RFX Design: DESIGN • ENERGY • MOTION: March 2010

3/19/10

Human Anatomy: Ecorchè - More Muscle Groups

Human Anatomy: The Muscles of the Lower Torso

This week we studied the muscles of the lower torso like the abdominus rectus and external obliques. One of my favorite muscles is the serratus anterior, which is a set of braided muscles on the side of the chest that are often mistaken for ribs.

Figure Modeling: The Torso Finished

There just comes a point where you don't feel like anything you do to something will improve it. Hopefully at that point, your idea is all flushed out without any distractions in the piece. Anyway, here it is in its finality:

3/18/10

A.L.F.R.E.D. - Texture Mapping

This is the part you have all been patiently waiting for. This week we finally got to texture our robots, which is a fairly long and involved process, but fun nevertheless.

Basically, I took one base image for all of the different types of metal and then used them as a starting point to make images to wrap around each of the parts. Things like the seams I had to paint in myself, but that wasn't too difficult.

This was one of those assignments that I couldn't stop thinking about until I had finished it, so I put off all my other assignments until I got it done.

There are probably a few things I will wind up tweaking in the end, but for now, I kind of like the way he looks. We'll see how things go. One of the things about making shaders and textures is that you try your best to make sure they are optimized and take the least amount of render time while still looking good. Mine are close, but could still use some tweaking

3/12/10

Human Anatomy: The Muscles of the Upper Torso

Now that all of the bones have been studied, roughly speaking, we have started to move on to the muscle groups of the torso, starting in the upper section.

I really liked doing this drawing because this was such an interesting gesture.

Lastly, we were to copy this master drawing originally done by Raphael. He always loved to exaggerate some of the muscles for structure's sake.

Human Anatomy: Ecorchè

This probably seems familiar, but that's because I already did one of these last semester. Practice makes perfect. Actually, now that I am learning a lot more about anatomy, I am able to make these shapes stick in my head. Let's hope they stay there.

Figure Modeling: The Torso Refined

Continuing to use the female cast I have as a reference, I worked a little bit more on the female torso model I am doing. It is very interesting to see how the body counteracts to each other part as one shifts weight.

Albuquerque: The Unkown

I'm reposting this from my friend Alexiss Memott's blog. This is a short documentary about Sony Imageworks (finally realizing something smart) opening up a satellite studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After watching it, I think I might aspire to work for them just so I can enjoy a better quality of life.

Albuquerque: The Unknown from Puzzled Pictures on Vimeo.

3/11/10

A.L.F.R.E.D. - UV Mapping

This probably isn't the most exciting post you will read, but it is a fundamental part of 3D modeling. This week we had the assignment of creating UV maps for our robots. UV mapping is essentially how textures are applied to an object to make it look real and not the default grey plastic. It is a time-consuming and tedious process, but it pays off in the end.

Essentially, when creating a UV map, you unfold your model in a separate editor that defines the UV coordinates, or where on your 3D model, the 2D texture will be applied. To start off, I used a checkerboard pattern so I could tell whether or not the texture was being distorted as it was applied to the model. It is important to unwrap the model and make sure it is proportional, otherwise things look funny. Take, for example, the unwrapped version of ALFRED's jaw:

Now, try doing that for every piece on his body! Luckily, I had the good fortune of having lots of parts the same and could copy one UV map to another part. There are actually programs that will unwrap your mesh for you, which is especially handy for organic meshes. I suppose it's one of those things that you have to learn the basics of and learn to appreciate it.

He's all ready! Next step is to add textures.

3/9/10

Oh Be Still My Geeky Heart!

3/8/10

Figure Modeling: The Torso

For the next three weeks I will be working on this sculpture of a female torso. Right now I'm using my female plaster casting as a reference. The main purpose of this is to develop an understanding of what the body does in a contropposto stance, that is where the weight is distributed more on one side of the body than the other. For one thing, the hips aren't level and whatever angle the hips are at, the shoulders are in an opposing angle to balance it out.

Anyway, these are the roughs for now and I'm kind of sick of staring at them:

What is this all about?

I was only nine years old when my brother brought the game Myst into our house. I remember vividly delving into it's surreal world and being mesmerized by the groundbreaking visuals that it held. It was at that moment that a seed of fascination had been planted inside me which continued to grow and grow and grow.

It has been many years since that day when I was introduced to the world of 3D computer animation, but I have had an increasingly strong desire to learn more and more about it. I remember the first computer animation I created as a teenager using Strata Studio Pro: a simple car driving around a corner and into a garage with the door closing behind it. The modeling was crude, there were no textures, the animation itself did not look realistic at all, the resulting movie took up a significant portion of our hard drive space, and the rendering time tied up the family computer for over a day. Despite all those things, I realized that there was something in my future involving this new developing medium.

My interest in 3D computer animation grew exponentially over the years and I have never been able to get enough of it. I am continually fascinated by the challenging visuals that are continually being achieved in the entertainment industry. I'm the type of person who will buy the special edition of the movie just so I can see all of the "Making Of" featurettes. I think I enjoy them more than the movie sometimes. Although I had this strong interest in 3D computer animation, I chose to do my undergraduate work in industrial design. I have no regrets about my decision to pursue that path, however, because I learned a great deal about proper proportions, composition, form, color theory, and how people's perception of things can be influenced by visual cues. I recognize that many of these principles translate very easily into visual entertainment.

I graduated from Brigham Young University in 2007 and was hired by Pride Mobility Products in Scranton, Pennsylvania. While there I was responsible for designing various mobility products such as powered wheelchairs, scooters, and other accessories. Oddly enough, however, I found my duties in the design team being focused more towards tasks that were closely related to what a technical director or render wrangler would do. I was often chosen to do the renderings for the products we designed because I understood how to program shaders and how to create HDR studio lighting setups. In addition, during our regular meetings, I found myself doodling little cartoon characters that I had dreamed up or dreaming up ways of how our products could transform into robots, etc. Eventually the itch returned and I realized that my ultimate goals and professional desired wouldn't be fully satisfied in my current career path.

In the spring of 2009 I decided that I wanted to pursue 3D computer modeling and animation as a profession and applied for the MFA program at Academy of Art University. I recently moved to Provo, Utah, and am currently taking classes online while I pursue some other personal goals. I am eager to collaborate on projects and am excited to get involved with the other graduate students. Feel free to check out my web site www.rfxdesign.com and give me any critiques on my work. I'm always looking for a chance to improve my knowledge and skills.