Caterpillar

[shaunf]

If people are interested I've posted some stuff on the latest model I have created for my short film project.

Click here to have a look at the model and download a short test animation

 

Any thoughts or comments would be welcome!

[NancyGormezano]

that is one super gorgeous caterpillar - and wonderful motion - love the coloring, and modeling - very appealing

[Zaryin]

The color is great, but what I like is the shading. How did you get that shading so great? is it just lights, or is it another mat ontop of all that great color?

[shaunf]

Its just lights. The basic lighting setup from the default choreography plus John Hendersons Skycast program (can't say enough good things about it!!)

[JohnArtbox]

Thumbs (pseudopods)up,up,up,up

caterpillars have lots.

Beautiful model/render Shaun...gonna be really interesting to animate

Guess school holdays will help Cuckoo is along

[JTalbotski]

Wow, it's alive!! Very cool, Shaun. It's an EXCELLENT model.

 

I know this is only a motion test, but does this mean the caterpillar will be less of a character and more of a "real" caterpillar? Or will he be a character with a unique personality?

 

Can you tell I want to know more about this short, how the story goes and how the characters interact?

 

Definitely looking forward to seeing it all come together!

 

Jim

[pally]

ooowaaaahh!

 

Shaun, I must say that is waay out there. Very nice indeed. In terms of lighting, I wholeheartedly agree, I've been experimenting with John Henderson's SkyCast and the results are quite good. Actually, I found out about SkyCast from your site!

 

Can't wait to see the final piece.

[littleandy]

Haha, looks really nice- I put my hand on a big caterpillar a few years ago that looked a LOT like that one. But it was spikier and it hurt more. How did you animate it though? Did you just smartskin it like crazy? Because it looks like it would easily fold in on itself.

 

And I have to agree with pally. Your work is an advertisement for skycast

 

-Andrew

[shaunf]

but does this mean the caterpillar will be less of a character and more of a "real" caterpillar? Or will he be a character with a unique personality?

Thanks for the compliments Jim! Re: the caterpillar, he is going to be more of a real caterpillar, and is more to set the scene of the film than anything else. He has an important function, but its not crucial to the main storyline...

Did you just smartskin it like crazy? Because it looks like it would easily fold in on itself.

The modelling and texturing took a little while. The actual rigging of the caterpillar only took half an hour or so. No smartskin at ALL!! I basically added the bones, increased the cp falloff for each bone, right-clicked in the modelling window and selected 'compute all cp weights'. Once I'd done that the caterpillar was ready to go! I'm LOVING these new cp weights and the control they give you!!

Guess school holdays will help Cuckoo is along

OOOhhhhh yeah!! Gotta love the school hols!.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment peoples!

[DarkLimit]

shaunf sir awsome work as always; the level of quality in your work is amazing. Very nice use of colors and great modeling..

 

Question do you think he needs just a little bit of specularity? these creatures from what I know has a bit of a wet appearence correct me if am wrong..

[modernhorse]

Oy !! He does it again !!! Most excellent. As my first character is a worm I took great interest in this WIP. Might I get a shot of your bones ...uh ... his bones that is? A wireframe that shows his bones that is.

 

Doug

[heyvern]

do you think he needs just a little bit of specularity? these creatures from what I know has a bit of a wet appearence correct me if am wrong..

Darklimit, No specularity.

 

Caterpillars, like this one seems to be based on, are very soft, velvety, dry. There are some different species that have that ..moist... appearence of course. It may have to do with it being a future moth or butterfly. This one looks like it might become a type of swallowtail.

 

There might be some specularity (always makes me think of "hilarity) on the "hard" surfaces like the tiny head at the tip or on the "sticky" feet (I have that problem too).

 

Shaun! This thing is gorgeous!

 

I need to revisit my monarch caterpillar project! I did it ages ago before wieghted bones came along!! I used fan bones and was not happy with the results. Should have used smart skin but I think I had about twice as many "segments" as yours does.

 

Have you thought about how it will "walk"? that was one of my problems. Coming up with a way to have each set of feet "stick" to the ground while the others moved and the body sort of ripples. Probably some sort of constraint system that you turn on and off maybe?

 

That would really interest me.

 

Vernon "Sticky Feet" Zehr

[johnl3d]

Great creature makes me itch a little..I hope he ends up with a role more than just lunch for the great bird of yours.

 

johnl3d

[shaunf]

Might I get a shot of your bones ...uh ... his bones that is?  A wireframe that shows his bones that is.

The bone structure is very straightforward. Its just a straight IK chain of bones, with two bones per segment of the caterpillar. As I'm not really going to have her doing much more than munch on leaves, (that may change...) there's not much point putting in a complex constrained bone structure.

Have you thought about how it will "walk"? that was one of my problems. Coming up with a way to have each set of feet "stick" to the ground while the others moved and the body sort of ripples. Probably some sort of constraint system that you turn on and off maybe?

I'm not planning on getting her to walk really (basically due to the complexity of the constraints setup I would need to use, so the problem doesn't really crop up). If anyone had any thoughts about how to constrain a caterpillar easily however, I too would be interested in knowing about it, as I wouldn't mind having her shuffle along a branch if it was quick and easy...

 

Re: the caterpillar type, its based on the pupae of a Hercules Moth, one of the largest moths in the world with a wing span of ( I think) about 24 cm. I picked it because:

1. Its Australian, and I'm setting the film in Australia, hence I needed an Aussie species

2. Both the caterpillar and the resulting adult are absolutely spectacular, and hence conducive to good viewing!

BTW, I've finished the adult moth also, and I'm quite happy with the way she turned out. I'll post a little clip of her shortly if people are interested.

 

Re: specularity, Vern summed up pretty well. They tend to be velvety looking animals rather than slimey looking...

 

And for the record... she's not going to be munched by any of my birds...

[VeridisQuo567]

Good job! what can i say? It's a mighty caterpiller!

[Parlo]

I really like the style Shaun - She's got a realistic feel to her but she's also got a slightly cartoony feel going on too. The texture works so well I can almost reach out and touch the little lady. She'd be a great character to do some squash and stretch with, munching away on her leaves.

 

As for a rig, I think you're right. You could porbalby make your life alot simpler by puting in a hand full of control bones for her spine and doing a series of orient likes - that way there would be less bones to deal with. You could also use a poses to deform each body section for squash and stretch.... this could produce a cute peristalsis type motion down her body.

 

As for Skycast. Ain't it a beauty?