Category: Final Major Projects and Theis

Of course, to make animations, I exported the arranged scene model. I put it into Maya to realize the interaction between Maya animation and unreal scenes.

Challenge & Reflection：

There are many challenges this week. My classmate kaiyue wang gave me a lot of help. She taught me to use more and more complex unreal editing.
In the production of plant modules, I often needed help. Because I was not proficient in using the software, I could not control the number of plants well, which led to unreal crashes. Ultimately, I tried about five or six times before finding the right one. Plant in quantity.
Moreover, I can use various functions more skillfully through constant and repeated practice while using Unreal.
A very troublesome thing happens when the model is imported from Unreal into Maya. Because the unit calculations of Unreal and Maya are different, when I import the scene model into Maya, the model is 100 times larger than before. Of course, this is also what I have studied. The result after about an hour…
This made me realize that I still know too little about unreal. There may be an easier way to solve this problem.

Animation：

At the same time, I am constantly improving my animation production. I record the animation through the playback function of Maya and then use UE to synthesize it into a video for the teacher to check:

before：

after：

Before the summer vacation, I made a version of the animation through the most basic storyboard, but that animation had many problems. I submitted the animation to the teacher. I had extensively revised it this time.

From our teacher’s feedback, most of the problems are that the characters’ body movements need to move in an arc, so they look very stiff. There is also a very troublesome place – the hair. I needed to make the look of my hair floating in the water entirely manually. The teacher gave me a lot of specific suggestions for this, including how the hair should flow at this time, at what speed, in which direction, etc. These are very useful.

Next week, I will complete the placement of the camera in unreal and the scenery required by the camera and use Photoshop to change some textures into another art style.

Last week, I made exemplary models, topology, and rigging. This week, I’ll organize the UVs, paint the textures in Substance Painter, and finally go to PS to manage the textures.

For the mermaid decal, I divided the mermaid’s body into several parts, cutting the decal from the neck, the waist, the arms, and finally, the back, as usual, to ensure that there are no seams on either side.

Also, I split the other parts into two UV maps since the fins were made earlier and the hair didn’t need to be mapped, so I mainly did it to complete the new body maps.
I put the low-poly into the substance painter and then baked it using the Zbursh sculpted high-poly model so that the normal of the high-poly would be engraved on the low-poly, and I could have a significantly refined-looking model.

Final Effect：

Base color：

Emission：

Normal：

Roughness：

The rendering in Maya looks like this:

Challenge:

I only encountered a few challenges during this texturing process. I have some background in painting, and using Substance Painter to create textures for 3D models is relatively easy. I used my painting skills to make the model look more alive.

However, the baking process of the model is more troublesome for me. The last time I tried this method was to create rocks on the ocean floor, so this part of the work became a learning point for this project. During the baking process, I need to consider the details and quality of the texture and ensure that the baked effect can perfectly match the model’s geometry. However, the results always need improvement, inseparable from the model’s production. Relationship, so this made me realize that I still need to improve my skills. Fortunately, I can correct these deficiencies by modifying the normal map.

Insufficient:

Although I could use some essential brush functions of Substance Painter proficiently, the things I drew were not as refined as Photoshop. This is due to a certain degree of deficiency in my knowledge of this software.

This texture production process made me more familiar with the operation process of Substance Painter. Also, it made me realize that I still have room for improvement in texture painting. I plan to hone my skills in future work, particularly in texture refinement and baking techniques, to create more refined and high-quality texture effects.

Next week, I will develop the most basic scene structure and modify the animation according to the teacher’s feedback.

And, since the new semester is about to start, I have made some plans for the coming time:

Week 7: Animation
Week 8: 3D scene redesign (unreal)
week 9: 3D scene redesign (unreal)
Week 10: camera setting
Week 11: VFX setting and Animation setting
Week 12: Modify the model
Week 13: Lens depth of field
Week 14: Final Checking and Rendering
Week 15: Post-processing

Last week, I completed the mermaid model, and this week, I will complete the small octopus model and rig both models.

I did an almost perfect job of recreating the design of the baby octopus. Although the shape of these eight legs does not look particularly flexible and is slightly sharp, it looks even cuter when the little octopus curls up its legs. This design also adds some unique charm to it.

