Starting the Rig

Having fine-tuned the model the tiger is now ready for rigging. I've decided to used a mesh which is double the resolution of the base mesh I initially modelled in order to give a higher level of control over the deformations.

I've spent a long time poring over videos on the internet of tigers moving in various ways. One of the biggest challenges, it seems, is getting the tiger's unique front leg and clavicle movement right. What I've found from the videos is that the clavicle is always more or less pointing towards the paw. This is an effect I thought could be achieved by somehow utilising an aim constraint which dictated the rotation of the clavicle as pointing toward the paw.

I decided to test this out and came up with this:

I think with a little fiddling about and maybe adding a physical clavicle bone mesh into the muscle system it'll work pretty well.

Having done that I've made most of the rest of the skeleton:

Now I'm moving on to the facial rigging which I think is going to be a big challenge to get right. I think I'll probably do the whole face using joints as these give a more organic, non-linear feel than blend shapes.

More soon.

It's Been a While

I haven't updated in a good 2 weeks so I thought it would be a good idea to do so while I remember to. The lack of updates doesn't mean I've not been doing anything: quite the opposite! I've been basically working non-stop on all my projects and just haven't found the right chances to update anything.

The main thing in the past 2 weeks has been modelling the tiger. It's taken a fair bit longer than on other models purely because I was it to be at a high enough standard to sit in along side live-action footage. This means I need to get the everything spot on and to do that I've been scouring the internet for as much reference material as I can find to get it right.

Having found enough reference material to begin, I started drawing out a concept image and the front and side profiles to start modelling from:

At the moment the base model is complete, including the inside of the mouth (teeth, tongue, jaw, etc.) and I've taken it into Mudbox to sculpt the muscles in and tweak and correct certain details.

Here are the base models for the tiger, its jaw, teeth and tongue:

Having finished this stage I cut out UVs for the model in Roadkill:

The next stage is doing the finer details in Mudbox, which is where I'm at now. Here's the state of the model thus far:

I've trying to think of a way of getting a good-looking furry effect without relying too much on Maya fur at render time. So far I've used a stencil in Mudbox to sculpt a furry effect onto the model. It works alright but I did it very quickly and won't be settling for it the way it looks now.

That's everything. I'll probably start rigging it very soon as the texturing can wait until last really.

Clarity

I have been asked by my tutors exactly what I expect to have for this project by the deadline. Obviously, concepting, modelling, texturing, and rigging a realistic tiger along with all the muscle systems, weights and bones and then animating it in a match-moved film with dynamic fur, realistic lighting and a ton of post-production is probably a little too much to expect from one person in one semester especially considering all the other projects I have on the go. All along I intended for this film to be my main project for the whole year but perhaps I haven't made that completely clear and, thus, look like a crazy masochist with a wish for suicide by exhaustion.

Let me dispel that idea and reassure anyone reading this that I'm not completely mental and will only be doing half-ish of that colossal pile of work. By the end of this semester, I aim to have an intuitive and detailed rig of a realistic, anatomically correct tiger along with some realistic animations; run cycles, walk cycles, etc. Of course, this might look a lot like character rigging, but the difference is that this rig is to be used to try and suspend disbelief alongside live-action footage and as such will be much more of a challenge than rigging and animating something which has come entirely from my imagination.

Hopefully this makes this a little clearer.

Before I go, I've been amassing an impressively huge collection of reference images and videos of tigers and have started modelling the beast itself.

More on all that soon.

The Idea is Falling into Place

After much thought I've come up with a final idea for the film. The idea centres around the idea of adopting a big cat. We often see adverts about adopting wild animals for their welfare, although the animal is in another part of the world, the premise is that for a monthly contribution, the person adopting the animal receives regular updates on how it's doing and maybe gets a card and a soft toy. I'm going to put a twist on that.

My film will be about someone who goes on to the internet and signs up to adopt a big cat (a tiger, jaguar or leopard, preferably one without too much thick fur since I'm not concentrating on my ability to create ridiculous render times). A few days after signing up they get a knock at the door and open it to a delivery man asking for a signature for a package. Expecting it to be the card and plush toy the person signs for it without really thinking too much about it.

Then they notice a large, (probably match-moved) wooden crate outside as the van drives away. Once opened, he finds that he's actually ended up having a real, live big cat shipped over and delivered to his door. It's not aggressive which is good news. The film then shows life with the big cat; house training it, taking it to the park and the funny situations which could accompany these things. Our proud new owner of the big cat becomes more and more attached to the animal throughout the short montage until tragedy hits. His payment is declined and the animal is taken away.

