Desert Chase Short - Technical Art Contribution
For a collaborative cinematic project in Unreal Engine, I created a dynamic quadruped rig in maya (utilizing mGear), a short face animation, and procedural slither animations using a spring control rig in engine. ~Two weeks
Function for procedurally creating FK controllers
Maya to Unreal Engine Character Animation Workflow (mGear & ueGear)
Coming from an animation for film production background, I found it essential to learn about best practices for the game animation pipeline. Therefore, for this project I modeled a skeleton character in Maya, utilized mGear to help rig the chatacter, retargetted Motion Capture data onto the rig, and exported / imported the character and animation into Unreal Engine. Utilizing ueGear, I was able to import controllers that matched almost exactly to the setup I had in Maya.
Ursula Inspired Character Rig
Animation exemplifying rig capabilities
Full body ik, fk, and tentacle rig all created in Maya using mGear. The rig also contains controls for the jaw, eyes, eyelids, teeth, fingers, and lips.
"Momo" Rig & Special Attributes
Maya, Substance Painter, Blender
Momo is a creature from Avatar The Last Airbender with special capabilities such as growing wings, walking as a biped, and then moving around much like a quadruped. I modeled and created the UV tiles for this creature in Maya. I used Substance Painter to texture and create materials. I rendered the scene in Maya with Renderman. Fur generated in Blender.
Rig Functions
The rig includes full body fk & ik controls. The ears and tail include an fk control rig in addition to a dynamic control system. The dynamic tail can change from following gravity to following a keyed pose. The face rig includes controls for the jaw, eyelids, and nose.
Hot Air Balloon
I modeled and created the UV tiles for this prop in Maya. I used Substance Painter to texture the balloon. Lastly, I rendered the scene in Maya with Renderman. Everything can be controlled using the all anim curve. All of the rope geometry has rigged dynamics for creating more realistic animation. The bags can be dropped and pulled back in using set driven keys.
Extra scripting practice
Python Script: I created specific buttons with code for executing quick instancing, parent constraining, and animating. The first button randomly instances the mesh. The second button groups and constrains the new geometry to a new keyable curve. Pressing the third button adds a simple ascending animation to the curve.
Marvelous Designer, UDraper, Chaos Cloth
To become more familiar with cloth simulations, I worked on this personal research project while attending the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy. First, I learned the workings of Marvelous Designer by creating three different outfits for three completely different characters. Afterwards, I figured out a production pipeline to simulate these clothes in Unreal Engine. I researched various cloth simulation methods and decided to run with Chaos Cloth and the UDraper plugin. While there is impressive real-time cloth simulation with minimal setup required, I found that using the UDraper plugin was heavy and would best be used only for cinematic sequences.
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