Digital

The digital scanning require that lots of reflective dot be placed over the object, the scanner needs to be able to see four of these at any one time so that it knows where it is and where the object is that it is scanning. the process is pretty straight forward but took several hours to complete, the scanner has an optimal scanning distance which it needs stay with in which can be tricky with a object like mine.

once it has been scanned you can covert it into a high resolution scan then take it into another programme that fills in any gaps and creates a seamles 3d model as an STL file ready to be used in Rhino 3d.
3D scanners:

"The ZScanner^® line of products bring needed speed, ease-of-use and unprecedented versatility to 3D scanning. Scan any object in the tightest spaces and do it in real-time with one continuous scan."

"Conventional scanners require fixed-position tripods, bulky mechanical arms, or external positioning devices that must be within the line of sight of the target surface. So hard-to-reach objects are nearly impossible to scan and extensive post-processing is needed to stitch multiple scans into one.

ZScanner products capture a complete scan all at once — with all the mobility that comes with handheld devices"

Applications

Reverse Engineering

Speed, accuracy and ease-of-use for aftermarket product design

Packaging Design

Create custom packaging by scanning product samples for exact geometry and texture data

Ergonomic Design

Readily scan hand-crafted samples to produce complex designs from scratch

Digital Archiving

Save money by storing tooling, samples and prototypes digitally

Digital Media, Gaming & Animation

Create digital media for computer games and movies from artist's concept models

Arts & Cultural Heritage

Produce high-resolution, low-impact scans for accurate restorations and reconstructions of priceless artwork and architecture. Document, research and even replicate great works for transportation, packaging, museum shops and historical archiving.

Medical Education

Create highly detailed reproductions of complex organs and bone structures

Medical Orthosis

Custom design braces and other devices for precision comfort

http://www.zcorp.com/Press-Room/New-Handheld-Z-Corp.-3D-Scanner/news.aspx


The process for creating a Spore Sculpture is as follows: players design their creature using the Spore Creature Creator, which offers hundreds of flexible drag-and-drop body parts and numerous possible configurations. The program allows players to digitally paint their creatures. The completed creatures can be uploaded to www.sporesculptor.com and players can then place their order. The ZPrinted models (up to 4 inches tall) will be shipped directly to consumers. Spore Sculptures retail for $49.50. http://www.deskeng.com/articles/aaanfc.htm


A great website http://replicatorinc.com/blog/category/3d-printers/ that has a lot of information on rapid prototyping.

A video showing the processes involved in 3D printing. http://videos.neoseeker.com/movies/1047-figure-prints-production-part-1/

this is the scan after it has been cleaned up and all the holes filled you can see that ear has been lost but it has managed to capture a high amount of detail which was surprising the next step it to export it into Zbrush.
after exporting it into Zbrush i have had a bit of a play around with trying out colours and ading texture but my computer does not have the memory to work nicely with it there is too much information for it the process properly. also the inter face that Zbrush uses is not the most user friendly, i wanted to use Zbrush to try out different colour tests before i started painting but found it not that usefull i could use photoshop much easier and create a many different colour combos in a shorter amout of time. i don't really have the time to be learning a new programe with my deadline so close. but after using Zbrush i can see that it has alot of potential but i need an upgrade for my laptop first. i would have liked to 3d print just to see how it would have turned out but the printer is out of action unfortunatly.

Designing and sculpting the extras

To continue my design ideas i need to make manacles, some kind of clothing and maybe decoration of some sort jewelery and body paint. The starting point for the thought process is the story and character profile.

Taking the idea that the character has very little money, is in a very bad place in terms of his mental state he cares little for clothing and jewelry, he wears manacles to remind him of the past, a past that he is not willing to forget.
is he going to be wearing any armour does it fit into the character and what i am trying to communicate, these are things that need to thought about.
so a minimalist approach to clothing and decoration is needed. there is body paint to consider but if i do go for the body paint idea i have to think about why he would be wearing it.

my main area of design is the lower half of the body and how i will clothe it, do i have trousers or shorts or a skirt or just a loin cloth..... and what material will it be made out of?

After researching African battle wear and general clothing, i have come up with a few ideas taking tribal influence such as the Masai people who favor red cloth either covering most of the body or worn as a small skirt.
"The Maasai warriors are one of the most prominent and respected ethnic groups in Kenya. The warriors are so greatly feared, it is told that lions and cheetahs will run away or stop their pursuits of game animals if a Maasai warrior is anywhere close by. As soon as a Maasai warrior is initiated their spear and shield are decorated with red paint, which is symbolic of their status in society." https://www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm/639775?articleid=639775&title=maasai%2Cart%2Cafrican%2Cart%2Cmasai%2Cart%2Cafrican%2Cwall%2Cart%2Cafrican%2Cweaponry%2Cafrican%2Cweapons


this design is more like a shoalin monk than Masai warrior.

this ideas is more rip leather/ cloth or could be reeds.

