Straight As!

You read it!  I got straight As last semester.  I'm very happy, and looking forward to next semester and working hard on Bodacious Creed!

New Semester is in 1 1/2 months!?!

I said recently that I'm not sure if I'll be working on my thesis over the break.  Really the main reason for that is that I like getting input from my instructors every week.  But let's face it, I love this thesis, I want to make it as awesome as I can, and I'm not going to be able to stay away from working on it.

Plus, class doesn't start again until January 31.  That feels like a long time to set Bodacious Creed aside.

So, I'll continue my progress, and probably do some vlogs as well.  A few things I'd like to accomplish with it over the break are:

1. Making a few minor, but important, changes to the Anna Lynn Boyd model.
2. Texturing Anna with Spotlight in zBrush.
3. Bringing the detail of the Bodacious Creed model up to the next level, so that he's totally ready for zombification in the Spring.
4. Creating a few of the hard surface models that I'll need, such as a gun or two for Creed.

Of course, I plan to do a bunch for Couch Zombies over the break.  I plan to have the first "Couch Zombies Non Sequitur" up today!

Check out the Couch Zombies blog for more!

And, if you want to get caught up on Bodacious Creed, there's plenty to enjoy in this blog and on the YouTube channel!

End of Semester!

It's hard to believe I've been working on my thesis, Bodacious Creed, for nearly a year!  I started in the Spring 2010 semester, developing the idea in Pre-production class.  Over the summer, I worked with illustrator Joshua J. Stewart to get concept art done for the project, and I presented my Midpoint Review.  I was asked to make a few changes, did so (with a few more great illustrations from Josh), passed my review, then worked hard on the models all this semester, Fall 2010.

The semester ends this week.  I will probably do some more work on my thesis over the break, yes.  But I will also be working on Couch Zombies.  We've got a great animation coming along soon.

Here's the latest Bodacious Creed vlog, showing my work for this semester.

Thanks for following me this far! One year down, one more to go!

And if you haven't done so, I hope you'll subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, and the Couch Zombies show!

Also, I know this economy is crap, for the great majority of us.  But if you've gotten anything out of this blog or the vlog, and you can afford it, please send a couple bucks my way via the tip jar link to the right.  I won't think any less of you if you don't, but I'll sure think the world of you if you do.

Rendering the Animation

Today, I read the current notes for my Bodacious Creed head playblast from my Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions instructor, Cynthia Rangel.  (Very good instructor, by the way.)  She suggested a few changes, and they were pretty easy to do.  One reason they were so easy was that she taught us about the Graph Editor in Maya, which shows a graph of the changes in an animation, and makes it very easy to change the extremity of a pose, such as an open mouth, and to move keyframes around to fix timing.

So, I got those fixed, and today I'll be rendering the animation.  Each frame takes a good two or three minutes, so this is going to take all day, at least!  Anyway, I'll share it in the vlog when it's done.  As I type this, I'm doing a test render to make sure the frames are going to look as I want them to.  It's looking pretty good!

Unrelated to the thesis, I've also made progress on the Zombie Janet animation for Couch Zombies. As today, I'll be rendering the Creed animation, I probably won't have time to work on Z Jan's, but so far, I've animated her head tilts, eyes, eyebrows, and eye lids, and am about half way through the jaw.  I'm even opening her mouth slightly when I hear a breath for more realism.

Janet had some comments on the shape of the head the other day, and I didn't think I could accommodate the fixes, as far as I was into the animation.  But, I figured out what to do!  I just had to create a new blend shape with more exaggerated zombie features.  I then deleted all the blend shape connections from the head, reapplies them all with the new one, reconnected them to the animation control, and was able to morph her head to the new look while still having all the facial controls.  Sounds like a lot of work, and it was, but not nearly as much as if I had to redo all the blend shapes.

Okay, back to rendering this animation.  The still frame looks good!

Semester Wrapup

Hello everyone!

With the semester coming to a close (just one week left!), I'm getting certain things wrapped up. Those are:

1. Finishing up the Bodacious Creed head animation for Head Sculpture and Facial Expressions.  Basically, I need to make final tweaks to the animation, then do the final render.  I know, I didn't post much of it in the vlog, but I'm waiting to have it finished to post more.  I think it's looking pretty good.

2. Detailing Anna Lynn Boyd pre-texturing.  I got her up to what I think is the right, higher level of detail.  This, I should actually show in a vlog, come to think of it!

3. Detailing Bodacious Creed pre-zombification.  Like how I coined that term?  Or did I?  It seems to me that someone else must have used it before.  Anyway, I'm detailing in more of his muscles and bony landmarks, too.  The texture on him is looking very good, though I should probably still polish it up at the fingers and toes.  I'll be working on this the next couple of days, and I think I'll just show the further sculpted models in a vlog together.

Next semester, I'll continue with these characters.  Anna Lynn will get her texture, and Creed will get zombified and get all that great Steampunk technology built in.  I may also at least create the base mesh for Coconino, Creed's Steampunk/cybernetic coyote.

Also next semester, I'll be taking Introduction to Rigging.  As a 3D modeler, it's good to understand the processes later in the pipeline.  That way, I'll know better what the riggers need to get out of the models, and I'll therefore be a better modeler.

Plus, rigging, while quite technical, is fun, and a will be a nice skill to have.  With the rigging I've learned in Head Sculpture this semester, I've already rigged a 3D head for our YouTube show, Couch Zombies.  While eventually, we hope to have the show itself animated in Flash, I'd like to create some 20 second to 1 minute spots using 3D animation.  Hopefully they will be a draw in themselves and get more viewers to the show, and will be a nice change of pace for me, and the cast, to work on during the winter break.

'Till the next post, adios, Pardners.