Rigging:

This week, I devoted almost all of my time to boning the character, which was both a huge challenge and a learning opportunity. The process of character binding is very complicated and involves many technical details. To ensure that the movements of the two characters are natural and smooth, I paid particular attention to the production of joints. After trying it out many times while watching the tutorials, I finally settled on a method that maximized movement.

Mermaid：

Octopus：

Challenge & Reflection：

The process of binding bones is more tedious. The biggest challenge is that I’m not skilled in using ADV as a plugin to bind bones, and I tried to add IK joins to the hair, but it didn’t work well.
I learned a lot from this and realized that I still need to improve at binding bones, but the ADV plugin considerably sped up my rigging.
To get the best results from the joins, I asked some friends to check them for me after I finished making them, and the final result looks like this.

But in this rigging, I used a lot of what I learned in the first semester in the robotic arm, such as the ability to add various controllers via add attribute and so on, which can be an excellent way to achieve simplicity.

The tiny octopus model, I think, is actually a bit of a pain in the ass. After all, it has eight legs, each requiring three bones to support. This allows for more flexibility in controlling the octopus’s legs, and one must always be careful not to let the model wear through. And, because the octopus is a mollusk, I added two controllers to the head to get better deformation. I added Jiao’s attribute to the chest controller to make it more convenient to simultaneously shrink the whole octopus into a sphere.

Next week’s plan: I’ve revised the model many times this week because I wanted to maximize the model’s mobility, and each time I encountered a new problem, I didn’t have enough time to do it, so I’ll divide the UV cutting and mapping into next week’s work.

Last week, I finished sculpting the mermaid model. This week, I imported the high-poly model into Maya and worked on the topology of the model.

Model Topology (process and reflection):
This time’s topology was actually not a successful job for me. I wasted some time on some complex shapes. After making the body, I still needed to make the shape of the hair directly in Maya and then topology the tail fin. The figures, which are separate parts from the body, look very simple. Still, I plan to use high-poly for baking in the subsequent textures so that the simple model can look more refined.

Model topology is a tedious and complex task that requires me to balance maintaining model details and optimizing performance.
When making the model topology, I pay special attention to how to arrange the lines of the model reasonably to ensure that the number of faces of the model is kept within a range that will not crash the computer and, at the same time, ensure that there are enough lines to allow the character’s joints to move freely.

Because I redesigned the character’s face and facial features, the shape of the character’s face changed significantly. I performed detailed topology processing on the eyebrows and separated them into two polygons from the entire face model. However, as the details of the model increase, the difficulty of the topology also increases accordingly, and I need to spend more time to complete the refined and optimized topology.

When doing the character topology, I paid particular attention to the overlap of the eyeballs and eye sockets. Even though I didn’t add teeth this time, I still needed to ensure the mouth had a hollow structure. In addition, I found that the topology of the ears was more troublesome because I sculpted the ears separately from the face in Zbrush, which resulted in some unmodeled parts having to be manually processed in the subsequent topology process, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the work. It can also be regarded as a lesson. It would help if you planned the dynamics of the entire model first before designing and researching the model or mastering more advanced production methods to avoid the dilemma of being unable to produce.

As you can see from this model, while the refinement of the character has improved somewhat, the model still has a lot of faces. It will take me a lot of time to complete a more perfect topology.

I once tried to modify and reuse some old character models directly. Still, unfortunately, the old models did not overlap perfectly with the finely sculpted models, especially in the hands and faces. I used Maya’s magnet function to attach the models directly. Making it fit, but instead of saving me time, this process wasted a lot of time. Eventually, I realized it might be more efficient to re-topologize all the models. Because this experience also made me realize that there is still a lot of room for improvement in my modeling abilities, and I need to continue to learn and improve in future work.

Final result:

This week, I completed the entire topology of this model. Next week, I will make basic models of other characters and scenes. The production of these models will be easier, so I am also preparing to rig this mermaid model.

Last week, I reorganized and improved all the 2D designs for the animation and made a plan for the timeline. This week, my main job is to finish my character model, complete rigging, and UV clipping.

