INTRO

Our Narrative 2 unit in animation was our real introduction to 3D. We were able to learn and practice our skills in sculpting, texturing, rigging, rendering, and animating with new software. We used Maya, Zbrush, and Substance Painter. I definitely became more adept in using these and was able to work on projects that I am genuinely proud of. This unit has given me much more understanding and appreciation of 3D art and animation.

WEAPON

Our first assignment was to model, sculpt, and texture a weapon of our choice. We started in Maya with the full shape, then used Zbrush for more details and organic aspects, and finally used Substance Painter to texture and render the photos.

 

ENVIRONMENT

We were tasked with creating an environment with a minimum of five objects. I had difficulty deciding which programs to use and had to start over with my base from Maya, but ultimately realize it was the right choice. Below are a few photos of some objects I created which were rendered with Substance Painter.

I moved all of the objects to Maya to create a full environment, and changed the lighting and effects to unify the objects and make it seem like they were underwater.

 

CHARACTER

The most difficult step for me was creating a character. I made a 2D sketch which was hard to translate into 3D. I had to make a few adjustments to the design to make it sculptable and animatable. Below is the character bio which I created using a render from Substance Painter.

 

 

 

Animating the character proved more difficult than I previously thought because there are many more technical settings than animating 2D. I found it harder to make the movements look natural. Below is a reel of the walk, run, and jump cycles I created. Turn the sound on for a fun bonus.

 

Below are some renders from Maya of my character posed and interacting with the environment. I found this to be the most rewarding because it was a culmination of all the work I did throughout the unit.

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MOTION CAPTURE

We got Natalie to dance with the motion capture suit and used the animations for our characters.