The Man Himself · 1:10am Aug 22nd, 2013
Writing and modeling both have that same air of satisfaction when you look back and pour over your work. Inevitably you'll find kinks, but little can detract from that little feeling you get when you step back and realize, "I did this, and it WORKS."
Of course, modeling and animation have their own pitfalls.
This model of Adrian Mandeville took a lot more than one might think to produce. It took a base model, an account of proportions and muscle structure, the tailoring of clothes, and the rigging of all to a proper skeletal rig. Hair, accessories modeled. Then you need facial expressions, all of which I had to sculpt by hand, and of which I'm rather proud of.
This render with its flat-shaded colors doesn't fully convey the expression here, particularly the crease in his right brow which is left invisible to the shading. In animation it should be more apparent, but in a still-frame it's less defined.
Once rigged to a base skeleton, I had to factor in subtleties like the forearm twist, the roll of the foot, and a switch between forward and inverse kinematics in the arms, demanding three different arm skeletons which swap mid-animation depending on how best to get a pose across.
And of course, the eyes, requiring a simple but necessary FFD lattice for a non-spherical eye shape, controlled to change the shape and size of the pupils in animation and keep upright with the head when it tilts.
Lastly, his weapons of choice. Most obvious is The Bridge, the abominable, literal iron-fist with which he means to rule. I know in Chapter Ten I note the Bridge has two oppositely rotating carousels of unicorn horns, but given the horns are to proper scale compared to his model, I found this wasn't exactly feasible without making the Bridge ludicrous and unwieldy. His arm just isn't long enough, and as compact as it is the weapon is already damned bulky in its own right, given the grim expansions attached to its sides. Small price to pay however, for unrivaled magical power.
And secondly, barely visible and attached to a holster in the right of his belt, is the cluster-grenade launcher he used to tragic effect early on. In full view, this redesign (figuring out how to make something with five barrels convenient and portable was NOT easy) looks like nothing more than a big ceramic capsule, until it's whipped-out. It then unfolds a handle, and five short barrels swing out from the body before locking together into a classic revolver configuration. A sure surprise, when the thing that looks like a thermos unfolds into a grenade launcher. Might provide a GIF of the thing later.
Well, that's it for now. I should tell you that's not ALL I've done with this time. I've also modeled and rigged for animation, the CID, Spotter and SHADE. I could render those out right now, but I think I'll hold onto them for a more complete reveal later ;-)
Not much on the writing front at the moment, but I've been on a real 3D kick lately, especially given my big move coming up, and the likelihood that I'll be less available to bust such things out under the new stresses I'll be under.
So let me know what you think, if you can, though be kind if you would. I know it probably doesn't look as involved as I've said, but trust me, it's taken some doing.
Oh wow, glad I saw this... I now know that I've been been picturing the Bridge all wrong this whole time.
Actually, this version make a lot more sense now that I think about it... Definitely better than a transparent Aperture Science portal gun that's mounted on the wrist and has horns sticking out of the end. Also, it's too bad we can't see his anti-magic uranium super-pistol.
He's such a nerd.
Actually, he looks much like I had envisioned him. For some reason though, I imagined him with a black trench coat. Because emo and all that.
Wonderful work!
cool
This picture of Adrian make me more impressed of your writing skills than your animation talent. Not that this is bad (its fantastic, just better for animation), but overall, this is how I pictured he looked like. The glasses, the Bridge, and even his hair is the same, showing just how well you described them without boring us.
I have no hat, but if I did, it would be off to you.