Re-sculpting of 3D models:

Because the character’s hair is glowing, the details are almost invisible if you use emission material, so I focused on sculpting the face. You can see that I organized the features, then carved the eye sockets, reduced the size of the eyes, and made the edge lines of the parts more pronounced, which clarifies the shape of the character’s features and makes the model look more detailed.

Including the bodice, I created a more pointed shape for the bra to add variety to the elements through this design. Because of my preference, I also sculpted the shape of the breasts.

I added more muscularity to the model by studying the structure of the human upper limbs. I sculpted the shapes of the ribs, abs, mermaid lines, etc. The revisions took a lot of time and gave my new model some details to add to a more refined look.

This includes the carving of the belly button, the carving of the waist, and the shape of the muscle that wraps around each piece of bone.

The mermaid’s tail does not do many carvings because the muscles of the fishtail are not particularly obvious, but I carved some simple patterns for the thinnest part of the tail fin. I hope that the bake can be rendered a kind of relief effect.

I also did a more intricate carving of the entire tail fin pattern to make it look more realistic.

Reflection & Challenge:

This is my first time using ZBrush to sculpt such a detailed model. To improve my skills and my understanding of this software, I have consulted a lot of information and tutorials, studied this software more deeply, and paid particular attention to a lot of Brush application skills, such as how to extrude smoother shapes, how to map, how to handle facial features more delicately, including the sculpting of the bridge of the nose and eye sockets, etc.

During the sculpting of the model, I gradually became proficient. I mastered various ZBrush functions and technologies, such as topology, masking, UV automatic cutting, manual coloring, cloth simulation, etc. I also learned how to use these tools to give me Models that add realism and level of detail, making my models more alive and look simple yet refined.

Through this study, I can make models faster. I have mastered many methods and techniques that I have never tried before to improve the efficiency of my model sculpting. I realize the importance of continuous learning and practical operation. This allows me to express my ideas and designs better.

This week, I finished sculpting my design. After confirming the plan, I will spend the mermaid’s hair directly in Maya. Next week, I will do the model topology of the entire character.

Last week, I sorted out and completed the appearance settings of the mermaid. This week, I will confirm the next little octopus’s design, the scene’s concept, and the storyboard’s confirmation.

Octopus design

The setting of the other character is relatively simple because the size of this character is tiny, so I’ve been thinking about whether I can make this little octopus have the most conspicuous effect.

During the design process, because the mermaid itself is very dark, I wanted to have a specific contrast with the main character to avoid being unable to jump out in the entire environment, so I decided to give the little octopus some unique colors compared to the image of the mermaid. First, I designed its color to be fully luminous for contrast. Especially in the dark underwater environment, this design can highlight the appearance of the octopus without being buried in the lens because of its small size.

To reflect its cuteness, I also designed it so that it can curl up into a ball. This adds a certain degree of fun to this character and is also convenient for animation production. In addition, I also set it to have a relatively cute character. The long ears make it more dynamic when swinging around, adding more practical movements.

The four legs of the octopus can be curled inward, which can increase the flexibility of the character, make the movements look natural, and conform to the biological characteristics of the octopus. I want to work hard to ensure that the nature of the little octopus is equal despite its tiny size. Gives a sense of presence as a fish.

3、including the seabed’s environment; I also looked for some references, hoping to find more inspiration to set the scene effects.

When redesigning the environment concept, I already had a specific picture. To make this picture more precise, I looked for many references. I wanted to focus on shaping and emphasizing the mysterious atmosphere of the deep sea through the element of “luminescence.” Light is the only visual guide in this dark and unknown realm that is still unknown to humans, so I want to use “luminous but inactive” plants to create a deep-sea landscape, such as seaweeds, sea anemones, snails, etc. Creatures are resources that can be efficiently utilized and enhance the mystery of the deep sea. After all, magical creatures such as mermaids will appear. The designed landscape should not be too close to reality. Otherwise, it will seem boring.

During the reference search, I felt luminous moss could outline black stones and seafloor terrain. These things are very conspicuous in the deep sea. They can also be designed as a visual guide to increase the three-dimensional sense of the entire scene.

In addition, I am also going to add dust and plankton on the seabed to the scene, which will enrich the picture. This luminous feature adds a more “life” feeling to the stage.

