMPORTANT!!!
The model in Maya
Face retopology
Continuation of this process
Using the relax tool and beginning of the body
Final outcome!!