The Associated Vlog Is Up

The vlog I promised yesterday is up! It shows details on the body texture, and one technique for fixing texture problems, and the beginnings of the head animation.

I finished animating the jaw and lips as well, and they look pretty damn good. I'll be sharing that later.

Since Last I Wrote

My last entry to the Bodacious Creed blog was five days ago, but it feels like I haven't written anything for weeks!  I've been working hard on the thesis all these days.  I've done and learned a lot, just since last Sunday.  So, here's a breakdown of what I've been doing and how it's all going.

A. I had my weekly online meeting with my Group Study instructor, Chad Josewski, on Monday.  I always learn a lot from those meetings, because I'll come in with specific questions and Chad will answer them all.  He also points out where he sees my models need improvement.  Here's some of what resulted from that meeting.

1. For the head model, I fixed Creed's beard.  I had it as a sort of rectangle on his chin, and Chad pointed out that such a pattern isn't very realistic.  So, I fixed the cut map for it and now it looks much better.  I'll insert an image at the end of this post.
2. Chad affirmed that I'm going about doing Creed's texture the right way.  So, I've continued on with that.
3. He also let me know the level of detail the models of Creed and Boyd should generally be at before texture placement starts.  So, I'll be getting Boyd up to that detail level, which is basically emphasizing her muscles a bit more and showing more definition over all, with nice, clean sculpting lines.  I started Creed's texturing a bit below this level, but he's a unique case.  As he's going to be undead, for this specific model, it makes sense to put on the normal skin texture, and detail/zombify the model and the texture together.

B. I had an upsetting problem with the head model.  Not the hair... that was easy to fix once pointed out.  It was with the blend shapes.

Remember, I talked about those before?  The blend shapes are all the morphs that allow for the face to be animated.  Eyebrow raises, smiles, things like that.  I had animated the head tilts, the eyes, the eye brows, the eye lids, and the jaw.  When I went to animate the mouth shapes (the phonemes, for when he's talking), some weird things started happening.  The shape of the mouth would be different depending on where I was in the animation.  Sometimes it would do the opposite of what it was supposed to, say closing instead of opening, or totally distorting the face.

I ended up resetting the animation to see what was going on, and after much trial and error, figured out that the blend shapes were interfering with each other.  I would raise eyebrows, then go to widen the mouth, and the eyebrows would lower.  I was afraid I would have to go back about five weeks worth of work, and redo all the blend shapes.  I was afraid that the problem lay with zBrush.  (And believe me, I'm glad that wasn't the problem, since zBrush makes creating them so much easier, and better looking!)

I posted to two school forums: the one for my Head Sculpture class, and the 3D Modeling workshop, and asked if anyone could figure out what was going on.  I also posted the file itself so people could check it out.

One of my classmates came through later that evening.  (This stuff was all yesterday.)  The problem was that I had the various blend shapes applied by category.  Basically, I had told Maya, "Okay, here are the major expression blend shapes, apply those.  Now, here are the eyebrow blend shapes, apply those."  Because of that, they were all affecting each other.  Turns out what I needed to do was remove all the blend shapes from the head, and tell Maya, "Okay, here are ALL the blend shapes.  Apply them in one category."

And now, they're working fine, and not interfering with each other.  Phew!

Since I had to redo the animation anyway, I re-videoed myself acting out the line, and have started the animation again.  Since I now know what I'm doing with the animation, it's coming along rather quickly.  I'm already up to animating the eye lids.

Oh, the line?  It's from American Beauty, and is Kevin Spacey saying, "It's the weirdest thing.  I feel like I've been in a coma for about twenty years, and I'm just now waking up."  I had asked if we could record an original line, but we're supposed to choose one that comes with the class.  That's Okay, this one works pretty well.

Time permitting, I'll do a vlog later today and actually show a little bit of this work.

Meanwhile, here's the improved beard!  (Okay, so it's two pictures!)

Paradigm Shift

The next step for working on the full body models of Bodacious Creed and Anna Lynn Boyd is a departure from what I thought would be next.  It's enough of a departure that I'm thinking of it as a paradigm shift.

I had figured I would model up to high detail on both before I textured them.

Then I realized something.

Many of those fine details we 3D modelers sculpt in must also be shown on the texture.  If I was creating textures from scratch for these characters, it would make sense to sculpt everything, then to use the details on the models as a basis for the textures.

It's different though when you're modeling after real people, and those details on their bodies--wrinkles, moles, and so on--are right there in the reference photos.  I figured it would make sense to get the models up to a moderately detailed level, where everything is shaped right and the major body landmarks are in place, and then texture.  Texture, before the real detail work is in there.  This way, I could then use the textures painted on the characters to refine the models, to know where all those details need to be.

With Bodacious Creed, there's another reason.  Both the body texture, coming directly from the photographs of the guy I chose as a reference, and the body, will initially look as he would have alive.  It makes sense to me to zombify the model and the textures in unison, which this will allow me to do.

So, even though Creed is at a slightly less detailed stage than Boyd, I've started texturing him.  I'm going to refine Anna a bit more, then start work on her too.

Oh, I asked my two modeling instructors about this, and they both said that this is a good methodology.

I'll be sharing pictures and probably a video soon!

Animation!

Though I'm a 3D modeler, and the skills I'll be primarily demonstrating with my thesis, and demo reel, are modeling, texturing, and lighting, we are doing a bit of animation for my Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions class.  That's why we've been working on all those blend shapes, and all that rigging!  (Blend shapes are part of the modeler's job, if anyone's wondering.  Rigging is generally not.)

So yeah, that cool head I've been posting?  It's going to be MOVING soon!  I'm using a clip from American Beauty, so Creed will be talking in Kevin Spacey's voice.

