Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Skinning]

This is the video I rendered to show the 'Skin' modifier I applied to the model once the rig was created. The same as the Buu model, I am happy with the outcome although there seems to be a slight problem with the back of his leg. I will look at this on the model and try to solve this problem, then I will upload the stress test aswell.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Creating the Rig]

I had now completed the model for Goku aswell, and could create the rig. This rig would be slightly different to the 'Buu' one as he does not have a tail on his head but an actual Monkey tail.

 

I had a slight problem when building this rig, as when I went to resize the individual bones using the scale tool it would expand that bone massively over the screen. So the screen shots you see for this model are the first attempt I had, and then for the tail they are the newest rig I built for the mesh that worked. 

 

The tail was relatively simple to create. I just clicked the add tail button on the modifier panel and then added more bones so that I could rotate it to fit the mesh tail. 

[PICTURES]

The next post will show a quick basic animation and then I will produce the stress test to find any issues with the mesh. 

Villain - Gohan Buu [Skinning]

The process of skinning was another technique I had not used before, but because Character Animation was the module I had been looking forward to the most I couldn't wait to get started!

Here's a quick video of a basic CAT Motion Layer added to Buu and I am so pleased with the outcome. Happy that no complications have arisen so far and the next post will include the Stress Test.

Villain - Gohan Buu [Creating the Rig]

The model was completed and now I could create the rig for the animation. I followed the tutorials given to us on the Shared Area and found that they really helped me ease into the process as it was something I was new at but willing to learn.

I had fun creating the rig and wanted to make sure every part worked well because it is the most important process of the whole module; if the model doesn't animate well then changes need to be made and therefore more time is taken up making those alterations.

 Something that I found difficult to do was manouvering the hand and fingers into place so that they lined up with my own. As I didn't follow a tutorial to create the hands in the first place, they were very simple and not the perfect shape, however I still think they look effective and hopefully will animate. Time will tell..

The main body was now produced and I wanted to create bones for the tail on Buu's head. This was pretty simple to do and I am happy with the outcome.

Next I will create the Stress test to find any problems..

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Importing Head]

To import the head onto the body I had to merge the model from the seperate save file into the file with the body. This was a simple process and then I just added the materials I had previously made for the body to the head to finish it off.

Now that I can look at the finish product, there are still bits I would like to add and change. I can do these minor altercations as they should not take too much time and personally, I think they will improve the model.

I did want to use Mudbox for the model to add the mapping and define certain parts of the model but this model took longer than expected and therefore I wanted to allow myself enough time to finish it and then animate it.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Body Mapping]

The body is finished. I made a few tiny adjustments to get all of the muscles exactly how I wanted them. I rotated the arms into the Da Vinci position so that it would be easy to rig, and the only thing left to do was to apply materials. 

I will attempt to use 'Mudbox' to apply the materials, even if I don't use it for the finish product. But for now I created each material using Adobe Photoshop, and then applied them to the specific faces.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Head Modelling]

My Second Hero that I have created is called 'Super Saiyan 4 Goku' and I began with the head of the character. I started with a plane that I then cut with Swiftloop to give it specific sized shapes. I then used the reference planes to tug and pull all the vertex into place, first from the side view then from the front view of the head. Once the shape of the head was complete, I selected the border on the back of the head and capped it so that I could extrude the strands of hair.

Hero - Super Saiyan 4 Goku (SSJ4) [Body Modelling]

Now that I had created the head for my second hero, I could then focus on the body. I used the same techniques that I learnt and acquired for the first hero model (Future Trunks) but making adjustments so that the character replicated the reference images of the SSJ4 Goku.

Storyboard - Second Draft [Sketchbook]

After completing the models for the animation and looking back at the storyboard, I realised that I had set myself too much of a task to create it all. So I made the decision to only use 2 of the 3 models to animate, and shorten the story.

I will only use the Gohan Buu and Super Saiyan 4 Goku models, leaving out the Future Trunks mesh. However, I will include the files in the final hand in as I am proud of the model.

I made the change to only use these 2 meshes because I believe they are the best two and my personal favourites.

The storyboard can be seen in the sketchbook.