This week I worked on the character creation class. I am at the point of finishing up the detail work in zbrush and bringing it into substance Painter. As for the project, I fell behind and did not get the audio recorded yet but all the code is working. Just need to add in the content. On top of it, I finished the family canvas image and added into the project. One less thing done. Here are some of the weeks work screenshots:
Quick testing: more to come –
This week I finished up the character retopo and uving. I made sure I brought it into zBrush and re projected. I am looking forward to texturing the creature.
For my thesis project, the major struggle to finish the code is now done. The only real test left for it is to use the kinect and see if there are any bugs. I am guessing the only thing that could would be the switch when it check if a person is present or not. The rest should work pretty good. I’m actually excited to move on and start doing the audio and animations. My mind is burnt from this rewrite… Here is all the functions that are required to make the magic happen.
This week I worked on re-working the story and the character responder script. The main reason for the change was the complexity and scope of the project. Now, the project is easier to work on without the fear of fall too fear behind. Here is the algorithm: I made for the AI.
I am about 50%-65% done. All of isIdle is true is done. On the false side, I got the main run with random sentence selecting working. I have a plan to combine everything which should speed up the workflow to finish this. Hopefully next week, I can finish the code up and move on to the next part which would be recording the audio.
This week I have worked on fixing some locking bugs. I got lipsync, audio, and animation to work with the storyID. I have a method developed and now have to implement it into the project. I am expecting a couple of hours to work it out. The major issue right now is locking the system so it does not loop but rather wait until it is finished animating.
Character Creation:
I worked on the base mesh. I am pretty happy with the overall character. I need to rework the torso and armor shapes but it is going in the right direction.
In Procedural modeling class, we ran into issues with assigning materials in UE4. I created a quick image that should help:
I also noticed with auto seams, it can be buggy. I used it a bunch of times because I could not find a way to cut uv seams proceduraly without using the SOP. Sometimes UE4 would crash because of the complexity of the mesh and I had to tweak the settings a bit to avoid this issue.
In studio, I worked on finalizing the code for A.I. responder. Nothing to complex but it is exciting to see the character interacting with us during testing.
Defense 4: Technopomorphism/Technomorpism
As we know what anthropomorphize and the reason why humans tend to use it, there is another term worth noting – technopomorphism. Originally coined as mechanomorphism by Linnda R. Caporael, (Lum) Technopomorphism/technomorphism is the tendency to project technological characteristics to humans. (Hurley) This term has rarely been fully researched but as it relates to anthropomorphism, it has been indirectly studied. (Lum) Earlier in this paper I talked about the use of anthropomorphic terms, Technopomorphism is also used to describe and communicate human traits that we are uncertain of. A great example from Denis Hurley is the description of the “thought process like cogs in a machine or someone’s capacity for work may be described with bandwidth.” (Hurley) Unknowingly this term has been used in scientific studies to explain our bodily functions, but it can be used in other communities. In 3D animation, humanoid skeletons are reduced to nodes that are used to control and animation characters. Designing A.I., like in my project, we must transcode human social interactions or expressions and make algorithms to mimic and respond to the input. These are just a handful of examples that are technopomorphic. I believe we anthropomorphize and technopomoprhize for the same reason. That reason is to help us predict and comprehend the unknown. The only difference is in which direction the projection is going too.
Works Cited
Hurley, Denis. “Technical & Human Problems With Anthropomorphism & Technopomorphism.” 25 March 2017. <https://medium.com/emergent-future/technical-human-problems-with-anthropomorphism-technopomorphism-13c50e5e3f36>.
Lum, Heather Christina. “ARE WE BECOMING SUPERHUMAN CYBORGS?” 2011. <http://www.personal.psu.edu/hcl11/blogs/lum_597blog/Lum_Heather_C_201108_PhD.pdf>.
This week, I have been working on more shapes of the head for my 3d digital art course and my thesis. This character will be fully sculpted so I am trying to find a shape I like. As of now, I am leanings towards the second head. (longer skull, and droopy chin) I do like the fourth one day as well but I believe it is too close to Picard from Star Trek. Nevertheless, I will find the shape and go along with it to finish the project.
This week I focused on completing my substance designer project. After a week of working on it, I realized that designing the concept for the “kit” should have been my first task. Designing on the fly with a node base system…….makes a mess.
I tried using other graphs which helped clean stuff up a bit but I ended up using one main graph so I can expose more parameters. Maybe with more time, I can figure out a way to reference other graphs’ parameters.
After this weekend’s grind, I am at the final stretch. With the project due date being extended, I can put more time into coloring and give it a polish pass. A major issue I am having is with the height depth. Everything looks flat even after the tessellation. I might have to go in the beginning of the graph where I declared the basic shapes, and create a basic bevel to give it some dynamics.
Here are some screenshots from unity – displaying the kit:
My other projects/journey, I have not had the chance to drop the lipsync plugin into Unity. The instructions seem intense so I will dive into that this week. I have a feeling I will have to import a character with a facial rig (using blendshapes) to make sure it works in my Unity project. I think if I can get it imported Unity and working (or seem like it is working), I need to get it interacting with the kinect. From there, I should be in a good place to start sculpting the character. Although…..
I am worrying a little at this point. It is already HALF WAY through the semester!
I have to start shifting my time into the semester paper. I have an idea about the paper. Something along the lines of color and the affects on humans but I am not sure. I need to create an outline or proposal first.
Simon says…Photo-resistor is an interactive game using a photo-resistor as the main input for the experience. As the user presses the button, the game begins. The RGB turns white and begins the blue blinking a randomized sequence. The number of blinks is the required number of times the user needs to flash a light towards the photo-resistor to win the game. During the “input” phase, the RGB led light blinks RED and GREEN indicating the time left. If the player fails to complete the sequence, the RGB LED will turn RED indicating they failed. If the player completes the sequence, the RGB LED will turn GREEN indicating they have won. After the complete phase, either win or lose, the game will reset and idle until the button is pushed to start again.
As this piece resembles a game, the emotional response would be excitement, panic, and joy. The personal value of the piece was the challenge of coding and using a photo-resistor. As it was the first time I would have worked with one, I ran into some issues with calibration. Ultimately, I believe this piece was sacksful. It allowed me to push myself and try something different that was out of my comfort-zone.
The Taken House on the Hill is a game ready art piece involving a tiny house on a hill with a dead tree. All of which is contained within a glass bottle on display surrounded by darkness. The art piece contains 17,316 faces, and every texture is 2048 x 2048.
I decided the style of the art piece early on as I wanted to experiment and shy away from realistic modeling. The goal of the style was to mimic the style of Tim Burton, Gothic, and LucasArt games. Using this stylized resulted in creating a story that is not written. The viewer might feel there is more to the piece in which they might explore and create their own story around the piece.
This week I completed my 3d project. I had to finish up texturing, UVing, and setting up the scene in Unity engine. Software I used was Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, Blender, Pixologic Zbrush, Substance Painter, and Unity.
Enjoy!
Also Instant Screenshot is an awesome plugin for Unity for anyone looking for hi-res screenshots. – https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/instant-screenshot-24122