To sum up, these designed creatures already have a particular picture in my mind. The following details need to be finely adjusted according to each shot. Through the design of these elements, I hope the audience can have different visual experiences that can give the feeling of “looking complicated but actually having a simple design.”

I’ve organized the storyboard and will use this 2D storyboard as the primary focus for developing my animation story.

To summarize: this week’s work is really about improving all of the previous material, and in the future, I will be modeling the mermaid again to make it more detailed, re-layouting the undersea scene, and adjusting the elements of the undersea scene based on the new reference. My base files have been created, but because of the design changes, the base model changes amount to redoing the character model all over again.

I finished all the 2D concept design and reference gathering this week, and I have a solid idea of my design and animation, so I’ll start working directly on the new character model next week.

Introduction

This animation tells the magic story of the mermaid, a creature of the deep, who meets a tiny octopus. They become friends and eventually set off on a journey together. The story takes place in the deepsea where the light is dim, and creatures have evolved different survival skills. The animation uses “bioluminescence” as a main element of its design, drawing on the characteristics of some deep-sea creatures to beautify and design the main characters and scenes, hoping to present the unique beauty of the deep sea.

Designing the character again:

My character had a new look after three previous designs. Still, it didn’t feel like enough for me, so I decided to make a series of changes to her model, binding bones, exterior design, etc.

1. mermaid design

This is the original design. I changed the character’s hair back to long and made some changes to the pattern on her body, which was refined to look like this, but I wasn’t happy with the pattern on her body. I wanted the pattern on her body to act as her “clothes,” so this design obviously didn’t work out how I wanted it to.

So, I re-collected the reference to find more inspiration, and this time, I wanted to present a beautiful underwater world. And after a lot of searching, I found inspiration from the bohemian style.（https://www.zhihu.com/question/22567780）

Bohemian style is very suitable for my idea. The mermaid’s setting is “a deep-sea adventurer who likes to search for treasures,” the bohemian style represents the desire for freedom, the dissolution of the class gap, and the pursuit of art in life. The bohemian style includes all kinds of knots, feathers, beads, and stones, showing natural, simple, complicated, and beautiful patterns. Beautiful and complex patterns, so I wanted to integrate this element into the character’s tattoos.

From the reference I found the second time, you can see the very beautiful bohemian tattoo and the underwater mermaid when it glows. I observed that bohemian-style tattoos mainly comprise simple assembled shapes unfolding like wings or in the shape of a feather, so I applied this tattoo to the character’s body.
Considering the limited time I had, I needed to do my best to keep the character’s rigging simple and to minimize the number of controllers that needed to be controlled. I found the long hair very difficult to maneuver in the last animation, and it didn’t work well.
Here’s the final design. I changed the mermaid’s hair to a braid, changed the fins to translucent, and increased the size of the tail and decreased the size of the fins because I think one of the main features of a mermaid is the tail, and this makes the big tail flap more graceful. I added a white bra to her, which gives the character’s overall color a sense of rhythm.

As you can see, I’ve covered the character’s chest in a large pattern that can be seen as a necklace, and with the addition of the shoulder and upper arm patterns, it looks more like a bohemian neckline. The pattern on the abdomen and hips simulates a skirt and then connects to the pattern on the back to look more like unfurled feathers. These patterns comprise simple geometric shapes, with dots and lines forming the mermaid’s “dress.

Of course, this design is in 2D and will be altered in detail in the 3D model.

My focus this week was to look up the cultural significance and style of Bohemian. I looked through many design websites, artworks, and illustrations. I came up with the idea that the Bohemian style results from complex arrangements of simple geometric shapes. I found out that I made a lot of intricate designs, and they greatly influenced how I changed the character’s creation.
I adjusted the character’s appearance, incorporated the newly found information and ideas, and designed a new set of patterns for the character. This pattern can be regarded as a shawl or a skirt. I combined the smooth lines with complex elements integrated into simple collection shapes, including combinations of feathers, ropes, flowers, etc., trying to make the characters and tattoos reflect some of the spirit and characteristics of the characters I want to express to better enhance the charm of the characters and the story background.

Next week, I will sort out the remaining designs and organize the existing resources to be modified to save more time for my animation production.