Mayan Character

DJ_Aaron

Hey guys im currently at college studying 3d animation and i am on my final part of the course which is the graded unit. Within the graded unit you have to choose out 4 catagory's - 3d fly through, Rigged Character concept, Emergancy shelter design and anthropomorphic characters fo an advertising campaign.

To cut things short, i have choosen the rigged character concept (model,texure,rig,animate) , im on my third week now just starting modelling. My character is a small stylized creature who lives within the mayan civilzation.

Here is my drawn concept of the little dude. sorry if the images are a little big
updates will be posted daily ! hope you can help me along the way thanks



Oh and it would be cool if ya could follow my blog - http://aaronhumphreys123.tumblr.com/

DJ_Aaron

So here's the base mesh, firstly made out of zspheres then imported into max to change the topo and add features like the eye and mouth.

Rockley Bonner

did you do this mesh? how much more schooling do you have left? I would animate somthing else, you wont be doing whatever that thing is on many jobs.

DJ_Aaron

of course i did this mesh, that thing ? thanks . i thought through this design very carfully. Its made up of very simple shapes so that in the future animating it and bringing it to life wont be as hard as modelling and rigging a full human/monster character. look at pixar for instance thier characters are just as nearly simple as mine. made up of simple shapes but with very effective detail.

dirigible

Reminds me of
Mite b cool, with stretchy limbs and stuff.

Phaix

The design you've got is a little on the simple side, it shouldn't give you much trouble, and should be fairly easy to rig and animate. But at the same time it is unlikely to really impress your teachers or future employers unless you can pull off some really nice animation with it.
You've constructed the mesh fairly well, though i'd make him a little fatter and you need to think a little about balance, at the moment he looks too top heavy and would probably fall over, i know it's the style you're going for but it's a bit unnatural and might give you some problems when trying to animate him walking, running etc.
What are your plans for the eyes? because at the moment it can't really blink, for a realistic animation all the little details count.
Good luck

DJ_Aaron

Thanks for your replys.
@dirigible - yeah i ive seen this before and have taken inspiration from it.

@Phiax, yeah my desgn is very simple but i took this in mind for future animation, his body i agree is very simple, i took this into account and because of this his clothes, Headress, accessories will be highly detailed in zbrush. As far as impressing my teachers they love the design for its simplisticity as other guys in my class are being to ambitious , as for me i am not looking for a job right now as i will start university soon and im only at a young age. and yes i totally argee about the weight issue i think i will thicken the legs for a more stumpy look and will add more volume on his torso. as for his eyes i will just add a nurbs cylinder and use an open & close attribute.

DJ_Aaron

here is and early design, where his feet are more stubby but i extended his legs because of thinking how he will walk.

DJ_Aaron

Thanks , i think it has made a much better improvement in weight wise

DJ_Aaron

The next part of the model is the head dress, here's my progress

DJ_Aaron

Update !

DJ_Aaron

Here is a rough block out of his belt. I also added better eyes and a tounge to make him look not so odd ha.
Crit is welcome cheers

Ack Master

hahahah i actually really enjoy this design simple, funny looking should turn out great

DJ_Aaron

Hey dudes, updated his belt with leaves a few pouches ( behind him)
and i just added a mini dude just for laughs

" Son, i shall teach you how to hunt" haha

Crit is welcome

theslingshot

Like the design! I think your animations would benefit a lot if you had some kind of hands and feet. I really don't think it's to simple like some others said, the animations will be a big factor though But I think you can do some crazy animations with this type of character

and this...

DJ_Aaron

Yeah thanks mate i was thinking of puting a good squash & streched rig on it .

DJ_Aaron

Hey guys, finished up the model, and just about to uv him and ready to start the sculpting proccess.

Huehueteotl

mayan Sillouettes usually have pronounced noses.

this looks more like a Toltec character

DJ_Aaron

Yeah, i think i should of not just called him specifically a " Mayan " character but more of that type of theme and era, and im also keeping in mind those patterns and symbols for the sculpting stage. and adding a nose to this character i think would possiblly take away its cuteness i dont knoe ha, but thanks for the heads up

Illusive

the arms and legs could use a bit more work, they don't extrude out of the body the same way as your concept design, very noticeable in the crotch area. refer back to your concept and also that rayman rabbit

Seirei

Hm after hearing your thoughts about a 'squash & strech' rig I was immediatley reminded of this video:
http://vimeo.com/22844101

Even the character is pretty similar, so maybe you can get some fancy ideas out of this.

