randomly had the urge to do a tonberry but started with a cactuar first, thinking it would be easy


wires
he's gonna need more edge loops around where his legs meet his body to deform properly i imagine...


of the top... trying to keep quads, is there a better way to do it with a round dome?



the legs aren't so cool.. too many wires, i inserted edges where it's not needed to keep quads...


also... is there a better image search engine other than google? finding pictures of tonberries and cactuars is hard...

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

redone the wires around the round areas


other than the hair i think i'm done... then comes texturing on that lost face of his

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

Looks good, but I am a little concerned with the geometry at the elbow and knees. I think it needs a little more definition to be able to deform smoothly and avoid pinching.

oh yeah, i can see that its going to cause lots of problems already if it stays as it it. especially since the bends are meant to be at 90 degrees...

also have you ever see the way the arms move on a cactuar? :eeek2:

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

i got distracted by an older project..

only had time to do the hair, add a few edge loops and test a default bind. tried a lattice as well as soft skinning and both did the same thing without tweaks.

i was going to ask if anyone knews a good way of painting straight lines in a texture but i think maybe i could use the transfer maps again...

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

Thats cute lol. I think you should've modeled the arms and legs the way they are in the ref image, because as I remember, he never actually bends his limbs actively. They just kinda stay bent and flip around don't they?

---

- Genny
__________________
::|| My CG Blog ||::
::|| My Maya FAQ ||::

you're right, i should model it bent
but the arms and legs do move a bit

from crisis core a normal little one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11T2iShaDKk

and from 8 the jumbo cactuar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXdm81I8e38

i've also seen in unlimited the cactuars don't even take that stance... they stand like us... kinda weird

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

the whole soft skinning wasn't working very well...
i think i will try the old restrictive blendshaping technique, i figure its ok since cactuar's don't really move much from this position

i moved the verts into position so now all the UVs around the elbos and knees are stretched... hoping no one will notice but i might do it again... although i expect moving the verts around again (for blend shapes) will mess it up

Attached Thumbnails

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

blend shapes gives bizzare volume loss because of the linear interpolation... what a shame...
i tried making multiple blend shapes for the same cactuar with its arms in incremental stages of bending down, but put together it was all jittery with volume loss and gain

can i make blend shapes for other blend shapes and tie them all together with a single setdriven key?

well.. now that i moved the verts around to model him into shape soft skinning is working slightly better...

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

a fair bit of progress

he's now fully rigged with soft skinning and set driven keys

all i have to do to get the cactuar movement is adjust a value in one of the curves.


this is before weights are adjusted. thankfully he's small so painting the weights isn't so hard

i seem to remember Mayaniac (i think) saying something about when rigging you should put your model is the most extreme poses so it can deform to it correctly...
why is it then that we don't model people with their arms and legs bent?


testing an extreme pose. it probably won't actually get this pose though.. not now since i've locked and limited a lot of the transformation nodes


i think the normal map needs lots of tweaking...

just using the scenery from the Shinou Gundam project (which i still have to finish...)


rigged up and ready to move


blend shapes fail imo.... it was too hard to get it to perfectly interpolate between all of the different shapes, and putting it straight to the final pose caused funky flatning of the arms due to linear interpolation of the vertecies (vertecies just went in a straight line to the final pose...)


2994 polys later the model is done and rigged and the uvs are happy... i'm not on a polygon budget, it just happened to be that small

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

7 hours later...and time spent wondering why it wouldn't upload to youtube correctly...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgEslCiaEo8

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

hehe that was pretty cool, good work

---

- Mike

https://rhetoriccamel.blogspot.com

heh, thanks rhetoric!

another render


and one more...

---

that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"

Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D

"Foreign Object Located"
Ha, I like the concept. I especially like the fainting Cactuar

Good Job

Hehe... nice work.