Modeling Bertram

[itsjustme]

Here are some stills and a turnaround Quicktime (H264 encoded video) of Bertram. The only texturing at this point is the iris' and hair...everything else will be done after he's rigged. Modeling isn't really finished until the character is rigged, and any modeling changes would affect decals.

 

I've had previous versions of Bertram, but my modeling wasn't as good when I made them...the last version was made about four years ago. I started over and free-handed most of it, used the previous version of Bertram to get the facial proportions similar and used a rotoscope from an online catalog for the boots.

 

One thing to remember if you use a catalog picture of a boot as a rotoscope...the toes will be flatter if there is a character/person with weight in them. When I initially modeled the boots, I made them like the catalog picture...which had Bertram's toes way too curled.

Bertram_turnaround_07_04_2008_H264.mov

[steve392]

Well I gota apolagise ,I thought your avator was a self image lol ,nice model looks very spline eficiant

[mtpeak2]

Love the character, but there's something about the hands that look off. The fingers look a bit short compared to the length of the palm and thumb. Maybe it's the fact that he only has 3 fingers.

 

Love the hair, did you use a density map?

 

Looking forward to your progress.

[largento]

Great character, David! Looking forward to seeing him come alive!

[KenH]

Hey you can model too! Nice character......he looks "harsher" than your avatar image. That belly will be a challenge to rig. I also think the fingers are abit stubby but there's no rule. Though it may be tricky for him to grip. Give him some lip color too!

 

One little crit would be from the side his face looks a little flat. I would make it curve around the side abit more. But it's just a preference thing.

[Kamikaze]

Gee ,sure looks like a fella I saw down at the white river fireworks display last night, that sort of thing is big with rednecks, ya know ,explosions and the such. Cool idea for a character!!!

[NancyGormezano]

yah - Very good character !

 

My one crit would be his belly looks pregnant.

 

If that's what you're going for, then it worked!

 

But if not....perhaps if the belly were given more width above the pants (ie from the front view & back) - it would convey a more love-handly look.

 

(If you're going for pregnant, then you need to also give him some man-brea..um...er...never mind)

[Kamikaze]

Sense this seems to be the only place I can post without getting an error, what would be up with that? I wanted to post in some of the new forums recently started but I get an error page when I click on reply or some of the links.

Anyway, I am sure looking forward to all the new forum topics of late,

 

Mike

[itsjustme]

Love the character, but there's something about the hands that look off. The fingers look a bit short compared to the length of the palm and thumb. Maybe it's the fact that he only has 3 fingers.

 

Love the hair, did you use a density map?

 

Looking forward to your progress.

 

Thanks Mark! I was going for stumpy fingers on sort of "ham hands"...having only three fingers might make it look too extreme. I haven't done any experiments to make sure he can grip things well yet, just some quick guess-work.

 

The hair has a couple of maps, several length maps just to define the hairline and a density map for the stubble so that it fades in as it gets to the main section of hair.

 

Hey you can model too! Nice character......he looks "harsher" than your avatar image. That belly will be a challenge to rig. I also think the fingers are abit stubby but there's no rule. Though it may be tricky for him to grip. Give him some lip color too!

 

One little crit would be from the side his face looks a little flat. I would make it curve around the side abit more. But it's just a preference thing.

 

Thanks, Ken! He is harsher than the avatar...I wanted a little frown built into his relaxed face. I'll be doing some tests with the fingers before I consider them final, but I wanted "ham hands", so that's the way I'm leaning. His face may be a little flat, I was going for sort of a "bulldog" type appearance...I'll do some double-checking, maybe I went a little too extreme. He'll get a little more color once he's textured.

 

 

yah - Very good character !

 

My one crit would be his belly looks pregnant.

 

If that's what you're going for, then it worked!

 

But if not....perhaps if the belly were given more width above the pants (ie from the front view & back) - it would convey a more love-handly look.

 

(If you're going for pregnant, then you need to also give him some man-brea..um...er...never mind)

 

LOL! I think you're right, Nancy...he could probably use some "love handles".

