Thesis Project: Robot Modeling Progress

 This week was the last before school started and I was busy trying to get as much possible completed on the robot.  There were some sticky situations with the topography of the mesh, but I managed to get something working that I didn't mind looking at.  Once I start adding textures, a lot of the little imperfections will probably start to disappear.  After completing the torso, I will have to rebuild the abdomen, but it shouldn't take too long to do.

Back in the saddle again: Thesis Project Beginnings

I have been noticeably absent from the blogosphere this summer, and for good reason.  There have been a lot of personal changes going on in my life at the moment, most of which were actually school related. After preparing for a number of weeks for my mid-point review, I finally got it scheduled and under way.  The entire process lasted less than about forty-five minutes, but it was a fairly positive experience for me.  I had my presentation reviewed by a committee of five people from the Academy of Art University, all of which had prior professional experience in the field.  Gratefully, I passed and got some great insights on how to make my project go smoother.

I started a few weeks later on my project, but ran into a bit of a snag as I was planning on moving my little family closer to school.  I did what I could to get things started and wound up blocking in the basics of one model and getting closer to blocking in another.  Even though classes haven't started, I wanted to stay up with my schedule.

First off is the block-in for Alex, based off of photographs of the young British actor Freddie Boath:

I've still got a few divisions to make and such before I start the high-resolution sculpting on the model, but this is a fairly good head start.  I need to consult an expert before I go much further on this model, but the next step will be to UV map the sucker and then import into ZBrush.

Next, I started work on the robot:

I initially started with creating the body in NURBS surfaces, but I struggled in getting good continuity across the patches.  So I set that part aside and started modeling the arm and abdomen.  This next week I should be able to finish up the blocking for the main body and part of the head.