Previs class note:
In this week’s worldview build, I’ve added more details:
While refining the worldview, I had many ideas, but once the story worked out, I realized it didn’t fit the character. Within the time limit, I chose to make a straightforward short story that showed the character’s comfortable life and her excellent living conditions; for this purpose. My storyboard was simple and primarily for atmosphere
The concept:
I intend to create a world of monsters, of which the Harpies are one race.
Harpies are the fastest flying monsters in the world. Their arms and legs are birds, the rest are humans, they are also the closest race to humans, and they are full of curiosity. Harpies were not aggressive, so most of them took up the job of delivering letters or goods; they are the courier of the world.
Harpies lived in the top of the world, around by cliffs. They would build houses on pine branches or stone bumps from cliffs.
Because they live on the peak of the cold, they wear robes to protect the torso (refer to American Indian dress)
They also lived with the eagles, who could not fly as fast as Harpy but had better eyesight.
Background Settings:
Medieval fantasy setting
Targeted species: Harpies
Harpies are separated into three main factions, divine, neutral and invasive.
Character settings:
- The Swallow
Neutral faction, tribal clothing, lives on treetop communities with other neutral harpies. Works as a mailman/ delivery man for a living. Easy to get along, good at reading the room, nice to people.
- The Shoebill
Chaotic faction, easily irritable, menacing/unfriendly on the outside, but has a good heart and morale. Values friendship and trust. Lives in a secluded valley, where chaotic harpies created their own way of life by pillaging other settlements or other bad deeds.
- The Crane
Divine faction, sacred, lives alone far away from civilization almost like a hermit. Due to lack of human interaction, is bad at socializing, despite her always perfectly held composure.
Storyboard：
In terms of story, I take into account the time, I think it is not easy to tell a complete animation in 90 seconds, so I tend to make showcase animations that show the environment where the characters live, the character’s personalities, and the character’s comfortable life, so my storyboard is concise.
Mechanical arm class note:
This week we finished the basic model below the small arm, starting from the palm to the forearm. Basic modeling was relatively easy for me. Still, I did a lot of testing on the linking of some parts because the ultimate goal of modeling is to make the model movable. It took a lot of time for each model. It was torture… But I was happy when the model was finished and ready to move!
In terms of small structure, we learned a structure that looks like a yo-yo, which means that the string can be wrapped around a cylinder. This mechanism can be used for ropes, screws, and wires. In this case, we also used nodes to make an increaser, which means that the output and input variables are controlled to make the animation look more logical. I rarely use nodes for modeling or animation because I am not good at them, But it made me realize the importance of nodal learning.
First, the palms are made. These are very simple processes.
It is worth noting that I have separated the ring finger and pinky finger sections from the palm so that the palm can be bend, and I have only used extruded surfaces to ensure that the whole palm looks linked.
Once the palm is finished, place each finger in the right place.
Then add a primary bone for the Forearm.
As someone really bad at mechanical modeling, I had trouble imagining how this structure would move…
Anyway, I made a circular shaft that can rotate up and down with the whole hand and reviewed a function that turns on the center point of the part.
A part that can be rotated in the y-axis
Another function that I reviewed when making this part was the crease tool.
Although I think the result of this function is similar to chamfering (I ended up using chamfering because I wasn’t used to it)
Finally, I made a part that rotates in the z-axis, which I used as a wrist
This is also a disc for the wrist, with ten circular holes made in the disc and a suitable screw model to make it look more complex
This is also a disc for the wrist, with ten circular holes made in the disc and a suitable screw model to make it look more complex
This is the screw made using special reproduction
Finally, the small arm housing was modeled using a cylinder
This is how the yoyo was made!
First, add the bend controller to a cylinder and bend the cylinder
Create a new cylinder. Adjust the size of the controller just enough to curl around the cylinder
Group the cylinder with the controller, and this time move the group, and you’ll see the string bent around the cylinder!
But when you roll it, it doesn’t move far enough and looks unnatural
It’s time to add the increase!
Open the node screen, select the group and the controller, and use the connection editor to link them.
In the node interface, create a node for the increaser, link the group with the controller to input value, and the model transform to out value.
Enter the appropriate values in the editor window for the increaser.
Tilt the controller slightly
Finally, you have a suitable yoyo!
This is the final effect: