Narrative Visual Perspective in Animation

ANIMATION

Our work in animation this year centered around the usage of 3D modeling, texturing, and rendering programs. These include Maya, ZBrush, and Substance Painter.

  ______________________________WEAPON MODELSI had very little experience in that aspect, as did most of the rest of the class. Our weapon models and our skulls were the first piece of 3D assets the class did. I felt I learned a lot about the process.

ENVIRONMENT MODELING

Using what we learned from creating the weapons, we moved onto creating a room with multiple assets. I used the same process: making the basic shape in maya, creating details and high poly models in ZBrush, and coloring in Substance Painter. We then imported the models back into Maya. This is the completed scene with lighting.

3D CHARACTER MODELING

We created a character to accompany our 3D environment. I decided to flesh out and design a character I had previously scrapped for portfolio. As they followed a similar cyberpunk design, this worked well.

Process

After creating this character, I modeled, textured, and then rigged it for motion. The auto-rig function in Maya could not encompass the hair and details I had modeled onto the character, so I decided to rig it manually. This process took several days and many video tutorials, but I eventually got it to work. I also added eyes that can change directions, and a mouth that lip syncs.

 

Character Biography

3D CHARACTER ANIMATION

Using the rigged character, I animated her walking, running, and jumping in Maya. Initially I thought 3D animation might be easier than 2D, but the workflow of 3D is completely different, and it took a while to get used to. Regardless, I like the results. Below is my reel of these 3 motions.