Week 5

Ice Skater Character Continued – Body Creation

Last week the Ice Skates were finalised therefore work progressed upwards starting with the main body/torso of the character. The initial shape for the body was formed using a multiple sided cylinder to provide enough edges to define a basic arched back and frontal shape. Additional series of edge loops were inserted to provide the necessary amount of vertices to introduce further detail around the stomach, collar bone and breast areas. The top polygon was deleted and the edges surrounding the hole were scaled inwards to provide a sloping shoulder section and base of the neck.

 

Torso from Cylinder

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

Holes were created on either side of the body by deleting groups of polygons for where the arms will connect. The edges of these holes were manipulated to define more of a rounder shaped hole and were scaled up to make the shoulder slightly larger. With these edges still selected new edges were dragged out whilst holding “shift” on the keyboard to form the arms. A sequence of edge loops were inserted in key places down each arm especially regarding the elbow, shoulder and wrist areas as this allowed for their shapes to be more defined. More importantly these tightly grouped edges will provide vital during the animation stage as the presence of more segments will allow for a smoother deformation of the mesh when the arms are bent for example. Several of the edge loops were also twisted a few degrees as this again will accommodate the ability to twist the wrists without negatively deforming the surface of the arm mesh.

 

Arms Extruded & Shaped

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The shape of the torso was tweaked further by creating additional edges down the character’s back where the impression of shoulder blades and indentation of the spine could be portrayed. Vertices circling the elbows, biceps and forearms were also moved to exaggerate these key areas which in turn should enhance the believability of the character. The indentation was carried down between the character’s bottom which was also in given more plumpness and a curved surface by manually pulling out certain vertices.

 

Shoulder Blade & Spine Definition

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Leg Creation

The legs were then created using the same process starting with a cylinder primitive which was given a number of additional edges to help form the thigh, calf and knee areas. Different edge loops were scaled appropriately to add more muscle definition and help to replicate a typical female leg.

 

Leg Shaping

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Having made one leg it was cloned on the X-Axis using the mirror tool to form the other leg. Both legs were grouped together then positioned below the torso of the character, before attaching them using the “Bridge” function under the sub-object edge mode.

 

Legs Before Attach	Legs Attached
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

Body Finalising

Using the hands from Week 3, these were imported and attached to the wrist sections of either arm using the same technique as the legs involving the Bridge tool. However due to the fact that the hands had a vast number of connecting edges compared to each wrist, several of these edges had to be welded together ensuring that no “4-sided” polygons were created in the process.Once the hand had the same number of vertices surrounding its connecting hole it was successfully joint to the the wrist and scaled accordingly to match the proportion of the rest of the character. Thankfully due to a “Symmetry” modifier this process didn’t need to be repeated for the other hand as the changes made were reflected on the other side of the symmetry line running vertically down the centre of the character. A “Mesh Smooth” modifier was then applied to preview how the final surface of the mesh will appear when rendered. With this enabled further alterations were made using the “Show End Results” button to make changes to vertex positions whilst viewing the smoothed mesh.

 

 

Smoothed Mesh Front	Smoothed Mesh Rear
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

Week 4

Ice Skater Character Start

Having decided to model and animate a female Ice Skater from previous research into human body language, the initial modelling process  can now get underway. The creation of 3D assets will following a logical order starting at the base of the character i.e. producing the the Ice Skates and will then progress upwards with the legs, body then finally the head.

 

Ice Skates

The boot section of a typical Ice Skate was created first using a box primitive which was converted to an “editable poly” then transformed using the move and scale tools to match a generic reference image as closely as possible. A hole was then cut out by deleting a group of polygons on the top surface to make room for the leg opening and provide a space for the tongue of the boot.

 

Basic Boot Shape Creation

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A clone of the deleted polygons was then manipulated to form the tongue section of the boot and was extruded to give to some depth. This was then positioned in the centre of the boot and curved inwards slightly using the “Bend” modifier to roughly simulate the raised contours as depicted by the reference image plane. The sole of the boot was formed by extruding and scaling  the bottom section of polygons to initially produce a rim then heel at the rear of the boot. The shape of the heel was also angled using the vertice sub-object level to correspond again with the reference image. The two boot objects were then grouped and given a “Mesh Smooth” modifier to round of any harsh angled edges and portray a soft flowing leather like appearance.

