Exploratory Practice
TITLE OF UNIT: Exploratory Practice
Email – l.howell0120231@arts.ac.uk
05/06/2025
CONCEPT:
Based on sweet home. World is post-apocalyptic where monsters run rife and are a common occurrence. Our human character has taken on board the monster as a pet, which also functions as a deterrent and bodyguard, so the human can traverse the barren landscape in peace.hi
In this world where survival is everything, humans are under constant pressure to just stay alive. In such hostile conditions, evolution begins to occur. In come the Neohumans – an evolved version of humans, taking the best from both species, human and monster. The Neohuman has taken a liking to this big monster. Being so heavy-handed and cumbersome, the monster struggles to survive itself, blind and pathetic. Thus, in an agreement between monsters, the Neohuman keeps the monster alive, whilst the monster acts as a warning to any that wish to get close.
JUMP TO:
- Animations
- Thumbnails
- Orthographics
- Progress Screenshots
- Retopology
- UVs
- High Poly Sculpt
- Rigging
- Weight Painting
- “Prop”
- Prop Thumbnails
- Marvelous Designer
- Animation
- Texturing [to be added]
- Unreal Engine [to be added]
RENDERS:
ANIMATIONS:
Thumbnails:
Orthographics:
Progress Screenshots:
To create the main form of the monster, I used the orthographic drawings to place my zspheres. A little difficult in two orientations, but we vibe yk.
Once I placed the main zsphere elements, I added a few more spheres, as more detail.
I then used Adaptive Skin to create the clay form that I could use to sculpt.
I then began to work on the folds of the skin. Yummy!
I also used the ZModeler tool to extrude the faces out of the cone head. This gives me the space to add the mouth in later.
The hands I created from their own zsphere, which allowed me to be more flexible in not keeping it a part of the body’s construction.
The feet I refined by placing a previously constructed skeletal foot (See: GAP 3D)inside the foot sculpt, and dragging out the clay to fit the bones, thus giving it a more realistic look.
I then used polygroups to lock in the topology for when I could later use Zremesher.
toesie woesies
After finishing my low poly model, I took it to Maya for re-topology
mmm yummy
Re-topology
First, I worked in my edge loops to make sure that any resulting edge flow would be accurate.
I worked on the knees, trying to ensure that the topology would allow for the stretching and bending of the legs.
The feet I tried to keep low poly
Next, the arm and the elbow. The elbow, being of non default anatomy was obviously going to be a bit of a struggle, but I tried to keep in mind the edge flow around the elbow, having two loops going around it.
One thing that I was very conscious of whilst doing the retopology, was how the polys could be reduced between loops. I kept this in mind to ensure clean topology that was logically reduced.
With retopping the fingers, I tried to be aware of the knuckles and how the fingers would deform
This was alright. I extruded the outer edge of the gums themselves in, so that I could hide it within the teeth
that’s bloody lovely that
Added in a neck to connect the jaws to the actual body, this would allow it to deform properly and not kill me with a gun when it came to the skeleton. I then reversed the very top faces of the neck. This would allow you to see them in the monsters mouth. The last loop though I kept the same to allow it to peek through under the cone if it tilted it’s head forward.
UVs
hhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnngggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Okay so I put all the skin on one, and the teeth and the cone on a seperate material. As they are different materials, they show up fine in substance.
High Poly Sculpt
yippee we’re back in Zbrush!!!
I brought back the retopped low into zbrush, and projected the high poly with each subdivision.
I then, using the standard brush–no snobbery here, it works, its good–wrinkled the skin to look like skin folds. I also used the noise modifier to put a bunch of skin looking noise all over it, and grabbed some skin brushes to make it look real and beautiful.
I tried to think of the tension of the skin and make it look all nice and proper and as if there were bones actually under it. I think that went well honestly.
