Applying Mocap Data to Nora

Was testing and learning about adding mocap onto models without custom rigs for a project.  Ended up learning a ton about human IK and more about how to set up mocap in both Maya and Motionbuilder.  The only model I had at hand was Nora so that's what I used and I thought it was a neat end result without any polishing on the animation.  I also learned a bit about batch rendering and ended up doing a quick practice with it for this video.

Blend Shapes with Nora

After receiving our Nora model in my school group project, I dived straight into learning how to use blend shapes for our model.  It was one of my first time using Zbrush so there was an infinite amount of troubleshooting.  Also, at the time I stumbled upon one of Blizzard's articles about updates on their new Tauren model and really liked how simple and nice looking their mouth chart looked so I pretty much copied the color scheme and layout.  You can never have enough reference pictures!

Nora 3D Model

In addition to the 2014 Spring school project, this was the model of Nora who was to be our main character.  However, I only helped a bit with the model's eyes and feedback of its progress but I still thought it was worth posting.  All credit goes to our excellent modeler, Brenda.

Colorful Room

I was part of a school project in Spring 2014 and one of the things we were making was a little girl's room.  I helped with some modeling, UV unwrapping, and I colored it with some very basic shader colors to get an idea on how the room would look.  Some of the models I made included the bookcase, notebook, rug, baseboards, lamps, and side table.

Eye Model

While making the eye I learned to mess with indirect lighting a little bit or "HDR".  By watching a tutorial I found, I learned to play with hypershade more.  Working on this project was very insightful, I discovered some useful ways to use layered texture, ramp, and mia_material_x_passes.

First Head Model

I have been modeling props recently and decided to try my hands at a little bit of organic modeling.  I watched a couple of tutorials to get the topology correct and from there I kind of shaped it to my liking.  Right now I have a basic shape and plan to define it more later.  I'm still not sold on the lips and eyes yet so that'll definitely require more attention.

Used Maya.

Run Cycle with Sword and Shield

This is a run cycle with a sword and shield I modeled real quick for.  I learned to parent the sword and shield to the joints so I could move the whole arm with the weapons.  This is definitely a work-in-progress project that I am going to continue adding more animations to.  I plan to have him attack with his weapons after this run cycle.

Reference picture I used is from The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

Done in Maya.

Dr. Orpheus Head Animation

References like this helped tremendously.

When I took CGT 241 I was a little bummed that they decided to leave out the head animation from the course so I made one on my own.  I chose something comical so I could have a bit more fun with the facial expressions.  Aside from listening to the audio a hundred times, I enjoyed working on this project.

Reference picture I found was from Thinking Animation Blog.

Animated in Maya.

Walk Cycle

I wasn't too happy with the results of my first walk cycle, so I made a second one with a tutorial that I found, but unfortunately it still was not as smooth as I wanted.  This blue guy is a model and rig made by a friend and it is the third walk cycle that I've made thus far.

Reference pictures I used are from The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams.

Animated inside Maya.

Two Ball Obstacle

The objective here was to make an animation with a small and large ball with obstacles in the way.  This was the first 3D animation I created.

Made in Maya 2014.

3D Model of David Tennant's Sonic Screwdriver

This was my final project. We were to choose a non-organic object to make a 3D model after, I ended up choosing the 10th Doctor's sonic screwdriver.  I learned the basics of modeling and texturing throughout the course and I applied what I learned to my final project as I progressed.

Created in Maya 2014.