Now that I have all that, plus the hair for the head model done, I'm starting the animation!  I'm really excited about this.  It will be a fun project, an interesting departure from my focus.

Anyway, I'll share more on this as I get it done.

Here's the text book we're working with in class.

US Marshall Robert Creed

I worked hard on Creed's hair this weekend. It was a lot of work. I ran into one big problem with it: after I had the hair done and liked it, I realized that the head was no longer rigged! NOT a fun situation. So, I had to decide, do I re-rig the head, or do I redo the hair?

The blog gets fairly technical right here, so read on if you like, or just scroll down to the images. I really wanted to show how the hair came out, since I'm pretty happy with it.

Fortunately, I frequently save, and I save incremental versions of my files. So I had a rigged head with the hairdo done, but without the beard, etc. It was actually pretty easy, though a little time consuming, to redo just the mustache, beard, eyebrows, and whiskers.

Of course, after that was all done, I found what might be a way to just transfer a finished hair style from one model to another. Yes, you may say it. "Facepalm." Well, something to use at another time!

I had problems crop up with the Creed and Anna Lynn Boyd full body models as well. I needed to do a bit of retopologizing on both models, and popped them over to Maya. I fixed the topology, then brought them back to zBrush. While the high rez details were reapplied just fine, the 3D layers were deleted. Fortunately, with Creed, it wasn't hard to redo them. With Anna, there was only one I needed to redo. The others were at a high detail level I don't really need yet, so I let them be.

With Anna, I kept getting mixed up on which was the current file, so I had to redo the clothes several times. I ended up with one file with the improved clothes, and one file with the body at a more finished level. So, I deleted the body from the clothes file, deleted the clothes from the body file, and put all the correct sub-tools back together.

The end result was that I got some good work done in some areas, and not enough work done in others.

I have a bunch I want to get done this week, even with Thanksgiving coming up. I'll write more about that as I get it done.

Ghosting is Sweet

This vlog is another tutorial!  zBrush has so many amazing features, and sometimes I like to share what I'm learning in the form of a helpful tutorial.

This one shows the power of the Transparency, Ghosting, Solo, and Xpose settings, and how helpful they are when working with sub-tools.  Even if you don't use zBrush, check this video out.  These settings look so cool.

Check this out!

On  Monday, I learned about the transparency and ghosting settings in zBrush.  This is very useful when you're working with sub tools!

Here's an example.  I redid Anna Lynn's boots today.  I'm going to sculpt them to look like the fancy boots in the concept drawings.

While improving the shape of the boots, these came in really handy.  I'm sure you can tell why!  By being able to see the feet inside the boots, it was easier to understand how the boots should be contoured.

 

And here's the concept turnaround of Anna Lynn's outfit, showing the look I'm going for with the boots.

More Tech, Plus Hair & Clothes

I'm adding quite a bit to my models!  I've started adding hair to the Bodacious Creed head model (I posted one image in the last entry, and will post another here), added some skull bones and more machinery to the full body Creed model, and I've started Anna Lynn's clothing.

I made cowboy boots for her, but I'm going to change those.  Josh actually drew fancier, lace-up shoes in the concept drawings of her.  I'm going to go back to that look, but you'll see the big 'ol cowboy boots in this video.

Since making this video yesterday, I've learned some new techniques in zBrush,and you'll get to see some of that in future videos!

First, the latest update of the hair.  The individual strands are thinner (and more realistic), and more strands have been added.  I also created the beard and mustache.

Second, the latest video!

Creed's Hair, WIP

Creed's head is coming along well. I've finished the rigging--pending comments from my instructor--and I created his hair. I know it needs some tweaking. I may also add facial hair, and I'd like to figure out a good way to do the eyebrows and eye lashes.

Anyway, here's a picture!

Creed Has Heart but no Heart

Much earlier in this blog, I showed off the fantastic concept art by Joshua Stewart. I've started working with the images of the mechanical parts, which I've also shown, more recently. Anyway, I've started to work on the machinery for his chest. That's been fun.

Today, I created more of that, and I fixed some problems with the rig for the head model. Lots more to do this week though!

Anyway, I recorded this video last night and posted it today.

Neck Muscles Video

The vlog finally uploaded! Enjoy.

Great Anatomy Book

I'm uploading the latest video now. It's stalling, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Meanwhile...

On a recommendation from one of my instructors, I picked up a great anatomy book. (Actually, I got the Kindle version, saving me about $10 and allowing me to have it as a reference right on my computer.) I used it this week, in conjunction with the resin anatomy statue I use, to block in some of Creed's neck muscles.

That book is...



Oh, and if you're curious about the model...

Working with zBrush 3D Layers

In zBrush, 3D layers are a great way to alter a model without destroying the underlying model.

Not sure what I'm talking about?  Well check out how I'm using them on the full body Bodacious Creed model!

Mirrored Blend Shapes

Happy Halloween!

Here's a tutorial I did explaining how I created mirrored blend shapes, using Maya and zBrush.  Fun for everyone!

Most of the Head Machinery

So, since the last post--yesterday, was it?--I've done a lot more.  It's amazing how much work it is to create these little Steampunk components!  And I'll certainly be improving on them as I go.

I have the main head machinery done, and that's what I show in this new vlog.

Machinery

In my last vlog, I showed the beginnings of one of the units in Creed's head here. Since I've done a little more work, I thought I'd show it off.

Once I have more of the machinery in the head, I'll get back to the organic components I enjoy so much and start peeling away the skin to show the muscles and bones underneath! Zombies are so fun. All sorts of zombies.

First NURBS Components

I'm at the point on the full body Bodacious Creed model where I can start making him the badass Zombie Lawman Gunslinger of Justice that we know and love!