 

Tongue, Sole & Heel Creation

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The next stage was to produce the shoe laces, which began by creating a series of cylinders to approximately mark out the eye-lit hole positions for the laces to pass through. 2D Spline objects were then drawn between diagonally adjacent lace holes to replicate the criss-cross pattern of real laces. These Spline objects were then given an arched shape by inserting extra vertices to follow the shape of the tongue and boot surfaces.

 

Spline Laces & Eye-lit Positioning

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The Splines were then given “Extrude” modifiers and converted to editable ploys to produce a flat 3D appearance, the eye-lits were then fashioned using basic donut primitives and positioned at the end of each lace. Metal lace clips were constructed for the upright eye-lit positions which in real-life would help pull the boot around the wearers foot. These again were produced using simple box objects and were  then converted to editable polys. They were also shaped using the vertice sub-object mode to create a rounded appearance with multiple angled faces to accurately represent  overhanging clips.

 

Extruded Laces & Detail Creation

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The last portion of the Ice Skates to produce were the blades attached to the sole of each boot. These were created again using box modelling, gradually moving selected groups of vertices to correspond with the reference image. The top sections of the blades were bevelled outwards several times to form the plates which connect to the sole of each boot, the bottom of the blades on the other hand were given a sharp angled look by scaling down selected edges.

 

Box Modelled Blades

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Once the Ice Skates had been fully modelled there were then  textured using an array of different materials to simulate typical aspects such as wooden soles, stainless steel blades and leather boots. First the leather material was created using a combination of noise and bump maps to simulate the mottled wrinkles similar to that of real leather. The leather material was then assigned a creamy-white diffuse colour and given a small amount of “Specular Highlights” to produce a natural soft shiny finish. The wood sole material was made by combining  wood and noise maps into the bump slot of the material, the diffuse colour was then set to a rich brown and a varnished appearance was achieved by assigning a higher amount of “Glossiness” compared to the leather material. The blades were purposely given a chrome-like material to represent stainless steel using a fake reflection map with a “Raytrace” material type. This same material was copied and adjusted for the gold eye-lits and lace clips by simply adjusting the Diffuse Colour and reducing the amount of reflection. The final textured Ice Skates can been seen below:

 

Final Rendered & Textured Ice Skates

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Facial Expression & Body Language

 

Humans can express a vast wealth of emotions made capable via an intricate system of facial muscles. “Paul Ekman” is a famous Psychologist known for his work on human emotions and how these are reflected using facial expressions. Ekman classified a basic list of known human emotions which he concluded were biologically present in all humans rather than culture specific as discovered during a study involving tribesmen in Papua New Guinea. ^[1]

 

Basic Emotions:-

• Anger
• Disgust
• Fear
• Happiness
• Sadness
• Surprise

Example Facial Muscle Movement

Anger	Happy / Smile
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

In addition to facial muscles, several other features of the human face such as the eyes and mouth are key indicators which further help to portray specific moods. For example wide open eyes may signify surprised or scared emotions and a smiling mouth would indicate happiness. Facial expressions as a whole are a form of non-verbal communication which allow people to convey a particular mood without the need to speak. Whilst the type of facial expressions are limited their intended meanings can differ hugely according to the beliefs of various cultures. This is especially true regarding eye contact for example in Japan direct eye contact for more than a few seconds is considered rude and is actively avoided depending on social rank i.e. between a worker and their superior. ^[2]

 

 

 

Human Body Language is another form of non-verbal communication which expands from Facial Expressions combining body poses, gestures and specific eye movements. Unlike Facial Expressions, Body Language is heavily influenced by cultural differences especially regarding the way in which people greet one another. The study of body language is known as “Kinesics” which can be described as non-verbal actions displayed using body movements. Ray Birdwhistell was an Anthropologist (Studier of Humanity) who first established the term Kinesics, he concluded that human gestures can be interpreted differently according  to the context in which they are used.^[3] A clear example is the simple “head nod”, by shaking your head from left to right would indicate the gesture “No” and moving your head up and down signifies “Yes”. However in Bulgaria the opposite it is true, shaking your head means “Yes” whereas nodding means “No”.^[4] This is just one example of how the same gesture can portray different meanings relevant to geographical locations & cultural differences.

