Welcome to the Project

Remember when all Morpheus wore was that gray leotard? Let's get him into something a little more comfortable.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Update on the Project

Hey Everyone

Not much progress on finding someone with both the modeling talent and time available for the assessment of the base mesh. I have a couple of new people lined up that may have the time soon though. (fingers crossed). I am hopeful that someone will shake loose in a couple of weeks.

A few helpful modeler types have looked at Morphy's base mesh briefly and commented that there are some optimization things that can be done with the palms and backs of the hands. It looks like there is also a need for more detail in the mesh around the shoulder area. It's just a matter of finding someone to do it.

Talked with Andrew S. this afternoon and he had some great ideas that came out of a discussion he had with a lady in the marketing group at Ex'pression: draw on outside professional concept artists by offering a way for people to submit costume concepts for future consideration in the project. That way folks have a chance to get stuff built for their personal projects and the students have a way to interact with people in the industry. I'm very keen on this new facet for the project and I can move forward with this idea independent of any modeling work. Great potential here for interacting with fashion and design type artists as well.

Andrew says there is also a possibility that I will be able to work on E.C.M.W.P. as a group project for 2nd term at Ex'pression. It's contingent on whether a prior approved project goes forward or not. (again fingers crossed)

Not as much forward movement as I would like overall, especially with AAU semester starting next Monday; Which means I will be swamped until May 21st.

That's all for now.

Dave

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Next Step, Model and Texture the First Concept - any volunteers?

Great work getting the first concept out the door, Jayna (not to mention setting up a lovely template for us!) Many thanks and Kudos.

Now I need to find someone with superb modeling and painting skills to build this costume for us. Rodney, you're busy at the moment. Olivier, are you still following the blog? Who out there in Ex'pression land has the time to build out the shirt and pants concept? I'm thinking 20k poly count max for best balance of interactivity and visual fidelity. Can we keep the shirt, pants and shoes as separate geometry for modularity? On the texture side, I'm thinking a 2k texture for the whole outfit (is that a reasonable budget?) Share your thoughts on any of this.

If you're out there and have the modeling or painting time and skills (or know someone who does), give a shout in the comments and we can go to the next step.

I'm working on an animation file to test range of motion and blend shape sliders. As soon as we have the costume built we can test it out.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

new template


here is the new template revised based on feedback with a rear view as well.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

template





So I have started the first template, a male.... sort of like a ken doll, so that clothes can be built on top of it. I will expand the variety of templates as time goes on. Clothing can be built on top of the templates for any others that want to demonstrate some ideas. I will do more later for the female and additional body types and ethnicities.

I can also make the photoshop files available for project members.


Monday, January 10, 2011

Additional Costume Ideas (from google working doc)

ADDITIONAL IDEASHAT, GEAR, PROPSOther notes
Clownrainbow wig, red ball nose
Mime

Rock Star spiked mohawk, tatoos
Sports Jerseyball cap
Witchbroomstick, cauldron, wand
Cavemanclub, big bone
Hobobindle, worn shoes and hat
Roman Legionnairegladius, shield, galea
Zombie
how do we remove flesh and expose bones?
Dracula

Mummy

Frankenstein’s Monster

Wolf Man

Tiki Doll/ Witch DoctorSpear, Face Maskthink “Trilogy of Terror”

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Welcome to The Project

Here are the basic goals of the project.:

1. On the Ex'pression College website, create a persistant downloadable library of costumes for use with Josh Burtons "Morphy" rig. Additional costumes will be created, expanding the wardrobe on a regular basis.

2. The costumes will be modeled and textured by students of Ex'pression College, giving them a venue to showcase their talents and receive credit for the use of their work. Incusion in the wardrobe will require that the costume is built and textured to a high and consistant visual style and technical standard.

3. Everything will be free for use for any non-profit venture. Terms of use will require credit to Josh Burton for the rig, Ex'pression College and the student(s) who models/textures the particular outfit(s) used. For-profit use will require written permission.

4. The wardrobe would have tutorial videos and worksheets to guide users through the process of adding a costume to a fresh "Morphy" Rig or to a "Morphy" animation file already in progress.

If you're just joining the project, please familiarize yourself with the following links:

Download the Morpheus or "Morphy" Rig here:
http://www.joshburton.com/projects/morpheus.asp
test out the the morphing controls. Our costumes will morph and blend along with them.

Josh Burton's Tutorial Videos:
http://http//vimeo.com/user612213/videos/page:1/sort:newest
check out morpheus 102,103 and 104 - they cover the functionality of the Morphy rig.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

First Pass of Wardrobe List

CHARACTER COSTUMEHAT, GEAR, PROPSOther notes
Shirt/Pants, casualjeans, t-shirt, running shoesalt textures?
Shirt/Pants, dresskhakis, collared shirt, dress shoestie as prop?
Shirt/Pants, younghoodie, jeans, running shoesre-use casual shoes
Shirt/Pants, oldhigh waist, sweater vest,re-use dress shoes
Blouse/Skirthemline above knee, flat shoesalt textures?
Blouse/Skirthigh heels, sleeveless blousehow to deal with heels?
Fancy dressheels, v neckline, low back
Tuxedo/Suitfedora, suitcase, James Bond
Piratetripoint hat, cutlass, flintlock pistolthink Jack Sparrow
Ninjamask, sword, shuriken
SuperheroUtility Belt, Mask (2 variations)no I.P. infringement.
SupervillianRay gun, sci-fi helmetwide open to ideas
Cowboystetson, six-shooter, gun-beltblack/white hat versions?
Soldier, WWIIhelmet, backpack, rifle
Knighthelm, sword, shieldarticulated visor?
Vikinghorned helm, axe
Princesscrown, scepter, ponytail (rigged)how to deal with dress?
Police Officerhat, utility belt, pistol, batonnypd
Biker Gang Thugswitchblade, “hun” style helmet50’s era
Firefighterhat, axefdny
Astronauthelmet,
Doctorstethoscope, glasseslab coat scientist
Nurseclipboard, surgical maskscrubs
Farmerbib coveralls, Straw hat
Angelhalo, harp, dove wingsrigging for wings?
Devilhorns, pitchfork, tail (rigged), bat wingsrigging for tail and wings?
Jumpsuit (alt textures)hard hat, tool belt, mechanic, prisoner
Robotsimilar approach as knight
Hazmat suitgeiger counter, tongsheadmask follows chest.
Safari/Explorer Suitpith helmet, machete, pick-axeshorts, short sleeve shirt
Generic Monsterhorns, scales, fangs, barbs, spines, warts?re-use devil tail
Swim trunks, malesunglasses, surf board, beach ballbare chest could be an issue. fitted t-shirt?
Swim suit, femalesunglasses, sun hat2 piece

Monday, January 3, 2011

How it Began

A came across Josh Burton's very excellent Morpheus ("Morphy") rig in September of 2010. I was impressed by how elegant and versatile the rig was. I was even more impressed by the remarkable generosity of spirit that Josh possessed; offering this rig free to anyone who wanted to use it.

I recommended "Morphy" to all my animation students as a very robust alternative to the venerable "Norman" rig from 1991. This new rig had far better facial controls, a wider and more articulate range of blend shapes and the ability to be morphed into vastly different body types, both male and female! The only complaint I heard was that the "Morphy" rig had no clothing, dressed only in a dark gray leotard. On Josh's website he said "...See a hole, fill a hole". At that moment, the Ex'pression College Morpheus Wardrobe Project was born.