But he already looks pretty nice and the small child is adorable. I realy hope we can see them wobbling around. :P

Jessica Dinh

I agree with Illusive about the limbs, they really just look kinda pulled-out in 2 seconds haha. Also it might be interesting if you gave some size variation in his headdress feathers - right now they are all the same length, perhaps try layering in a couple short ones and longer ones? Not too many more, but right now everything is so equal.

Otherwise, this guy is pretty cute and I would love to see him animated too

DJ_Aaron

iiilusive - hey thanks for the crit, yeah i do realise the arms are on the simple side and think your refering to the concept where he has stumpy arms and legs which is and old concept. and yeah the ravin rabbit is great insperation.

Seirei - Wow that is the most amazing rig ive ever seen ha and thanks i hope i can get some good ideas out of that!

Jessica - Well it wasnt much of a two second job. the original mesh was made up of zsphere's and then got taken into max for retopo and adjustments, but hey its my second ever character made and ive got a tight deadline but i appreciate the crit as am improving everyday. I also took you idea on board of making the variation of feathers, tell me what you think

Alismuffin

Reminds me of minions!
I would definitely give him stumpy legs, not plabnkton legs. It's cuter that way! And maybe it could benefit from a 3 fingered cute little hand?

DJ_Aaron

Haha yeah, i might try editing his body a bit but time is essence haha.

Its feather time!

Jessica Dinh

Ah yeah, I'm sorry if what I said about the arms came off as kindof rude haha - and I sure do know about time constraints, so you are doing well with them! Headdress looks better now :]

DJ_Aaron

Hey guys i think im pretty much finished with sculpting, crit is welcome

BARDLER

I think you should rework the arms and hands a tad.
Just looking at this as an example

You should have some kind of crease, or sort of muscle hint where the deltoid/shoulder would be on a human. I think it would make the character better for animation purposes, and humanize it a tad more instead of looking like a starfish body. It doesn't have to be anything major, just a subtle hit that the arms are actually arms, instead of just extensions of the body like they look right now.

As for the hands I think you should explore something here, kind of like how the rabbits have a thumb, and again it will make it more believable when they grab something. The hands are completely up to you though, and what you want to the design to be, but I do think the arms are a definite issue.

DJ_Aaron

Hey Bardler, I asbolutely,totally argree with you. I know his arms and legs dont look its very best, but take this little guy for example - http://vimeo.com/22844101, he is quite the same as mine, a very simple shape with the exeption of hands that can morph in & out. Also time is an issue, if i had loads of time i would totally change him around and take some of you ideas on board that are dramatic changes. as i also have to rig, animate and render this dude out. Also every bit i change ill be fading away from my orignal concept, the hands are hard to visualize at the moment as it looks like he has no wrist rotation, when the rigging comes to play ill be adding a wrist/palm bone so it make's his hand wrap and rotate round things.

DJ_Aaron

Colour!

Seirei

Is that just a color blockout or do you intend to keep them?

I'm just asking, because I wouldn't have expected him to be the new google mascot! :P

DJ_Aaron

well these are the colour basics, im gonna export the various maps in photoshop and add various overlays, i dont want to him to have super high details etheir

DJ_Aaron

Tad da ! texture done. Now for rigging....

JacqueChoi

**edit**
I take it back

nvm


\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

DJ_Aaron

JacqueChoi - if you would of read my last post's you would of seen this - " Yeah, i think i should of not just called him specifically a " Mayan " character but more of that type of theme and era "

DJ_Aaron

It's Rigging Time!

slipsius

With this type of character, I would think that more bones would be better, to get teh twisting and stretching going on.

DJ_Aaron

you think? i have a lotta bones going on near the arms area .

Phaix

It's looking good man, the weighting is a lot better. Though still a little creepy without eyelids, like he's staring into your soul. Also i wasn't expecting him to be blue, i thought more earthy colours would fit him better, to blend in with a jungle kind of mayan environment.

I agree with slipsius, i think you need at least one more near the head, because at the moment it looks like his head has to move with his shoulders, and 2 for some feet, if not more depending how cartoony you want the movement

DJ_Aaron

haha thanks, yeah thats the problem though his head is basiclly his shoulders, not to worry about his eyes he will have a nurbs sphere that opens and closes, well he will have a strechy limbs script and im having a bad time at the moment trying to paint weights on this character and i think adding more will make it harder ? :O

DJ_Aaron

Hey guys just an update. Im having a problem at the moment, when trying to add a pole vector to the IK handle for the knee control im having an error saying " Error: Could not add constraints or connections" , just to add my arm and leg joints are purposely disjointed for better oritention.

Would be very appreciated if you could help

DJ_Aaron

Hey hey! nearly got my rig finished!

DJ_Aaron

Tracking !!

DJ_Aaron

Andblend shapes!

DJ_Aaron

Its now in maya ! here's a rough preview !