Captain Pineapple goes Virtual: Assignment Showreel

And this is it! This is what the past few weeks of work has been leading up to:

Looking at the final result, I'm very happy. Considering how it all looked before, I can't help but feel that this is a superb outcome. Sure it doesn't look 100% like me, but it's not Richard O'Brien at least.

Well what can I say! It's been a pretty busy 5 weeks. It wasn't as bad as I first thought. The modelling process was exceptionally practical (Though temperamental and head-against-a-brick-wall inducing on occasions) and a lot less painful than I first thought (I had visions that we would be trying to build the entire face from a sphere or something!). The tutorials were ok for the job, but really could have been a lot more helpful. The tutor had an annoying habit of skipping ahead on some sections. Though I'm aware the plan is to make us use our initiative and work parts out, it was pretty irksome to hear him declare "We'll just jump ahead for a minute" and then have a full head and shoulders on his screen.... dude take it easy, I'm still trying to connect my temples to the skull. That said, the tutorials did the job, and having them there on the hard-drive did make it easier to constantly get reminders.

The topology was easy at the time (Though it came to bite me later on). In hindsight, I can't help but wonder if there is a more efficient way to create strong topology. The tutor mentioned muscle structure of the face, which might have been more handy as a guide than using the creases in the face. (This would ensure that the topology lines flowed in unison with the muscles). But it's all down to personal preference and experience I guess.

The worst part was, quite easily, the initial modelling. Looking at the disaster that first came out is a shining example of it! This part was the most fiddly (Understandably, as you're generating an entire face out of a single plane. You're not building 'upon' anything and don't have any other segments of the 3D model for reference). However, once the initial foundation was in place, attaching the rest of it was considerably easier. Though the nose, lips and eyelids were detailed and required some finesse, they were easier as they were built upon an existing model. Unlike the face, you could tweak the nostrils in relation to the rest of the face. The only other really nasty bit of the face was attaching the ear. It was a horrible process trying to fuse the 2 sections together.

The UVW Mapping was merely a lengthy process. In terms of difficulty, it was one of the more leisurely parts of the process. I'm confident in photoshop and the model was 'safe' as I was only working on its mapping. It took several hours, but was a fairly gentle process. Hair & Fur was a bit messy, but again not exceptionally taxing.

The only main problem I have now is a severe aversion to organic modelling. Give me animating robots any day... anything organic is too nasty. I'm also finding my enthusiasm for 3D disappearing: In previous years, completion has always felt like an achievement, very much "Yes! I have completed this! It feels fantastic!". This time round it's very much a "Thank God I have got that out of the way now." It's more a drained feeling than one of ecstasy, which isn't a good sign vocationally speaking. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the next assignment, whether this is merely a 'speed bump' or sign that this really isn't my ideal field of work.