I've just stared creating the Steampunk components that will be integrated into his head. I think that once I have these ready, it will be easier to start modifying his head to remove skin, show muscles and bones, and so on.

This video gives a taste of the difference between making an organic model with polygons, and modeling a hard surface model using NURBS.

Brow Blend Shapes

Today, I did the blend shapes for Creed's eyebrows, for my Head Sculpture class.

To see what I'm talking about, watch the video!

Vlog is Up!

I talked about doing a new vlog post in my last entry.  Well, it's up!  Enjoy!

Better Textures

I spent a lot of time today working on the texture for my head model of Bodacious Creed.  I also textured his tongue, gums, and teeth.  It all needs some refining, but that will be part of the process of working on such a big project.

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few renders.  His teeth and tongue are not in most of the open mouth shots because I was having some rendering issues when I was working on them.  I think I've sorted it out, and those should look good in future work.

This kept me very busy today!  Texturing and lighting are also part of my skill set, and it's fun putting them to good use.

But for now, here are some images I rendered today.

More Face Work

I'm making good progress on my thesis this week!  I've been meaning to make a new video for the vlog, but every time I start, I feel like I could do better, and I delete the thing.  I'll get another one up soon.

This entry gets pretty technical, so it may be more for fellow modelers.  But hey, I think it's interesting.  If you don't get what I'm talking about, just read the first paragraph of each number, and you'll get the gist of this.

Here's what I've worked on over the last few days.

1. I improved the blend shapes for Creed's head.  Blend shapes allow an animator to morph an object.  In this case, they're to give expressions to Creed's face.  In the last video, I showed the blend shapes for the six major facial expressions: joy, sadness, disgust, fear, anger, and surprise.  I knew they needed some work, but it was when I had my weekly meeting with the instructor for my Group Study class, Chad Josewski, that he helped me nail down what needed to be fixed.

Now, I thought I would need to redo all the expressions from scratch.  To create a blend shape, you make a copy of the object you're going to morph.  You can shape that object as much as you want to get it into the new shape.  However, you can't add any new geometry to it.  If you add new polygons, edge loops, or whatever, it won't work properly with the original shape.  What I needed to do was smooth out the main mesh, which quadruples the number of polygons, then bring it into zBrush to create the expressions.  I was glad to learn various techniques for making the expressions in Maya, but knew that I could do them more intuitively in zBrush.


I figured that if I smoothed the main heads and the expressions, all that adding of geometry would make them not work together.  That's why I figured I would have to start from scratch.  Fortunately, I was wrong!  The smoothed versions worked together just fine.


So, I was able to simply smooth all six heads, and bring the expressions into zBrush to improve them.  I'm pretty happy with them now, though always open to my instructors' critiques, and making more improvements.


2. I improved the texturing of Creed's head!  It's higher resolution now, meaning it has more realistic detail.


I still need to create bump, epidural, and specular maps, but that shouldn't take long, now that I have a good color map.  I'll probably get those polished up today.

Time permitting, I'll make another vlog showing this work.

For the rest of the week, I have more blend shapes to do for head sculpture, and a lot of detailing to do on the full body Creed and Anna Lynn models.

Textured Head

Before Bodacious Creed was a zombie, he had to die. And before he died, he was alive.

One of my super powers is stating the obvious.

As I've talked about in the vlog, for my Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions class, I'm modeling Creed's head as he was before he died.  This will also give me a strong basis for how he looked alive when I go to turn him into a Steampunk zombie.

In my latest vlog, I showed how I modeled six facial expressions for Creed, and applied them to his default head as blend shapes.  Since then, I textured his head.  It can probably use some more work, but this blog is about showing each step of my thesis progress.  So, here is an image showing the default expression, and three of the blend shapes.  More importantly though, you can see how the head currently looks textured.

Blend Shapes

Time for a little animation!

Well, the beginning of it. For Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions, we've finished our head models and are now creating expressions for them. This week, we're doing the six basic expressions: joy, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, and fear.

In this video, I show these six emotions on Creed's head.

Anna Lynn Boyd: Major Muscle & Bone Landmarks

It has gotten so easy to do these videos, that I'm putting a lot of them out!  It's fun, too.  I enjoy showing the progress on my thesis this way.

So, here's some work I did on Anna Lynn since yesterday's video.

Into zBrush

I'm now at the point of bringing the base mesh models for Bodacious Creed and Anna Lynn Boyd into zBrush for sculpting!

This video shows some of the beginning steps.

UV Map Tutorial

In the last few days, I cleaned up the base mesh for Bodacious Creed, and created a UV map for him. It took several hours to figure out the best way I could find for creating that map. Once I had the process figure out though, it took about 15 minutes!

So, for today's vlog, I created a UV map for Anna Lynn Boyd, and presented it as a tutorial. If you're curious about the process, or if you're a modeler and would like to learn my new method for creating a UV map for a humanoid character, check out the video on YouTube!



Here is a small version of the UV map for Anna Lynn Boyd, so everyone can see what one of these maps looks like.

Maya Madness

Lots of weirdness with Maya today, and straightening out the model of Bodacious Creed!

I'm working on the UV mapping today as well, and have had some strange problems with that. I think I finally figured out how to do it just right. More on that in another post.

For now, here's the latest video!

Second Production Vlog

It's not quite a week since I posted the first Bodacious Creed production vlog, and here's the second.

Since last week, I've made changes as well as progress to the models.  Watch the vlog for more!

Late September Progress

I've been making good progress on the models for Bodacious Creed!