 

Thanks for the constructive criticism! When you're looking at the small stuff a lot, it helps to have a few other sets of eyes. I'll give him another going-over tonight and see what happens.

[itsjustme]

I did some modifying to Bertram's face and torso...I'm not sure if I went far enough or not, so I figured it would be good to get an opinion. I made his face less flat, added some slight "love handles" and brought some of the chest muscle under his arms.

 

I'm presently working on his hands...I think one of the things Mark was seeing in the hands is that the knuckles needed to be on more of a slant. I put a simple hand rig in to check, and adjusting the middle and pinky knuckles made a big difference. While I've got the simple setup in the hand, I've got an experiment with the fingers that I'm going to try...hopefully, I'll be able to post the results in a couple of days.

[NancyGormezano]

looks good David - You could probably widen him some more (front view) , and perhaps change the shape of his belly (side view) to reduce the preggers look even further. But since he will be animated, it's most likely the impression is only in my mind, and only when he is viewed as a still image.

 

This is a caricature - so it's all a matter of how YOU want him to look - and he works wonderfully just as he is.

 

I did some animated gifs (have to click on image to see) for you to see how it might look, with modified belly proportions.

[itsjustme]

I think you're right, Nancy. The visuals helped a lot. Thanks!

 

I'll do some more tweaking on him tonight. Eventually I'll get it nailed down.

[robcat2075]

Good looking character.

 

I suppose the overall stubbiness of him will make him challenging to bone and weight, but that's probably why you are making him that way, to show that it can be done successfully.

[adam&oliver]

Cool character design... sorta reminds me of Mr Incredible.

 

 

I can't wait to see him rigged and weighted.

[itsjustme]

Good looking character.

 

I suppose the overall stubbiness of him will make him challenging to bone and weight, but that's probably why you are making him that way, to show that it can be done successfully.

 

Thanks, Robert!

 

His stubbiness is just how I saw him as a character...it is tougher to do the CP Weighting on a character like him though. He started off as a redneck gymnast that let himself go, I still want to do some animation of him doing gymnastics too. Initially, his gut was a lot bigger, but it would make it difficult for him to do things like sit at a desk. This is the third version of him that I've made, so he's gotten a lot of back-story since the first concept. I've rigged him more times than I can count and textured him three or four times...each version gets better as I get better at A:M. I used him when I was first learning rigging and building the first version of the face rig.

 

Cool character design... sorta reminds me of Mr Incredible.

 

 

I can't wait to see him rigged and weighted.

 

Thanks adam&oliver!

 

The first version of Bertram was made in 1998, so he's not based on Mr. Incredible, but there are similarities. As soon as the modeling is finalized, I'll start rigging him while making the updated Squetch Rig installation tutorial.

[mtpeak2]

Any new updates David?

 

I think what I was seeing in the hands is that he only has 3 fingers. It just doesn't look wide enough at the base of the fingers, compared to the rest of his hand.

[itsjustme]

Any new updates David?

 

I think what I was seeing in the hands is that he only has 3 fingers. It just doesn't look wide enough at the base of the fingers, compared to the rest of his hand.

 

I should be posting some images late tonight, Mark. I think he lost a little personality in his face when I made it less flat, so I added back some chubbiness to his cheeks, moved a five-pointer that was at the corners of the mouth, got rid of a couple of hooks under the nose, increased the density of the splineage on the torso, increased the "love handles" pulled the gut in a little and am still in the process of tweaking the hands. You're probably right about the fingers, I'll add that to my checking tonight, thanks!

[Eric2575]

I'm glad you brought back the face to the chubbier version. The version above doesn't look as Mayberryish as your avatar. I have not followed the Bertram story, is this a personal project or ...?

[itsjustme]

I'm glad you brought back the face to the chubbier version. The version above doesn't look as Mayberryish as your avatar. I have not followed the Bertram story, is this a personal project or ...?

 

I think I agree, Eric...if I'm understanding "Mayberryish" to mean like a character from the "Andy Griffith Show"? I unintentionally took some of that out of him in rounding up the head, but I think I've gotten it back in the next version I'll post late tonight.

