This week, Lucy and I are ready to start building poster models and animations. It’s my primary responsibility this week to model and animate the panda.
A list of models that I need to create:
1. Panda The Panda
2. Glass of wine
3. Background space model and 3D characters
My reference poster for creating this model:
I need to create a 3D panda model and create an animation of a panda model that raises a glass.
Study the Panda cartoon and create a three-view of the Panda model:
I knew the model I was creating was based on the panda image in the poster, but I thought it might be useful to gather some panda-related material to give me some more specific design ideas when creating the model.
I started by collecting some panda images online.
The Panda of Real Life:
There are some cartoon images of pandas:
Three views of the panda that I’ve drawn:
The process of creating a panda model:
I started by putting a three-pronged view into the scene, and then I started making the panda model body. This was the first time I had made a model of character that needed to move. I can imagine that I’m going to encounter many situations during the process, but the best way to learn is to practice. I’m going to try my best to make my panda model.
I started with the creation of a [sphere], and then I stretched the model. Then I added a few looped edges to the model and adjusted the position of the points. Then I removed half of the model and prepared to create a full-body by mirroring the model. The important thing to note is that the center of the model’s points needs to be moved to the central axis.
Please use [Mirror] in [Mesh]. You can create the other half of the body. You can also duplicate the model, flip it on the corresponding axis, and then connect it to the original model.
I started to model my arms. I added lines and points to the original model, and I adjusted the lines’ layout in my model. I create the lines of my arm in this way.
I chose the face in the arm position, and then I used [Extrude] to extrude the arm model.
The legs are made in the same way as the arms by selecting the faces and then extruding them using [Extrude].
The panda body model looks pretty good at the moment.
So I started to model the head of the panda.
I made two versions of the head of the panda. The first version of the head I made in three views, but probably due to the number of lines and volume in the panda’s eyes, nose and mouth, the model looks ugly.
This is the first version of the head:
After summing up my failures, I started to modify the panda header model for the first time. This time, I wanted my panda’s head to look more like a cartoon, so I thought I might try to change the base model (Cube) and adjust the lines and points’ position.
The second version of the head of the panda after the changes:
The panda’s head looks a lot better this time.
Make a model of a wine glass prop:
The game students wanted to create a panda model loop animation. Lucy suggested that I might try [Blend Shape] to create this animation.
For example, the first keyframe in the model is the initial stationary action, and we can set the second keyframe to the cup-raising action. You don’t need to create a skeleton to use [Blend Shape]. It would help if you changed the pattern movement. It is the same as making two [posses] on one model and then using the [Blend shape] property in the properties bar to control the model. Generally speaking,[0] is equivalent to the initial action and[1] to the final action. You can animate the model in a circular motion by creating a keyframe for the [Blend Shape] property in the timeline. First, select the model in its initial state, and then select the transformed model. Then select [Blend Shape] from the [Deform] property bar. But because I changed the position and the line point of the model, there was no way to apply [Blend shape] to these two models. So I decided to use [Animation Editors] on the [Windows] interface and then choose [Shape Editor]. I used [Shape Editor] to modify my panda model.
Tutorial for [Blend shape]:
I’ve had many problems with mine due to my inexperience in making models (the models did not look round and were very different from the image on the poster). Lucy, Yann and Sean helped me analyze the issues and gave me some advice.
Issues with the panda model:
1. The panda model is not in its initial state of holding a glass, so I need to significantly adjust the panda model.
2. The panda position in the poster is rotated about 30° to the side, so I still need to adjust the position of the body of the model.
3. After the modification, my model appears uneven. I still need some brushes to adjust the smoothness of the model.
4. Ideally, the model’s final pose should be the same as the panda in the poster.
Continue to modify the model:
First, after rotating the model, I made sure that the right arm of the panda could be adjusted to the desired image by changing the position of the point. However, the panda’s left arm was not in the correct position, so I had to delete the left arm of the model and then choose a new face in the Extrude model.
To change the model to make it look more rounded, I used the [Sculpting] brush to additions.
I also used [Soft Selection] to select points and faces to adjust.
The model now looks a lot better than the original one.
Version 1 and Version 2:
I used the [Shape Editor] to create the [Blend Form]:
First, select a body model in its initial state, then select [Create Blend Shape] from the [Shape Editor], then click [Add Target]. Then click [Edit] to activate the [Edit] icon and turn it red. The [Blend shape] property in the model properties bar will control the model at this point. [0] corresponds to the initial pose; [1] corresponds to the final pose.
To create keyframe animation, I created a circular motion by controlling the value of [Envelope] in the [Blend Shape] model properties bar. I also added model shifts to the panda’s head and shoulders so that when the panda raises its hand, the shoulders and the head follow the movement to make the animation look more natural. I created the keyframe for the wine glass animation directly after selecting the model.
Testing the [Blend Form] animation:
Creation of backgrounds and 3D lettering:
For the simple background, I created [Cube] directly later, sorted out the UV, imported it into the Substance Painter for filling and coloring, and finally exported the material’s mapping. The text model was created by selecting [Type] from the [Create] property bar in MAYA.
Current effects on the background:
I will continue to refine the backgrounds according to the scene’s new requirements once the game majors have tested the program.
UV and Substance Painter material mapping the panda:
This time, I didn’t do a particularly good job of UVing my panda model. I used [Cut] and [Unfold] to crop and expand in the UV Editor. The UVs I made looked a little strange because of the model wiring problem. I often used models already made by the project team when I used to make UVs before, so I didn’t have any problems with the model wiring. Luckily, this did not affect the final result. I will continue to explore ways to make UVs in models that I create in future projects.
Current panda test model animation.:
The sum of the week:
This week, I had my first attempt at modeling a character, and the modeling process was really interesting. Since I am not qualified in modeling characters, my model’s design (such as the layout of the lines) did not make sense. Although the model created was a low poly model, I would like to explore more about modeling. I will continue to explore the creation of patterns of characters. I’m using [Blend Shape] to help the model generate movement, and I hope to learn something about rigging next week and put it into practice. Thank you to Lucy, Yann, and Sean for their help this week.