Dissertation

As for modelling on the head there have only been some slight

alterations, I've also started scaling up the basic low poly 

female body mesh in XSI. I'll be using a bit of reference to get 

the form right, but since the main focus is on the head it's not as 

important to get it looking perfect. My main focus this week has 

been on the Dissertation, I've got it up to 2000 words for my 

introduction. I have looked into the work Image Metrics have 

done on the Emily Project and thier in house software and 

facial capture techniques. This then links to the Rock Band 

Trailer by Passion Pictures, who used Image Metric's 

technology to help create the facial animation. Finally I have 

looked at Jason Osipa's Book 'Stop Staring', as it is a 

benchmark for facial hand keyed facial animtion and rigging, 

as well as contraining a wealth of principals surrounding facial 

animation technique.

The last part of the introduction covers 5 points on how to gauge 

the success of the project:

- Can emotion be seen in the face in relation to the 

performance?

- Does the lip sync match up with the music?

- Can the face rig be manipulated to suit the performance?

- Is the motion fluid enough without looking 'cartoony'?

- Does the character look realistic (has it fallen into uncanney 

valley territory?)

It has occured to me that the last point there has not been 

covered in my 2000 words, so I will probably have to edit 

what I have done so far to fit it in.

I have a hand in on wednesday for creative character so 

that takes priority for the moment, but the next course of 

action on the project it to edit the jawline of my character, 

refine the basic female mesh to form the body and join it 

up to the head (currently the head has 18 edges on the neck 

and the body has 12, so it shouldn't be hard to add in the 

edges to make them match up.

Refining the head, Rigging and Writing

I've been working on the overall shape of the head and have refined the model a fair bit though after a meeting with my project supervisor he recommended I bring out the cheekbones, work on the eyelids and shape of the eyes. The head should hopefully be finnished soon, and I will also start work on the upper body, I'm going to look at the basic XSI female body as a starting point for the body though I may also start another one from reference. Here is some of the progress I have made with the head.



I've created a curve based neck for a smoother and more natural movement, while I've only got a quick envelope test you can see what it does


I've started on the first quarter of my dissertation, currently its a little brief but I'll start making notes and improve upon the base of what I've got, I'm looking to focus on comparing motion capture technology to keyframe since motion capture has come a long way in recent years.

More on topology

While initially I was planning on editing the basic mudbox head I started noticing it might not be the best way of approaching the modelling, my main concern was the 6 point star (also 2 minor complaints I had with the mouth area) and so clear-cut mouth area.


To make sure the model would deform as I wanted it to I decided to make my own, from photo reference of Imogen Heap and a quick design to base the modelling on. After completing the modelling based on the 'Joan of Arc' tutorial (adding in additional detail on the eyes, mouth and other areas to improve the deformation) I will edit the form in Mudbox, but for now this is a WIP image.


I'll be rigging it once I'm done modelling, one point to work on is having a curve rather than a bone for the neck to increase movement rather than a single static bone (considering that this is going to be mostly focusing on the head). Once the facial rigging is done I'll create the body and simply parent the head to it (in order to make sure I've got the head ready to animate A.S.A.P.). I'm aiming for a more painted feel to the character looking at the GTA IV concept art, team fortress 2 and the latest Prince of Persia title (though the more you look at Elika the more you see the outline dosen't quite compliment the style as well)

Topology time

I'm working with the basic head in mudbox and photos of Imogen Heap to create a head model, from the topology of the head it looks like I will have to reorganise the polys in XSI before it is suitable for animation. Also there is not a clearly defined mouth or eyes, more a suggestion of the space they take up.

Starting to feel a bit of pressure now, with the workload, but as long as I keep busy it shouldn't matter.

...maybe realism isn't the best idea...

After having a look at image metrics (who are really bridging that gap between CG and reality) with my project tutor my project has taken a turn to using a slightly more stylized approach in a sense of not trying to emulate reality and land in uncanny valley (see Beowulf, visually pretty, but you might as well have zombies acting).

I think I will pick up the modelling of a 'realistic' head later on after my degree.

One thing that is apparent with image metrics is the stillness of the heads (for their approach to realistic facial animation, rather than their work on computer games) when they use video to create an animated head, so to avoid trying to emulate them I will be using the upper body of a character as well as moving the head around at a greater degree. The video I will be using for reference is 'It's good to be in love' by Frou Frou, I'll be directly referencing parts of it and filling in others to get about 30 seconds of animation in.

Leaning towards realism

I've been set the task to get a head modelled, rigged and animated by next Friday, I'm not sure if I can get all that done by then, but I'll damn well give it a shot. I'm following the stop staring method of facial modelling and it seems to be giving some good results and I'm currently working on the eye area.



I'm aiming for a more realistic animation and I've got good reference from a 3d.sk photo set from 3D world magazine. Though I really need some good reference for female singers, I also need to really consider the differences in motion between a male and female performer as well as a multitude of other things. Luckily I kinda get a bit OCD about animation and end up thinking about it a lot. I'm trying to take notice and analyse the way women move, and little details that can create a better performance... though I'm rather reluctant of just staring at women because it's just plain creepy, maybe I can get a mate to help out or just find some suitable video reference.


Other modules:
Creative character animation - I've made a start with animating and I've done an acting video to reference from, it's a fairly interesting performance so here it is.

Getting this thing started

It's about time I started blogging, all the cool kids are doing it.

I'm going to use this blog to keep track of what work I'm doing and keep a note of any work, projects, or other things that crop up. I might even get some interest from people, exciting.