Pigham Model Step By Step Creation

In the end, I decided to go with the mouthless model of Pigham. After getting some opinions from some friends, the majority of people seemed to believe that he looked much better without a mouth. Now that I think about it, I would have to agree. It also ensures that I will have to pay extra attention to animating Pigham's body language, in order to convey his emotions as effectively as if he had a mouth.

Here is a quick step by step process of how I created my model:


First I started off with a capsule shape. To make life simple for myself, I cut the capsule in half and applied a symmetry modifier to it.



I then used the Extruder tool to create the ears. To create the inside of the ears, I used the Inset tool, and then extruded the newly formed polygon inwards.



Next I did the same thing for the nose.



Then I used the tutorial from last week to create the eyes. I also applied a Meshsmooth modifier in order to round off all of the edges.



I then extruded the arms and legs out and also attached eyebrows to the model.



I then extruded the arms and legs out again one more time in order to create the hoofs. I also applied IDs to the polygons in order to make it possible to give different sections different colours. I used this to give the snout and hoofs a different colour to the body. I also thinned the body limbs a little just to make him look better.



Finally, I created a spring shape and attached it to the back of the body.



Here is the final result. I am very happy with the model as it has turned out exactly as I pictured it!

Pigham Model Progress

Here is an almost complete model of my pig character:


I am very happy with the way that this model has turned out. It looks exactly how I imagined it. Its a simple model, but I believe that I will be able to give him enough personality to make him stand out.

I do however, have 2 concerns. 1 is the biped. Due to the simple shape of the model, getting the biped to not only nicely fit into model, but also get it to move without any distortions could prove to be quite difficult. I did have a test with attaching a biped to the model and I was able to get it to work better than I expected. Hopefully once the model is weighted, it will be able to move without any distortions, or else I may have to edit the model.

The second concern is the mouth. Im not sure what would be the best thing to do. I have come up with several experimental possibilities:

1 - Leave the model without a mouth. I believe that if I put enough detail into the animation of the characters body movements and eyes, then I would still be able to express his emotions without the need of a mouth. It has been proved possible to accomplish by the character Gromit from Wallice and Gromit.


2 - Delete some polygons in the shape of a mouth


This way I would have a mouth and would simply be able to move the verticies to form facial expressions. The problem with this is that pulling the verticies around would create stretches on the model, which I would prefer to avoid!


3 - Delete some polygons in the shape of a mouth and place a plane behind it to give the illusion of teeth.


This is similar to the last option, only it would have a plane behind it. Its simply just to add some teeth, making it easier to form expressions.


4 - Place a thin capsule infront of the model in the shape of a mouth.


This is a very simple, yet effective solution. It may seem lazy to simply place the mouth over the front of the model, but I have done the same with the eyebrows. It also adds to the cartoon nature of the character.


I will decide which option would be best to use over the next few days.

Character Concept Continued

Here is some more concept art for my character, including different types of facial expressions and body poses. I did not include a mouth in these drawings because I wanted to see what he looked like without one. Although in retrospect, I probably should have experimented what he would look like both with and without a mouth.

I have also decided to name my character "Pigham" because not only does it have a nice ring to it, but it also has the words "pig" and "ham" in it!

Character Concept

As my research may imply, I really like the character Scrat from the Ice Age films. His role in the films is very simple - to get an acorn and find a good place in order to store it. Despite having such a simple role, I could quite easily watch an entire film about him, as he is a very expressive character and conveys his horrible luck from his body language extremely well.

I wanted to create a character with a simple agenda like Scrat. So I came up with the idea of an animal trying to get to an apple at the top of a tree. After much consideration, I eventually decided that the animal would be a pig, as they are generally seen as greedy animals that would do anything for food. I decided to go with an animal because of the large amount of children cartoons, films, games etc that feature an animal as the main character.

Here is a basic sketch of my character:

Seeing as the animated character will aimed at an audience of 4-14 year olds, I have decided to go for a very basic modeling style.

This is only one concept, but I am already quite confident with the idea and am quite eager to get started on it!

Character Research

Here is a moodboard of some popular animated characters from films, tv shows and games. All of them have their own unique movements and expressions. I will be aiming to give my character some unique trait to make him as memoriable as these characters.

Facial Expressions Research

Facial expressions are extremely important when it comes to expressing personalities. Not only do they effectively convey the character's emotions, but they can also define the character themselves.

If a character were to shout, this would give away that they are most likely angry. However, facial expressions are so effective that a mear glance at the character's face is all that is needed to instantly know their mood.

In my opinion, the most important feature of the face are the eyes. The eyes can express almost every emotion under the sun, making it very possible to have a character that is only a pair of floating eyes, and yet still know how they are feeling. The expression "speak with your eyes" comes to mind.