I also looked at the Zulu tribe and their colourful attire


the Zulus would often use animal skins such as leopards cow hides for clothing and their shields,

"Their heads were covered with ostrich plumes and they had swaying kilts of foxes' tails and stripes of fur; while round their knees and elbows were fastened white cows' tails as a sign that they were on the warpath.

They carried huge shields of ox-hide on the left arm, each regiment having shields of its special colour, while in the right hand they carried two or three throwing assegais for hurling at an enemy, and a broad-bladed stabbing assegai which they kept for hand-to-hand fighting; while in their girdles was slung a club or axe for polishing off purposes." http://www.pinetreeweb.com/bp-vars-zululand.htm

this is more of a Roman type of kilt, i dont think this style would work it just doent fit with the design idea, it needs to be more natural. something worn out and tatty he needs to come across as being unkempt, and caring little for his appearance.

I have decided to go with a tattered look kilt but made of leather instead of cloth. sculpted out of super sculpey and cooked off with a heat gun, there was a bit of a trial and error in the sculpting to get the right amount of folds and the right look, the belt is one long strip wrapped round 3 times.

to bake off the super sculpy with out burning the sculpt i used kitchen foil to protect it.

the manacles were sculpted out of milliput.

Painting

Before i start painting i need to do some paint test in photoshop, for my insperation i have looked first at nature looking at the skin colour of rhinos and the changes in colour around the lips, there is a pinking of the lips , also the way the colour changes on different areas of the body.
but the only problem with working out the skin colour of rhinos is that they are often covered in dried mud and this effects how their skin looks.

i have also looked at other animals such as chimpsanzies, urangutans, for the colourisation on the face and hands, lizards and illustrations and models of dinosaurs for insperation for colour of textured skin.

I also look at creature and characters from films such as Wink and many more from Hellboy 2,
the creature from starwars, lord of the rings, gremlins and many others

This colour mockup was done using photoshop,

above is another photoshop mockup of a colour scheme, i have done several more that range from darker to lighter i prefer the brown/yellow colour compared to the blue grey colour scheme.

Painting is an area i have less confidence compared to sculpting, i have done much more sculpting than painting and even less airbrushing. i have looked at several ways to go about painting, from flicking the paint on with a cut down paint brush to airbrushing small worms of colour.

i have chosen to try as many different methods of painting as i can so as find the techniques that i like the best obviously some techniques produce superior results than others.

i have researched FX artists such as Steve Wang who is famous for his highly skilled paint jobs, Jordu Schell and many more. Steve Wang in particular has very systematic way of painting, he first designs the paint scheme on paper or computer, he then write a colour break down of what colours to use and in what order, how the different colours wil react with each other. He then uses a techneque called under painting, he starts with a base coat then paints a selection of different tone over that creating a motling effect, he then paints the vains and such. then he paints coat of colour the same as the base coat to tie it altogether and depending how thick that layer is sprayed on he can adjust the translucentcy of the skin in different areas. most of this is done using and airbrush. the role of the painter is to enhance what is already there it is to show off to sculpture.

Steve Wang painting the Predator suite his painting style was copied so much it was known as Steve Wang paint job


other people dont use an airbrush as much and choose to stipple, sponge and flick paint on to create a mottling effect, i have used these techneque before when painting silicone.
this is my paint testing piece of sculpy where i try out colour test and different painting techneques.

after the tests its on to the final painting job, i first started with a base coat


after the base coat a dark coat of brown is sprayed into the shadowed areas.

i then added some highlighted areas. using light browns yellows and some flesh tones.

I then started adding a mottling effect by spraying little worm like patterns all over.


the first few colours were very brown and yellow so i tried to put some blue into it but it ended up being too blue.

i tried to add in some yellows. this is when it started to go all wrong.

this is when i desided to change tactics and start to flick paint on with a chopped down 1inch laming brush, i used yellows and browns to try and dull down the blue grey that was dominating the overall colour.
it was all looking too light and yellow so i darkened it up with browns and started to bring out some of the forms in sculpt.

there is still a lot to do and this run down is making it sound very simplistic and straight forward but there was lots hard work done to try and create the right colours and to paint it in such a way that it would enhance the sculpt and not be distracting in turms of colours but enough detailing and textureing to create interest in the viewing of it. i had problems with the colour looking a little green in certain light conditions and even though i had three lamps, one a daylight bulb and an over head light, it still wasn't bright enough. so when i brought the model out into the proper daylight the colours would look alot different then in the room i was painting in, creating a frustrating situation.

over all the painting has been a huge learning experience and if i had more time i would like to start over again, even though i am pleased with final result there are a few things that i am not happy with.