I'll probably do another vlog today or tomorrow, time permitting, to show the changes I've made.  These include:

1. Creed's ears for Head Sculpture class.

2. Getting Creed's head on his body for Organic Modeling 2.

3. Sculpting the body for Organic Modeling 2.  It's looking very good now.

4. Adding in Anna Lynn's mouth cavity and eyelids.  This is actually from instructions for Head Sculpture, but I'm using the instructions on Anna Lynn first, for Group Study, and will do them on Creed next week.

That's pretty much it, so it won't be a very long blog, but the improvements look really good and I'm ready to share them.

New Vlog, and 100th Post!

This is my 100th post to this blog!

You know you're making progress on something when you have a milestone like that!

I just posted a new vlog with lots of video showing the progress on my models so far.  They are in the base mesh stage.  This stage is very important in getting the topology correct, so that detailed modeling goes smoothly.

So, here's the video!  Feel free to click over to my YouTube channel as well and subscribe.



In case you don't want to click over to YouTube, here's the text that accompanies the video there:

This video shows the start of the production phase on my thesis, Bodacious Creed. The modeling has begun!

If you want to know more about my 3D Modeling thesis, visit the Bodacious Creed blog: http://jf-mastersthesis.blogspot.com/

In the video, I was unsure of the price for the awesome "Creed Busts In" print. The Matte Paper print is $19.99, Canvass is $29.99, and the mouse pad is $9.99. The mug is 12.48.

You can buy the print at http://fav.me/p14705078

I mentioned "Couch Zombies" in the video. That's a great new Web series I'm working on with other film, animation, and artistically inclined friends. Subscribe to it here on YouTube, at http://youtube.com/couchzombies.

Sorry that the portions where I show the modeling work are glitchy! I'll need to figure out if there's a way to make the videos look better in the future. But if not, I'll still keep sharing my progress anyway!

Much Ado About Anna

I've been putting a lot of hours into modeling the  base mesh for Anna Lynn Boyd this week.

Anna's a fascinating character: a woman in her mid 20s, she's a brothel madam, and an inventor/engineer.  She's quite successful for her age; her intelligence and business sense have gotten her far.

This is a woman who will raise the dead if she thinks it will do some good.

If you've  been reading the blog up to here, you know that I thought I had picked out the right model, twice, before settling on one who really looks the part.

Here are a couple of jpegs comparing Josh's concept work to the model I chose for Anna.

Here's the base mesh I created of her.  It's just about ready to go into sculpting and detailing mode in zBrush!

To better understand my own character, I bought a very good book on prostitution in the Old West.

Sexy Anna Lynn

I'm almost done with the base mesh for Anna Lynn Boyd!

Now, that might not mean much to a lot of readers, though others probably know exactly what I'm talking about.  So, I'll break it down.

When modeling just about anything with polygons, you want to first create a model with few polygons.  However, you want it to be shaped as close to the person, creature, or object you're modeling as possible.  Imagine drawing a grid all over your body that defines the shape of you.

That's basically what I'm doing, only in the computer, and of Anna Lynn.

Anyway, it's shaping up very nicely.  I'm working on the face now.  I'm actually using a mix of instructions and blending them together.  The first is from when I took Organic Modeling, and learned from Tareq Mirza how to create a male base mesh.

However, that mesh was primarily for anatomical study.  The layout of the body is very good for other applications, but I've tried sculpting different looks from the head of that model, and it doesn't deform as well as I need.

So, I'm using the instructions from Head Sculpture and Facial Expressions to model the head and face.  This took some serious retopologizing of the model of the head, while not altering the body.  But with that out of the way, the actual modeling of the head is coming along really well.  I'm working on the nose and ears today.

For Bodacious Creed, I'll do something similar.  One exception is that I should be able to take the head model for him from Head Sculpture, and graft it onto the body I'll be modeling in Organic Modeling 2.

Sorry if your head is now spinning.

Starting to Model!

Howdy.

I figured I'd report the progress I've been making on the Bodacious Creed models over the last couple of weeks.  I've shown some of the photographs I'll be using to base my 3D models on.  I've also started the actual process of modeling the figures.

I'm about half way through with the base mesh of Creed's head for my Head Sculpture and Facial Expressions class.  I just started creating my base mesh for Anna Lynn Boyd for Group Directed Study.  For that, my instructor gave me a reference 3D mesh to use, as the topology for a female model is a little different than for a male model.  Why not just use that mesh?  Well, I need to learn how to create one myself!  The reference will be a great help in that.  I'm actually using the instructions for building a human base mesh from my Organic Modeling 1 class, and will refer to the female mesh to see what I need to build differently.

For Organic Modeling 2, I will be modeling Bodacious Creed's entire body.  So far, I've just set up the Maya file with the reference images I'll need.  One thing I'm wondering is if I can, or should, take the head model from Head Sculpture and Facial Expressions and graft it to Creed's body, or if I should create it from scratch, but use the same methodology as in the head sculpture class.

Hey, isn't this fun reading all this technical stuff?

The short version is that I'm creating the main character models, and though I have nothing to share with you all yet, the project is moving along well!

Anna Lynn, Again

Just because I like to mess with ya, here's another model!

Really, though, I realized that the last model, as gorgeous as she is, didn't fit the part.  This new model looks more like someone who might be found in 1860s Arizona, with possibly some Spanish thrown in with the rest of her European ancestry.

Bodacious Creed Art Print

I just put Creed Busts In, the wonderful concept painting that Josh did of Bodacious Creed and Coconino, up for sale as a print on deviantArt!  If you like this picture, please consider buying the print for your wall.  I will be splitting the profit 50/50 with Josh, so you'll be supporting his continued art work and my thesis.

Anna is Cast!

So, I decided to use the second model, the one I posted yesterday, as the basis for Anna Lynn Boyd.  Beautiful model, you are cast in the role!