 

Bertram is a personal project that I've been wanting to do for a long time. It started as a single animation that I wanted to do of an overweight redneck gymnast that smokes and drinks heavily and has evolved into a series of animations that I'd like to do with him in several situations (I think I've got seven or eight at the moment...we'll see how many will actually get done). I think of him as sort of a "Yosemite Sam", in that he is always the same person no matter the setting or costume. This is sort of a push for myself to actually get some of the Bertram stuff finished and an attempt to improve in the areas that I need to work on (there are quite a few of them).

[itsjustme]

Here's an update that should fix Bertram's torso and face. The five point patches on the corners of the mouth are moved to a better place, I eliminated the hooks under the nose, added some chubbiness to the cheeks, put a little more pout on the lower lip, added to the "love handles" and pulled the stomach in some.

 

I'm still working on the hands, so ignore them on these.

[itsjustme]

I'm glad you brought back the face to the chubbier version. The version above doesn't look as Mayberryish as your avatar.

 

When I first read your post Eric, I think I misunderstood. Now that I read it again, I think you mean that the updated face should be more like the version that is my present avatar? If that's the case, is it that the updated version looks less friendly? My present avatar image is from a frame that wasn't the default pose for the face...he's sort of smirking. Or is it something else?

[NancyGormezano]

added to the "love handles" and pulled the stomach in some.

 

Looks good...perfect.

[itsjustme]

added to the "love handles" and pulled the stomach in some.

 

Looks good...perfect.

 

Thanks for your help, Nancy!

[mtpeak2]

Looking good David.

[itsjustme]

Looking good David.

 

Thanks, Mark! You were right about the fingers...hopefully, I'll have something to show on those in a day or two.

[itsjustme]

Here's where I'm at with the hands. In order for me to determine what I needed to change, I put in a simple set of bones so that I could see how things moved...it helped a lot. The biggest change is in the knuckle area. I rendered a Quicktime of the test I was running to check finger movement and included it in this post. There are some minor CP Weighting tweaks and a few other obsessive things I will go back in and do, but it will give you an idea of the progress.

 

When I'm finished with the modeling, I'll strip out the test hand setup and save a version so that I can refer to it when I'm at the rigging/CP Weighting stage...it should speed things up a little.

 

I've still got a test I want to run that will affect some things later in the process...I'll post the results when I get them.

 

Thanks Mark! I think you pointed me in the right direction.

Bertram_hand_test_07_17_2008_Sorenson3.mov

[mtpeak2]

That looks much better.

[itsjustme]

The experiment I mentioned hasn't been completely successful yet, so I figure I should table that until I get further along. I'm going to do some more double-checking and then start rigging Bertram (and the updated Squetch Rig installation tutorial)...I've got a lot to do and I'm trying to not get bogged down, if possible. I figured I should post an update so that these threads don't appear abandoned.

[Shelton]

David not sure how I missed this or my memory is going but he looks great! Looking forward to watching him in action.

 

Steve

[itsjustme]

David not sure how I missed this or my memory is going but he looks great! Looking forward to watching him in action.

 

Steve

 

I've done some modifications on him since I last posted an image (hopefully, for the better)...I'll be posting updates when I get that far.

[Fuchur]

David not sure how I missed this or my memory is going but he looks great! Looking forward to watching him in action.

 

Steve

 

I've done some modifications on him since I last posted an image (hopefully, for the better)...I'll be posting updates when I get that far.

 

And I have to say: Damn he is great

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[itsjustme]

I decided to change Bertram's look, so I'm in the process of remodeling him. These images show where I'm at...still a lot to do. The only texturing I've added are the iris' and the hair...anything else will wait until he's rigged. I still need to add some details and will probably change the ears. He'll also get some changes to fix problems I find as I rig him.

[robcat2075]

He's lookin' tough!

 

Good work!

[Shelton]

David

 

Bertram looks awesome

 

steve

[Rodney]

This new Bertram appears to be a kinder, gentler soul than the older Bertram. (As there is a considerable similarity perhaps the earlier could be his father... )

 

Looking very good!

