until next year folks.....the conclusion

3D was without a doubt one of the most challenging subjects so far. There was more than once when it all looked like it would never get done, and on top of that, it was a lot of tutorials and independent study, as each design was unique.
Im extremely happy with the final render/result, and with such satisfaction in a job well done, (even though i will likely regret it, and its alot more difficult/challenging than the other choices) i believe 3D would be a more than interesting choice for next year.

Introducing....BLOBMAN

The final render. BLOBMAN is very simple, very basic, but im extremely happy with the final result. he turned out exactly how i wanted, it just took a little more time.

Claire

scene it

Im surprised how well the scene worked. i didnt want the sterotypical worksite, or a boring background colour, so i picked two slightly more energetic bitmaps for planes.

http://static.freepik.com/free-photo/abstract-golden-background-with-white-light_94815.jpg

I chose a golden orange (keeping with 72 hr urban actions theme colour) for a glowing heroic, sunlight kind of effect. it took some strategic positioning, but the 'final' pose, is in my opinion, perfect for my little plasticine man

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQTPCNVcTwDUgJBBCnSepFGlmG92Yk2TGwr2dW7mARYBCS0CFndJQ

The green was choosen to be grass, but any textured green materials just didnt seem to suit, so to match the golden background i used a shiney,sun kissed green. a very abstract piece of grass i guess.

pdf attachement

photoshoot time

Some of my favourite render angles.

lights and shadows

At this point i thought i was near done....far from it. 

i now needed to create shadows to make him more realistic, this was done by creating the proper lighting. 

Which took a really long tim to get the way i wanted. 

Many of the lights were far too close and harsh, and others were too bright for shadows. (one of my favourite examples of thisis below. he looks like a prisoner on the run)

since i was going to have him in a heroic pose (as disucssed in2 planning and 3dclay modelling)

in the end i settled for two distant high standard lights. This created the simple (not too big or small) shadows beneath him. If i was to build my skills in anything in the next project, i believe it will be the shadows and lighting 

i shall call him, mini blob !

Little late, but better late than never.

The mini blobman i spoke of in previous posts

This is a small plasticine version of BLOBMAN. it was to give me a fair idea how my final 3d renders would look,and what i could do to improve on them, or what details may be difficult in 3DSMAX that i wouldnt have thought of in 2d drawings. However it has also given me a great idea on how i want the material of blobman to look. yes i understand the colour scheme is sorted, but i want this pudgy gooey plasticine look. its child friendly and very unusual. it also fits in nicely with the make, create and build themes. 

his big blobby feet. this was alot more useful than the 2d drawings

top view of his head....this was where the model came in most use. it gave me a goo understanding of how the point will work in 3d dimensions

side view of his head, showing his nose curve

head, front. gives a good idea what the lighting should be like on 3DSMAX

full mini blob

at this point his head did start falling off (he's a bit un realistic in the sense of proportions) but this shows how over bearing the orange could become 

his head, belly and feet proportions are getting better

the high camera pose, makes him too small and insignificant,i want him more dominant and helpful

orange overalls look quite prison like....love his arched posture

sorting out heroic poses

BLOBMAN - the making of

Blobman was made up mainly of modified chamfer boxes, his really helped with the bulkyness of him. 

I started with the bitmap and kept close to the design from there. mirroring and cloning many of the objects so he was symmetrical where appropriate.

The eyes were chamfer spheres modified, and the mouth was trickey enough. i attempted tocreate the small mouh slit using lines etc extruded, but none madeenough of a dent when booleaned, so i used a modified chamfer cylinder. 

moving the vertexes to create the smooth head was difficult since there were so many vertexes and many interfered with the vertexes on the other side.

another problem i encountered was creating the wrinkles and bends in his overalls, the vertexes were very tricky, and there was usually a fine line between wrinkles and a gap in the model.

in the end he turned out very plasticine like

getting started with 3D blobman

I started blob man how most tutorials started, with a reference image, two infact. a front and side view.

I sketched them out carefully on graph paper (so the measurements would be the same) created two planes, rotated them and using material editor i selected defuse, bitmap and selected the front and side views for each. though they were correct measurements on paper, the planes had a different idea, so i had to mess about and move the plans about to get the font an side views to line up perfectly.