It's going to be a very busy (but very fun) semester!  Here's what I'll be doing for each of my classes:

Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions: Modeling Creed's head and rigging it for animation.

Organic Modeling 2: Modeling as much as I can of Bodacious Creed over the semester.

Group Directed Study: Modeling as much as I can of Anna Lynn Boyd, and doing whatever other thesis planning is required from the class.  For instance, one of my first assignments is to plan the shots for my thesis demo reel.

In addition to the thesis work, I've been writing the Bodacious Creed graphic novel.  I've written the first draft of the first chapter.

For now, I leave you with an image of the model I chose for Anna Lynn, as well as one of Josh's concept drawings for her.

Which one do I use?

Here's another model from 3d.sk, who also fits the bill of Anna Lynn Boyd very well!  She's also gorgeous.  I think I'm going to model from her rather than the first model I posted yesterday, but I'm not sure.

What do you think, Pardner?

Virtual Casting

Got 'em!

I found a model who will be great for Creed, and one who will be great for Anna Lynn.

Creed doesn't look too old, but definitely experienced, and has a rugged, old west type look to him.  He's handsome and looks like he could be commanding.

Anna Lynn is beautiful, with the right body type.  She looks smart and possibly devious.

These models are both from 3d.sk, and I reduced the images sizes considerably before posting them here.

The Face of Creed

For my Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions course, I had a little problem.  Nothing big, but it needed to be addressed.

As cool as the head angles for Bodacious Creed, since he's already quite decayed in them, my instructor encouraged me to start off with him as he was alive.  This means getting head shots of a person who looks like he could play Creed in a movie.

Know who would make a great Bodacious Creed?  Nathan Fillion.  Holy crap... I can't believe Nathan Fillion is younger than me...

Anyway, that's not who I'm using.

Instead, I got a subscription to 3d.sk, a site that specializes in resources for 3D artists.  I'm going to go through there and find one of their models who looks good for the role, and use his head.

So grateful for royalty free stuff.

More later!

Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions

Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions is my elective class this semester.  What that means is that, though it can relate to my thesis, it doesn't have to.  I have two directed study classes this semester specifically for thesis work.

The great thing is that I am doing something related to my thesis in Head Sculpture & Facial Expressions.  Which means, I'm doing something for my thesis that wasn't in the proposal!

The semester long task for this class is to model and rig a head.  Makes sense, right?  And, if you're working on your thesis, you're supposed to do this for the main character.

Yay!  I get to make a separate head model for Bodacious Creed, create expressions for him, and rig 'im!  Not only will that look great to future employers, it will also look great in my demo reel.

And... if you want to see some of the head sculptures I've done for Couch Zombies, visit the Couch Zombies YouTube Channel (and subscribe!), and the Couch Zombies blog!  They're both very entertaining.  I promise.

Fall 2010 Semester Starts!

Yep!  Classes started yesterday, and I've already read the materials for the first module.  Okay, that's not 100% true.  I read all the online materials, but I need to read from "Stop Staring," one of our class books.  I'll put in a link to it in Amazon.

All three classes focus on an aspect of my thesis.  I've been uploading the concept art Josh did, the proposal file, and so on.

And, of course, I'll share my progress here!

Bodacious Writing

I just started writing the Bodacious Creed graphic novel today!  I didn't have a lot of time to write, but for the time I had, I got a lot done.

That's it.  There's not a lot to tell right now, but I'll let you all know as I get more done!

Fall 2010 Classes

So, not only did I pass my Midpoint Review, meaning Bodacious Creed will go forward, it looks like I'm getting all the classes I want this coming semester!

Those are Directed Study: Organic Modeling 2, 3D Modeling Group Directed Study, and Head Sculpture and Facial Expressions.  And class starts in just five days!  I'm so excited!

I went out and got a $0.75 notebook while out for a walk today, and I plan to start writing the script for the Bodacious Creed graphic novel.  Yes, the models are the highest priority, but I figure that, while I'm working on the models, I'm going to have a lot of story ideas, and I should put them together.

I now await your congratulations!

;)

Passed!

Fantastic news!  I have now, OFFICIALLY, passed my Midpoint Review!

NOW, I'm an MFA Candidate!

Time to call the university and sign up for at least one Directed Study class!

Talk about blowing my mind!

I just got this concept image from Josh.

First, let me give you a little background.  As far as the amount of models go, I've trimmed that down to just Bodacious Creed, Anna Lynn Boyd, and Coconino.

The next part of the thesis will be setting them up in poses, and those will become turntables.  I will sculpt them in zBrush, so they'll be very much like fine art sculptures as well as movie quality models.

I proposed three posed scenes.

1. Anna Lynn "activates" Bodacious Creed.  That moment when she raises him from the dead, he stumbles off the medical bed, stunned, then grabs her arm as she instinctively reaches down to see if he's all right.

2. Creed protects Anna.  He stands protectively before Anna at her saloon, guns blazing, while she is behind the bar drawing her own pistol.

3. Creed (for lack of a better term) busts in to a saloon with Coconino at his side, growling.

That third pose is the one that Josh illustrated first.  Now, he did a full scene, with not only Creed and Coconino coming into the bar, but with a matron there (not Boyd), gun behind her back.  I will simply be modeling Creed and Coconino, but I love this painting.

Since I'm receiving these after having turned in my revised thesis, I'm sending them as I get them in to my advisor.

Anyway, enjoy Josh's terrific painting, and visit his site!

Click the image for a larger version.

Though I've been working on Couch Zombies and will continue to do so, this makes me eager to focus on my thesis!  It also makes me eager to write more of the story of Bodacious Creed!

Wow, an update!

Howdy everyone!

