制作“悲傷的外星人”（一）

介紹

Introduction

這是我制作的憂傷的外星人，我想和你們分享他是如何誕生的。那是在2008年，當(dāng)時我和著名的亞歷克斯奧利弗一起上課。一天晚上，我沒有任何作業(yè)，但我還是想雕刻。我發(fā)現(xiàn)了Carlos Huante（圖01 - 角色設(shè)計 Sony Pictures）的一個偉大的概念，并開始了我的創(chuàng)作。

This is my little sad alien and I want to share with you the story of how he was born. It was in 2008, when I was taking online classes with the famous Alex Oliver. One evening I didn't have any homework from him, but I wanted to sculpt anyway. I found a great concept by Carlos Huante (Fig.01 - Character Design Sony Pictures) and with that my journey began.

圖01

草圖

 Sketching

我開始在ZBrush(我認(rèn)為是第3版)建模，從一個簡單的開始。這是一個非常粗糙的模型，但在那一刻，我決定給他創(chuàng)造一個場景。

I started modeling in ZBrush (version 3 at that time, I think), from a simple sphere. It was a very rough and quick model, but in that moment I decided that I want to create a scene with him in it. 

您可以看到圖02中的粗糙模型。 在這一點上，他似乎有些生氣，但在創(chuàng)作過程中他變成了一個非常傷心的人物。

You can see the rough model in Fig.02. He seems a little bit angry at this point, but he developed into a very sad character during the creation process.

圖02

我用了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的方法，用粘土和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)刷子。這個模型花了我大約30分鐘，然后我把它放在一邊幾個月的時間。當(dāng)我接著制作的時候，我開始做他的身體，從一個非�；�本的基礎(chǔ)網(wǎng)開始(圖03)。

I used a standard approach, with the Clay and Standard brushes. This model took me about 30 minutes, and then I put it to one side for a few months. When I came back I started working on his body, starting with a very basic base mesh (Fig.03).

圖03

從那時起，我繼續(xù)使用簡單的基本網(wǎng)格或DynaMesh來創(chuàng)建粗糙的形狀，因為它可以讓我快速將想法呈現(xiàn)在屏幕上。 當(dāng)你接近最終模型的一半的時候，你的比例和主要細(xì)節(jié)都被鎖定了，你應(yīng)該對模型進(jìn)行更多的重新定位，如果需要的話，準(zhǔn)備好安裝。 你可以在圖04中看到我的最終模型，以及如何從身體網(wǎng)格中提取布料。

From that point on, I continued with this workflow of using simple base meshes or DynaMesh to create rough shapes and forms as it allowed me to quickly get my ideas onto the screen. When you're about halfway to a final model, and you have the proportions and major details locked in, you should retopologize the model even more and if needed, make it ready for rigging. You can see my final model in Fig.04 and how the cloth has been extracted from the body mesh.

圖04

Retopologizing和最終網(wǎng)格

Retopologizing and Final Mesh

有很多方法可以重新研究。當(dāng)我在研究外星人的時候，我在尋找最好的工具。我用ZBrush來重新定位頭部，但是我不滿意它的工作流程。所以我嘗試了TopoGun，它有很好的用戶界面，而且速度很快。在modo 601發(fā)布之前，它是我最好的拓?fù)涔ぞ摺，F(xiàn)在我正在使用modo來實現(xiàn)基本網(wǎng)格和重新拓?fù)洹?o:p>

There are a lot of ways to retopologize. While I was working on the alien, I was searching for the best tool. I used ZBrush for retopologizing the head, but I wasn't satisfied with its workflow. So for the body I tried TopoGun, which has a great user interface and was very quick. It was the best topology tool for me until modo 601 was released. Nowadays I'm using modo for both base meshes and retopology.

這是我用于渲染的最后一個網(wǎng)格，與原始網(wǎng)格(圖05)和提取的布還有它的重新拓?fù)?圖06)相比較。

Here is the final mesh I used for the render, compared to the original meshes (Fig.05), and the extracted cloth and its retopology(Fig.06).

圖05

圖06

建筑場景

 Building Scene

外星人模型完成后，我開始思考這個場景。一開始，我只是想讓他有一個簡單的背景。然后我的朋友說服我,所以我開始考慮一個更復(fù)雜的場景。

After the alien model was finished, I started to think about the scene. In the beginning I just wanted to render him untextured with a simple background. Then my friends convinced me to make a serious image with him in it, so I started to think about a more complex scene.