Here's the rough script so far. There won't be any dialogue through the film beyond maybe a "cheers" from the  delivery man as he gets his signature:

> [Desaturated, limited colour palette] Close-up of a computer screen, cursor moving over 'Adopt a Big Cat' website. Fade to Black.
> Sudden shot of a young man (early twenties a student) sitting up from bed followed by a series of quick cuts showing breakfast being made (Edgar Wright-style) due to desaturated colours, everything seams dull and routine: KETTLE ON / TOASTER ON / POUR TEA / TOAST POP / EGGS FRYING / CLOSE-UP OF GUY'S MOUTH AS HE BITES AND CHEWS TOAST, CHEWING STOPS AS A KNOCK IS HEARD FROM THE FRONT DOOR.
> Quick cutting ends giving way to a continuous shot of him walking through the hallway to the front door. Shot continues as the door is opened to a postman. Camera settles over the student's shoulder as the postman says "Signature?" and the package is signed for. "Cheers" says postman as he walks off. Camera angle changes to the other shoulder revealing a large wooden crate (match-moved).
> Enter the big cat.
> [Colours become increasingly bright, lively and more saturated, almost dream-like through the next few shots] Initial fear gives way to a montage of life with the animal: shots of the it in the house, house training, playing fetch in the park, all the while showing a growing fondness between man and animal. Probably have some sort  of music here.
> Montage fades out (always fade out in a montage!).
> Another breakfast scene again, very similar to the first one but with a sense of happiness (saturated colours, smiling while eating toast).
> Shot of computer screen again "Payment declined - Insufficient funds"
> Close-up of student's eyes: surprised and upset. [Colours return to desaturated as realisation kicks in]
> Knock at the door.
> The animal is taken away and the shot fades to black.

I might add a third breakfast scene showing a return to boring normal life but this might be overkill.

Anyway, that's it so far. I'm now in the process of story boarding the shots.

Why's the Hell is There a Tiger in Cambridge?

This is a bit of a problem, assuming I'm to create a film about a sabre tooth cat in Cambridge. If there's no reason for this animal to be there, the film could fall apart whether it is technically impressive or not. Even though the narrative and film work aren't a priority and aren't something I'll be being marked on, I want to aim for something which is cohesive and which makes sense so that I end up with a piece of work I'm happy with (that's if I get as far as doing a film).

I'll obviously be thinking of ways I can resolve this problem or even just changing it entirely into, say, a pure CGI animation, but at the moment I think my focus will be on the vital preparation; anatomy, concepting, research, etc.

Anatomy of a Sabre Tooth Tiger

I've spent the last few hours getting reference images for saber tooth tigers and normal tigers and then doing an anatomical study so that when it comes to modelling and animating the creature I'll have be able to do so accurately.

Here's the study:

 I couldn't find any visual reference for the muscle structure of sabre tooth tigers or even just normal tigers so I had to use a muscle structure diagram of a house cat and adapt it to a sabre tooth skeleton.


That's it for now.

Starting Out: Initial Ideas.

So begins my 3rd year and final major project! 


I've had some ideas for some time as to what I might do and I think I'm probably going for something a little too ambitious. Though there's nothing wrong with aiming high.


What I've thought up so far is to do a matchmoved film of a strange animal which is sighted somewhere in the greens around Cambridge. The project will be focused heavily around realistic, organic-looking animation and lighting. This involves using a very wide range of skills: rendering, lighting, dynamics, rigging, animation, modelling, texturing and post-production. 


I realise that I might not be able to achieve these, so if needs be I'll might cut out certain aspects. For example I might, instead of aiming to produce a full, polished short film, just focus on the realistic animation and leave out lighting and matchmoving (skills which I already demonstrated in my matchmoved film project with some success).


What I would really like to focus on too, in this project, is a return to my traditional drawing skills. I feel that in the past 2 years I really haven't focussed on this despite it being my strongest skill. This will mean doing some anatomical studies and concept drawings for everything before it becomes digital.


Just this evening I did a quick anatomical drawing in photoshop:

 I just did it to improve my digital painting technique and knowledge of human anatomy/muscle structure (hence, exaggerated muscles).


That's all for now. I'll update as things evolve.