This assignment gives you the opportunity to create a simple character model of your own design using the same technique of polygon extrusion you practiced in Assignment 3. KEEP THE MODEL SIMPLE (rather add detail later than try to be too complicated from the start. Students have managed to create some very rich models in the past, but if you try to do something that requires a lot of fine detail, you may find that you don’t have the time to complete it.). It is important to focus on quality over complexity, taking the time to carefully sculpt your model. A basic humanoid or simple animal is recommended, but talk to me if you want to do something different. Avoid hair, separate clothing, etc. that will make your model more complicated (and require more work). The character should have a basic face with a modeled mouth, eye brows, etc. Eyes can be separate geometry, as will be covered in class. The model should be shaded and/or textured as appropriate. You should put a skeleton in the model and smooth bind the skin, but you do not need to add IK handles or do any other rigging. The idea is to simply put enough control into the model so that you can move it into a few basic poses. (You may add IK handles if you wish.)
Create a short animation (10-30 sec.) that shows off your model. Add lighting and a camera and film your model moving through a few basic poses. This is NOT an animation assignment, so put your time into modeling and rigging, not animation. Think of the movie as a product shot. Your goal is to show off the great model that you have built.
The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to practice your character modeling and rigging skills. It builds on what you learned in Assignment 3 and allows you to create a more complex, expressive model. Most of the details you need are covered above. A couple of additional notes:
The basic submission procedure is the same as for all assignments.
- You will be submitting your entire Maya project folder. All additional files (e.g. the readme.txt and image files) should be in the root of that folder.
- N.B. Name your project folder as “A5YourName”, where “YourName” is your first and last name. This is how we will identify your submission.
- Include a brief readme file that identifies how you have met each of the requirements. You can also include any problems you could not resolve or particular features you would like us to notice. The file should be called “readme.txt” and included in the main project directory of your Maya files. Include your full name and student number in this file. This file should be brief (< 1 page).
- Be sure to include all the rendered images and movie listed above!
- Drop your project folder into the submissions folder as per the instructions below.
1. The "classes folder” is located in the lower right when you log into a computer in the lab. Double click on this.
2. Open "Neff CDM 130", then “drop off” and then “A5”.
3. Drag and drop your assignment into that folder. Make sure it is named correctly, as described above.