我想向觀眾展示他為什么這么傷心，所以我可以認(rèn)為他是一個動作人物，在最后的形象中缺少了一些部分， 一只手臂。 我希望他看起來有真實感，并且觀眾不知道他是否還活著

I wanted to show the audience why he is so sad and so I can up with the idea that he was an action figure, missing some part - an arm, in the final image. I wanted him to look semi-realistic and for the viewer to not be sure if he's alive or not.

我決定把他放在我的桌子上，于是我開始對一堆設(shè)備進(jìn)行建模(圖07)。那時我正從Softimage移到modo，所以有些東西已經(jīng)在modo中建模，有些在Softimage中。我不得不說，modo是建模者的天堂。它有更復(fù)雜的工具，建模工作流程比其他應(yīng)用程序快得多。

I decided to place him on my desk, so I started modeling a bunch of equipment (Fig.07). At that time I was moving from Softimage to modo, so some stuff has been modeled in modo and some in Softimage. I have to say that modo is a paradise for modelers. It has much more complex tools and the modeling workflow is much faster than other applications.

圖07

你可以在圖08中看到整個場景。

You can see the whole scene in Fig.08.

圖08

在這個階段，我還在尋找合適的構(gòu)圖和場景的定位。我嘗試了五個相機(jī)角度和不同的對象放置組合。不同版本之間的時間有時很長。正如你所知道的，當(dāng)你在幾周或幾個月后回到WIP時，一切似乎都是錯誤的，所以你開始重新開始工作。這就是我的情況。我花了很多時間來改變場景和燈光，但我會在后面的照明章節(jié)中詳細(xì)介紹。

In this phase I was also looking for the right composition and scene orientation. I tried about five camera angles and different object placement combinations. The time between the different versions of the scene was sometimes very long. As you know when you come back to a WIP after a few weeks or months, everything seems wrong and so you start reworking it. This is what happened in my case. I spent a lot of time changing the scene and also the lighting, but I'll talk more about that later in the lighting chapter.

紋理

Texturing

這幅圖上的紋理很簡單。我在Photoshop里做了一些涂色測試，試著決定外星人的樣子。我決定把他的頭現(xiàn)實化,像人的皮膚,他的大腦有點大并且半透明。

Texturing was pretty easy on this piece. I made some overpaint tests in Photoshop, trying to decide how the alien should look. I decided to make his head realistic, like human skin, and his brain a little bit awkward and translucent.

我花了很多時間思考他的制服應(yīng)該是什么樣子。我嘗試了不同的顏色和材料。在最后一張照片中你能看到綠色是我在完成他之前大約一周的時間決定的;在那之前，他穿著一件簡單的白色連衣裙。

I spent a lot of time thinking about what his uniform should look like. I tried different colors and materials. The green you can see in the final image is something I settled on about a week before finishing him; until then he was in a simple white dress.

為了給皮膚貼圖，我使用了斯科特斯賓塞(Scott Spencer)的《關(guān)于ZBrush》(關(guān)于ZBrush)的一幅很棒的手繪方法。開始時，我將皮膚的顏色(紅色區(qū)域圍繞嘴，藍(lán)色的眼睛周圍，以及骨頭靠近皮膚的黃色區(qū)域)。然后我畫了一個“斑駁”的通道，就像皮膚下面的纖維結(jié)構(gòu)。然后是靜脈，最后我用中性的膚色混合了所有的東西。您可以在圖09中看到結(jié)果。

For texturing the skin, I used a great hand-painting approach taken from Scott Spencer's book about ZBrush. To start I polypainted skin temperatures (red areas around the mouth, blue around the eyes, and yellows where the bones are close to the skin). Then I painted a "mottling" pass, which is something like the fiber structure under the skin. Then came the veins and finally I blended everything using a neutral skin color. You can see the results in Fig.09.

圖09

外星人的皮膚表面和所有細(xì)節(jié)都是由ZBrush雕刻(圖10)生成的。我還為紋理添加了細(xì)節(jié)。

The alien's skin surface and all the details were generated from the final ZBrush sculpt (Fig.10). I also rendered out a Cavity map to add detail to the textures.

圖10