[itsjustme]

I moved Bertram's eyes farther apart, tweaked the hairline and made his hands five-fingered...I still need to fix the ears and finish the details. Hopefully, sometime this week I'll get some more renders up that show everything.

 

I rendered a quick wireframe example for a post in one of Dan's threads, I'll post it here so that I keep all things Bertram in one location.

[steve392]

That's looking real good David ,nice modeling

[Rodney]

Very nice!

 

He's looking intense!

[thefreshestever]

i hate to say this, but i liked the old one much better, since he was more cartoony and somehow funnier in my opinion.

[itsjustme]

i hate to say this, but i liked the old one much better, since he was more cartoony and somehow funnier in my opinion.

 

There were some things I wanted to fix on the original version and it just kept going until I had the current Bertram. I have things I like about both versions...nothing is finalized yet, so there will probably be more tweaking. I probably do need to "toon" him more.

[itsjustme]

I made some attempts to make Bertram more "toon", but I didn't like what I came up with...so, I just changed the ears, nose and eyebrows and had to redo the hair. There are a lot of things that still need smoothing and tweaking, but, here is where the SSS is currently ("skin2" with a different color). I also need to turn up the "Relative density of SSS samples" to get rid of a few artifacts.

 

Here is a repost of the SSS settings posted by Yves:

 

SSS half extinction distances

R G B Diffuse Color

Apple 0.45 0.43 0.50 217, 214, 135
Chicken1 5.60 3.00 1.50 79, 38, 26
Chicken2 4.50 2.50 1.60 82, 41, 26
Cream 0.14 0.20 0.33 250, 230, 186
Ketchup 3.30 0.75 0.50 41, 3, 0
Marble 0.45 0.40 0.35 212, 201, 191
Potato 1.50 1.40 1.30 196, 158, 54
Skimmilk 1.50 0.85 0.50 207, 207, 176
Skin1 1.30 0.85 0.56 112, 56, 33
Skin2 0.95 0.60 0.50 161, 112, 33
Wholemilk 0.42 0.33 0.28 232, 224, 194

 

For the hair, I used the MuhHair shader...which caused problems initially with the eyebrows. I dug up Richard Harrowell's explanation of the MuhHair settings and used that to correct the problem: http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26834&p=222085

[Shelton]

I look forward to the day when Bertram is in the break room or outside in the smoking area. I really like the new look and would love to see the settings you choose in MuHair. His face reminds me of one of my family members Anyway David looking forward to the day when Bertram is moving.

 

Steve

[itsjustme]

I've got a "quick" animation idea for Bertram that is outside of his work environment. We'll see how "quick" it actually turns out to be, Steve.

[Dpendleton77]

Man Betram is looking good man.

[itsjustme]

I did some tweaking on Bertram's pants and teeth. Next, I'll finish the inside of his mouth, rig him (which might also result in modeling tweaks) and then texture him.

 

 

 

[robcat2075]

I wonder what the backstory will be to those gold caps.

[Shelton]

Bertram is looking great David. Really looking forward to the next steps

 

Steve

[itsjustme]

This isn't a huge step, but since I rendered a frame to check things I decided to post it. I adjusted the teeth, gums, throat and tongue to fit Bertram and put in a simple rig (just basic bones with some fan bones) so I can move things around to check the modeling and it will also serve as a guide for bone placement when I install the actual rig. To check the mouth, I put in a jaw bone and did some basic CP weighting. There's a lot more tweaking to do as I go along, but I feel like this is a better modeling job than I've managed on previous characters.

 

 

[itsjustme]

I tightened up the teeth (not shown in this image), did a bunch of remodeling on the pants (debating whether to model or decal the pockets back on or just leave them off), put in a simple rig to test the modeling, relaxed the shoulders and did some preliminary CP Weighting (which should speed up putting in the next rig). Of course, there is a lot more to do but it's moving forward, so that's good.

 

Here's Bertram with the current changes and his arms at his sides. Next, I'll put an actual rig in him.

 

 

 

[Shelton]

Awesome. When you decide about pockets let me know the procedure. Very interested in that