After analyzing my first walk cycle, i feel this walk is better in a sense that the feet do not stay on the ground for too long. But i do feel that the feet should arc a bit more when the feet come of the ground. I also feel that the feet should arc more when the feet are about to touch the ground. So what i intend to do is go back to the Richard Willams book and look at the 12 principles of animations, especially arcs.

New version

Feedback

I have also been working closely with Depa, i have posted my work up of my work and Depa has given me some useful information. She has notified me over the phone to make the belly a bit more bigger and to give it more of a slouch. I have taken this all on board and implemented this.

Feedback

As i have been constructing my 3D character i have taken Clym into consideration from the very start. I have tried to keep the model as clean as possible, in terms of the typology. I have kept in contact with Clym through email. The above is some annotations from Clym which has kept me on the right track, i have made the changes to my character.
I have also tried to get rid of as many triangles as possible, for rigging sack. I have also had useful feedback from Dan, which is to watch out for the scale of the owl in consideration with its surrounding. This could mean a very big owl in comparison to its surrounding.

Animation Test

This a little test animation that i am doing for the old lady. I am not to happy with is because the feet stay on the floor for too long. What i intend to do is to analyze more walk cycles, and to just focus purely on the lower body i.e legs and feet.

Problems/Feedback

After speaking to Depa we noticed that the owl needs to be a bit more fatter and more dense around the body. And also the glasses need to be more thinner, and further away from the face. So what i intend to do is analyse the character a bit more and make improvements. I am going to take everything on board and start to apply it.Some of the problems i have had so far is extra faces when extruding. To avoid this i intend to move the points as i am going along. Extra faces can be detrimental when rigging. Also the neck the owl needs to be much thicker.

Reference Little Big planet

I think little big planet is going to be very useful when caring out this project. This is because they have the type of look i am hoping to get. My aim is to get in contact with them to find out how they went about trying to get a cloth like texture.

Type of look

For the owl i want it to look stuffed with a cloth like texture. So i have looked at different materials, and characters as reference.

Breif Overview/Possible problems

Before i started to uv mapping the head i did some research into the different types of uv maps. This is my first time doing uv mapping by myself, as i am not too familiar with the technique. From what i have found out from digital tutors, Maya 7. there are different ways to uv map such as cylindrical, planner, spherical, and automatic mapping. based on my research i think it is best to use planner and cylindrical mapping, as you can see below. It took my quite a while to uv map my character. I also mad sure everything stayed in the grid before i made a uv snap shot. I also used a tool called unfold, which unfolds the uvs and makes it look more clean. A possible problem that could arise is the uvs looking very stretched.

UV Mapping Tests

I will also be experimenting with different uv mapping techniques. In order to show my techniques i will be using the face of my owl to experiment with. I will show the stages from the beginning right to the end, stage by stage. I will also look at digital tutors, and the book autodesk mya for reference.

Reflection

So far working using curves has been a walk in the park. This is the first time that i have used curves, so it has taken me out of my comfort zone a bit. As i have modelled the owl i have always taken the topology into consideration, and the layout. In actual fact i prefer to model using covers, as appose to using blocked shapes like a cube. I have also learnt to use as less polys as possible to model. This is because when you smooth the mesh it will add subdivisions.

Modelling using Curves

Owl Reference

This is an owl i am referencing from in terms of topology. As you can see everything is flowing in an organic way. This makes it much easier for the person who is going to rig the character. This is because everything is flowing into one another, and the the mesh can follow the rig appropriately.

Digital Tutors-Reference

For guidance i have been looking at Digital Tutors. I have looked at the different methods used to construct a character in Maya. A new method that i am yet to try is modelling using curves. I have been told by my fellow peers that it is much easier using this method. This is because you can get the essence of the character faster. I am going to experiment for myself.

Topology

Before i start modeling i did some in depth research from students the previous year. In order to do produce a good model the layout of the mesh has to be taken into consideration. I have started to look at models of owls and the layout of the topology. What i have come to realize is that the way you model the character will effect the rig. The only concern i have right now is the eye lid where the expressions will be.

ANIP09305-TECHNICAL RESEARCH-TUTOR-DALLI(ARTIST FOLDER)

I will be modeling, texturing, and uv mapping the Owl. I have established that the Owl will have open wings when she gets excited so i am pretty much aware of this for the purposes of rigging. So already i am thinking about how modeling will effect the rig. The head will move side to side but not all the way around, and she will blink.

Outline