Meanwhile, in the lab...

I'm taking 3D Image and Movement this semester, and learning how to use Autodesk Maya. Early on in the course, we were working mainly from tutorials, but now we're getting to work on a project of our own for the final.

This was the design I came up with -



I wanted to create a doll-like figure, but I tried to stray from typical baby/cute or fashion doll style. I also wanted something simpler to model, so that I could spend more time focusing on the physics of the spring and hair/cloth, as well as texture - knowing from games such as Silent Hill 2 and 3 that even with a lower polygon count, you can get characters rich in texture and detail that look realistic.
The goal is to have the head and arms to look like they are made of wood, the hair and body be fabric, and the legs be metal and scissor-like.

So with this design in mind, I drew on my knowledge of dolls, having collected them, and made a few myself, for how the joint structure works, as well as looking at 'penny wooden' or peg dolls. I roughed out the shapes first, then smoothed the body, and manually went in and curved the jointed portions. The hair is probably my proudest accomplishment thus far - and nCloth object, it falls and swings around according to gravity.



Next up is mapping the UV's (making a pattern from all of the surfaces, essentially) so I can make the textures - which will be interesting since the joints are all individual pieces.... - and figuring out how to rig this for animation. Then, I'll be creating her environment and animating her! Wish me luck!