All Renders here:
➡️ARTSTATION BEAR
➡️ARTSTATION EAGLE
➡️ARTSTATION SHARK
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As I wrote in a previous post - before this order - I did not really do a fur... was a hedgehog... Forester I have done later, when I felt confident in my abilities ... Lamb too ... So in the portfolio was - only 2 hairstyles and a bunch of old works, not related to grooming. That is unlikely - can inspire the customer to order such a complex project from me =) Although in fact - there is nothing complicated, because it was more work with hair than with fur (but that I now realize it, but then - to me it seemed unreal).
But, IXOR VFX(Greece) came and made an order. At that time I remember Andronikos came the first time and said that he needed 3 characters - an unusual style like ghosts, but with hair and fur. I immediately replied, "I'm sorry, but I have no experience in this, I won't be able to help...". Since I've always turned down clients who wanted to do something I've never done. Because I think that you should take only those orders in which you are a pro, and I constantly say this to those who come to me in the group with burning eyes and one place shouting, "Help, help! I do not know what to do, deadlines are burning and need something to solve, and little experience ... Never, you hear? Never take on an order if you don't have any experience at all... And if you do, then negotiate with the client for extra time, because you need to learn it and do it, if the client is too lazy to look for and pay a specialist with experience.
Yes, I had no experience in creating such characters, but I already had at least some experience in tools and creating hair, working with guides and so on... Please do not lie to customers to make money, that you can... In Grooming, what I often observe with beginners - they do not manage to learn something overnight... This way they let clients down, get upset themselves and spoil their reputation. And then such clients come to me or my colleagues and ask to correct mistakes of such irresponsible freelancers. I'm serious! Maybe in other fields it works and you can quickly learn something there overnight ... But in Grooming it's rare. It's better to take it with experience. At least knowing all the buttons and how each modifier behaves ... Because it may be that in the chat no one will answer and then what? How will you continue to lie ... Of course, it's up to you ... but for me - better not to take such orders ... But never mind =) Back to my story.
Anyway, when I said I wouldn't take this order - Andronikos didn't accept my refusal =) He texted me, "Hmm, I know you can do it! Don't refuse." So I thought, why not... since the man saw my talent and has so much faith in me. In the end - we released this great video and I did 3 characters + helped with the fur - for the other two.
Yes it was difficult because of the lack of experience in working with such characters, there were some confusing moments - but we made it, because we worked as a team and another big plus was that I could always ask questions to Marcel (creator of Ornatrix) and he helped to understand many things =) But then again - I rarely bothered him and more of course searched for the answer myself. Basically - a lot can be found in the documentation, but there were points that were not very clear. There were no tutorials on Ornatrix at all back then - on Youtube and I was essentially the first one to start recording them after Ephere =)
It's easier now, because Ephere already recorded a lot of tutorials, on my channel - most of them, Artem is recording... so, you don't need to complain about the lack of information now =) Please, don't be lazy and watch all the videos. Learn to work with the material and learn discipline. Take your time. Yes, I understand that you want to create something at once. But you won't get anything good, if you don't know the tools you need and don't practice on simple things.
This is my first project, in which I finally dealt only with hair and fur, and not all aspects. That is, the 3D modeling and everything else was taken care of by the IXOR team.
As you have already understood - first I did the bear. The most difficult thing here for me was to create the right face and paws... And this hair had to flow smoothly into the hair, which we see in the frame. At that time I didn't know about the SurfaceComb modifier, which helps to set the direction of the hair.
And had to comb everything - by hand =) It's much harder than with this modifier. But nevertheless - I made it.
Even then I did not know - that the more fur - the better the results and interpolation. But back then the computer didn't pull much wool either, so that stopped me from making more. It was in the hedgehog that I could also make it more and it would be more fluffy. It's the same way here =) If I were making this bear now - I would reconsider many aspects of creation.
But anyway, in spite of this ignorance - the result pleased the customer and we went on.
By the way, there was no DrawStrandsTool at the time and all these flying bundles of hair I created with Zbrush =)
That is, I created a haircard, and then make all the hair on it - using the tool HairFromMeshStrips.
In the Making of, which I will upload at the very end - you can see this moment =)
As a final product of the team's work, this was the result.
Next, when I had finished the bear, I began to create the eagle.
This is another character for the IXOR VFX project. It also took about 5-10 days. I don't remember exactly. There weren't many adjustments, because it's much simpler than the bear =) Basically - there are no feathers, but some kind of "flying" hair. So there was no difficulty in making it at all. Of the whole series - this is my favorite =) I even think if they made it now and launched NFT, this product would sell out fast =)
I worked hard on the guides around the wings, because at the time I did not understand why there are strange "gaps" ... And it was because I did not create enough guides and did not regulate their direction. The main thing is to find a balance and constantly discuss their number with the animator =) It was such a problem at the time though, since there were no Adopt External Guides.
It is now possible to use as many guides as you need for your task, and if there are many for the animator - you can just create a separate object with a smaller number and connect it with this modifier. But at that time - it was not there. So I had to work hard and find a balance =)
We ended up with this little cinematic.
Just like last time - everything else, except the hair - was done by the IXOR VFX team.
Next - I was given a shark. I remember being thrilled with the idea. I love unusual characters. I mean, really, where have you seen a hairy shark? =) I've seen hairy dinosaurs recently, but a shark...This is the last character I groomed for this project. Yes, there are hairy sharks =) I absolutely loved the idea and did this project with great pleasure. In fact - I do every project this way because I really enjoy the whole creative process. After all, I don't take on uninteresting projects.
When I did Shark, I also had to struggle with the number of guides, because, again, there were no Adopt External Guides back then. So you had to save guides, not create thousands of them for your tasks. After all, when you want to repeat every line of a concept, you have to do Clump by guides, and that leads to a lot of them. Anyway, as I said - then you needed a balance and we were looking for it together with the animator who was doing the simulation of these hairs.
So that's the result.
A little more Making of:
I don't even know what else to tell you - as everything I can - told you above.
So if anything is interesting, just ask questions in the comments =)
Client: MBC Sports
Production: Third Eye FX
CGI Director: Andronikos B.
Thank you and have a good day
Sincerely,
Andrew
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