Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 2, 2011 Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 I would like to create a character like this, complete with the horned helmet, etc. with the desired end-result of animating it in Lightwave and MotionBuilder (probably using motion capture) and compositing it into a 3D set in Fusion that will have a green screened opera singer. I believe I could create a crude T-Pose character body in 3D-Coat with what I've learned, but I'm trying to think of the best way to start to create the helmet with horns, breast plate and clothing. I'd hope to be able to surface in 3DCoat, and have all of the different parts of the character as separate surfaces when imported into Lightwave, so that I could tweak them a bit. I've been learning the basics of 3D-Coat off-and-on for a while, but this would be my first actual project to use 3D Coat. Any tips would be appreciated, or if there are specific free or 3rd party tutorials that would directly apply, I'm interested! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted March 2, 2011 Contributor Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Is this from the "Kill the wabbit" aria? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 2, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Is this from the "Kill the wabbit" aria? I'm not sure where that 3D photo came from. I have all the Looney Tunes DVD collections and I think they've done several 2D shorts that were opera related. Maybe there's a 3D Bugs Bunny that I don't have? But, I'm certainly heading in the direction of trying to make an operatic song a bit fun, with the character poking the green screened singer and interacting a bit. Definitely a bit 'looney', if I can pull it off!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Greg Posted March 2, 2011 Contributor Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 For the helmet, maybe start with a cone primitive, and then use the spikes for the horns. Look for primitives that are close to the shape you want, modify them and go for it! This looks like a really fun project. Hope you post your progress! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Colwax Posted March 4, 2011 Member Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 That looks to be a statuette of Elmer Fudd from "What's Opera, Doc?" If you're looking for more reference images then there's what I got from a doing a Google search: http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=mrd&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&q=What%27s+Opera,+Doc%3F&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=oy1wTeK6BZDovQOTzOm9AQ&ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=629 HTH, Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 4, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 That looks to be a statuette of Elmer Fudd from "What's Opera, Doc?" If you're looking for more reference images then there's what I got from a doing a Google search: http://www.google.com.au/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=mrd&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&q=What%27s+Opera,+Doc%3F&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=oy1wTeK6BZDovQOTzOm9AQ&ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=629 HTH, Colin Thanks!! Will be very hard to create anything remotely in the ballpark of Chuck Jone's magnificent work, but ... will be fun trying!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 4, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 To create the gold helmet, I created a primitive capsule, stretched it out, then used a another primitive to cut just the top of it off using the voxTree 'subtract from'. 1. This left a perfect surface on the helmet, but some nasty edges, what's the best way to get rid of them? I then made a clone of my solid helmet, used transform to move the clone down slightly, and used the voxTree 'subtract from' to cut out the inside of the helmet. 2. After doing this, the surface had kind of a Moiré pattern and was no longer perfectly smooth? What's the best way to get the gold helmet perfectly smooth again? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted March 4, 2011 Contributor Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Res + will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 4, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Res + will do it. I did a Res + on the Helmet with the inside cut out, and only the very top part of the helmet was left. It 'ate' away the rest of it. I went back to an earlier save before I cut the inside out, did a Res +, did the cut, and the surface looks perfect on the inside and outside (although, I may have moved the copy a bit farther down before I cut out the inside so the 'walls' of the helmet would be thicker?). Should I have "Res +"ed before I cut the very top off the capsule (to make the edges smoother)? What's the general thinking for when to use Res +, and how does this differ from increasing the density by right clicking in the VoxelTree? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 5, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 It's no different, just shorter name than Increase Resolution. Ahhh! It was hard to tell they were the same as the physical size changes when using 'Decrease' or 'Increase' from the VoxTree menu, but the [2x, [4x, etc. label in the VoxTree does not get updated (until you add another layer or some other operation that causes an update). With Res+, the VoxTree label gets immediately updated and there's a warning about not being able to 'undo'. But, with Res+, the 'curr obj tris' changes, and using the VoxTree menus for 'Decrease' or 'Increase' they do not. I guess I'm still a bit confused? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 5, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I created the helmet with the inside cut out, however ... having a bit of a problem moving the object so that the symmetry plane intersects it and I can add horns. I've tried resetting the symmetry plane and also using the VoxTree to set the object to 'global space', as suggested here: http://www.3d-coat.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6234&view=findpost&p=47140 and also the other suggestion in that post about the 'space density copy', but my symmetry plane is no where near my helmet. What's the best way to align the symmetry plane with an object (as I suppose not all objects will be at 0,0,0 anyway)? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 5, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I took a little stab at the little guy. Here's the head portion. Wow!!! Um, did I mention .... Wow!!! These two should definitely go into the 3D Coat tutorials section, maybe as a download (as there's an EMI content restricted warning that pops up om the 2nd about playback on some sites, I was able to download it, but the Elmer Fudd name may have set off one of their flags). I'll try to single step through and follow what you've done. This is really invaluable to me, to see something created from scratch. Really incredible!!! Wow - thanks a lot!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member geo_n Posted March 5, 2011 Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 Nice work abnranger. Looks very elmer fudd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Silence Posted March 9, 2011 Member Report Share Posted March 9, 2011 This is really nice and by just watching I learned a lot of techniques that I didn't know :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contributor Tony Nemo Posted March 10, 2011 Contributor Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thanks. I found the clip of the animation...hadn't seen it in years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VMqQ6XnmI&feature=related Bugs Bunny in drag is a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 14, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 After I get the multi-layer character completed, to move it over to Lightwave/MotionBuilder for animation, do I retopologize all the layers together, or do I retopologize each layer? This is my first try at actually creating my own character (I've purchased characters previously), so I'm definitely interested in any and all tips on making the integration of 3D Coat generated characters and the animation software easier. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member 3dCoatWannabe Posted March 21, 2011 Author Advanced Member Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Just treat retopology the way you would if you were modeling the character in Lightwave. The body, head, tongue, eyelid and such, you can merge just before retopo'ing and then retopo them all together, in one layer. Then just retopo the other objects on their own separate layer. Making much more progress now. However, when I create the 'shirt' on the model, my shirt is a solid object (made from the body), whereas yours is the outer layer of the body (extruded a bit) with a hollow inside. I've seem a few tutorials on making shirts in UV, but I'm unclear on how you made your 'thin' shirt in the Voxel room? BTW - I sent you a private msg on NewTek's forum (as I don't seem to be able to in this one). Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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