This new skill was also used in creating the scenes. probably one of the simplest yet crucial features in 3DSMAX.

Final Rendering

final tweaks

The final tweaks were very small and bearley noticable, but i think its the fine details that make or break a design. i gave him two buttons on his overalls instead of three. big head is more curved than square and bottom heavy but not overly. his clothes have more wrinkles, which im sure will be hell come 3DSMAX time but ah well. im quite happy with the final designs. hes simple but powerful

playing with the colours

a dark grey lue seems to work best...giving him a not human but not ull etc colour, it works well with the bright oranges that are the featured colour

the little bits and bobs that make blobman

Basic body shape so far

Head Shoulders Knees an Toes

Its the details that matter when designing a character, certain aspects could completely ruin him or make him. things like the shape of his hands, at the moment im stuck on whether they should be round, thinner at the top? or the bottom?
should he have hands? fingers? mittens? flat sided blobs (kinda like shovels?) im very tempted to have just rounded ends, like a teddy ragdoll, but is that too plain? i havent decided yet

HANDS IMAGE


http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/teddy-bear-hands-up-11452217.jpg

mittens like hands


http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/1698098/2/stock-photo-1698098-teddy-bears-holding-hands.jpg

round, boring?


https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSt_U2cmUW3X_n3jPO1ZZjyHMzVnKNE6FrkJZ_u-_4iFxYAmGqVkA

flat ragdoll hands


https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR4L82ZWihLFxKPlOukomsjAoBazWXLzLj7f8-WqRVx8jZBwz3w

stubby hands?


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmhYe0JKd1dyDv-MFom40x4IyL0tusmfNPzdRONoLcrlTiaB-U5g

stubby but boring


https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSf-IYaG_a0DGi68lKZhWJEcYeC90_MlPCKyjaP1keBaBmrB8QnNg

cute and cartoony

The head has kind of developedinto a square but cuehead,the sideviewis interesting,giving himfeatures like a nose, without actually giving him a nose.

INSERT DRAWINGS


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGLgNkA5QgyXJIHgrGXO0LuvFh7wKkW40E7spdB0BcRwq5OQpOdg

Very close to the size of the head im going for.

the top lef of the head has developed intoa point,but imunsure yet how that works with the side view....i will figure this out more when i make a clay model for reference.

Boy size, shoulders and belly in comparison to head, and feet in comparison to the body.
He has a chibi sized head, but he has a pudgey belly,however i wan him somewhat realistic, ie. if he has a big head an belly, he would need to be able to balance, ie he nees big stable feet to....maybe workboots?



https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmTO1XDpHXP7sJ5atfMQ7IZQLE4dPM0_QIivrqvaLvFVuym7aT

I dont want him to look too top heavy.

Blobmans CLOTHES

We have the general colour palate (though ive been figuring out exactly what shade of orange i want.)
So now its time to dress mr blobman.

I want him in something cute and baggy so itll suit him, but i want it vivid and workman like.
Basic Construction uniforms are a big influence here, as i dont want anything too elaborate or out of place.


https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSLDvtwUwz_0ckQ5yGHNuwBQ5YgsSj80zdCvLFicF2wdmQ50yIQ


https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQqjyUBFyuERcspdqrJPUWsIBkFN-S1s9nN95gVwCk3tFzYUTw


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS0EYVNvIQuZWxwNUgzMr3NpE3AXVxZ0cAVuGHbUGpXMn5OHDYH


https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQf7rAzlJ9un9BzXVTUJn5hIYu1xnfnHJ28ex91zKPNT0AjEkjA


http://thatwoman.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/hard_hat.jpg

The hard hat an HIVIS vest all seem to be reoccurring aspects to a uniform, but when i include them in my blob man, i just dont think they suit him. big orange overalls seem to be the uniform im leaning towards at this point. However the more detailed or baggy i make the outfit, the more dominant it would become, The striking orange colour will be dominant enough, i dont want my character lost in a sea of orange overalls. I also have to keep in mind thorugh out the design and development process, how difficult this character will be when itstime to create him on 3DSMAX.