 

Gesture Examples

 

Non-Verbal Behaviour	Meaning
Brisk, erect walk	Confidence
Standing with hands on hips	Readiness, aggression
Sitting with legs crossed, foot kicking slightly	Boredom
Sitting, legs apart	Open, relaxed
Arms crossed on chest	Defensiveness
Walking with hands in pockets, shoulders hunched	Dejection
Hand to cheek	Evaluation, thinking
Touching, slightly rubbing nose	Rejection, doubt, lying
Rubbing the eye	Doubt, disbelief
Hands clasped behind back	Anger, frustration, apprehension
Locked ankles	Apprehension
Head resting in hand, eyes downcast	Boredom
Rubbing hands	Anticipation
Sitting with hands clasped behind head, legs crossed	Confidence, superiority
Open palm	Sincerity, openness, innocence
Pinching bridge of nose, eyes closed	Negative evaluation
Tapping or drumming fingers	Impatience
Steepling fingers	Authoritative
Patting/fondling hair	Lack of self-confidence; insecurity
Tilted head	Interest
Stroking chin	Trying to make a decision
Looking down, face turned away	Disbelief
Biting nails	Insecurity, nervousness
Pulling or tugging at ear	Indecision

^ Sourced  from SPARC (http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/body.php)

 

 

Body Language Examples

Frustration
	Confidence
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

         

        

Figure Ice Skating Behaviours

Based on this research of human behaviours, it was then considered what attributes are typical of a Figure Ice Skating performance. Having closely analysed the earlier researched video of “Maria Butyrskaya” Ice Skating at the 1999 Worlds in Helsinki it can been seen that she shows moments of intense concentration and emotive facial expressions during the performance. At the end of the performance she looks happy with herself and shows elements of relief. These characteristics will therefore be attempted to be implemented in the final animation to breathe life into the character and enhance the level of realism reminiscent of actual human behaviours.

 

References

1. Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. V (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotica, 1, 49–98.

(Obtained via Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ekman)

 

2. Nixon, J. C. & West, J. F. (1995). Intercultural preparation for managers going to Japan.

(Obtained via https://ritdml.rit.edu/bitstream/handle/1850/11600/LBohannonThesis2-19-2010.pdf?sequence=1)

 

3. Barfield, T (1997). The dictionary of anthropology. Illinois: Blackwell Publishing.

(Obtained via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Birdwhistell)

 

4. Davis, J.W. and Vaks, S., 2001. A Perceptual User Interface for Recognizing Head Gesture Acknowledgements – Pg 4. http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~jwdavis/Publications/PUI2001-Davis.pdf edn. Orlando, Florida: ACM.

Week 3

Character Modeling Continued

Continuing with the character mesh character last week, today the basic construction techniques of creating a hand were demonstrated. The useful bridge tool and its customisable settings were also introduced, particularly emphasizing the ability to add additional segments then adjust the taper settings to add bulges to bicep muscles for example. This is an extremely useful feature which can rapidly add definition to a character mesh however manual tweaking of the individual vertices is required for a more realistic and refined result.

 

Hand Modeling

Before starting the modeling process it is important to consider the actual physical appearance of a human hand so that vital features aren’t missed out. However the level of detail will depend on how realistic the end result is intended to be, a cartoon character for instance may have a totally smooth hand with only 3 fingers like in the well known program “The Simpsons”. Whereas a 3D render for a motion capture sequence of a CGI focused film would require modeling very specific details such as finger nails, wrinkles and creases in the palm of the hand.

Given these facts the more complex a mesh is the harder it becomes to animate, this is simply because a higher number of vertices are going to require intricate manipulation which can prove exceedingly difficult during the rigging stage and setting up the bone’s envelopes.

 

Using a hand mesh that was produced last year for the 3D Modeling & Animation unit, the basic modelling techniques will be described on how to model a human hand. Given the fact that the hand was modelled in rather specific detail based on my own hand it was occluded from last years assignment as it proved to difficult to sufficiently rig during the Ident animations based on my personal lack of animation skills. However since then I have learnt a great deal regarding the various animation processes as well as how to simplify meshes when needed.