Deepest apologies for not having posted in awhile.  I'm back with news though, and with why I haven't posted to the Bodacious Creed blog very much lately.

The news: I've sent in the updated version of Bodacious Creed to the head of my department at Academy of Art University.  I'm crossing my fingers that it will get accepted, and that I'll truly be an MFA candidate.  Yeah, I was mistaken before.  They said it was accepted, or would be, if I made certain changes.  I made those changes, and hopefully they're ones the university will like.  I'll share more as I find out!

The reasons for my absence: First, I'm more or less between the concept phase of the project and getting to creating the actual models.  The model creation, ie. the production work, will start when the new semester starts.  The summer's almost over, with classes starting September 2.  What classes I'm going to take, well, that's a bit in the air at the moment, pending acceptance of my thesis.

Second, I've been putting a lot of work into a new project.  It's putting my 3d modeling skills, my story concept skills, and my marketing skills to good use!

This project is...

Drum roll...

Couch Zombies!

Couch WHAT, you ask?

Well, click the above link and you'll learn a lot more!  Couch Zombies is a new Internet show, co-created by my buddy Steve and me, about some zombies who live in apartment building.  It's about their everyday lives and how, despite the fact that mostly they just want to stay at home, the human world keeps drawing them out... or in.

Steve and I recruited two of our good friends to the Couch Zombies team.  Gerry is a terrific illustrator.  He's doing the character design and the storyboards.  Janet is a wonderful animator, and is also an MFA student at AAU... in Animation, wouldn't you know.  She'll be animating the show in Flash, and creating the characters and setting based on Gerry's designs.

Also, check out the Couch Zombies blog!  The main blog talks about our work on the show.  There are also four related blogs (the links are in the right sidebar from that page) told from the perspective of the four main zombie characters.

There's a lot to enjoy in the blog and on the Couch Zombies channel already, so head over to both and subscribe!

And you betcha, I'll have more on Bodacious Creed soon!

Do you notice a recurring theme in these?  Could it be intelligent zombies?  Yeah baby!

Getting Closer

My due date to turn in the changes to Bodacious Creed is coming soon!  That date is August 20.

Josh has sent me some terrific new art.  I think all I need now are a few posed drawings, which will represent the poses I will put my characters in for the turntables.

I've also been working on Couch Zombies, a new Web cartoon about the lives of apartment dwelling zombies!  It's going to be very funny.  Check out the vlog and the blog!

New Images

On the 20th, I need to show the changes to my thesis to the university before it is completely approved.  So, I've been working with Josh to improve the characters and concept.

Here are some new concept images that Josh came up with.  First, he simplified Anna Lynn Boyd's dress, so that it will be easier to model.  It's still just as sexy, and is basically the same style, but less detailed and frilly.

He's also improved Coconino, so that the steam-cybernetic coyote would be able to move as a normal coyote, something that Boyd would have wanted when fixing him.

Finally, he's made some wonderful improvements to Creed himself.  Bodacious Creed is supposed to be heroic, proud, and tough.

New Concept Sketches

Since Bodacious Creed himself, and the coyote Coconino, need the most adjustment, Josh sent me sketches of them.  Here they are!

I really like the new direction Creed's going.  He looks both more beautified (handsomified?) and more badass at once.  The idea is that Anna Lynn Boyd, on bringing him back to life, would do so in a caring way and want to make sure he was strong and proud.  She would also want him to look a little scary though, as his "job" is to find a murderer.

I want Coconino to look less damaged than in the new coyote sketch, but I let Josh know.  Basically, Coconino was still alive when Boyd found him, and she patched him up with her best technology.  She would have fixed major damage and done her best to make the coyote able to move as freely as it did before.

More coming as Josh polishes up the characters!  Also, I plan to record a vlog on this, time permitting.  I'll post the link later.

Just a Note

I have a bunch to do today, and tomorrow's a big family reunion!  But I wanted to let everyone know that I plan to record a short Bodacious Creed vlog today to post later.

In BC news, I've emailed Josh the concept changes, and am hoping to hear back soon.  More news as it comes along.

Next Phase

I just emailed Josh the new overall changes that will need to be made to Bodacious Creed.  In short: Push Creed more toward Steampunk.  Give Boyd a simpler yet still Western-sexy dress.  Simply Coconino's Steampunk parts and make them more organic.

I have no doubt his work will look awesome.

In other news, the animated YouTube program my buddy Steve and I are working on is coming along.  I'll be doing some character designs soon, probably today.  We also have another good friend of mine on board.  She's an MFA candidate at AAU as well doing 2D Animation.

More on both later!

Third Vlog

This video was so much better originally.  But, I made the mistake of ripping the complete video with no sound, permanently deleting the main video, and then having to recover it.  I was only able to get half of it back.  Since I don't mind so much looking silly, and I'm not afraid to say that I made a mistake, I went ahead and shared what I have.

It basically covered what is in the last blog entry.

Accepted!

This entry is coming to you from Jonathan Fesmire, MFA Candidate!

I had my Midpoint Review, and the review board accepted Bodacious Creed today!

They did suggest some changes. And, wouldn't you know it, the requirements and expectations were different than I thought.  I had been going by an older file, on what they expected a couple of years ago.

What they now want is turntables and slow motion fly-bys with the characters posed, capturing moments in time.  Due to the hugely complicated nature of the models I proposed, I've been asked to drop the bordello setting, and Scrumptious, the robot.  So, the models will just be Creed, Boyd, Coconino, and a few simple set models to go along with the poses.  Vince likened this to the small sets often used for stage plays.

I've been asked to bring Creed more toward the Steampunk side of his nature, for Boyd to have a simpler dress, and for Coconino's steam-cybernetic parts to work more organically with its body.  Coco should be able to move and act like a normal coyote, and if anything, be enhanced rather than encumbered.

