Transforming Character: Ghost Valkyrie to Android
polycounter lvl 8
Hi, I'm working on this project for my thesis. I'm looking to demonstrate a transformation sequence within UE4. In this case the basic gist of the character is that a spirit/ghost had wandered for thousands of years and eventually possesses a deactivated android (similar to the ghost's own proportions) in a lab. This results in the two becoming bonded in an almost symbiotic way and now the ghost can transform between the robot form and the ghost form. This grants the ghost the advantages of being a spectral being and being able to interact with the physical realm as a powerful mecha.
Technical obstacles are likely to be:
I understand that this is quite unorthodox a project for a transformation (I imagine a burning question is "why would a ghost transform into a robot?"), often I've seen such examples like werewolves, demonic versions of a person or thing using displacement, or obviously transforming robots. However what makes this project different is that the two meshes are going to be very different in terms of silhouette. Much like with Fall of Cybertron's Transformers it may require a mesh swap, but there still needs to be a sense of gradual transformation.
That all being said, time for some actual work in progress:
I scoured the internet for inspiration and references for valkyrie and robot concepts:
Since I'd like this to be rendered realistically with PBR more research in surface types will be required with things like PBR-values and whatnot but this was enough to just get the base forms of the concepts out:
Valkyrie:
Android:
I crudely drew up some ideas of implementing the transformation:
Much of this can be achieved through things such as morph targets, displacement, and UV manipulation combined with masking.
Some of the forms were a little bit confused with the android; it felt like I was trying too hard to link the two together when really I should've been trying to keep consistency in their forms. This is very visible with the contrast between how the valkyrie is uses many rounded shapes, but the android is using a mix of rounded and sharp/blocky forms. I made some more thumbnails of the primary offenders in order to produce more viable alternatives.
The revised Android image is below:
I might tweak the head a little as I think certain details such as the "ears" helped to keep some familiarity with the Valkyrie form.
Now obviously, these concepts are only good for the base form. Additional references will be required for modelling. For face reference I decided to use Jennifer Lawrence as a subject.
However, I've never been good at capturing forms from observation, her face in particular is quite hard for me to sculpt, so any help would be appreciated.
Technical obstacles are likely to be:
- Altering transparency, the form and texture of the mesh in a believable manner
- Transitioning in a gradual manner and potentially allowing for partial transformation
- Whether this is done in a "cinematic" basis or be able to transition "in gameplay" i.e. its a game mechanic (I'd very much like to be able to do this)
I understand that this is quite unorthodox a project for a transformation (I imagine a burning question is "why would a ghost transform into a robot?"), often I've seen such examples like werewolves, demonic versions of a person or thing using displacement, or obviously transforming robots. However what makes this project different is that the two meshes are going to be very different in terms of silhouette. Much like with Fall of Cybertron's Transformers it may require a mesh swap, but there still needs to be a sense of gradual transformation.
That all being said, time for some actual work in progress:
I scoured the internet for inspiration and references for valkyrie and robot concepts:
Since I'd like this to be rendered realistically with PBR more research in surface types will be required with things like PBR-values and whatnot but this was enough to just get the base forms of the concepts out:
Valkyrie:
Android:
I crudely drew up some ideas of implementing the transformation:
Much of this can be achieved through things such as morph targets, displacement, and UV manipulation combined with masking.
Some of the forms were a little bit confused with the android; it felt like I was trying too hard to link the two together when really I should've been trying to keep consistency in their forms. This is very visible with the contrast between how the valkyrie is uses many rounded shapes, but the android is using a mix of rounded and sharp/blocky forms. I made some more thumbnails of the primary offenders in order to produce more viable alternatives.
The revised Android image is below:
I might tweak the head a little as I think certain details such as the "ears" helped to keep some familiarity with the Valkyrie form.
Now obviously, these concepts are only good for the base form. Additional references will be required for modelling. For face reference I decided to use Jennifer Lawrence as a subject.
However, I've never been good at capturing forms from observation, her face in particular is quite hard for me to sculpt, so any help would be appreciated.