 

To begin with a basic box primitive was created in the rough dimensions of a palm. This was then given numerous edge loops to provide the necessary number of polygons to then extrude four fingers and a thumb. The palm was then given further edges so the shape could be more refined by moving the vertices to create curved impressions. The thumb was then extruded and rotated slightly with each new extrusion to produce the angled appearance. A vertice on the top edge of thumb was also pulled upwards to represent the knuckle joint  in the middle of the thumb.

 

Palm Shaping & Thumb Extrude

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

The fingers were then extruded from selected groups of polygons on the front tip of the palm. Each finger was extruded multiple times and bevelled to roughly define the shape of each finger. Further detail was then implemented by scaling groups of edges and moving vertices separately to add extra definition especially concerning the knuckles and joints.

 

Finger Extrude/Bevel & Joint Shaping

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Lastly finger nails were created on each finger by insetting selected groups of polygons then bevelling them to produce a curved yet raised impression. The end vertices were also pulled outwards slightly to make the nails overhand the end of the fingers a small degree.

 

Finger Nail Inset & Bevel

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To finish the hand further edges were introduced to help add shape to the knuckle areas where each finger connects to the palm and give the hand more of an overall organic plumpness. Creases were created by inserting extra edges across the underside of the palm which were pulled inwards to produce linear impressions.

 

Adding Plumpness & Knuckle Detail

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Palm Crease – Edge Loop Depression

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Final Mesh Smoothed Hand

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Head Modeling

The last stage to complete the basic character mesh was to construct a primitive head starting with a cube object which was given several segments then converted to and editable poly. A “Spherify” modifier was then applied which basically automatically alters the shape of the selected object to produce a rounded result based on the existing number of polygons, unlike Mesh Smooth or Turbo Smooth modifiers for example which add a vast number of additional edge loops to create a smoothed effect. Several edge loops were then inserted as necessary using the edge ring & connect combination, this provided additional edges to roughly sculpt out a basic head shape.

 

Spherized Cube	Rough Head Shape
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

This process was repeated until the main features of the head could be created including chin, forehead neck and eye sockets. Several edge rings were created in a circular positioning for the eyes areas. Polygons amongst the centre of the eye area were extruded inwards to create a basic eye socket. Further edges were inserted surrounding the nose and mouth area to formulate a smooth surrounding edge flow.

 

The last step involved producing the nose and lips which were merely created by pulling out selected edge rings to create basic definition as needed. The eye lids were fashioned using the same technique expect a higher number of edge loops were used to created a raised ridge effect surrounding the eye. The eyes were created from basic sphere objects which were centred in either eye socket.

 

Basic Head Features	Eyes, Nose & Mouth	Smoothed
(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)	(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

The eyes and head were then grouped and attached to the original character mesh, which required scaling down  in addition to slight vertice adjustment around the neck of the Shirt object so that the head did not clip through the surface of the body.

 

Merged Head & Hands with Character Mesh

(Click Here for Full-Size)

Week 2

Basic Character Modeling

In order to practice the art of animating a 3D character, this week's task was to start modeling a basic character which will later be attached and rigged to a biped or bone system.

 

The process started from the foot using a box object which was converted to an editable polygon then extruded to form a rough boot shape. Additional edge loops where then inserted by using the "Ring Select" button once the desired starting edge had been highlighted. Having selected a ring of edges these were then joined using the "Connect" button which effectively added a loop of new edges directly through the middle of the selected edge ring. This process was done to allow the shape of the boot to be curved slightly via dragging out and scaling vertices to add more detail.

 

Boot - Edge Loop Connect

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

Boot – Edge Loop Scale & Curve

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Finished Boot

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

The next task was to produce the trousers starting from the top of the boots. The cylinder primitive tool was then used to draw out an approximate length leg positioned exactly on the top of the boot by enabling the "AutoGrid" check box which causes the created object to be made directly on top of a highlighted surface.

 

Approximate Length Leg Cylinder

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

Additional segments were then introduced into the cylinder using the same Edge Ring technique as used for the boot. However using the connect dialogue box a set of 4 edges were spaced out and positioned over the knee area using the pinch/slide  parameters. This was done to allow a smoother deformation of the mesh surrounding the knee pivot joint which will later be moved during the animation process. The same was done for the hip/crotch areas which represent vital pivot points for the animation of the character's legs and therefore additional segments will preserve the roundness and shape of the mesh during animation.