The argument for bringing Creed more toward the Steampunk was compelling: Boyd is a brilliant and sensitive woman, and would put a lot of loving care into him.  Though he had been dead for six months, she would want him to be strong, reinforced, and not so ugly.  Hmm... now I'm thinking that there wouldn't be a whole lot she could do with his face to make it prettier, so a mask might be in order.  Something to discuss with Vince.

I've contacted Joshua to see if he's still available to do more concept art, since these changes need to be made.  And, I'll be talking with Vince DeQuattro over the next couple of days and working with him over the next couple of weeks to get this polished up and ready for next semester.

But I passed!  I passed!  Woohoo!

It's Tomorrow!

My Midpoint Review is tomorrow!  In less than 24 hours, at that.

For the online reviews, AAU sets up online meeting rooms with Adobe Connect.  I'll be meeting with an adviser in my meeting room in about 15 minutes for a live overview of what I'll need to do for my actual presentation tomorrow.

I can't tell you all how eager I am to start the actual modeling for Bodacious Creed, and to work with professionals in the industry, who will help me with my work.

 For the models, I'll be working primarily in Maya and zBrush.  Here are some books on the subject.

Off to the University

It took awhile to get everything together, but I burned those two proposal CDs  for Bodacious Creed and mailed them off to Academy of Art University today!  They should get there on time... I sure hope so!

So, now I can relax.  A little.  I still have the Midpoint Review on Wednesday!  I'm actually really, really looking forward to it.

Files Ready!

So, after a busy week, I finally finished up all the files needed for my Midpoint Review!

These are:

1. The Thesis Proposal.  This is very much like the one I posted here, and that you can download.  If you want to get it, I encourage you to look through old posts.  It's good readin'!

2. The Thesis Presentation.  This is a Power Point presentation that hits the highlights and shows some of my modeling and texture work to date.

3. My Demo Reel.  This is the one that I wrote about in an earlier post today, and that you can watch on YouTube.

And, while not needed, I added:

4. The first Bodacious Creed vlog.  You can see that a few posts back.

Tomorrow morning, I will mail two CDs with these files to the Midpoint Review Coordinator, so that the committee will have them by the time of my review.  But for now, I'm really tired.  I'm going to bed soon.

Good night.

My Summer 2010 Demo Reel

I may have mentioned that I'll be presenting for my Midpoint Review on Wednesday.  This is what I have to do to get accepted as a Masters candidate, and to have my thesis project, Bodacious Creed, accepted.  I will then be allowed to move forward on it.

I just finished my demo reel, which will be part of that presentation, and I uploaded it to YouTube.  Enjoy!

The First Vlog

I finally finished the first vlog for Bodacious Creed!

Head over to the Bodacious Creed YouTube Chanel and check it out.  And remember to subscribe!

I'm also including the video right here for anyone too lazy to head to YouTube. ;)

The song used is the karaoke version of "Better," one of my favorite tunes by Jonathan Coulton.

Progress

There are two main files I need to finish up for my Midpoint Review.  One is a proposal document, and the other is a Power Point presentation.  I'm just about done with the proposal.  I need to add acknowledgments, some portfolio pieces, and a production time line.  I've just started on the Power Point presentation, and I'm going to look over proposals that other students have done, so I have a better idea of what I need to put in this.  I suspect it will mostly be just a different format for presenting the same information that is in the proposal.

I'll share more as it develops!  Meanwhile, remember to check out the Bodacious Creed store tee-shirts and other cool swag.

Seriously, wouldn't it be awesome if this story got big and popular during its development?  I want to see if that can happen.  If you enjoy it, be part of it!  Comment!  Get a shirt!  Bug me to finish the graphic novel!  (The thesis comes first though in the land of Creed!)

Much To Do

I found out the date of my Midpoint Review!  It's July 14, giving me enough time to get my updated proposal done, and to create a power point presentation.  I need to get these things done in the next few days, and sent in to the University.

In addition, I have indeed started writing a Bodacious Creed graphic novel!  Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be the best piece of fiction I've ever written?

While Bodacious Creed is my major project, I do have a couple of others I'm working on.  First, I've been wanting to create a comic strip for awhile.  I've started one, which I'll be doing infrequently, called In Geek Time.  Enjoy!

The other is a new YouTube show that one of my good friends and I are going to produce.  He's writing the script, and I've been working out how to animate it.  More on that later!

Anna's Saloon

Josh sent me this sketch of Anna Lynn Boyd's saloon and brothel.  This is the setting component of my thesis, meaning this is the setting I will model.  I may need to ask him for a more finished drawing, but that will depend on what the review board says.  I'm confident I could work from this drawing as a basis.

I thought of each model with a specific purpose for each.  Basically, they each fill a niche in the thesis, and show various skills I need to have mastered as a modeler.  What they're each for is laid out in my proposal, but I thought I'd explain in more detail here.

1. Bodacious Creed and Anna Lynn Boyd.  Creed fills the spot of the human(oid) organic model that, if in a movie, would have to be done as a CGI character to look right.  Anna Lynn Boyd is there to show that I can do a realistic human, which is valuable in a film when using digital doubles.

2. Coconino.  This coyote fills the need for an animal model.  The steam-cybernetic parts will show that I can do something different with it.

3. Scrumptious.  Anna's robot will be a hard surface model, as opposed to an organic model.  While organic models are living or naturally occurring things, like animals, plants, and mountains, hard surface models are manufactured things, like buildings, cars, and robots.

4. Anna's Saloon.  While this could also be considered hard surface in most respects, the more important aspect is that it's a setting.  It's a pretty complex one at that, and will be very involved, but also very fun to complete.