A problem I encountered, was the fact that as the monster was retopologised with poly sizes, this changed the resolution from area to area on the skin. This meant that when I sculpted on the arms, it would look a bit pixelised. Now, listen. I was already at 22 million points, we really don’t need any higher, who’s seeing it C’mon now–don’t you dare look that close xx
yummy veins and stuff. Again trying to think about where folds would naturally end up on the skin. I gave the knuckles a rougher texture, and the fingertips I gave fingerprints.
I then had to prepare a portfolio for an internship to Fortiche – spoiler alert I didn’t get it, send me money to console me – so I baked what I had in Substance Painter and began texturing it.
Now, because the universe is a hater, I had to do all this texturing at my Nana’s house. You’re thinking, that’s not bad, calm family environment WELL– I don’t own a laptop, I had to remote access uni, on my tablet, using a wireless keyboard and mouse, no drawing tablet, and PRAY
Well, I don’t like it. This is going down as 5hrs of a pointless activity. The worst thing was the stress of submitting but oh well I’ll just have to go through all of that again.
I was going for a painterly vibe, right, its not…. its a mess. I can only apologise. It was a tiny screen, it’ll be better next time. Anyway on to fun things-
Rigging
One quick thing early on was, Amil helped me to make a quick IK rig for the tongue. Fun!
For the rig, I used the human IK system, which created a rig for me. I scaled it- because my guy is like 4.5 metres tall- and then moved the joints around. It only luckily had a problem with the arms, showing up as yellow, but the rest was green to go because I’m so cool and lovely.
I had to add in my own joints for the head. I think I added an extra joint for the head which wasn’t necessary but it’s a hassle, idc, it works.
Originally I had the jaw joints connected straight to the head, but then I quickly realised that I couldn’t properly control the jaws seperately, so I had to add in an extra joint.
Weight Painting
— Intermission —
Prop
My monster being an entirely naked creature, it was find to find and give it a prop that felt truly real and justifiable in the world. As such, I opted for an irregular pathway. I decided my “prop” would be another character dragging along the monster like a weird pet in its dystopian world. This way, I would be able to produce something that actually made sense for the world and wasn’t something just to be a prop with no actual purpose. If you want to be more standard about it, then I suppose that the cone on its head can be deemed as a prop, but that’s so basic, no?
That leads to the question..
What actually is the cone?
Okay I’ll finally address it. After a lot of questioning, and help from my prop, I’ve realised–and drumroll please–that the cone is…a cone!!
And the crowd goes wild! okay fine yeah not the most creative, but that is genuinely all that it was ever going to be, Occam’s Razor and all that. So, to be more descriptive, just like a cone that a poor animal gets after going to the vet, this human has attached the cone as a way of pacifying the monster. I’m a but undecided as if I go further and say maybe the monster has an injury and the cone means it can’t bite it but who knows. I’ll also attach a hanging rope so that the person can drag him along via the cone. Its all very humanitarian.
Prop Thumbnails and Concepts
Process
Marvelous Designer
AAARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGHHHHHH WHYYYYYYYYYY
— End of Intermission —
Onwards to broader horizons…
ANIMATION
To get myself more familiar with how animation works, and how specifically my monster is going to move, I used notable animation software, FlipNote!! Don’t get me wrong, while a DS animation software, its very portable and useful.
Okay so this animation didn’t satisfy me. It’s very based on a gorilla and not like a front heavy monster. In this way I wasn’t really feeling it. To remedy this, I took a very unfortunate reference video…. In my garden…. With a wooden sword and a hockey stick…. Erm yeah :/ it’s not the most profession nor dignified. Hence why it has since been removed.
After taking this reference video, I was able to better stand my monster and how it walked. However this walk cycle was so damn difficult to do and I’m still not happy w/ how it’s come out.
If this was any normal bipedal creature, the walk cycle would be fine and my ego would be so inflated from how godlike I feel. HOWEVER it wasn’t and it isn’t. Alas.
In some places I literally feel like the walk animation looks backwards I don’t know how it’s happened. I feel like the hands need to sell it but they just kinda look stiff?? And I don’t have the energy to remedy it, nor did I have the time during the deadline.
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