 

Knee Bend Segments

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Further edges were inserted to aid with the shaping of the leg, for example so that the bottom of the trousers could be scaled slightly larger to replicate a flaring effect as if the trousers are resting over the boots. The buttock and groin areas were also formed by dragging out sets of vertices to create a rounded fleshy appearance.

 

Leg Shaping

(Click Here for Full-Size)

 

 

The right leg and boot were then mirrored for the opposite side of the character's body and welded along the middle seam were any vertices overlapped. The overall shape was then tweaked a small degree to remove the ridge down the centre of the character which had been produced as a result of mirroring process. During this phase selected edge rings were rotated slightly so that the legs met evenly and consequently could be joint together with ease using the "Bridge" function.

 

Mirrored Legs

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The last step was to work on the top half of the character by producing a simple shirt object starting with a "plane" object. This was then converted to an editable poly and the edges were extruded multiple times in the side viewport using the shift + drag technique to produce new edges to follow the rough shape of a human torso. Working from the front to the back of the shirt more edges were extruded to form these panels leaving just the sides of the body exposed. The edges surrounding the side of the shirt then selected simultaneously using the border sub-object selection mode. This selected was then extruded inwards using the "Scale" tool to create a rim of new polygons on the side of the shirt. The remaining gaps were then filled using the Bridge tool, leaving a hole towards the top so that the sleeve could then be fashioned.

 

Shirt Start - Plane Edge Extrude

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Shirt Start – Front & Back Shaping

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Shirt – Side Panel Bridge

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The sleeve was made and extruding the edges encompassing the arm hole to an approximate length of where the wrist would end. The arm/sleeve was then given extra definition by inserting supplementary edges to provide the necessary vertices to alter the shape as required.

 

Arm Hole Extrude

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Arm/Sleeve Shaping

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At this point only half of the Shirt was made, so like before with the trousers, the shirt object was mirrored, attached, then welded along the centre vertical seam to produce a whole shirt for the character. Again the shape of this was manipulated to add more detail and scaled smaller at the bottom to simulate the shirt being physically tucked into the trousers. A V-neck collar was then fabricated by deleting several polygons where the neck would be positioned. The neighbouring vertices were then adjusted as desired to add more interest to the shirt object.

 

Mirrored Shirt & V-Neck Hole

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Final Basic Character Mesh

(Click Here for Full-Size)

Research

Character Animation & Human Emotions

The human body is an extraordinarily complex organism comprised of bone, muscle and nervous systems which as a whole allow it to function. Human emotions are portrayed through body language to dictate a person's character, situation or mood. Due to the sheer number of different human emotions the aim of this initial research was to basically determine several activities which clearly express a mixture of human behaviours which would be ideal to represent via a 3D Animation.

Several ideas that immediately came to mind consisted of sporting activities, as these are an ideal example involving a large degree of movements in addition to interaction with other humans displaying various emotions.

Ice Skating is a well known Olympic Sport involving individuals, pairs or groups of skaters who perform a routine of footwork, jumps and spins which is scored by a board of judges during official competitions. This activity combines intricate movement at varying speeds in addition to specific facial emotions to represent the mood of the performance which is usually supported by similar themed orchestral music. This sport therefore provides the opportunity to display a number of complex movements and facial expressions to replicate using 3D Animation Software such as 3DS Max.

Emotive Ice Skating Example

Another more extreme sport such as Sky Diving for example involves less movement of the human body yet exposes a mixed array of human emotions ranging from excitement, anxiety and fear. These human emotions are symbolized through a number of characteristics and facial expressions which provide an excellent opportunity to be mimicked through 3D animation.

Tandem SkyDive

 

Another activity that would be ideal to represent through 3D animation is the profession of a Musical Conductor. A Conductor is responsible for directing a musical performance using a complex variety of hand gestures aided with a wooden conducting baton. This baton is commonly painted white so that it is clearly visible to the watching orchestral members, choirs and bands. A Conductor often shows vigoruous facial emotion to emphasize their hand gestures according to the temp and dynamics of the music. This combination of fast and intricate hand gestures paired with the conductor’s facial expression presents a unique challenge in terms of 3D animation. Below is a video demonstrating the actions of a typical conductor.

Expressive Conductor