Introduction
For this week, I focused on creating the final animated renders of my mechanical arm showcasing the details that I have modeled.
Animation Renders and Close-Ups
Mechanical Arm Animation
As opposed to character rigs, I wanted the mechanical arm to make robotic movements. For this reason, each part of the model moves in a sequential way.
Finger Animation
In the following animation, we can the flexion and extension of the fingers. In addition, we can appreciate in more detail the pads on the palm of the hand.
Elbow Animation
The following close-up showcases the details on the elbow and the screws that connect the different parts of the mechanical arm. Furthermore, in this render we can appreciate the variety of metallic materials in different colors.
Final Thoughts
Over the past weeks, we have learned extremely useful tools and shortcuts to create our 3D models efficiently in Autodesk Maya. The main features I learned in this term are how to:
- Extrude, bevel and insert edge loops to our surfaces.
- Change, center and snap the pivot point to different vertex points.
- Create locators and use parent and aim constraints on our models.
- Use shortcuts to isolate selections and zoom in on a object.
- Name our layers and control the hierarchy in an organized way.
We also got an overview of the compositing workflow and had the opportunity of filming a footage using a green screen sleeve. Even though my video edit did not turn out as I had expected, since the size of the mechanical arm and my actual arm were out of proportion, I enjoyed going through our modelling, rigging, animation and post-production process.
Even though at this point of my professional journey I would like to focus on character animation, getting an overview on some modelling skills is essential in that I can customize character rigs and props I use on my animations.