The character Scrat from the Ice Age films is my favourite character, despite him not saying a word in the entire series. This is down to his expressive personality. The animators have done a brilliant job at conveying his hyperactive movements. His massive eyes also make it very easy to identify his feelings, and also make it possible to easily express any type of mood. This character has actually inspired me with my own character, which I will go over in a later post.







Another character that has greatly inspired me with facial expressions is Zim from the cartoon Invader Zim. This used to be one of my favourite cartoons when I was younger, and I have always remembered how expressive the character's eyes were. Usually when you think of someone with a normal, relaxed expression on their face, you would think that their eyes would be almost completely open. It was extremely rare for Zim to ever have both of his eyes completely open at any one time. He would usually have at least one of his eyes very slightly closed, to give him a more suspicious/plotting expression.

Once again, the animators did a fantastic job with facial expressions in this cartoon because the character's eyes were always moving. Even cutting off a very slight bit of the top of the eye formed an entirely new expression. I want to use this technique with my character in order to give a constant expression of his feelings.

Body Language Research

Body language allows us to see what a character may be feeling through the movements of their body. It can both strengthen how a character really feels, or give some indication as to what a character truely feels. For example, a character may be smiling and say that they are happy, but if they are stamping around it creates the impression that they may really be feeling annoyed.

A good example of a character with expressive body language is Pingu. He has very over the top body movements to show his hyperactive personailty. Often he moves in ways which Penguins cant, such as stretching his beak. This just expresses his feelings and reinforces his cartoonish character.




Here are some silhouette images of human body language.

Much like facial expressions, the slightest change in angle or position of part of the body and the mood conveyed could be completely different. For example, the first image of Joy looks very similar to the first image of Surprise. However, the slight change in arm positions make it easier to tell the 2 apart from each other. The point being, that the human body is just as expressive as the human face.


The same goes for animals, as this example of a cat's body language shows.



Without body languges, it would be very boring to watch characters interact with each other. You may as well have your eyes closed and just listen to them, because without their body languge it is not only boring to watch, but we also dont get to see how they are really feeling.

Example Animation Research

In order to find some inspiration, I have found a few animated clips that show a real attention to the personalities of their characters. I have found clips with characters that dont speak in order to see how much of a personality they have without a voice.

Luxo Jr



This animated short was created by the perhaps the biggest animation company in the world - Pixar. Despite the characters being mere lamps, they each have a strong personality, making it easy to identify them as the calm parent and the playful child. Even without faces, you can tell exactly how the 2 lamps feel which reinforces how important body language is.


Morph



While the characters in this short do technically have voices, making it easier to tell how the characters feel, they have been animated so well that the audience can tell exactly how they feel even if it is watched with no sound. The amount of attention gone into the facial expressions and the body movements highlight their strong personalities.


Ice Age



The character 'Scrat' is bursting with personality. His massive eyes allows him to express a wider range of expressions. Almost every inch of his body is constantly moving in exaggerated ways, which again, allows him to express his personality.



It seems that the secret to animating a sucessful character is in the body language. Being able to hear a character speak obviously shows their personality, but if a character is able to show their personality through movements and gestures alone, then that is a sign of a strong character.

Tutorial Work - Cartoon Eyes

Our first task was to learn how to create basic cartoon eyes. This was actually much easier to do than I thought and has definately made me feel better about animating my character.

Here is my first attempt:


I tried to go for something different than the usual happy and sad expressions. For my first expression I went for a creepy smile look. I then tried to convey suspicion by having 1 eye wide open and the other eye with a slanted eye lid. I then had the eyes quickly blink 2 times. Next I went for a sad expression before finising it off by having the eye lids slowly close.

I am happy with the outcome, but I did not take full advantage of the tutorial. I was taught how to move the pupils, as well as change the shape of the eyes themselves in order to convey even more expressions. I will definately be using these techniques for my own animated character.

Initial Reaction

Today we have found out that for this module we will be designing an original character with a strong personality. This character should use body language to convey their emotions and personality.

I am both excited and slightly worried about this module. I am very excited to have a chance to create an original character and test my animation skills. However, I usually struggle to come up with something original without some kind of inspiration. I am going to have to make sure that I do a lot of research and find the inspirartion that I will surely need.

I have had enough experience with animating models in 3D Studio Max for me to be confident enough to do this module. Having said that, I really dont think that I am at a high enough level to give this character a strong personality just by animating. I believe that I lack the experience needed. Not only this but I have several other modules to think about with an equal, or even more, amount of work to do for them.

I will definately try my hardest, as animation is the area in which I am currently considering going into after University. It is just gonna be a struggle getting it to a high enough quality in the limited amount of time I have.

But enough of the doom and gloom. Im sure this module will be great fun and I am eager to get started!