Creating a setting

The main focus of this project is the character itself - however in order for the animation to work I need to create a setting for my character to interact with. Therefore I have created a room in 3D max. I have not gone over the top with extra detail as this would slow the rendering greatly. I have created a simple living room, with a door, window, TV and sofa.



To create the sofa I used various box polygons, which I shaped by converting them into editable polys. Once I had gotten the various parts into the right shapes, I grouped them together and set them in a suitable place. The television was made in a similar way - by pulling in vertices at the front to create an indent, within which has been placed a plane for the screen. I intend to add a video to this screen later on as part of the animation.

The door and window were both created by using the Boolean tool to cut holes in the wall polys, and then using box polys to model the door and window frame, etc. The glass of the window itself is a thin box poly, to which I have applied an opacity and a small amout of reflectiveness.

I will texture this to a degree, but my main aim with the room is to keep it simple, to set the scene whilst avoiding large amounts of rendering time.

Hand V.2

I found that although I liked the fingers of my original version of my hand, the rest of the hand was far too cylindrical and not really appropriate for animation. Therefore I attemtped a second method of creating a hand, which was done by creating a box, which I converted to an editable poly. I then pulled out various vertices from the box to create fingers, and again at the side to create a thumb. I played around with the settings until I was happy with the shape and size of the hand, and applied a turbosmooth filter to give a better end result.

I also modelled an arm from cylinders which I modified to give a more realistic look - with bigger bulges towards the shoulder end. I also added some armour using a couple of cylinders and booleans to cut them into the desired shape. A sphere was added into the shoulder of the main model, which would act as a joint when it was all put together.

Creating hands

The hands are something that I am finding very challenging to create - they are fairly complicated, and they also require a fair amount of movement when they will be animated. I have decided to create them in armoured gauntlets, to go with the rest of his armour. So far, I have created a hand like shape by combining various cylinders and spheres, creating knuckles across the joins. However, I have found that the underside of the hand isnt looking right, as it isnt flat. I intend to improve upon this.

Ideas for animation, and leg modelling

I have decided that my animation will revolve around my character being in a modern room - unfamiliar territory that is not foreboding in any way, yet is unfamiliar to my character, who is from an ancient time. I would like to have him perhaps interacting with the television, and showing how he would react to it.

As for modelling, I have been working on legs for the minotaur. Looking into various art, I decided I would do something with a joint that goes inward, in a more animal-like way. This is the shape I came up with:


However, I thought that this could prove to cause problems when animating, due to its odd shape, and I instead went for something with a more 'human' shape. I did however keep it with a hoof, to retain the theme of a bull-man.

Head and Torso Modelling

I have modelled the head and torso first. I will model the legs and arms seperately, as these will be put together in the process of boning the character for animation. The eyes may be changed at a later time in order for a different style that will be easier to animate.

For the animation, I have decided to have my character in a more modern environment, perhaps trying to use a computer or television.