filling in the split line

After casting out a second in carbody slush, the split line is very noticeable and doesn't line up well in some areas.

to fix this problem i have sanded down the split line then using milliput i have filled in the gap, the reason for milliput is so i can sculpt the texture back into the were the sanded split line was hopefully it will look seamless when done.


there are also a few air bubbles on the surface which need to be filled in, i used milliput on the larger ones and primer gray spray paint applied with a brush to fill the smaller holes, this technique works well and is a quick way to fill holes.

casting

I have chosen to cast my sculpt using carbody slush which is a mix of carboy filler and polyester resin mixed togeather. i used an equal mix by weight of each and painted on four layers than backed it up with resin and fiberglass matting. i noticed that the slush had pulled the silicone mould away from the fiberglass jacket which ment that when i joined the mould sections togeather they did not meet up fully. i used more slush to seal the join line then mixed up some more slush but this time with chop strand to make a nice strong join line. when i de-moulded i found that in several places the split line did not line up, time to make another cast.




i found a different resipe for carbody slush from Pete Tindels website, the ratios for his mix is 1/3 resin to 2/3 carbody filler, this mix is alot thicker which meant i could hopefully get it all on quicker before it starts to shrink when painting into the mould i only needed 2 layers to give it a nice thick covering and this time i used resin and tissue instead of matting, by the time i got the two halves of the mould togeather i still found that the slush had pulled the silicone away from the fiberglass jacket i just cant get it on fast enough i need another pair of hands. but i am still hoping that it will be a better cast.

i broke the leg when i was demoulding, the fiberglass tissue was just not strong enough matting would have been better. the cast is very light but a bit weak in places.

to fix the leg i used lollipop sticks as internal splints stuck in using carbody filler, then i used carbody filler to stick the leg back together, i removed any filler that had squidged out and then smoothed of using acetone.


After working at Altered States FX, if i was to cast out another figure i would use a gel coat plus one layer of matting, then using fibreglass tissue lay it along the flange, this can be easily trimmed back once demoulded but creates a strong join line. I would have less shrinkage and hopefully better register when lining up the mould halfs, which would have meant less sanding and filling with a neater split line. because really there was no need for it to be cast in carbody slush.

Important design aspects and examples of professional work

when designing this character i have looked at a variety of media as my inspiration for the posture and character of the figure, how to express the personality of the character through the composition. I looked at heroic figures in films such as Hellboy 1&2, Ironman, Batman, Blade, Sincity, Lord of the Rings, predator, terminator and many more. I have also looked at their counterparts in comic books and illustrations. what i have found is the heroic characters in film or the drawn figure in a graphic novel, the body posture play a key role in communicating what sort of person they are to the audience.

for example Ironman
this pose with chest out, arms out making the upper torso look wider, a solid equal waited stance showing stability, head held high looking into the distance. everything about this posture says strength, power and justice, everything in his posture is open and strong. where as if you look at a character on the opposite end of the heroic scale such as the Joker from the Dark Knight.
this posture is equal weighted showing strength but his back is slightly stooped with shoulders hunched and head facing slightly down giving him a sinister posture that projects insecurities and hidden aspects of his personality also the colours used help to convay this. this is a sinister character with a dark past.

i have looked at examples of maquettes in the film industry.

Mile Teves maquette for Iron man. over three feet tall and took five weeks to complete.

http://www.milesteves.com/gallery/v/SCULPTURE/IronMan-full-body-maquette.jpg.html

Hogsqueal prototype, but wasn't use as the final design.

Materials

I decided to sculpt using WED (Walt, E, Disney) clay i had several options including oil based clays such as chavant NSP or la beau touche, good for fine details and the bonus of not drying out are slower to use the initial balking out of a sculpture takes longer. water based clays speed up the balking out considerably but dry out and crack and you have to wait for the clay to become leather hard before you can start sculpting the finer details. WED clay seems to be the happy medium between the two and is the reason i chose to use it.

"Wed clay has become quite popular in the film industry for creating large detailed sculptures. Although it is a water based clay, Wed clay dries more slowly and has many of the same sculpting qualities of oil based clay. Requires a spray bottle of water for maintaining moisture and for smoothing. Can be used for mask sculptures as well." http://www.monstermakers.com/product/em-217-wed-clay.html


casting in resin

"Because they shrink, cast resins cannot be easily reinforced with internal armatures like steel rod. The resin shrinks around the unyielding steel-- and is split as if by a wedge. Resins can also tear themselves apart. Polyester resin, for example, goes through a jelly-like state before becoming hard. In thicker castings or those catalyzed too hot, the core is already hard when the outer areas gel. The gelled material must shrink as it becomes a solid, but when it cannot compress the hard core, it splits on the outside instead." http://users.lmi.net/~drewid/resin_faq.html