Building of Miss Pear

Modelling steps

Before I have started modelling my pear, I have followed a few steps that I have set out in the beginning. In short, this is what I intend to do:

The last two images on the sheet (Development process) show the first stage of my model ( I have created the basic pear shape, unwrapped and textured it).

Next, I have added some facial features to it (eyes, nose, mouth and eyebrows), as well as arms. For the eyes, I have simply deleted a section of 2x2 polygons on each side of the face, which, in turbo smooth mode, will get transformed into a circle. For the nose, I have selected 2 connected vertical polygons starting from underneath the eyes (in between them) and extruded them, after which I have target welded the top two vertices to the corresponding ones on the face (the ones that were initially extruded).

In low polygon version, this is how it looks like:

With 2 iterations of the turbo smooth applied, the model looked like this:

So, by doing this, I have realised that the number of polygons used to create the shape, wasn't enough, as the shape changed quite dramatically after applying the turbo smooth.

 However, after I have found a really great tutorial on making of a pear (http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/mrs_pear/pear.html), and after reading the steps that  Jose Maria Andres Martin has followed, I have decided to start again with the base model for my pear. The reason for this was because the the initial shape was slightly different, in the sense that there was a clear separation between the top and bottom bit of the geometry, and the top part was slightly wider than mine. What I have also noticed, was that the artist has split the shape in 3 (top part was allocated to the eyes, middle one for the mouth, while the bottom third of the model was left for the body).

basic shape (http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/mrs_pear/pear.html)

without Turbo Smooth on (http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/mrs_pear/pear.html)

with Turbo Smooth on (http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/mrs_pear/pear.html)

 I found this very useful and I would like to apply the same principles in my model. By doing this, the mouth has got its own space allocated, as a clear defining feature, which means that it has got enough space to add extra polygon loops for detailing the geometry. The mouth I have created, didn't have enough female detail on, it was too straight, too plain, and the whole model had a male feel to it, while my intention is to create Miss Pear.

So, after saying this, I have started with my new model from scratch.

References for project (bibliography to be added)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=andrew+loomis+facial+expression&rlz=1C1GPCK_en-GBGB576GB576&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_6wEU8rCN_Ov7Abj0IDoDA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=2560&bih=1272

(andrew loomis)

making of mrs pear

Other reference images used as a starting point for the concept stage:

For the 3 d modelling stage, I have tried to find some neat wireframes for fruit characters in particular, but cartoon characters in general. 

Statement of Intent

Statement of Intent

            For the past 3 years I have been watching a few too many cartoons with my little girl. The ones that raised my curiosity the most, were Peppa Pig ( www.peppapig.com). The creators, Neville Astley and Mark Baker designed a set of characters (Fig 1), which are all mammals, with individual personalities, each one, based around the real life characteristics of the animals they represent, and all this, with minimal visual input.

           

                                    

For my Final Major Project, I am looking to create a character, to model and animate it.

The character I intend to create, will be a piece of fruit, as I am currently working on a project, aimed at creating an interactive text adventure game, where all my characters are fruit (The game is titled Fruit Town). The main character is called Miss Pear and she is, as the name suggests, a pear.

All the concept art skills I have acquired until now, I will apply in the first stage of my project, meaning that I will start by creating credit card concepts of Miss Pear, followed by refined sketches and finishing off with a final piece.

Besides this, I will then need to draw Miss Pear as seen from various angles, in order to create a clear image of what she will look like as a final product.

All the skills accumulated through building various inanimate objects and a cartoon version of myself, in the 3D Studio Max sessions this year, will then be used to build a 3D model of Miss Pear.

And finally, I will try to animate her. As I haven't yet studied animation at all, I am not sure what to expect, and how long the process will take, but I am really aiming at presenting an animated character as my Final Major Project in just over 3 months.

My main objective with this project, is, to consolidate my drawing and modeling skills and to acquire, most needed, animation skills.

All of this, will then constitute the base for my Final Project next year, where I will build upon this and hopefully create either a game or a cartoon style animation.

*Other references for my concept, were the Pocoyo (Fig 2) cartoons, as well as Pib and Pog (Fig 3).

Both these cartoons have got simple designs, as 3D characters, with the environment around them nonexistent, or extremely minimalist, but the overall effect created, is amazing.

They both create a similar effect to the Peppa Pig cartoons I mentioned earlier, and this is the style that attracts me the most and the one I would love to develop.