Joy Update 02

I've been steadily working on the model for Joy. I'm happy to report that she's almost ready for sculpting in ZBrush. Have a look at my progress so far:

Joy Update 01

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while since I've updated my blog, but rest assured that I've been quite busy. I'll have some new animation of the Toy Thief to show you all soon, but today I'd like to post an update about my newest character; her name is Joy. Take a look at the concept art below.

Joy isn't a monster, or a ninja, or a mutant or anything fantastical. Instead, she's a regular person like the rest of us, chasing her dreams and forging a path through this crazy life. My goal for Joy is to create a realistic person, so that I may practice animating a person emoting and speaking. This will be quite a challenge, for sure! 

Have a look at Joy's 3D model in progress.

Toy Thief 25-Animation 01

Rigging complete! After months of work, I've finally completed production on the Toy Thief model, and I'm now beginning the animation production. The Toy Thief will star in a 3 to 5 minute animated short that I'm creating. Have a look at the walk cycle I created below, and stay tuned for more updates!

Toy Thief 24- Rigging 01

I'm about 8 hours into the rigging process for the Toy Thief, and the end is finally in sight! I've built a rig that features both a forward kinematic and inverse kinematic skeleton for maximum control when animating. Take a look at my progress below.

Toy Thief 23- Texture Painting 02

I'm very close to finishing the textures for the Toy Thief! Take a look at these renders featuring normal maps and texture maps.

Toy Thief 22-Texture Painting 01

I've finally finished the sculpting phase of production, which means it's time for a different sort of creative fun: texture painting! Instead of showing you boring ol' Photoshop screen captures, I've decided to show you a moody preview render complete with lights and shadows. Have a look!

Toy Thief 21-Sculpting 7

 Sculpting work on Toy Thief has been slow and steady, but the finish line for sculpting is finally in sight! His proportions are deformed and distorted due to the demonic possession that has taken him over, and is slowly contorting his form. 

He's a spindly, ghoul-like character with the skin of a mummy. Have a look at my progress so far.

Here is an example of his legs before and after sculpting.

The sculpting phase of production is nearly complete!

Toy Thief 20-Sculpting 6

 Here's an update on the creepy hands I've been sculpting. I used some leather alphas to give it a textured look.

Toy Thief 19-Sculpting 5

I'm beginning to focus on adding detail to the gloves. The thief stitched these leather gloves together himself, but left the tips exposed so that his fingers could protrude in order to feel the objects he's stealing. It's a part of his character; I'll explain later!

His fingers are long, bony and covered in rotting flesh. I'll begin detailing those soon.

Toy Thief 18-Sculpting 4

Today, I'm going to show the progress I've made on sculpting my character model using ZBrush. When sculpting wrinkles in clothing, I mainly use the standard and clay buildup brushes, and alphas masks have been very useful for laying down stitching around the pockets. There is much more work to do, but take a look at my progress so far.

Toy Thief 17-Sculpting 3

I love to sculpt! Check out my progress so far.

Toy Thief 16- Sculpting 2

Today, I spent more time sculpting on the Thief's face. I'm trying to capture the look of dry, stretched skin, sort of like a mummy.

Toy Thief 15-Sculpting

I've FINALLY completed the UV mapping phase of production on the Toy Thief, which means that it's time for more fun stuff! This time, the "fun stuff" is digital sculpting. Now that the model has UV maps, I can sculpt details using Zbrush, and export them out as normal maps.

Toy Thief 14- Mind On My UV's and My UV's On My Mind

Today I began working on UV Mapping Thief's head and scrawny, nasty chest. I'm looking forward to sculpting the detail on him!

Toy Thief 13- UV Mapping Nightmare

Work on UV mapping continues.

Toy Thief 12- UV Mapping Continues

As production on the Toy Thief character continues, I've now transitioned into the UV mapping phase of the pipeline. I've finally completed his shirt. It was a tedious and time consuming endeavor. I had to pay special attention to his collar and pockets to ensure that their textures would blend nicely with the shirt's texture. Have a look:

Toy Thief 11- Sacrifice Week Day 7

I was crazy busy today putting the final touches on the Toy Thief model so that I could move onto the UV mapping phase of production. UV mapping is a tedious but necessary part of 3D art creation. In very simple terms, it involves "unfolding" the 3D model into a flat, 2D image, so that the 3D software understands how it should project textures onto the model's surface.

Take a look at my progress so far!

Toy Thief 10- Sacrifice Week Day 6

Today, I focused on putting the finishing touches on Thief's accessories and tool belt. I added a second strap onto the other side of his head so that his magnifying glass has something to clip onto. I'll have to research some techniques for creating a magnifying effect. Hopefully I can make it so the glass actually magnifies stuff.

Toy Thief 9- Sacrifice Week Day 5

I spent my time today developing the Thief's tool belt even further. I've added some more geometry to it, such as a clasp that attaches the lantern to the front, and a leather strap with studs to the holster on the side.