UPDATE:

Billy Pilgrim with Hair and texture

What is there to say, really? It was another great week full of all-out crazy modeling, with little interest in anything else. The greatest benefactor of this rush was the Tin Woodsman, who has gotten to the point of near completion. I’m very much pleased with how it turned out. Check it out:

He’s not completely done; if you’ll look back to the concept art, you’ll notice a short white draping cape-like article under his shoulder pads. I’d still like to use this, but I have to figure out how. Using geometry is probably no good because it would severely limit his range of movement, and cloth isn’t a good option either because, well, it’s a pain in the ass (and wouldn’t come into play until after animation was done, anyway). I might have to see how he he looks when he’s textured to see if he even needs it (which is the next step).

Hours: 10 Percent Complete: Roughly 90 % (in terms of modeling)

Billy Pilgrim

Billy Pilgrim didn’t really take a back seat, per se, but progress was a bit slower. Unwrapping and texturing him proved to be a nightmare (as in, it hasn’t happened yet) because, well, of a lack of software to make it possible. Headus UV Unwrap is expected soon, so it should happen shortly. Meanwhile, he’s got hair! I’ve opted to go with Shave for admittedly selfish reasons. I began confronting the intimidating plug-in last term in Advanced Animation and, while I managed to make it out with my life, I was battered and beaten from the experience. So, call its use a bit of a vendetta; its a personal goal to be successful in its use. It’s LINUX only for the time being at least, which is something of a hurdle, but the results are nice:

Some more tweaking needs to be done, and I have to further educate myself on some of the settings but I think its the best route. I know there was some concern about modeling consistency and I’m aware that this could potentially deepen the divide. I defend it not only with my personal ambition with this software, but also with the fact that Billy was inherently supposed to be one of the more “realistically” modeled characters. That said, I’m willing to help another team member utilize Shave to some extent in their own model (with King Arthur having some potential– some hair could drop in front of his face from under his hood).

Additionally, I have begun modeling a generic male body for use with not only Billy, but also Robin Hood and King Arthur. The latter two will require some tweaking and modeling additions, of course, but the body itself, tall and lanky, is met specifically for Billy. Regardless, I hope it will still save time for Mike and Hessam. Pardon the turkey-esque appearance, there’s still some sculpting and details to be added (not to mention hands/feet).

Hours: 15 Percentage (for all of Billy): 50

Anyway, Billy is somewhat two characters in one, and I’m fairly pleased with how the Tralfalmadoran is coming. He’s nearly complete.

Please note the textures are still very much temporary, and how he will connect to Billy is still up in the air as well, but this is likely a matter of extruding along a path.

Oh! The card back is tweaked as well. Now with correctspelling!

Lauren and I are meeting this week to iron out the final card details and colors as to ensure consistency.

So, yeah, another good week!

Ben